The Importance of Reliability in Thermal Controls

Fifty-five years ago, my father made a decision Portage Electric Products has lived with ever since. He decided that all products made by Portage Electric would be designed for real world performance rather than to be just good enough to pass certification testing by safety agencies. Sounds noble, but really it was a statement of how much risk he was willing to accept. He knew that designing to minimum standards meant someday he’d have to fall back on the old adage “It passed the tests” to explain a catastrophic event that would rob the PEPI brand of the respect and value it deserved. Thanks to his earlier decision, we’ve never had to face that trial.

But, what does it mean to design for real world performance? 
First, you have to realize what happens in various independent testing labs around the world. These labs test to minimum standards for acceptable product performance established by Advisory Boards for various industries. The testing labs evaluate the ability of a product to meet those standards in a controlled lab environment. There are no grades awarded, a product either passes or fails. Some barely pass, others do better. 

There really isn’t any way for a conscientious design engineer to know how well a company did on a test without seeing the actual results. Consequently many “barely passed” thermal controls get designed into consumer and industrial products. They passed the test but offer little safety margin. But, what happens when real world variables intrude? There could be variations to the positioning of the thermal control during the assembly process which alters the duty cycle. This could lead to premature degradation of the thermal control. There are many reasons the performance of a marginal product may easily fall below the minimum threshold of what’s acceptable. Once it does, catastrophic failure, and all the problems that entails, is a real possibility.

The most common reason a thermal control falls below minimum standards is the quality of the components used in its manufacture
All controls are designed to achieve the minimum number of cycles required by industry standards. The design quality of the components used in manufacturing thermal controls is largely responsible for maintaining performance and a safety margin. The effect of real world conditions strains the performance of components and, ultimately, the device. In other words, the most robust designs may be weakened by compromises made during component selection. 

The price paid for this compromise usually falls on the product manufacturer who used the cheapest thermal controls available in a drive to squeeze every penny possible out of their production costs. However, when a product fails in real world conditions, the cost is usually high. Legal and settlement costs are a given, but the threat to a company’s reputation is often the most damaging effect. 

There’s truth to the saying, “you get what you pay for” 
However, there really is more to the story. Everyone tries to maximize the efficiency of their processes while lowering labor costs. We fight tooth and nail over fractions of a cent added to manufacturing costs, and every thermal control supplier takes labor costs into account when choosing where to manufacture. 

There is one basic difference between all suppliers and that is the line they are willing to cross to cut costs to the bone. Some manufacturers draw the line to include the lowest cost components that will deliver performance to minimum standards. Others work to drive costs as low as possible and still allow a safety margin between minimum standards and real world performance. It is admittedly hard for customers to distinguish one type of manufacturer from the other. I can, however, tell you with absolute certainty one thermal control manufacturer sets the bar high when it comes to component quality - Portage Electric Products, Inc. (PEPI). Our aversion to risk is equaled by our desire to limit exposure for the customers who use our thermal controls.

That’s the way it’s always been. The way it always will be. If you’d like to learn more about how we source components for PEPI thermal controls, please drop me a line and I’ll send you some info.

Thermally yours,
Brandon Wehl