New key switch. - Pure Crap

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

 I needed to replace my key switch in my B-80 and I was setting the five wire plug on the backside of the switch when I noticed I did not hit all five tabs on the switch!  I pulled the plug off and boom - the entire new switch fell apart !  Not a happy camper!

Edited February 4, 2023 by Lane Ranger

[ebinmaine 67,464]

Where's that one from Lane?

 

I've had good luck with Toro brand or major parts store brands like Standard, BWD, Echlin, definitely Cole Hersee.  

 

 

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

45 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Where's that one from Lane?

 

I've had good luck with Toro brand or major parts store brands like Standard, BWD, Echlin, definitely Cole Hersee.  

 

 

J & N  California.  Junk and No good.  I used my  old Indak  and plugged in the five wire plug into back of the switch tight before replacing in the B80 dash. 
 

I mounted tractor, moved choke and throttles and turned the key.  Started right up just like it us to do.   
 

I must be loosing the wheel horse sense I use to have!   Loose  wire connector must have been the problem!  
 

 

[ri702bill 8,318]

That type of product failure looks familiar..... when we switched housing suppliers.

One of the "Legacy" product lines at Pollak was the crimped zinc diecast Ignition Switches - been around since the early 1900's. I was assigned the task to design and replace some well worn closing die parts - there were no drawings, just an even worse spare tool. Production cannot stop, cannot shut the line down....

Luckily, my boss at the time had some hands-on experienced and explained how the compound curvature shape had to "roll" and "pack" the material at the same time without making stress cracks.

Designed the tool - it worked fine...UNTIL ... the "CBC" (Corporate Bean Counters) got the bright idea to de-source the present supplier and switch to that provided from some land offshore.

They started to make new parts to be tested - ALL the samples fell apart during vibration testing....

I get summoned, along with my new boss, to a panic meeting - the head of Quality is DEMANDING that I stop what I'm doing and get a new tool made ASAHP that will successfully close these parts that crack  I explain it is the product, not the process, take a few of the old housings you have and repeat the test, The old ones passed fine. Seems the new vendor used a different grade on zinc alloy in their product, not the grade specified on our product print - the CBC were not happy - tough!!!

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

Thanks for sharing this information.  My dad was an industrial blacksmith and then taught and demonstrated traditional blacksmithing for 35 years.   He often said that the progress of the bean counters (CBC as you say) s about more money not more quality.  The Old Indak zinc housing design worked (and still works) well!  

Edited February 4, 2023 by Lane Ranger

[ri702bill 8,318]

48 minutes ago, Lane Ranger said:

Thanks for sharing this information.  My dad was an industrial blacksmith and then taught and demonstrated traditional blacksmithing for 35 years.   He often said that the progress of the bean counters (CBC as you say) s about more money not more quality.  The Old Indak zinc housing design worked (and still works) well!  

Absolutely agree with your Dad. It's all about the almighty buck... and sometimes it backfires on them.

One thing I learned quickly when i left my prior Engineering position (they closed) at a small privately owned Company and took a position working for what was our largest global customer - in a publicly traded company, the upper crust and the Shareholders NEVER have a bad day - some folks way down the food chain have it for them.... 

[WHX?? 48,815]

17 hours ago, Lane Ranger said:

J & N  California

Was this off an auction site Lane? I recently got a carb for a cutoff/ chain saw off it and it was junk. Raised a complaint with the seller and they promptly refunded and was told they didn't want the carb back.

I guess what I'm saying is let the seller know so they have the chance to make good on it and or quit selling them. 

[ebinmaine 67,464]

9 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

Was this off an auction site Lane? I recently got a carb for a cutoff/ chain saw off it and it was junk. Raised a complaint with the seller and they promptly refunded and was told they didn't want the carb back.

I guess what I'm saying is let the seller know so they have the chance to make good on it and or quit selling them. 

I'll second that.  

[squonk 41,097]

I blame a lot of it on the materials things are being made out of for the past 10 years or so. We just had a big humidifier header rot out at work. It is 8 years old. We have heat exchangers and other humidifier headers 20 yrs old and older using the same steam with no issues at all. Can't wait to see the price tag on this one! 

[ri702bill 8,318]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

I blame a lot of it on the materials things are being made out of for the past 10 years or so

You got that right, Mike... I have sat in on way too many meetings and conference calls with customers back in my Automotive OE days listening to the 2 way arguement over a TENTH of a penny cost savings on using a lesser material or a cheaper colorant in a molded plastic part!!! All these partial pennies add up when you are producing 2+ million widgets a year....

