I’m sure there’s a true story most people in the faucet industry have heard:
A customer took two faucet adaptors, to a faucet factory to request processing. One of the two faucets was made in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and the other was made in Kaiping. The factory manager could tell at once which one was from Wenzhou and which one was from Kaiping. The customer found it strange that the factory manager could tell which one was Wenzhou and which one was Kaiping. Because things look the same from the outside.
Later, when the factory manager explained, they understood. It turns out that the factory manager is distinguished from the processing technology. Because the Wenzhou enterprise processing joints and Kaiping processing details of the part is not the same, with the jargon called theft of material. For the same faucet adapter, Wenzhou enterprise processing, interface hole inside the tapping is L bend, that is, the right angle. And Kaiping enterprise processing, inside the tapping is a small round corner. From a mechanical point of view, the opening of the L-bend, it will be easier to crack. And although the small rounded corners cost the copper, but the quality is more secure. Of course, after buying back may use up just as good, and perhaps not all people will notice this small detail.
Of course, this story is not to discredit Zhejiang goods. There are a lot of good things about Zhejiang goods, it’s just that we choose them in different ways. Existence is reasonable, they make the product more emphasis on cost-effective, but also to meet the needs of low-income people.
Throughout China’s three major faucet origin, according to quality ranking words, Guangdong Kaiping Shuikou town and Heshan Zhishan town, two towns is definitely the first. Next is Nan’an, Fujian (four major domestic faucet brands are in Fujian: Jomoo, Joyou, HHSN, Sunlot). Finally is Wenzhou, Zhejiang. Although Kaiping also has more famous brands, but why are the top four brands in Fujian?
The main reason is that 95% of Kaiping’s products used to do foreign orders and rarely touched the domestic market. Because the domestic order quantity is small, manufacturing trouble. As for the industry people say Kaiping faucet is good, in fact, there is a very key point is Kaiping faucet details processing and plating process. The design concept is in accordance with the European market alignment, all the production process is also in accordance with European standards, so the cost, quality are high. Although people in the industry know that Kaiping faucet quality is good, but in the end, what is good? So next, the editor will come and analyze the differences between Kaiping faucet and the other two faucet bases.
I. Faucet manufacturing process
The first thing to say is the manufacturing process of the faucet. At present, the world’s faucet manufacturing process is mainly divided into gravity casting, sand casting (not as good as gravity casting), low-pressure casting, mechanical processing and welding faucet. The gravity casting and sand casting is the most common, and most of the low-grade with sand casting, high quality faucet with gravity casting. There is also a relatively new technology is copper alloy die-casting process. This technology is said to be low cost and good quality. But because of its high technical content, it has not been popularized.
1. The production process of faucet
Copper ingot → dissolving → casting (low-grade to use sand pouring, high quality faucet to use gravity casting) → cleaning up after casting → inspection of castings → processing → mechanical inspection → grinding → surface inspection → electroplating → electroplating inspection → assembly → pressure test → finished product inspection → packaging → factory.
2. The difference between the casting process
Hundreds of dollars below the product and some mid-range products, most of the casting process is to take sand casting. It is commonly known as the ” turning sand “. Products produced by this process, the valve body metal inner tissue structure is loose, it is easy to form “trachoma”, “pores” and other inherent defects. It may not be found in the appearance.However, after a period of use, water will leak out. The seal is not tight or even a larger gap, resulting in low product life. It is understood that, for the hundred yuan within the service life of the faucet, the short is only a few months; for a little longer life of the faucet, a year or so after the problem will arise.
High-grade products and medium-grade products produced by large enterprises are made using gravity casting. They are the use of gravity casting machine, with a steel mold casting, this process method is more common in foreign countries. The products produced by this process have a dense inner organization and structure of the valve body metal. The quality is excellent and the life span is long. The same valve body, the weight of the products produced by the two processes is not the same, and the consumption of materials is not the same. The general weight difference between the gravity casting valve body and the sand casting valve body is about 1/4.Therefore, there is a certain difference in the price of the same product.
According to the editor’s understanding, most of the current manufacturers in Kaiping are using the gravity casting process. Because the quality and safety testing, quality control and quality management in Europe and America are very strict, the quality of the sand turning process can’t reach the standard they need, so the gravity casting has become the mainstream production process of the faucet manufacturers in Kaiping. The manufacturing process in Fujian and Zhejiang is almost a big enterprise choice of gravity casting. Small businesses choose sand turning mainly because the target market of these two regions is mainly domestic. And most of the pursuit of the Chinese people is cost-effective, so many businesses will choose to turn over the sand of this more cost-saving process.
