Alternator Rebuild in Ottawa

[ido70]

Can anyone recommend a place in / near Ottawa Canada where I can get my alternator rebuilt? 

[Craggar]

If you don't get an answer here I would post on IRV2 as well, I know there are at least a couple on there that are in the area and would know. If you are west of Ottawa near Arnprior there is a truck stop called Antrim Truck Center with a full service truck service center that if nothing else could steer you in the right direction. Maybe give them a call.

 

[Bruce S]

There are a couple of shops in Kingston that rebuilds alternators.  Google Astro or Auto Electric for contact info.  Both have excellent reviews.  I'm sure there are others closer to Ottawa.  Good luck.

[birdshill123]

I don't know why everyone is rebuilding altermators

I know that new ones are expensive but they last a long time. Some of the rebuilders use off shore parts.

[Guest Ray Davis]

11 minutes ago, birdshill123 said:

I don't know why everyone is rebuilding altermators

I know that new ones are expensive but they last a long time. Some of the rebuilders use off shore parts.

It was recommended for a long time to rebuild because so many new alternators were not compatible with the RVs of the era even tho they were claimed and appeared to be compatible.    Many mechanics and owners didn't understand this, the results were more trouble so rebuilding was the best bet at the time.  There are compatible replacements available now.

[RoadTripper2084]

58 minutes ago, Ray Davis said:

It was recommended for a long time to rebuild because so many new alternators were not compatible with the RVs of the era even tho they were claimed and appeared to be compatible.    Many mechanics and owners didn't understand this, the results were more trouble so rebuilding was the best bet at the time.  There are compatible replacements available now.

I took my OG Leece Neville alternator in to a local shop in Calgary a year ago for a rebuild, old-timer there has been at this for decades. Sold me a new model (connector compatible) instead, and it's been perfect so far. Cost me $558 Cdn, incl. tax.

Edited May 10, 2023 by RoadTripper2084

[Craggar]

4 hours ago, birdshill123 said:

I don't know why everyone is rebuilding altermators

I know that new ones are expensive but they last a long time. Some of the rebuilders use off shore parts.

Almost everything we own has off shore parts including the new one probably. 

[Gary Cole]

2 hours ago, Craggar said:

Almost everything we own has off shore parts including the new one probably. 

That is true. However companies with a brand to protect are much more diligent in their efforts to insure quality when using off shore manufactured components. A product coming out of an offshore factory run by Intel, Ford, Cummins, for example, does not resemble a knock off produced by "Asian photocopy  criminals" working out of slum factories with little more than a post office box for an address and selling on Amazon and Ebay. Intel for example typically rejected 3 times as many chips produced in Chinese factories as its American counterparts so that those chips did not make it into their supply chain. The last I heard the problem was getting worse and not better. Cummins and others do not risk warranty claims on expensive engines by using the junk filters and electronics that are available online to anyone who wants to

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Gary Cole

[Craggar]

48 minutes ago, Gary Cole said:

That is true. However companies with a brand to protect are much more diligent in their efforts to insure quality when using off shore manufactured components. A product coming out of an offshore factory run by Intel, Ford, Cummins, for example, does not resemble a knock off produced by "Asian photocopy  criminals" working out of slum factories with little more than a post office box for an address and selling on Amazon and Ebay. Intel for example typically rejected 3 times as many chips produced in Chinese factories as its American counterparts so that those chips did not make it into their supply chain. The last I heard the problem was getting worse and not better. Cummins and others do not risk warranty claims on expensive engines by using the junk filters and electronics that are available online to anyone who wants to

 

Well from my experience the quality has got much better. I worked for a company that has what you can call a no name brand of gears that are 1/2 the price of the top name brands which they are a distributor for as well. They don't get any more warranty on those gears then they do on the name brands and this isn't a small company, they have several branches across Canada. I bought a crane a few years ago from China at Con Expo that came with a Cummins engine, Rockwell diffs and many other top name made parts with complete warranty and the filters on the Cummins engine were not from Cummins. I also bought an oil pan for my 8.3 from China because Cummins wanted a ridiculous amount for the same thing. The oil pan which came with gasket and bolts was as good a quality as what was on my engine and cost less then the gasket did from Cummins if I remember right. 

 It's not all slum factories over there either, we have all helped them get to be where they are now by buying their products. The company that made the crane I bought has a huge part of the European and North American market with some products and is a state of the art manufacturing facility. Part of the reason they got where they are with cranes was because they use to make the booms for Leibherr cranes, not copy them. The same goes for their excavators and other equipment they make, they built many parts for well known brand names then decided to just make them for their own line. 

My point was that it's pretty hard to know where parts are from when used to build and assemble things over here. The way China is now I would love not to have to buy anything that has something in it that came from there but thats not realistic. If I was trying to make a point it wouldn't be over a part in an alternator possibly coming from there. 

 I don't want to make this a debate or anything because like I don't like where things are going with China anymore than anyone else but I don't know what the answer is to changing it either.

 

[Robert92867]

No choice. My RV is 20 years old, so many suppliers have closed shop. Cummins CCEC (China) is the only place I can find replacement Air Compressors, Hydraulic pumps and more.  I am buying spares so I can be prepared for the ineveitable breakdown 3,000 miles from home.