Contaminated kits & parts

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powderburner

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We probably all have them.

You can bet that anything made by the "big E" up to now, especially the past years when their stuff was manufactured in China, is at least contaminated by lead.

So what? So, no more collector value (if that's why you have been hanging on to those kits). Our government (once again) is here to help. Sell old kits and parts at your own risk. For me, those fines look like more than I care to take on.

Some of our vendors might be holding a garage full of un-sellable parts.

https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,552021,00.html
New Government Policy Imposes Strict Standards on Garage Sales Nationwide
 
Soon, we'll have to enclose our children in a phthalate-free plastic bubble with sterilized air pumped in and CO2 scavengers installed. :bang:

-Kevin
 
If they are harder to sell, they'll become more collectible. Since I just listed some older kits on eBay, I appreciate the effort to make them seem even more valuable! :)

But, seriously, collectible kits, and rocket kits in general, are not toys and, therefore, are not subject to the CPSC regulation. The CPSC's guide seems fairly straightforward:

https://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/thrift/thrguid.pdf

-- Roger
 
Isn't it more important to determine what ebay will do regarding this matter? After all, motors are already prohibited.

If they are harder to sell, they'll become more collectible. Since I just listed some older kits on eBay, I appreciate the effort to make them seem even more valuable! :)
 
Isn't it more important to determine what ebay will do regarding this matter? After all, motors are already prohibited.

Yes, but there's no reason to believe eBay will do anything different. The CPSIA is about a year old now and eBay hasn't changed any rules affecting rockety listings.

-- Roger
 
...collectible kits, and rocket kits in general, are not toys and, therefore, are not subject to the CPSC regulation...

These are the very same parts, kits, and materials that are posing major problems for Estes. The government seems to consider the Estes materials to be "toys" and in need of regulation. What is different about our items?

Now, make no mistake, I am absolutely NO fan of this sort of stupid law-making or enforcement. Taken to an extreme (as only our bureaucrats can) this sort of law could mean that we would have to remove from the shelves literally every item not manufactured in 2009 (or later) with a little sticker that says it complies with blah-blah-blah. The waste/cost of replacing inventory would be staggering. But that seems to be exactly what the CPSC wants: we throw every bit of the old stuff in the trash and start over.

Just because a law is stupid doesn't mean that we are safe from being the "lucky" one who gets their life ruined.

Heads up, everybody.
 
Yes, but there's no reason to believe eBay will do anything different.

A huge majority of the "items" on ebay are previously-manufactured products that could easily be under the thumb of this new CPSC nonsense.

With 90% of listings gone (contaminated and un-sellable), we could see the end of ebay overnight.
 
Am I the only person in the USA that has noticed that everything made in China is pure crap--except Black Cat firecrackers. I refused to purchase anything made in China for decades--but now--that is impossible. I have lamps that are well over 30 years old--made in USA. I have other lamps made in China that need replacing every 6 months. It is 2:04AM as I type this. I am typing under a brand new lamp from China. It is so bad--I have to adjust the direction of the light every 2 minutes--typical Chinese crap. I purchased well over 100 Estes kits during the 80's and 90's. I would not touch one now. I really do not care about the lead content--it is the inferior quality that bugs me. I used Husky tools for decades. I recently went to purchase a Husky socket set for one of my sons--made in China--thank God for Craftsmen. If LOC starts to import from China--I will go insane. Have you ever wondered why everything made in China has a high lead content? Lead must be very cheap in China--or...
 
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These are the very same parts, kits, and materials that are posing major problems for Estes. The government seems to consider the Estes materials to be "toys" and in need of regulation. What is different about our items?

Now, make no mistake, I am absolutely NO fan of this sort of stupid law-making or enforcement. Taken to an extreme (as only our bureaucrats can) this sort of law could mean that we would have to remove from the shelves literally every item not manufactured in 2009 (or later) with a little sticker that says it complies with blah-blah-blah. The waste/cost of replacing inventory would be staggering. But that seems to be exactly what the CPSC wants: we throw every bit of the old stuff in the trash and start over.

Just because a law is stupid doesn't mean that we are safe from being the "lucky" one who gets their life ruined.

Heads up, everybody.
This is the bureaucrats idea of going green. These are the same people who vote to drill large holes into the ground a mile deep and dump toxic waste into said hole.
.
 
Now, make no mistake, I am absolutely NO fan of this sort of stupid law-making or enforcement. Taken to an extreme (as only our bureaucrats can) this sort of law could mean that we would have to remove from the shelves literally every item not manufactured in 2009 (or later) with a little sticker that says it complies with blah-blah-blah. The waste/cost of replacing inventory would be staggering. But that seems to be exactly what the CPSC wants: we throw every bit of the old stuff in the trash and start over.

Just because a law is stupid doesn't mean that we are safe from being the "lucky" one who gets their life ruined.

Heads up, everybody.

Powderburner,

Much of this already happened in the first reading/ruling on this new law. Many manufacturers (I heard about motorcycle manufacturers in particular) had inventory that contained lead (engine parts) and were prohibited from selling it and were forced to throw brand new, never used, showroom finish models into scrap. Used book dealers were likewise fighting a ruling that said they had to destroy all books printed prior to some date because the inks contained lead. :eek: I'm not sure how the book thing finally turned out but I hope some sensibility prevailed. I know our seminary library contained hundreds of volumes printed centuries ago. Certainly no old book should be burned because we're worried that a child might eat it. Kids generally eat neither books nor intake manifolds but the bureaucrats didn't care.
 
Does anybody seriously think this is going to be even enforced?

Do you think the government is going to drive around to yard sales with all of their complicated and bulky testing equipment?

