So I just happened to take a SA315P apart today and low and behold a metal tag that states Made In Taiwan ROC. Anyone care to shed some light on this? Or Comment?
Whelen SA315 Make in Taiwan
- Thread starter EmerVehSolutions
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TritonBoulder47
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Core Public Safety
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![P3090010[1].jpg](https://elightbars.org/forums/data/attachments/54/54654-b782187c0ea1dca49bf2923966283c0b.jpg "P3090010[1].jpg")
Henry455
Member
Quality driver, used by other speaker manufacturers also. Made by San Ming Sound/Megavox , Taiwan R.O.C,. Was granted U.S. Patent #5,987,148 in 1999. Curiously similar to Atlas Sounds new AS100N driver, exact same weight and dimensions. Was the OEM driver for Whelen's Xecutor speaker introduced around the year 2000.
TritonBoulder47
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Core Public Safety
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And here along a whelen rep said that all whelen equipment was American made
and put down equipment made in other countrys. See how much you can trust and
believe most reps.
Just saying, check outthe equipment before buying
Jim Rogers
deputychief
and put down equipment made in other countrys. See how much you can trust and
believe most reps.
Just saying, check outthe equipment before buying
Jim Rogers
deputychief
Sigma Safety
Member
code60a said:
Wow! That's a lot more restrictive than what the NAFTA spec was (and perhaps still is)!
You could very easily argue then that, since the siren speaker driver assembly is clearly THE major portion of the speaker, that the SA315 cannot use the "made in America" phrase.
PC Comms
Member
The question here is, when they say the "product" do they mean the individual item or the whole product line? If the second is the case, then you can get away with it on the speaker since that is just one item out of thousands that they offer.
Sigma Safety
Member
Sorry, it is an old thread, but to reply to the last few posts, here is what's on the bottom of the Whelen website...
All products proudly designed, manufactured and assembled in the U.S.A. [Broken External Image]:http://www.whelen.com/graphics/icons/flag.gif
Clearly the SA315P is NOT eligible for the "made in america" claim. Note that Whelen cannot claim ignorance on this because they have the FTC letter linked right on their main page... http://www.whelen.com/pb/FederalTradeletter.pdf . It very clearly says...
For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be “all or virtually all” made in the U.S.
“All or virtually all” means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no -- or negligible--foreign content. ONLY Whelen Engineering Complies. Emergency Warning Lights & Sirens"
I'm not sure how they can claim the "Made in America" stuff when the SA315 driver is made in Taiwan. Unless they consider the driver a negligible part of the component. Not only do they claim that everything they make (note "make" and "assemble" are listed as seperate terms on the website) is "made in America" , they also claim that no other vendor is.
If they bought the drivers from FedSig (which are made in the FedSig factory in Chicago), then maybe they COULD claim that they are "made in America", but I guess they're just to big in the head to buy them from fedsig.
It's not like a) the driver isn't a major component of the speaker or B) whelen isn't aware of where it's made. They're just pushing this "made in America" stuff to slam the other vendors.
Wonder where the LEDs that they put in most of their products are manufactured?
Cheers
All products proudly designed, manufactured and assembled in the U.S.A. [Broken External Image]:http://www.whelen.com/graphics/icons/flag.gif
Clearly the SA315P is NOT eligible for the "made in america" claim. Note that Whelen cannot claim ignorance on this because they have the FTC letter linked right on their main page... http://www.whelen.com/pb/FederalTradeletter.pdf . It very clearly says...
For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be “all or virtually all” made in the U.S.
“All or virtually all” means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no -- or negligible--foreign content. ONLY Whelen Engineering Complies. Emergency Warning Lights & Sirens"
I'm not sure how they can claim the "Made in America" stuff when the SA315 driver is made in Taiwan. Unless they consider the driver a negligible part of the component. Not only do they claim that everything they make (note "make" and "assemble" are listed as seperate terms on the website) is "made in America" , they also claim that no other vendor is.
If they bought the drivers from FedSig (which are made in the FedSig factory in Chicago), then maybe they COULD claim that they are "made in America", but I guess they're just to big in the head to buy them from fedsig.
It's not like a) the driver isn't a major component of the speaker or B) whelen isn't aware of where it's made. They're just pushing this "made in America" stuff to slam the other vendors.
Wonder where the LEDs that they put in most of their products are manufactured?
Cheers
I bet is that the led heads are made in another country just like the assembled here,
Thats why I use mostly the pods as they are made in another country and holds up
good if not better then Whelen or any other maker. I believe Tomar is the only company
that actually makes their own led heads, maybe some can clearify that for me.
Jim Rogers
deputychief301
Thats why I use mostly the pods as they are made in another country and holds up
good if not better then Whelen or any other maker. I believe Tomar is the only company
that actually makes their own led heads, maybe some can clearify that for me.
Jim Rogers
deputychief301
Products made in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, or South Korea seem to be of a vastly higher quality than anything made in China, plus those nations are not building vast naval and air force units to challenge the U.S. That being said, it is outrageous for a company like Whelen to claim U.S. product manufacture when it is not the case, regardless of the legal, congressional inspired definition of U.S. product origin. Whelen, or others like Whelen should have a disclaimer that clearly states that components, or substantial components used are of foreign origin, regardless of where product design and engineering is conducted. I think members of this site should vociferously complain to Whelen that are being intentionally cagy and misleading. I've always been a fan of Whelen since I got my first Rota-Beams and Strobe Commanders in the mid to late 1970ies, but I find their discredited claims to be unacceptable.
