Smoke Tested & Ready For Your Enjoyment...

[markpj23]

OK so the FWD A/C unit had been tripping the breaker every now & then. No big deal ..... Let's have a look. Hmm, main electrical connections at the unit look fine, no loose lugs or anything. The seacock is open and the pump is not bound up.

OK let's reset that breaker and fire it up to see what we can see.... controls light up normally, press 'Cool' and see what we get. OK compressor starting, sounds normal.. pump may not be running.. let me climb down and see what the problem is... Holy @$#^% turn the breaker off quick!!

Not nearly as calamatous as Wheels' adventure, but exciting enough... Man these boards smell foul when this happens!! Some of you may recognize this as a CruisAir Logic Board Assembly for a Stowaway unit with SMX-II controls. Another $200 part added to the list...

[Sunspot Baby]

Electrical devices actually work on the power of compressed smoke. If you let the smoke out of any component, the entire device will cease functioning.

George

[ssullivan]

SUCKS that the fuse on the board didn't blow instead of whatever component fried there in the picture. Well, at least you're back to it.

[Pura Vida]

Burn In is not supposed to leave soot.

[Alan Wheeler]

Awww come on, is that all you can do??? ;-) Add some spice to life, place a nail across the fuse and se what can really light up ;-)

Nice to see the $50 components on the board saved that 10c fuse. It could have been much worse. ;-)

[senormechanico]

From my perspective of a retired electronics tech, I'd venture a guess that it got salt water (or at least fresh) or a soft drink spilled on the board. It looks obvious that the fire started at the bottom of the board, and probably a diode shorted which took out a resistor directly above it(that thing which turned white). Is that fuse on the bottom right the proper one? I suspect not.

A good tech might be able to clean it up and fix it cheaper than buying a new one. I'll bet most of the parts are just fine after they get a bath.
Run the board through the dishwasher with some soap and dry it thoroughly. Really.

Steve B.

[ssullivan]

I'm with Seniormechanico on that one. I agree completely that a trip to Radio Shack for the proper blown components, a soldering gun, the proper fuse and a little luck will have this board up and running again. I did that with a VHF radio I had that blew a resistor in a similar fashion.

Came right back to life after I replaced the resistor.

Was the power hooked up correctly (polarity?)

[senormechanico]

Sean,
You haven't been to Radio Shack lately. All the ones I've been in lately have almost no components at all. All they sell now is TV's, DVD players and remote control toys. Stuff like that.
When you're out on an island as I am, it's really a pisser when you need some small bits. I have to order online, usually with a $25 minimum + shipping!
Grrr!!


Steve B.

[ssullivan]

Yeah, that's true. They mostly did stop carrying all the good stuff.

I did find one out here in Long Island though that was excellent!! I needed a buzzer for my bilge's high water indicator (it was just an indicator light in a spot where you couldn't see it). The Radio Shack had those pull out drawers with any manner of comonents. I was sure to tell the manager how happy I was to see these components at one of the stores.

I guess now, people have to order things online instead.

[sluissa]

Don't mean to hijack the thread any farther, but yeah, I'm trying to set up my ham radio rig here at home and radio shack has been practically no help to me. These days they just sell cell phones, high tech gadgets, a FEW computer networking devices and cables, and if you're lucky may have a few actual electrical components somwhere in the back of the store, although rarely what you would need. I've been lucky to find some people who are generous with their old spare parts and found a few places online with good deals.

[markpj23]

Since CruisAir has the schematic for this board on-line I just may try to fix it myself. As for the parts stuff, I find Jameco Electronics on-line is my best bet. Too many of the Radio Shack stores now do not stock the components they used to...

In the meantime I'm swapping out the entire unit with a factory refurb one I got on eBay for a steal. Minor differences are aggravating.. the original unit is circa 1992 and they've redesigned them since. New unit is the same capacity except now the unit is smaller (length/width), the condensate drain fitting on the pan is not in the same spot, etc.. etc.. Nothing's ever easy. But I'll make the mods I need and it'll do fine. Then I'll go through the old one and swap out the aft cabin unit with it. As good an excuse as any to go through these 15 yr old units and hopefully not worry about them for another few years.

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Since CruisAir has the schematic for this board on-line I just may try to fix it myself. As for the parts stuff, I find Jameco Electronics on-line is my best bet. Too many of the Radio Shack stores now do not stock the components they used to...

In the meantime I'm swapping out the entire unit with a factory refurb one I got on eBay for a steal. Minor differences are aggravating.. the original unit is circa 1992 and they've redesigned them since. New unit is the same capacity except now the unit is smaller (length/width), the condensate drain fitting on the pan is not in the same spot, etc.. etc.. Nothing's ever easy. But I'll make the mods I need and it'll do fine. Then I'll go through the old one and swap out the aft cabin unit with it. As good an excuse as any to go through these 15 yr old units and hopefully not worry about them for another few years.

Yeah, they should last a pretty long time. They do have quality components (other than the electronics that went on you). The main failure point will be the pump that supplies raw water rather than the unit itself.