No, this is just another way to say "Hey, we care about your kids. Now vote for us."
 
Does anybody seriously think this is going to be even enforced?

Do you think the government is going to drive around to yard sales with all of their complicated and bulky testing equipment?

No, this is just another way to say "Hey, we care about your kids. Now vote for us."

It doesn't matter if it's enforced. It would force otherwise good people to choose to deliberately break the law.
 
this lead fear is way overblown,people are treating lead like it's a radioactive isotope.
now anything containing lead is considered "contaminated"

their are thousands of items around the home that would cause harm if ingested, far worse than lead
 
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their are thousands of items around the home that would cause harm if ingested, far worse than lead

You are using common sense. You are being reasonable and practical. You'll be lucky if you could run for dogcatcher.
 
About one of the only thing truly dangerous made of lead is a bullet. Guess if you do eat one of those it mute point!
 
I used Husky tools for decades. I recently went to purchase a Husky socket set for one of my sons--made in China--thank God for Craftsmen.

Best check your Craftsman tool labels......:mad:

Remember the old line "Made in the USA. Guaranteed forever". Bet you haven't seen those comercials in a while. And the first part is no longer true for a lot of stuff.

Al
 
About one of the only thing truly dangerous made of lead is a bullet. Guess if you do eat one of those it mute point!

Hmmm, is that anything like a moot point? :confused:


some 28 years ago I was working for a group that was using lead oxide by the hundred pound bag. Used to breath in enough of it to be able to taste the lead after a while. Doesn't seem to have affected hey look a squirrel... :roll:
 
Lead is a natural and common element, and is everywhere. Its in the soil we walk on. There is even lead naturally in our bodies. Its only toxic to us if it goes above a certain percent (need to check that up), and pretty much the only way to do that is eat it, or breath in paint chips from sanding. I got lead right in front of me. My two computers, my monitors, a spoll of solder, and a couple various size bullet shells.
 
Best check your Craftsman tool labels......:mad:

Remember the old line "Made in the USA. Guaranteed forever". Bet you haven't seen those comercials in a while. And the first part is no longer true for a lot of stuff.

Al

If I recall correctly, husky and craftsman tools (and box's) are made in the same plant(s)
 
My parents smoked around me for the first 20 years of my life. In the house, in the car and Mom also smoked while she was pregnant with me. Also note that people were driving cars that burned leaded gasoline up until the late 80's. :eek:
At 16 I had a 71' Z28 camaro that burned leaded gas...

I had a physical last fall and everything check out fine. I'm not going to worry about dying or having a mental illness from lead poisoning. ;)

Too much drama in the world these days. I'm starting to think that people who dramatize everything have a mental illness .:roll:
.
 
One reason (amongst many) that so many things are made in China is that some American companies won't bother with small runs of a given item, say something simple like having a nose cone made. If an American company says "it's $20,000 minimum to fool with this, whether we make just one or 5,000", and the Chinese company says "we will do 500 for 25 cents a piece", who will you go to?

Jobs are being lost in this country because of this mentality. Sure there are justifications, but ultimately they are pushing jobs away from the US.
 
What drives me nuts is the paranoia over lead levels in toys and kids, yet they do nothing about it, until it hits a certain point.

Our 5 year old, via some mechanism unbeknownst to us, tested with an elevated lead level when he was younger. So, they kept having us bring him in so they could draw blood to run another test.

Thing is, they had a heck of a time drawing blood from him, and it often took two or three attempts. They'd do the tests and do nothing about it, other than schedule another test. They had this child so traumatized that when Deb would walk into the doctor's office with him, he'd immediately start screaming his head off.

Finally, one day I called and asked what his level was, and what they'd do about it. "Oh, we just monitor it, but don't do anything." "Fine, then no more tests. We're done."

They tried to argue with me that it was "necessary", and that elevated lead levels can lead to issues with mental development, etc. Yeah, right. All they were doing was spending a lot of money, putting my son at an increased risk of getting a pathogen of some sort from a needle, and causing him a lot of stress and trauma. For nothing.

We switched doctors, and after a couple years, we could take Dan into the office without him screaming his head off. Plus, said 5 year old taught himself to read at the age of 3. Yep, that lead sure did a lot of damage, and it was worth the time and expense to keep sticking him with needles.

sigh

Yes, really high levels of lead cause problems. But the paranoia of things is getting out of hand -- I'm waiting for the generation when kids are put in a sterile, padded environment at birth, to "protect" them.

-Kevin
 
Reminds me of something a nurse told us during childbirthing classes my wife dragged me to...

A few years back the baby food industry came under heavy pressure to remove all the salt from the baby foods they sold. Since anything related to babies is REALLY hanging out in the wind and is the first target of lawsuits, the baby food companies snapped to and said "you betcha" and took ALL the salt out of baby foods immediately.

Turns out that a lot of babies started having health problems and nobody could figure out why. After a few months, some tests came back and the results correlated nationwide, and the FDA doctors realized what the problem was-- insufficient salt in the babies' diets, because ALL the salt had been removed from baby food!

SO, then they did some studies and issued guidelines to put the salt back into the baby food so the babies didn't get sick... :rolleyes::bangpan:

God save us from the BUREAUCRATS!!!! :bangpan::bangpan::bangpan:

OL JR :)
 
It's called "junk science"

It is caused by stupid people

(and I better quit before I start something)
 
You are using common sense. You are being reasonable and practical. You'll be lucky if you could run for dogcatcher.

As an employee of a state agency I can attest that reason, sense and practicality are not considerations when it comes to rules and regulations.


:bang:
 
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