Control Panel on EC 45 Volvo

[kthompson]

First a thank you to Atco for looking out for me. I need all the help possible.

Second, anyone know what the push in switch on the bottom rear of the left arm is for? There is a cable in the same general area that runs to safety switch under the floor. No doubt it is a safety switch of some sort, probably what keeps it from cranking if the arm is down.

Still playing with the console.

Again thank you gentlemen.

 

[willie59]

First a thank you to Atco for looking out for me. I need all the help possible.

No problem bro. Stock has decided to join the "old buzzard club" along with me and OCR. I just have to catch him when he gets too far out on the limb.

 

[stock]

EEH! whats da young feller? You bloody whipper snappers gittin uppity? I learn ya when I git ya.

 

[kthompson]

EEH! whats da young feller? You bloody whipper snappers gittin uppity? I learn ya when I git ya.

A few years back learned a great lesson, ony when a person is comfortable with you with they joke with you.

I love it.

 

[willie59]

EEH! whats da young feller? You bloody whipper snappers gittin uppity? I learn ya when I git ya.

Ahh, Tis good for I there's a fair pail of water betwixt me and thee, else, my learnin should happen upon me hastily ta be shure.

Nevertheless, I got my eye on ya. :tong

 

[kthompson]

I found missed you guys in looking back at this post. Think I found the issue with display not working properly by happen chance. Had to replace the battery and for a while no problem at all. One day it dawn on me no problems and so went into trying to figure out what changed...the new battery. It worked fine for months and then let it sit for a while due to weather and time to do the work. Oh the issue was back. Then realized it must be there is a voltage need from the battery itself for the display to work. For did testing and if it sat and placed battery charger on it first for a while the display worked fine, if not it normally did after running 10 to 30 minutes which I feel was the time it took to bring the battery up to the voltage the display requires.

Hope this helps someone else. I can live with this now have a reason for it.
KT

 

[EC45]

I found missed you guys in looking back at this post. Think I found the issue with display not working properly by happen chance. Had to replace the battery and for a while no problem at all. One day it dawn on me no problems and so went into trying to figure out what changed...the new battery. It worked fine for months and then let it sit for a while due to weather and time to do the work. Oh the issue was back. Then realized it must be there is a voltage need from the battery itself for the display to work. For did testing and if it sat and placed battery charger on it first for a while the display worked fine, if not it normally did after running 10 to 30 minutes which I feel was the time it took to bring the battery up to the voltage the display requires.

Hope this helps someone else. I can live with this now have a reason for it.
KT

I have a very similar problem with my Volvo EC45 as described above. It is really intermittent - yesterday it wouldnt work at all & today suddenly its Ok. When not working, when the ignition is switched on, none of the electrics work - there are no ignition lights lit up and wipers and fan etc dont work - BUT the engine will start, will idle for a while and will then quit just like as if I had switched it off - but during this time none of the electrics work and the joy sticks are dead. When working, and the ignition switched on, all the ignition light light up and wipers fan etc work fine.
Really annoying problem - what could cause this to happen one day and then its fine the next? And then the next day its gone again?
And on the days it works (when the dash lights up and everything else works) it works great - will work all day. But next day, nothing. It hasnt been going now all week (engine starts Ok but electrics and levers dead) - when the igition is switched on, it lights only the green strip at the bottom of the dash and nothing else. By the way, all connections fuses etc fine and have been cleaned .

Anybody come across this before and what was the answer?

 

[Pedrod316]

I have a very similar problem with my Volvo EC45 as described above. It is really intermittent - yesterday it wouldnt work at all & today suddenly its Ok. When not working, when the ignition is switched on, none of the electrics work - there are no ignition lights lit up and wipers and fan etc dont work - BUT the engine will start, will idle for a while and will then quit just like as if I had switched it off - but during this time none of the electrics work and the joy sticks are dead. When working, and the ignition switched on, all the ignition light light up and wipers fan etc work fine.
Really annoying problem - what could cause this to happen one day and then its fine the next? And then the next day its gone again?
And on the days it works (when the dash lights up and everything else works) it works great - will work all day. But next day, nothing. It hasnt been going now all week (engine starts Ok but electrics and levers dead) - when the igition is switched on, it lights only the green strip at the bottom of the dash and nothing else. By the way, all connections fuses etc fine and have been cleaned .

Anybody come across this before and what was the answer?

faulty volvo ec35 control panel
Hi All

I have a 2006 volvo EC35 ,problem is sometimes the control panel wont fire up properly,the digits come up all funny or not at all,causing machine not to start,then the problem will go after you leave it for some time or sometimes if you give it a light tap,problem might go away and not happen for months or it could keep happening now and again for days ,it can also happen when your digging away then all power goes and comes backs couple seconds later but engine will be still running but nothing else works.

