📖 Glossary, Concept
What is an oem?
Original Equipment Manufacturer, the part made by or for the appliance brand, as opposed to an aftermarket copy.
An OEM part is the one the manufacturer specifies. Aftermarket parts are made by third parties and vary enormously. Some are identical or better, some fail within months. For safety critical or hard to reach components, anything requiring a teardown to fit, or anything in a gas or high voltage circuit, OEM is usually the honest recommendation, because the labor cost of doing the job twice dwarfs the parts saving.
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