Quote:
Originally Posted by maxhifi
I don't know if this is really a fair generalization to make - their medium voltage vacuum circuit breakers and especially their protective relays seem to be as good as anything on the market. GE Multilin protective relays are used extensively in power distribution and from what I have seen they've been reliable and well performing products.
Electrical distribution gear by all manufacturers is getting lighter and cheaper over time... if GE didn't make some changes to keep up with modern needs they would go the way of Westinghouse.
It seems to me that GE is a company which is heavily (or exclusively) driven by profit margins and quarterly reports, but when the giant flexes its muscles it can accomplish great things. Look at their jet engines for example for some very impressive US technology.
The fact is no electrical company in North America will ever again see the glory days where the whole country needs power, and foreign competition is nearly non-existent. Let's just hope GE can hold on and the whole world doesn't get owned by the European giants like Siemens, Schnieder Electric, ABB, etc.
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Fair point, I did not mean GE was failing in all markets. My reference was the low-voltage (600V and lower), specifically the discontinuation of the GE's AV line switchboards.
GE medium voltage equipment is still OK, but if you are a specifying engineer, GE has all but eliminated its representation and support compared to Eaton Cutler Hammer, also a US-owned company to date. Therefore, GE can low-ball bids and if there is an issue, you don't have the Engineering support to call like you do with S&C, Powercon, French-owned Square D and German-owned Siemens.
I used to deliver appliances in the 80s between bench sessions and witnessed the declines in the consumer lines, even back then. My employer stopped selling Zenith in 1980 due to system 3 early issues, then Magnavox in 1984 after NAP became less supportive. Then they added Maytag and Panasonic because of the issues starting on the economy-grade GE appliances and Thomsen's combined GE-RCA
. Through it all, Sony was a popular line with available parts and support.