I have contacted volvo but they don't know either what is wrong apart from trying a new control panel at a cost of £1500 + vat! which i don't want to do unless its 100% that causing fault.

Has any one else had this problem or heard of it as i am completly stuck !?

 

[kthompson]

Here is what I have learned from my machine. It seems to do with the voltage. If the battery is the least bit down in voltage is when it has the issue. Had mechanic for another brand agree with my thoughts on that as the brand he worked on did same at a lower voltage than I am finding it with my machine. I first noticed it when I replaced the battery did not have the issue for a good while and then when did not use it for a month or so maybe two months it did it again. Tried putting battery charger on it the night before or even a few hours and had no problem. Also notice if had to run longer (at 1000 or so rpms) the longer it had not be used. It has been said maybe there is issue with the machine not producing the voltage needed, or some relay or such is now requiring higher voltage than it should. Try the batter charger over night before you use it and see if solves the issue, if so at least it will give you idea where to look. I do not think it is the control panel myself. I can switch mine on and wait for the display and if it will work when cranked up it displays properly. If it comes up odd then switch it off and sometimes just switching it back on will work. kt

 

[Pedrod316]

Here is what I have learned from my machine. It seems to do with the voltage. If the battery is the least bit down in voltage is when it has the issue. Had mechanic for another brand agree with my thoughts on that as the brand he worked on did same at a lower voltage than I am finding it with my machine. I first noticed it when I replaced the battery did not have the issue for a good while and then when did not use it for a month or so maybe two months it did it again. Tried putting battery charger on it the night before or even a few hours and had no problem. Also notice if had to run longer (at 1000 or so rpms) the longer it had not be used. It has been said maybe there is issue with the machine not producing the voltage needed, or some relay or such is now requiring higher voltage than it should. Try the batter charger over night before you use it and see if solves the issue, if so at least it will give you idea where to look. I do not think it is the control panel myself. I can switch mine on and wait for the display and if it will work when cranked up it displays properly. If it comes up odd then switch it off and sometimes just switching it back on will work. kt

Thanks for reply

I think if it was a voltage issue it would be a constant problem ,because you would have to switch something on (extra lights etc ) to cause a problem as machine is factory spec and nothing else has been added and only done 700hrs,one Volvo mechanic told me they suffer from bad earthing issues?think he said there is 6 earths but I could'nt find them all as handbook diagram is dreadfully so I'm hopefull this might be still a issue. The fault is so random it is hard to say what is causing issue as you can go for months with it working perfect then one day in that couple months it start/stops all day, so annoying

 

[Acivil]

I have the same problem with my EC 35! Glad to see I'm not alone! We have experienced 2 instances where it faulted so severely that it wouldn't run, the second of which was cured by a swift smack to the control panel, but it happens nearly every time the machine is started, nothing but --_-_--_ dashes, and sometimes other garble on the display... I am convinced it is moisture, because in the severe cold we had this winter, it worked fine, which led me to believe that when it gets cold enough even the moisture in the panel freezes, which causes the fault to vanish... but that's just my thought. I am also beginning to have another issue: the controls are getting a little stiff, or resistant, and there is a slight delay between actuation of the control, and the prescribed motion... I'm thinking hydraulic filter... any thoughts?

 

[kthompson]

Well I am back...the issue had been not been that bad, got use to cranking it up and letting it run at fast idle for a few minutes and the issue was gone for the balance of the day. But, it has now gotten to will stop working when it was working. I have asked and asked and moisture if best guess I am getting. One question for the others with same issue, is your cab enclosed or open? Mine is open and the last mechanic said the really confirms it for him. We have gotten a lot of rain this spring and summer and it was in a lot of it. He went on to say the issue is the moisture is moving in the control panel so the display varies. Hard to understand that for me.

So here is my now question: can we bypass the control panel? In my limited knowledge but experience it does not control really control anything only completes the circuit to energize the hyd solenoids and also such as has been noted the lights or horn. To me the biggest thing it does is acts as gauges for the functions of the machine. It seems to my limited knowledge it would be possible to install a switch to complete that circuit and then install gauges for the need of gauges and get away from this control panel. kt

 

[Pedrod316]

Well I am back...the issue had been not been that bad, got use to cranking it up and letting it run at fast idle for a few minutes and the issue was gone for the balance of the day. But, it has now gotten to will stop working when it was working. I have asked and asked and moisture if best guess I am getting. One question for the others with same issue, is your cab enclosed or open? Mine is open and the last mechanic said the really confirms it for him. We have gotten a lot of rain this spring and summer and it was in a lot of it. He went on to say the issue is the moisture is moving in the control panel so the display varies. Hard to understand that for me.

