Fuel Pump Differences

Depending on where you live in the world and their rules it may be illegal to use this aftermarket pump. If you happened to be under a warranty it would void it..  If it failed and you damaged your plane and the regulatory authority said the pump was the cause an insurance company could easily refuse your coverage. If a mechanic installed this under the same scenario then he'd be liable in court.

Why open a door you may regret.

Sean Griffin wrote:

"If it were my plane Id defiantly stay away from it.  "

Why?

It may be a perfectly adequate fuel pump. 

My first Rotax fuel pump didn't even have a "weep hole" - Did about 400, trouble free, hrs  before I changed it out for one meeting the current design/specifications. Gave it away, when I sold the last aircraft/912ULS, as a working spare.😈

"I would stay away" as I don't know the quality of this pump, where it was made, who made it, the type of materials used, and its reliability history.  And you're right it could be a perfectly good pump.  I guess could say the same about a pump form a certified center, but I'm pretty sure I could find the info and overall history shows they are very reliably.  If its a Zongshen, it could be rock solid or complete garbage.  I have a Zongshen engines in one of my motorcycles (Kove 450) and beat the hell out of it with zero issues.  I have rode a few around the world and most were solid motors but, some were utter garbage.   Also there's no electric fuel pump as a back up.  Again, this my be a great pump and I'm sure it will be on the Zongshen "Rotax" clone.  I'm personally not comfortable with it.  But that's just me.

I am sympathetic to your reasoning however point out the following;

Rotax & its agents, have conducted a very successful, only OM parts/materials, propaganda campaign over many years.

There are two drivers behind this; Legal Liability and Profit.

I neither advocating for or against the Rotax official line, only that consumers (you & I) recognise there may be additional incurred costs by accepting the Rotax propaganda, without question.

My first Rotax fuel pump was less refined than the aftermarket one you have, yet did a reliable job, well past its recommended replacement interval.This does not mean your pump will perform similarly but then even a Rotax OM pump can fail in service.

Rotax used to advise using of a range of engine oils. These were used without problems for many years - this advise has been quietly dropped in favour of Rotax inhouse/related product.

If you are servicing a factory/certified aircraft, you have little choice you must use Rotax OM/recemented products, however if an experimental, you can exercise judgement/personal choice & purchase/fit what you wish, should you so wish.😈

In the many industries there can be a symbiotic relationship between the OEM and aftermarket parts suppliers. It may even be a benefit to the OEM because aftermarket parts help maintain older products without the OEM carrying that burden. That said, cloning a company’s product is a completely different thing. The very idea of dissembling the work of another company and reproducing it without having to go through the cost of R&D feels like theft to me. They are not trying to make it better, they are just trying to make it cheaper, and they don’t accept any liability for the product. For that reason alone I would not buy these cloned engines or the associated parts.  But that’s just me.  

Hi Jeff B,

Your ethical/moral stance is commendable but not in line with reality.

No matter where you look, industry/art/science, is copying (at least in part) the success of the other, whomever they may be.

Human innovation has always been build on past success & failure - I would go so far as to say there is no completely original thought, just the evolution of ideas.

You are being polite(politically correct) in not mentioning the posible country of origin of this product in question however I would draw your attention to the wonderful success of the post WW2 Japanese industrial rise to excellence - I can remeber when much of their output was copied from successful European manufacturers. Now the World looks to Japan (& others) as an example of a high standard of  industrial production.😈