Volvo EC15B cutting out

[Mattir]

It doesn't prove it really, because as I recall, they were looking for a way into the market for smaller excavators at the time, and wanted to expand their ever growing portfolio of products. They were not competitive with anyone in that sector up until that point. They kept the old Pel Job designs for a few years, and gradually Volvo'ised them , then redesigned them altogether.

I think they are a pretty decent company to work for, so I would imagine they took a fairly ethical position with such a merger, and as far as I know they are still using the old Pel Job factory in Belley in France for production. I visited it once many years back and it was quite dated, but none the less an impressive facility with some new production tecniques. Volvo also amalgamated a lot of the old Pel Job staff into its own UK operation

My friend has one of those b**wjobs... as he calls it

[Locofitter]

Does it ? .... its kinda rubbery this stuff .. not sure what its made of

Yeah, as long as it's variable temperature. Use it at work to do this exact job, usually set it at around 250oC.

[Muz]

On the matter of volvo buying smaller companies like pel job only proves the point of high competition in my mind tho. Having to buy off competitors like that..
What happened to pel job btw, did volvo shut down the entire line or was it just a new paint job?

It doesn't prove it really, because as I recall, they were looking for a way into the market for smaller excavators at the time, and wanted to expand their ever growing portfolio of products. They were not competitive with anyone in that sector up until that point. They kept the old Pel Job designs for a few years, and gradually Volvo'ised them , then redesigned them altogether.

I think they are a pretty decent company to work for, so I would imagine they took a fairly ethical position with such a merger, and as far as I know they are still using the old Pel Job factory in Belley in France for production. I visited it once many years back and it was quite dated, but none the less an impressive facility with some new production tecniques. Volvo also amalgamated a lot of the old Pel Job staff into its own UK operation

[Nobody]

Well .. Volvo is not a small company, how did it get that way ?. You always hear stories about how competitive the market place is, but when you look at companies such as Volvo, you know for sure they've made a decent enough profit to pay their tax and have enough left over to swallow up companies such as Pel Job, which is actually the original manufacturer of the machine in question here. I take your point ... but I'm not buying it . Now .. dont get me wrong , I paid my money to buy an EC15 (one of very many) believing it to be a good product .. and guess what ? It 'is' a good product BUT .... Volvo must know through their supply chains that there is clearly a fault with this part, due to the volume they sell .. my experience is beyond repute, in that, of the manyEC15's Ive owned , every one has had this part break down ... and to add insult to injury .. Volvo marks up the part massively .

And dont forget .. this is only a tiny component in a bigger picture of one machine, when you consider the VAST product range such as theirs ? .. where else are they shafting their customers ?

Absolutely agree with you that Volvo is shafting their customers in this case.
On the matter of volvo buying smaller companies like pel job only proves the point of high competition in my mind tho. Having to buy off competitors like that..
What happened to pel job btw, did volvo shut down the entire line or was it just a new paint job?

[Muz]

To make it easier for next time, hot air gun melts the potting out quite well. Good job.

Does it ? .... its kinda rubbery this stuff .. not sure what its made of

[Locofitter]

To make it easier for next time, hot air gun melts the potting out quite well.
Good job.

[Muz]

Ok Mattir this one is a 2008 with 1450 hours on it .. so its not exactly been worked hard

[Mattir]

Its quite variable .. never before 1500 hours but always before 3000 thats about as accurate as I can be Then you need to consider age .. I'll look and see what that machines age is and report back

Well, mine is just over 3000hrs might well need these advice rather soon. The machine was born in 2003 on a sunny afternoon

[Muz]

Do you have any hint / prediction on after how many hours does the piece of rubberelectronics fail?

