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Now then boys and girls .. as you know .. I've long championed the cause of fixing all our fine plant for less when it goes wrong. Valiantly I fight to keep the pounds or Euros in our pockets and not the feckless greedy dealers' . But some are devious, and some are sly. Some employ tactics to make it as difficult as possible for you to hang onto your cash.
When their products eventually fail, through the use of cheap components, or poorly engineered parts, some feckless dealers will milk you dry of your hard earned cash in an utterly needless and blatant manner, expecting us to keep paying over the odds for their ridiculously priced spares. Here we have a classic example of a dealer sticking it on you like you wouldn't believe, where their mark up is at least 160% .. yes .. 160%
and it makes my blood boil. When I buy a product such as an excavator, I expect the manufacturer to back their product up, not charge exorbitant rates for their engineering incompetence, and laugh in the face of their customers when their product fails ... clearly they think we are idiots who will pay at any cost ?
Not so ... and yet again I am calling Volvo out on this one, or SMT as they have now rebranded as, in the UK.
Here's the problem and it is not an uncommon one
IMG_0337[1].jpg
This is the ignition switch from an EC15, somehow a customer snaps the top section out of the lock barrel, probably because he thumps down into the operators seat with something bulky in his right hand trouser or jacket pocket, which hits against the key head, and snaps the lock. Then he tries to start the machine, but because the top of the barrel is now missing the shaft of the key is not supported as its twisted round, and it snaps off at a point where the key is narrowly waisted. At this point the machine is immobilised, and I get the phone call for help !.
So the solution is simple ... call Volvo for a replacement part, well you could do, .... and pay £105 plus packing and VAT for a new lock assembly, when all you need is the barrel. Cunningly and as usual, there are no marks on the switch, so you cannot cross reference it, but fortunately there is the internet, and this forum.
A brief search came up with this company and a possible match for the switch
https://www.htsspares.com/catalogue/...-bomag-manitou
and you can see the price of it ... £40.62 ... compared to £105 at Volvo .. for the SAME part. However they are not quite the same, if you turn them over the connections are slightly different as Volvo uses connectors unique to its self unsurprisingly.
IMG_0341[1].jpg The one on the left appears to be a JCB crossmatch, the one on the right the Volvo one
Perhaps you can see where this is going ?
You can pop the switches apart and they split into 3 sections ....
IMG_0340[1].jpgIMG_0342[1].jpg
Dont worry about orientation of the rotary parts, you can't mix them up, and the three clips round the outer body of the switch are sized differently.
Then its simply a matter of attaching your new top to your existing key base and bobs your Auntie
IMG_0344[1].jpg
Jobs a good 'un.gif "thumbs up")
Now I know you could argue that you could fit any old switch in there, and yes you could, but to preserve the make up of the machine and have it functioning the way it should, I prefer to keep parts as close to original as possible. The only snag so far, is the fitted switch is a four position where as the Volvo one is only 3, so you get a dead zone after the start position were you to keep turning the key further, but there is greater resistance to get it there, so this fix feels quite natural, and works 100%.
And there we have it .. another few bob saved for the poor impoverished plant man , and one in the eye for the greedy dealer sharks, sure, I know they will get their pound of flesh eventually ... but not today
When their products eventually fail, through the use of cheap components, or poorly engineered parts, some feckless dealers will milk you dry of your hard earned cash in an utterly needless and blatant manner, expecting us to keep paying over the odds for their ridiculously priced spares. Here we have a classic example of a dealer sticking it on you like you wouldn't believe, where their mark up is at least 160% .. yes .. 160%
and it makes my blood boil. When I buy a product such as an excavator, I expect the manufacturer to back their product up, not charge exorbitant rates for their engineering incompetence, and laugh in the face of their customers when their product fails ... clearly they think we are idiots who will pay at any cost ? Not so ... and yet again I am calling Volvo out on this one, or SMT as they have now rebranded as, in the UK.
Here's the problem and it is not an uncommon one
IMG_0337[1].jpg
This is the ignition switch from an EC15, somehow a customer snaps the top section out of the lock barrel, probably because he thumps down into the operators seat with something bulky in his right hand trouser or jacket pocket, which hits against the key head, and snaps the lock. Then he tries to start the machine, but because the top of the barrel is now missing the shaft of the key is not supported as its twisted round, and it snaps off at a point where the key is narrowly waisted. At this point the machine is immobilised, and I get the phone call for help !.
So the solution is simple ... call Volvo for a replacement part, well you could do, .... and pay £105 plus packing and VAT for a new lock assembly, when all you need is the barrel. Cunningly and as usual, there are no marks on the switch, so you cannot cross reference it, but fortunately there is the internet, and this forum.
A brief search came up with this company and a possible match for the switch
https://www.htsspares.com/catalogue/...-bomag-manitou
and you can see the price of it ... £40.62 ... compared to £105 at Volvo .. for the SAME part. However they are not quite the same, if you turn them over the connections are slightly different as Volvo uses connectors unique to its self unsurprisingly.
IMG_0341[1].jpg The one on the left appears to be a JCB crossmatch, the one on the right the Volvo one
Perhaps you can see where this is going ?
You can pop the switches apart and they split into 3 sections ....
IMG_0340[1].jpgIMG_0342[1].jpg
Dont worry about orientation of the rotary parts, you can't mix them up, and the three clips round the outer body of the switch are sized differently.
Then its simply a matter of attaching your new top to your existing key base and bobs your Auntie
IMG_0344[1].jpg
Jobs a good 'un
Now I know you could argue that you could fit any old switch in there, and yes you could, but to preserve the make up of the machine and have it functioning the way it should, I prefer to keep parts as close to original as possible. The only snag so far, is the fitted switch is a four position where as the Volvo one is only 3, so you get a dead zone after the start position were you to keep turning the key further, but there is greater resistance to get it there, so this fix feels quite natural, and works 100%.
And there we have it .. another few bob saved for the poor impoverished plant man , and one in the eye for the greedy dealer sharks, sure, I know they will get their pound of flesh eventually ... but not today
.gif "thumbs up")
.gif "grin")
time for supper .. Earl grey Hot !
.........
.. I should include myself in that ofcourse 
........ they walk amongst us 
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