II. The material of the faucet
1. Brass:
Brass is the most common faucet manufacturing materials, by the international standard H59-1/H62 copper processing, casting using steel mold for gravity casting, its wall thickness uniform, generally in 2.5-3.0 mm. The faucet made of brass is characterized by: non-rusting, durable, with antioxidant, and brass has the role of sterilization. The disadvantage is that it contains lead. Lead is a kind of metal harmful to health, international standards require that the copper content of lead shall not exceed 2.5%. The amount of copper contained in Kaiping’s faucets is higher than that in Fujian and Zhejiang.
2. Stainless steel:
In the 21st century, health and environmental protection has gradually become a new theme of modern life. Stainless steel is an internationally recognized, and can be implanted in the human body’s health material, so stainless steel as the main material of the kitchen and bathroom supplies began to be popular in Europe and the United States a long time ago. However, due to the high hardness of stainless steel, toughness and other characteristics, and in the manufacturing process is more difficult, these seriously affect the mass production of stainless steel faucet, so the real 304 stainless steel faucet price is higher than the price of copper. Its characteristics are: health, environmental protection; product materials all use high quality 304 stainless steel, does not rust, does not contain lead, the faucet itself will not produce secondary lead pollution of water, damage to human health.
3. Zinc alloy:
Low-grade material. The density of zinc alloy is smaller than copper, copper faucet feel no heavy. From the inner wall, the surface of zinc alloy is easy to oxidize, the surface will appear white oxidation powder foam. Zinc alloy strength is a lot worse than copper, service life is not long, and high lead content. If a faucet made of zinc alloy is only 1 to 2 years old, it will oxidize and rot. Now zinc alloy is mainly used to manufacture faucet handles, using zinc alloy die-casting and then chromium plating. Most of the current market faucet handles are zinc alloy.
4. Plastic:
ABS plastic faucet has corrosion resistance, anti-aging, no rust, no lead, non-toxic, tasteless, high pressure resistance, light weight, easy construction, low price and so on. It makes the water quality free from the danger of rusting and pollution, and the faucet refined from plastic is environmentally friendly and non-toxic, non-polluting, simple and convenient to install, in line with the national drinking and civilian drinking water standards. But because of its appearance is not exquisite, shape is rough, so the use of places are almost limited to temporary use of places, such as hospitals, construction sites, rental housing and other places.
For the faucet to material, because most of the Kaiping faucet manufacturers are positioned to high-end faucet products, so in terms of material will choose copper and stainless steel, but also a small part of the production of zinc alloy. While the main target of the manufacturers in Nan’an, Fujian province is low to mid-range, so a large part of the material is mainly zinc alloy, but there are also many copper-based manufacturers. However, due to the Zhejiang Wenzhou is mainly located in the production of faucet parts and accessories production base, and faucet accessories provide a variety of options: from copper to plastic to stainless steel, etc., so the Zhejiang enterprises have access to almost all materials.
III. The plating process
The most common plating process for faucets on the market is chrome plating. It is usually a three-layer plating process using the first layer of acid copper, the second layer of nickel plating, and the third layer of chrome plating. Low-grade faucets are typically nickel-plated at about 5 microns and chrome-plated at about 0.1 microns. High-grade faucets are generally nickel-plated at about 15 microns, chrome-plated at about 0.3 microns.
Electroplating layer of the thin faucet, its appearance is just “bright”. Thick faucet plating, you can feel the product’s bright light from the depths, there is a “green” feeling. There are two simple ways to identify the quality of plating. One is “irradiation”, that is, let the rays pointed at the product, see the shadow is deep or light. If the shadow is deep, it means that the quality of plating is good; if the shadow is shallow, it means that the quality of plating is low. Second, the “print”.In the product, according to a fingerprint, if the fingerprint slowly and basically disappears for a while, indicating that the plating quality is good; if the fingerprint does not recede, indicating that the plating quality is relatively poor.
Surface treatment of faucet:
1. chrome plating: chrome plating is the most common treatment method, the international standard electroplating layer is 8 microns, and the maximum thickness of the current market plating up to 0.12-0.15 mm. Good plating has the following characteristics: good combination, fine adhesion, uniform color and excellent corrosion resistance. These characteristics can ensure that the product surface is bright and shiny, lasting for a long time.
