Give Pirate Parts the Heave Ho

When you invested in your compressed air system you no doubt did a fair bit of research to ensure that you were getting a system that would be durable and efficient and that would deliver a reliable supply of compressed air. Maintaining the integrity of your compressed air system is critical to ensure that your system continues to operate at its peak performance. And, the decision of whether to opt for genuine spare parts or pirate parts will have a large bearing on this. 

What may seem like a good decision at the time may end up costing your business dearly in the long run. Here's a rundown of the top four potential pitfalls of opting for non-genuine spare parts; 

1. Compatibility; only genuine OEM spare parts have been rigorously tested by the OEM with the compressed air equipment. The durability, performance, efficiency, safety or even the compatibility of pirate parts will not have been tested with the compressed air equipment. You have no way of knowing how pirate parts will therefore interact and how they may affect the performance of your compressed air equipment. They may compromise the efficiency, reliability and safety of your equipment as well as the air quality you require. 
2. Warranty; it is highly likely that you will void the manufacturer's warranty by opting to use pirate parts. This could become costly if a fault occurs within your compressed air equipment that would ordinarily have been covered under the warranty. 
3. Legal; depending on the laws in the State which you operate, you may be running the risk of exposing yourself or your company to liability if the pirate parts you choose to repair PE (Pressure Equipment) with are proven to be unsafe or inadequate. This liability may come in the form of damages, fines or even a criminal conviction^[1]. 
4. Reputation; finally what would be the cost to your business of damaging your reputation created by production downtime or product spoilage - or event worse as a result of a serious accident - brought about by using pirate parts that were inadequate?

Only the OEM's genuine spare parts have been;

• designed to meet the demands of the applicable operating conditions
• quality tested to ensure the best possible performance
• designed to assure the life cycle commensurate with the maintenance intervals 

Short term gain for long term pain
If reliability, efficiency and durability were key criterion in opting for the high quality compressor and associated equipment you chose to invest in, then why would you compromise on the performance and safety of the consumables that go into it? In the end your decision may be as simple as asking yourself; is some potential short term financial gain worth the long term pain that using pirate parts may cause? 

^[1]Air and Mine Equipment Institute of Australia (August 2001): Non genuine spare parts - not worth the risk?