Genuine Valves vs Inferior Counterfeits

As companies focus on cutting expenses and reward purchase savings, an unfortunate reality is that it has created a situation ripe for exploitation by unscrupulous and greedy individuals who deal in counterfeit equipment. Counterfeiting is not just driven by the obvious ‘cheaper prices’ but often is an attractive play for criminals on long lead-time items and/or components deemed ‘just a valve’. As with any aspect of supply and demand, the opportunity for a counterfeiter increases as the need for the item increases.

MOGAS Industries recently received two valves alleged to be counterfeit. A thorough inspection and autopsy was conducted to determine their authenticity and conformance to genuine MOGAS design and manufacturing standards.

Reality Check for Fake Purchases

Following up after losing bids to some suspicious entities, MOGAS discovered that the plants’ supposedly MOGAS valves were being bought for a much lower price from suppliers outside the authorized rep network. A site visit to the plant allowed an opportunityfor information to be gathered on one such ‘MOGAS’ valve. While its name plate showed the valve was an iRSVP-UF 1-in Class 3100 A105, MOGAS records linked its serial number to an iRSVP-UM 1.5- in Class 1500 F22. With concern for plant and personnel safety, MOGAS exchanged it for a new valve and shipped the suspect valve to Houston to be examined part by part. The results were surprising.

Visually, the valve exterior had all the surface markings of being a genuine MOGAS valve: logo, forging number, patent, serial and heat numbers, and data plate. However once disassembled, a different story unfolded: welding and manufacturing flaws, absence of coatings, and inferior material grades made the valve substandard in function, strength and reliability. Here are some of the findings:

• The counterfeit valve was constructed with many pressure containing elements that are not per industry code and will never hold up under the design standards of a Class 3100 valve. This presents a serious safety concern from jetting superheated steam to atmosphere if the valve fails while the unit is online and live steam is present.

• The results from a PMI (positive material identification) inspection revealed that several internal components were made from an inferior metal, and would either melt near the maximum service temperature of this valve, or rust. Failure of these parts would result in a forced plant outage.

• Part numbering and material certifications were incorrect per the bill of materials, and on some parts their numbers did not exist at all. Accurate parts numbering ensures the material is traceable and reliable per standards.

• Improper ball and seat lapping/mating and poor seat design will introduce leaks.

Sarah Wuensch, Service Auditor and Product Analyst at MOGAS, summarized her inspection in one sentence: ‘This valve had zero chance of ever sealing.’ These valves were misrepresented to be authorized MOGAS valves when, in fact, they were not.

Bad Purchases have Bad Consequences

Fraudulent valves can be a copied or reverse engineered design, mislabeled used or damaged valves, or even a hybrid of several designs by different manufacturers fabricated into one valve. Any of these can be disastrous to a severe service application.

Counterfeit valves may represent an impactful hazard if installed into critical areas of harsh applications. The consequences of using counterfeit valves include: industrial down time, damaged equipment, a negative impact on the environment and damaging the original manufacturer’s good name. But most importantly, they put customers and their employees at great risk to injury.

Ensuring Valve Quality and Authenticity

Until international enforcement and long-term anticounterfeiting solutions can be fully implemented, OEMs around the globe will spend enormous amounts of time and funds to be compliant with industry codes and provide their customers with the proper valve for the required results. There is a constant effort to keep fraudulent valves from getting into the supply chain with ongoing quality inspections, genuine documentation and thirdparty audits.

The only way to prevent buying a counterfeit MOGAS valve is by dealing with an authorised representative of MOGAS. With sales and service centers in China, Australia, Canada, South America, Africa, The Middle East and Europe, as well as representatives and technicians in more than 40 countries, MOGAS is known for partnering with its customers to meet the ever-increasing challenges of severe-service applications.


‘I was with one company that makes valves in process industries. And they said, look, we were having some valves coming in that were broken, and we had to repair them under warranty. And we looked them up, and they had our serial number on them. And then we noticed that there was more than one with that same serial number. They were counterfeit products being made overseas with the same serial number as a U.S. company, the same packaging. These were being sold into our market and around the world as if they were made by the U.S. competitor.’ Mitt Romney (said during his U.S. presidential debate addressing concerns on intellectual property and counterfeit products.)

Mogas
Tel: 0116 2793367
www.mogas.com

Published: 13th May 2014