...On imitation pressure switches

Greymarket suppliers are selling inferior copies of the PMN switch, which was originally designed by the late Pietro Cremaschi of Elettrotec in Milan. Since its foundation in 1977, Elettrotec has sold over 1,600,000 PMN pressure switches; specified by quality-conscious engineers and distributed to the UK market by PVL - Pressure Vacuum Level Limited. 

Elettrotec’s total quality manufacturing system is based on UNI EN ISO 9001:2000. Thanks to its high quality control, innovative engineering and advanced manufacturing capabilities the company’s switches have stood the test of time since they left Cremaschi’s drawing board in the late seventies. 

As a result, the Elettrotec trademark is now regarded as an industry standard for performance, accuracy and reliability in a wide range of sectors such as automation, hydraulics and pneumatics, food processing and packaging systems, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, medical equipment, sewage and water treatment, automotive manufacturing, fire prevention, heat exchangers and HVAC. 

The tiny PMN switch boasts a choice of diaphragm or piston seals, and zinc-plated-steel, stainless steel, or brass bodies. Despite its small size, the switch packs quite a punch with 0.1 to 300 bar adjustment ranges and the ability to handle over pressures of up to 600 bar. The PMN pressure switch comes with a 1/4" BSP standard thread as well as N/O (Normally Open) or N/C (Normally Closed) contacts. 

David Almond, head of sales and marketing at PVL warns customers, “Not all switches are made equal. In many industry sectors reliability is crucial, so an inferior copy just won’t do. We advise buying teams to be very careful when choosing switches for their applications,” explains Almond.