So here is my now question: can we bypass the control panel? In my limited knowledge but experience it does not control really control anything only completes the circuit to energize the hyd solenoids and also such as has been noted the lights or horn. To me the biggest thing it does is acts as gauges for the functions of the machine. It seems to my limited knowledge it would be possible to install a switch to complete that circuit and then install gauges for the need of gauges and get away from this control panel. kt

I was thinking about this to ,

Have you try'd this ,

When the control panel goes funny or machine stops, give the allan bolt that holds the cables plug/socket under the control box a turn or slacken it off and see what happens , this is what i do now when it starts playing up and away it goes,

What i have also done is taken control panel out off the cradle that holds it securely in place , therefor when it plays up you just need to lift it out with no stripping down required takes seconds to get going again.

Mine has a fully closed cab with no water/moisture getting into cab, i really cant see moisture getting into a sealed unit unless it has already been opened?

Hope this helps

 

[kthompson]

Pedrod, if you have fully enclosed cab think we can rule water out. One issue with moisture being issue that bothers me other than as you pointed out if the control box is sealed how does it get in there is: water itself will not conduct electricity. However if there is minerals in the water they will conduct electricity. Pure water is safe, sprinkle a little salt in it and different story. So if it is moisture what is the mineral in there?

As soon as I can will begin reviewing the wiring of the control panel and see if I can come up with something. I am at point of willing to taking volt meter and see if I can find which wires have voltage on them and figure it out that way.

Pedrod, the way you talk about moving the wires sounds like a bad connection there or broken joint or such. kt

 

[kthompson]

You know I do not believe in ghost, except with this problem. Have had machine under shelter for weeks if not months with not even being run in the rain. Issue went away. Well I ran it a week or so bad was caught in some light rain but not back enough to stop me with about 50 degrees and wind. Then two weeks later the issue is back. Has to be a moisture issue. Saturday while servicing the machine realized not the drive wheel but the one on the other large wheel has issue, either bearings are shot or maybe more as it does not run in "circle"! But did get it under shelter.

 

[Acivil]

I guess I'm going to take the plunge and order the new cluster. I can't deal with this anymore, it's too costly to sit and wait. I will update everyone once it's installed.

 

[kthompson]

Sure understand the aggravation, hard to believe how much it cost, price given me last week was just over $3,000.

 

[glastron97]

Control Panel on EC 35

Sure understand the aggravation, hard to believe how much it cost, price given me last week was just over $3,000.

Hello from NH. I"ve read all your posts and I can definitely relate to the frustration as well. I have a 2004 EC35 with enclosed cab, and been having the same issues as described in different posts here (runs fine and then stops, runs fine and then controls go dead (except the blade) but engine on, won't start at all and control panel looks like a christmas tree, etc.). I did think it was voltage as well because I would jumpstart and it would sometimes work. Replaced the battery with best available....worked a little, then started acting up. Jumpstarted and that did not help (wouldn't even crank, or it would do a 1/4 turn). Called Volvo dealer and requested field service.....It's never good when the guy shows up and he has to look thru the manual for 30 minutes before doing anything.... He eventually verified all earthing (6) and clean them up. Told me it should do it, or else it would be the Puma control..... It worked for a bit and then started acting up again. Now I;ll probably try and buy the Puma control box as well, which was quoted at just a bit over 3k....

A friend that has 3 excavators (small excavation company) says he had a imilar issue with a Cat,and it ended being just a faulty wire....That's a lot of wires to change to go by elmination process...I<ll check the web in France to see if parts could be cheaper...Will post back with findings

 

[Bp6179]

Hi All

Sorry to hear that every one is having problems with their control units, but guess what .....ME TOO!!!!
I have problem with an Volvo EC35, it won't start, on ignition I get 3 beeps, and a warning light below the boom slew indicator/switch, the Hydraulic Oil Temperature and the Engine Temperature lights are flashing red. There is No Error code on the Puma unit though, so I can't reference it to anything. There is a keypad for anti-theft code, but the red indicator is flashing (top right) which the book says "flashes when the machine can start without entering the code" When the machine was working I never had to enter a code. I had a guy look at it and he managed to start it by running a direct live to one of the relays under the seat. We ran it long enough for the water temp to increase but still the warning lights were on (Hydraulic oil and water) He thinks the Puma unit is knackered, any advice appreciated. I'm not sure what the hell is going on other than?

 

[Pedrod316]

Hi all

Has anyone solved this problem yet?

Mine still playing up

New puma to costly a gamble when not 100% sure that at fault?