Its quite variable .. never usually before 1500 hours but always before 3000 thats about as accurate as I can be Then you need to consider age .. I'll look and see what that machines age is and report back

[Mattir]

Well .. Volvo is not a small company, how did it get that way ?. You always hear stories about how competitive the market place is, but when you look at companies such as Volvo, you know for sure they've made a decent enough profit to pay their tax and have enough left over to swallow up companies such as Pel Job, which is actually the original manufacturer of the machine in question here. I take your point ... but I'm not buying it . Now .. dont get me wrong , I paid my money to buy an EC15 (one of very many) believing it to be a good product .. and guess what ? It 'is' a good product BUT .... Volvo must know through their supply chains that there is clearly a fault with this part, due to the volume they sell .. my experience is beyond repute, in that, of the manyEC15's Ive owned , every one has had this part break down ... and to add insult to injury .. Volvo marks up the part massively .

And dont forget .. this is only a tiny component in a bigger picture of one machine, when you consider the VAST product range such as theirs ? .. where else are they shafting their customers ?

Thanks Muz for valuable results through your Volvo investigations. Do you have any hint / prediction on after how many hours does the piece of rubberelectronics fail?

[Muz]

By reasonable I ment that machines today are very cheap to buy because of great competition and it's fairly easy to aquire machines for new companies.. Without todays strategy (that is needed to make money) I think we would have the complete opposite. Fewer producers with higher marked share and a lot less competition, resulting in much more expensive machines and all the consequences of that
But of course we will exploit all that is to be exploited

Well .. Volvo is not a small company, how did it get that way ?. You always hear stories about how competitive the market place is, but when you look at companies such as Volvo, you know for sure they've made a decent enough profit to pay their tax and have enough left over to swallow up companies such as Pel Job, which is actually the original manufacturer of the machine in question here. I take your point ... but I'm not buying it . Now .. dont get me wrong , I paid my money to buy an EC15 (one of very many) believing it to be a good product .. and guess what ? It 'is' a good product BUT .... Volvo must know through their supply chains that there is clearly a fault with this part, due to the volume they sell .. my experience is beyond repute, in that, of the manyEC15's Ive owned , every one has had this part break down ... and to add insult to injury .. Volvo marks up the part massively .

And dont forget .. this is only a tiny component in a bigger picture of one machine, when you consider the VAST product range such as theirs ? .. where else are they shafting their customers ?

[Nobody]

No it isnt .. by any means ..

Its part of the reason I started this forum, to expose the rip offs that go on in our industry . I could tell you many more stories about parts Ive paid thousands for that months later I've found for hundreds ? .. there are some companies that milk consumers ..KNOWING their products have failures .. I dont see why anyone who joins this forum should be one of those people taken advantage of

I honor your cause, and companies taking advantage this bad should've been illegal
On this scale we see here with the ec15 is way out of line, no question! When part price gets tenfold, shaming on producers are called for.

By reasonable I ment that machines today are very cheap to buy because of great competition and it's fairly easy to aquire machines for new companies.. Without todays strategy (that is needed to make money) I think we would have the complete opposite. Fewer producers with higher marked share and a lot less competition, resulting in much more expensive machines and all the consequences of that
But of course we will exploit all that is to be exploited

Ps. Forgot to take pics of the saw.. promise i will tho x)

[Muz]

Great write up Muz! You should make a "known diseases" book for heavy machinery

Thanks fellas

kinda sad, but also kinda reasonable.

No it isnt .. by any means ..

Its part of the reason I started this forum, to expose the rip offs that go on in our industry . I could tell you many more stories about parts Ive paid thousands for that months later I've found for hundreds ? .. there are some companies that milk consumers ..KNOWING their products have failures .. I dont see why anyone who joins this forum should be one of those people taken advantage of

[Nobody]

Great write up Muz! You should make a "known diseases" book for heavy machinery

I have to agree with you on the pricing of that part, horrific although with todays market strategy, as with cars, they dont make money selling machines, they make it on services and parts.. that there might as well be engineered to fail. kinda sad, but also kinda reasonable.

[Mattir]

Great work!