2. drawing: drawing after electroplating nickel. Under the action of external forces, mechanical friction (such as sanding roller) method in the product surface can form irregular lines. Common in stainless steel faucet. Wire drawing can be divided into stainless steel wire, nickel wire drawing, etc.. Brushed processing makes the faucet on the visual effect of the rough at the same time, the feel is very delicate, showing a restrained beauty.
3. plating bronze: electroplating bronze and then brushed, the finished product presents a very beautiful bronze color. Although there are fewer of them on the market, they are loved by some consumers.
4. Porcelain: first made of metal alloy base, then covered with low-melting porcelain powder on its surface. In the high-temperature vacuum porcelain furnace, sintered and fused from the faucet, which has both the strength of the metal and porcelain faucet of the beautiful.
5. Baking paint: In the faucet base, brush the primer and topcoat. Each time, the faucet will be sent to the dust-free temperature balance paint baking room for electric heat or far-infrared high-temperature baking, so that the paint layer solidified. Different from the porcelain, are considered relatively small market processing methods.
6 plating titanium: electroplating titanium alloy, high strength and density of small. Its toughness and engage in corrosion performance is excellent. The faucet surface is smooth and reflective like a mirror, the golden color makes it very much like natural brass. But the production process is complex, so uncommon.
The plating process is arguably one of the proudest distinctions in the Kaiping Water Tap. There are hundreds of electroplating factories of all sizes located in and around the Kaiping Water Tap. Most of the small and medium-sized manufacturers choose to go to such specialized plating factories, which use special equipment or imported special equipment for processing plating. The processing process is standard and of high quality. In addition, many large manufacturers will set up their own plating equipment in their own factories to control the quality of the plating as well as the quality of the finished product.In addition, the Kaiping General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Sanitary Ware Association also conduct regular detailed quality tests on the exported goods. For not meeting the environmental requirements of the plating products, will be impounded and warnings.
IV. The valve core of the faucet
The valve core is the core part of the faucet. Most of the products sold on the market are used as ceramic valve core. The characteristics of the ceramic spool is: a diamond-like hardness of the ceramic plate spool, can withstand 90 degrees of high temperature for a long time, the valve body pressure strength can be as high as 2.5MPA. Even in areas with unstable water pressure, the actual service life is still up to 500,000 times above.
Although the vast majority of products sold on the market today use ceramic spools, the quality of ceramic spools varies greatly. Because the key part of the ceramic spool lies in the ceramic piece of the spool. The quality of the ceramic piece is good or bad, which directly affects the service life of the spool, and is one of the main issues affecting the service life of the faucet. At present, there are domestic spool, imported spool, imported ceramic tablets domestic assembly and other products on the market. Due to the different quality, its price also varies from a few yuan, tens of yuan and hundreds of yuan.
Of course, installed in the faucet inside we are difficult to distinguish. Low-grade products, in order to save costs, they will use cheaper valve spool, so the quality of the spool is poor. With 1-2 years, it may leak. If you switch it on and off 500,000 times, it’s likely to be scrap. Good spool, feel soft, flexible but not light floating, the service life is generally guaranteed 5-10 years. The poor quality of the spool, generally with astringent feel, and lack of softness of the characteristics.
This is one of the reasons why Kaiping faucets are better than those in the other two regions. Due to the high-quality requirements of foreign products and the competition among export faucet enterprises, most enterprises will choose good quality ceramic valve cores and use the quality to maintain reputation.
Conclusion:
After reading the above introduction to the faucet, we should also understand why the faucet in Fujian, Zhejiang Province, relatively cheap, and Guangdong Kaiping’s faucet expensive. According to the editor’s knowledge, the domestic first-line brand faucet will go to Kaiping Shuikou for labeling, because they do not go to Fujian labeling for a reason. The faucet, from copper to the production process, plating, accessories, if the quality of each is a little worse, the price of the product out of the price is certainly not the same. Especially to use a few years later, we can feel the difference between the good faucet and poor faucet.
Combining the above factors, the editor suggests that if you have the strength of consumption, from the cost performance of the product, even if it is a similar product produced elsewhere should choose gravity casting products, we should choose the Kaiping production of high and medium-grade products. Although the price is higher than the low-grade products, the quality is guaranteed. In the long run, it is much more cost-effective. In other words, there is a saying: “things are expensive, but worth it”.