Copeland warns of counterfeit compressors

GERMANY: Copeland has repeated warnings of counterfeit product on the market and the emergence of uncontrolled remanufactured compressors. 

In a blog on LinkedIn, Pascal Wilmot, Copeland’s director of application engineering, reveals seeing several recent cases of counterfeit Copeland compressors. While some were complete counterfeits, others were remanufactured units that reused Copeland parts but did not follow the company’s production standards or tolerances. The use of such products, he says, put systems, customers and technicians at risk, and will not perform as designed.

Wilmot maintains that by design, scroll compressors are not intended to be remanufactured and no official standards or validated procedures exist to carry out such work.

In one instance a Copeland ZR48K3E-TFD-522 compressor was obtained from a customer who believed they had purchased a genuine Copeland scroll compressor.

While, visually, the compressor looked authentic, the serial number confirmed it was not an original Copeland product. Further investigation revealed a non-Copeland scroll set and some components which, while visually close to genuine parts, showed dimensional and material differences.

Copeland suspects processes are being used that mimic its own manufacturing methods but without the same precision or quality control.

Remanufactured compressor

Amongst other instances, a remanufactured ZB38KCE-TFD-551 compressor included some visible original parts but had no CE marking. 

Teardown and testing revealed that the scroll set being used was from a larger ZB45 model, leading to incorrect balance and higher vibration levels.

Instead of Copeland’s Fusite terminal, which connect the external power supply to the internal motor, was modified using a domestic luster terminal, not designed for refrigerant and oil exposure or for high internal temperatures. The shell had been cut and re-welded, resulting in loss of alignment between rotor and stator, which would reduce lifetime and efficiency. In addition, original identification nameplates were removed, meaning no traceability and no compliance confirmation.

Wilmot insists that, from a technical point of view, the rebuild would not meet Copeland assemblies tolerances or safety expectations and would likely not meet CE requirements.

Industrial counterfeiting has become a multibillion-pound liability. In the refrigeration and air conditioning industry it affects a number of major component manufacturers. In addition to well-publicised cases of counterfeit refrigerants, the counterfeiters have also hit other compressor manufacturers including Bitzer and Danfoss.

Copeland produces mobile and desktop apps to verify the genuine Copeland products.