My favorite was listening to the bickering as to how that $0.001 cent savings was going to be SPLIT percentage wise between us and the customer !!!! This would drag on for a while - my Department Manager was a real cut-up, had an irreverent comment for just about everything... He nudges my elbow and tells me "Gee, you'd think they were trying to hammer out the "Recipe for Whirled Peas" or something !!

Edited February 4, 2023 by ri702bill

[gloubigoulba 87]

hello , A key switch is a key switch : They have all same way to work . A generic one is better than oem one .Difficulty is to cut wires and connect them in the right way. It's  easy with a minimum of electrical knowledge or a good electrician friend Lol !  I shoud use one with screw on plugs if needed . That's the way not to have connection problem . 

I' m a trucks ,tractors etc electrician but can't help u , my arms are not longer enough Ahahahah!!

 

[Lane Ranger 10,968]

Surprise. Surprise!

 

I opened up my computer this am to read emails etc.  and look what appeared!

 

All I did was give a bad review! I did not ask for $$ back!  Got a refund on switch.  Note it says “fits Stens Indak “ and “fits Toro”. But it isn’t made by any of them!

 

 

[Handy Don 12,217]

On 2/4/2023 at 10:19 AM, ri702bill said:

My favorite was listening to the bickering as to how that $0.001 cent savings was going to be SPLIT percentage wise between us and the customer !!!!

Early in my career (1980’s) a product that our team created reduced the cost of an operation from $10 to $1 with improved quality. For a typical contract, the company would perform at least 100,000 of these operations.

So the direct costs were now $1.

The sales people heralded a wonderful 50% price cut to the customers from $10 to $5 and the customers were delighted.

Management kept $3 per operation making them delighted.

Our team's budget got $1 for each operation for the first year and we were delighted (bonuses) so we had incentive to come up with more cool stuff (and we did).

It was a great lesson in value vs. cost pricing!

[ri702bill 8,318]

4 hours ago, Lane Ranger said:

Surprise. Surprise!

 

I opened up my computer this am to read emails etc.  and look what appeared!

 

All I did was give a bad review! I did not ask for $$ back!  Got a refund on switch.  Note it says “fits Stens Indak “ and “fits Toro”. But it isn’t made by any of them!

 

 

AND as long as they did not hack your Paypal account, then you're good to go!!!!

[ri702bill 8,318]

On 2/6/2023 at 2:48 PM, ri702bill said:

 

AND as long as they did not hack your Paypal account, then you're good to go!!!!

 

 Awhile back, 10 or more years ago, folks were using their Paypal Accounts as a "savings" account - it paid a higher interest rate than banks and credit unions - BUT it was not insured.

Quite a few accounts got hacked, wiped out, and the real folks had no recourse to recoup their loses....

Paypall addressed this - I still believe your funds are at risk, not insured. But they limited the amount you can have, but no more interest...

[ebinmaine 67,464]

11 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

 

 Awhile back, 10 or more years ago, folks were using their Paypal Accounts as a "savings" account - it paid a higher interest rate than banks and credit unions - BUT it was not insured.

Quite a few accounts got hacked, wiped out, and the real folks had no recourse to recoup their loses....

Paypall addressed this - I still believe your funds are at risk, not insured. But they limited the amount you can have, but no more interest...

 

I still use PayPal on a very regular basis but I don't have any money in any accounts... 

[ri702bill 8,318]

2 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

I still use PayPal on a very regular basis but I don't have any money in any accounts... 

Ditto - a tip - do NOT link your Paypal to your Credit Card, unless it is used specificaly as a dedicated card for just that.

I opened a seperate savings account at the Credit Union for mine - keep about $6 in it, transfer money into it about 45 seconds before I pay for something with Paypal. Oh yeah, that $6 IS insured!!

Same goes if someone pays me thru Paypal - once the funds are there, I shuffle them off to the Credit Union into another insured account...

[rmaynard 15,449]

Two points I'll comment on. 

1. Quality. My daughter in law works for JLG (lifts). She is responsible for sourcing steel. They will not use any recycled or imported steel due to failures. Therefore, their equipment is top of the line and costs more. You can be sure that the materials used in those off-brand switches are not quality.

2. PayPal. I have used PayPal since they were know as X.com. Never any problems with them. I do not leave any more than $50 in my account. It's not worth the risk, and with online savings accounts now paying almost 4%, that's where my money goes.

 

We seem to have gotten off the subject of crap switches, so I'll say that I've never had any problems with ignition switches from NAPA.