Maybe it's just a knock off SA315P[Broken External Image]:[URL]http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing025.gif[/URL]
DarkHelmet
Member
HPD84 said:
That may be the case. Counterfeit/bootleg copies aren't just for Nike, Apple, and computer software anymore. It is amazing the things that China (and other coutries) will counterfeit. I recently received a warning through my Mountain Rescue channels about counterfeit climbing equipment that was being sold to unsuspecting dealers in the US. The legitimate manufacturer's testing found that most of it had a breaking strength of 80% less than the legitimate stuff. That is downright dangerous... and criminal.
I wouldn't put it past any company to be the victim of counterfeit merchandise anymore.
- DH
I would bet that Federal Signals Speaker drivers are sourced from out of the country.
The same for Code3, and Carson sources their's from out of the country. To my knowledge, there is not a US manufacturer that manufacturers a siren speaker driver in the the US. Most, if not all of the above use the same company for their drivers.
It is a nice video though.
The same for Code3, and Carson sources their's from out of the country. To my knowledge, there is not a US manufacturer that manufacturers a siren speaker driver in the the US. Most, if not all of the above use the same company for their drivers.
It is a nice video though.
Is it annoying that they lied? Yes, Is it no longer a reliable and heavy duty speaker? you bet your butt it is.
Even though I'm more likely to buy products actually made in america, What matters to me when it comes to speakers are Efficiency and quality.
Even though I'm more likely to buy products actually made in america, What matters to me when it comes to speakers are Efficiency and quality.
Impressive ad by Federal, and I noticed testing on a compact LED, clear rotating beacon. Anyone have one? Finally, are not Atlas drivers still U.S. made?
Dr. Dennis Stouffer said:
It looked like a single pod from a Vision SLR. I wonder if they will start producing those separately.
Henry455
Member
The Sanming Electronics/Megavox SD 210R siren driver has been used in Whelen products for at least the last 11 years. This includes the Xecutor speaker, Lo-pro Edge SA 40-41, Lo-pro Advantage edge SA 50-51, Longhorn speaker assembly and the SA 315, there could be others. As I have said before they were issued a U.S. patent back in 1999. Their driver is 1/2 the weight and 1" shorter than the once industry standard older Atlas 100 watt driver and 1 lb. lighter than the Atlas 58 watt driver. I bet that Atlas's current 100 watt driver is made for them by Sanming, looks almost identical and has the exact same dimensions plus Atlas no longer states it is US made and offer no patent number as they did on their original 100 watt driver.
Dr. Dennis Stouffer said:
Nope, Made off shore as well, probably by the same company that makes the rest.
Fire704 said:
How many times are you going to post that picture? This makes three. Care to offer any comments or insight? We get it. FedSig, among others, outsources some of their product line. Welcome to 2011. My problem is when a company wraps themselves in the flag to sell products and is not 100% about it.
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factorone33
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SireLite
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Sigma Safety
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SlickTop Solutions said:
You would lose that bet. FedSig makes their own drivers in their factory in Chicago. They used to have a plant in Kentucky or something, but moved that into their Chicago plant some time ago. I believe that they sell the drivers to Code3 and CPI as well, but Whelen imports from Taiwan.
Sigma Safety
Member
factorone33 said:
"All printed circuit boards are assembled at Whelen's Chester, Connecticut or Charlestown, New Hampshire facilities." - Hmm, everything else says "made", this says "assembled". Where are the PCBs made then?
"LEDs for "Manufactured in USA" content are produced in North Carolina." - I don't get this. Doesn't this mean "all LEDs" then? Why the "for "manufactured in USA" content" ?
And the best "drink the cool-aid" line; "Why Whelen is the only true manufacturer of emergency warning systems in the U.S"
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leftcoastmark said:
Can I have a cite please, for further reference? Not trying to be an ass, but really would like to see the hard information.
Sigma Safety
Member
SlickTop Solutions said:
No. I discussed it on the phone with the head engineer for Fire group at FedSig last week. It's not something I just found floating around on the internet. I'm going to be at the factory in a couple months so when I see it with my own eyes I'll let you know.
I think Whelen is skating on thin ice unless they are very forthright by stating that some (or many) LEDs, and speaker drivers, or whatever components are sourced off-shore. The materials may be of excellent quality, the LEDs may be fantastic, and the speaker drivers may blow away the whole world of sirens, but these are not at issue. Deception is the issue. After all, the speaker is a major part of the siren, and LEDs are not after thoughts to critical warning systems.
most if not all the LED's are made over seas. The US market could not manufacture the leds as cheaply.
If I want to buy an all-LED lightbar right now and my only requirement is that it's made entirely in the United States, what are my choices?
elite907
Member
ryanm said:
Yeah Probably in like 4-6 months and for about $500-$800 ea.
I had a Code-3 LC Narrow stik I took apart about 1 yr ago and the LC Pods had Made in China stickers on them.
But the Light was a Code-3 .
So you tell me USA or China ?
Who knows.
Sigma Safety
Member
Kevin K. said:
You don't have one. Almost everyone's LEDs are made offshore somewhere, except CREE LEDs.
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