There's a dry joint somewhere on the board. I can take the board part way out, bend it and the steam boiler fills, does anyone know their way round the board enough to guess what's defective? I'm not educated in electronics but have an engineers logic on things, I've successfully repaired boards in the past with some guidance.
One thing I notice is between the Finder switch and a blue component is a 101 chip resistor which is noted as R2 and will be 100 ohm. It's got a crack right down the middle, I've put a meter across it and there's no resistance yet the machine works when the Gicar is cool, could it be arcing across? I'm wondering if this could be the intermittent fault? The closest resistor I have in my box of spares is 150ohm I tried running it in parallel but didn't fix the problem. I understand that the pair (150+100) would represent 60 ohm resistance but if the chip resistor is failing would the increase from 100 to 150 mean much? Bending the board by applying pressure to the 4 connectors for the solenoid/headers is quite specific to that corner and it bends about the center line of the board. I don't think it's the switch as I've swapped it out and the fault is the same. None of the connector spades which have double connection points to the board look in bad shape and passing a meter across them has not picked up any problem but it will be tricky to test as the board will cool quickly eliminating the fault. The transformer has 4 connection points, this wont affect the triggering of the switch will it? I have the option of just extending all the wires and mounting the control unit to the underside and it will stay cool and work normally, this is the cheap option, I just hate it when I know something isn't right and OCD kicks in. On Tuesday, 8 January 2013 00:36:32 UTC, Todd Salzman wrote: > > I agree with Ira. It sound like it is ready for a new board. > > Todd Salzman > Whole Latte Love > > On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 5:29 PM, Enders13 <[email protected]<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> Had the unit apart again, >> >> when it does not work there is no actuation of the Finder switch. I've >> swapped out the ground to the steam boiler to make sure that it's not part >> of the problem as it was dulled and the casing cracking. >> >> The boiler stopped auto filling so removed the casing and pulled the >> controller free, I've ran it without the probe attached which should have >> the steam boiler filling. Started wiggling the connectors to the control >> unit and the switch kicked in and steam boiler starts filling, this was >> intermittent so I am suspecting some dry joint in the controller. I took >> the board out and one of the switches solenoid connectors for the switch >> looked like I might not have soldered it properly when replacing the Finder >> unit. So I cleaned it and re-soldered. It all works so put back together, >> seemed to work ok for a while then back to not working. Switch off, for an >> hour or so, unit cools and steam boiler fills again so still no further on. >> >> I'll pull apart in the morning and run it with the control unit >> completely out of the unit and see if the problem arises. I can't see any >> obvious dry joints on the board and I don't have the know how to test the >> board which in itself would be problematic when the problem is not >> permanent. >> >> Do you have a reliable source for the cigar unit or preferably a more >> modern unit that will do the same job. I've found a place in Germany >> selling the same model as my B2 but the Gicar website is rubbish and >> doesn't show it hence me hoping there's a modern alternative. >> >> Thanks. >> >> >> On Monday, 7 January 2013 05:08:21 UTC, Ira wrote: >>> >>> At 01:30 PM 1/6/2013, you wrote: >>> >So it's back to the drawing board. I doubt it's the water level >>> >probe as it works for a while after steam boiler is up to pressure. >>> > >>> >There is a ground that goes to the steam boiler could this affect >>> >the grounding of the level probe? >>> >>> If you pull the sensor wire and it doesn't start filling than the >>> Gicar box is likely the problem. >>> >>> If you feel safe with the cover off, try running it with the cover >>> off so the Gicar box stays cooler. If that changes the way it works, >>> then likely the gicar box is dying. Also, if a small fan aimed at the >>> gicar makes the problem go away then you know the problem. >>> >>> Ira >>> >>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Brewtus" group. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/brewtus/-/FGsxtGioe2UJ. >> >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]<javascript:> >> . >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en. >> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/brewtus/-/1XEzSBkujMEJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en.
