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Thread Number: 83641
/ Tag: Ranges, Stoves, Ovens
Change the control board! Change the control board! |
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Post# 1079759 7/4/2020 at 10:04 (1,384 days old) by Paulg  (My sweet home... Chicago) |
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Just a personal observation...
For years I have seen many a technician replace control boards (aka computer boards, microprocessor boards etc.) on devices unnecessarily. I call it “throwing parts at a unit”. I do wish the trend would end. It seems that if a tech cannot determine what is wrong, then it HAS to be the control board! Yeesh! I remember years ago getting a call from a tech who had a convection microwave that would not reach preheat temperature. “ I replaced the thermistor, control board, fan, heating element and CHECKED EVERYTHING! Your product is bad!!! “ Yikes! The fella was in the home. “Did you check the line voltage while the oven was operating?” I asked. “Uh, no.” “Check it now with the oven running. What is the reading?” “Uh, 90 VAC” Y’all know the rest of that story. After some calls like the above I changed the first questions I would ask a tech having oven performance issues: “Is the oven in a mobile home or yacht?” The techs would laugh but you would be surprised at the crazy issues that resulted when the “home” was being powered by virtual extension cord. I actually wanted to ramp up the microwave oven control board exchange program as I would have bet a buck that at least half were still good. Still it wasn’t a good idea economically. This forum really leads the techs in the right direction which saves a lot of boards and tech’s monies. Comments? How do you get your newbie techs to stop throwing control boards at every repair? I remember one tech admitting that he ordered a control board for every repair as he didn’t want to find out it was bad after replacing some other part. Yikes. | ||
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| Post# 1079764 , Reply# 1 7/4/2020 at 10:29 (1,384 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod) | ||
Isn't terrible when you can diagnose the problem but the tech can't ?
Being in the restaurant biz for years you get a trained ear for different machinery noises. When I would put in a work order I would tell them what I thought the problem is and to bring specific parts just in case. I had about 80% accuracy on my diagnoses and the techs were always happy I could save them a bit of time. | ||
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Post# 1079796 , Reply# 2 7/4/2020 at 15:08 (1,384 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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| Post# 1079802 , Reply# 3 7/4/2020 at 15:38 (1,384 days old) by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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Post# 1079816 , Reply# 4 7/4/2020 at 17:10 (1,384 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay) |
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Troubleshooting | ||
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Post# 1079833 , Reply# 5 7/4/2020 at 19:07 (1,384 days old) by Lorainfurniture (Cleveland ) |
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Modern appliances are more computer than mechanical. If you can’t read a wiring diagram your sunk | ||
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Post# 1079880 , Reply# 6 7/5/2020 at 08:28 (1,383 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia) |
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Fisher and Paykel Smart Drive service manual used to say that over half of the control boards returned under their exchange program had nothing wrong with them. | ||
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Post# 1079883 , Reply# 7 7/5/2020 at 08:50 (1,383 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains) |
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Part of it is conditioning -  Early appliance electronics (consumer and pro) were AWFUL. Worse than that, actually - they were designed to be the weak point. Super expensive to replace, consumers would just by a new appliance. Today, the quality of the rest of the appliances has fallen whilst the boards' quality has, incredibly, improved markedly. Still, always, the most expensive component and, frequently, the easiest repair.
Sadly, the brilliant man who used to repair used appliances here in Cheyenne has retired and now we're stuck with the yank and replace youngster who took it over. | ||
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Post# 1080097 , Reply# 9 7/6/2020 at 18:37 (1,382 days old) by Paulg (My sweet home... Chicago) |
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Early days were tough
Part of my being persnickety about troubleshooting had a lot to do with my early days in a TV shop. I was told on the first day to never replace any more than was necessary AND be able to prove what you replace was faulty. All faulty parts were always returned to the customer. All warranty parts were held for 90 days. You were not hired to rebuild every set. Whatever came into the shop probably worked yesterday. Just find what is wrong today and repair it.
On top of that, it was very common for TV stations to send rigged TVs and other devices to shops to see what the shop replaced. We passed scrutiny in each rigged repair. However other neighborhood shops were a little overzealous with replacing parts and they ended up on TV with a big black eye to their reputation. We had to be very careful. To this day - even when working on units in the house or for a hobby repair, I find the (usually one) faulty component first and then decide what optional maintenance or parts replacement I find prudent. | ||
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Post# 1080159 , Reply# 10 7/7/2020 at 10:24 (1,381 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia) |
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fixing the customer what a good expression! I often find that, even where there is a genuine fault, it was caused by misuse. I am an amateur and generally I am repairing gadgets for my friends so I am careful not to offend, but I often have to tell people that they are doing it all wrong... | ||
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Post# 1080263 , Reply# 11 7/8/2020 at 00:20 (1,380 days old) by d-jones (Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh Area)) |
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As an aircraft mechanic the term we use to describe replacing parts until the problem goes away is "shotgunning." Aircraft parts are extremely expensive, so the practice is severely frowned upon. For example, an alternator for a Challenger 601 was $79,000 back in 2006 or 7. I'm sure it's gone up in price since then. Anyways, as a lead mechanic at a corporate aircraft maintenance facility at the Van Nuys Airport I had to know which of my guys were capable of properly troubleshooting and which guys weren't, then assign the work accordingly. It sounds a bit harsh, but I've seen things go catastrophically wrong because the wrong guy was given a task that was over his head. Some guys reach the limit of their capabilities changing parts, and surprisingly some will even screw that up.
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| Post# 1080792 , Reply# 12 7/12/2020 at 18:14 (1,376 days old) by statomatic (France) | ||
This sound familar
I'm HVAC tech for maintenance & commissioning, I see that almost everyday.
Commissioned a split high wall ac unit and got called back by the contractor after three months, asking to replace the control board of the unit and check the refrigerant charge as it didn't reach the temperature. I've opened the unit and seen the filters heavily clogged by fluff and dust, of course the unit worked fine after cleaning. Also found a funny issue on a VRF system with 9 indoor units and a main remote controller, the system works fine except the main remote controller. The contractor has replaced the main remote control without success, another guy replaced the nine indoor unit boards and the outdoor unit communication board without success. So they gave up then I came, inverted the two communication wires on the main remote controller and now it works... | ||
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Post# 1081162 , Reply# 13 7/15/2020 at 15:38 (1,373 days old) by Paulg (My sweet home... Chicago) |
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Nine PWBs plus remote control? | ||
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Post# 1081166 , Reply# 14 7/15/2020 at 16:21 (1,373 days old) by Paulg (My sweet home... Chicago) |
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Similarly: Change all the capacitors! Change them all!
Similarly, I see a lot of novice techs picking up vintage equipment and chopping out all the capacitors as if it is the smart thing to do in all cases.
Yes, I understand the mortality of wax and older capacitors. But doesn’t anybody do troubleshooting anymore? Two of my case histories. As a hobby I fix vintage stuff for my own fun. 1968 Admiral stereo. Hum in audio: Picked up this nice bookshelf stereo. Works fine, but low-level hum in audio. If I went to the internet they would think I was nuts for NOT chopping out EVERY capacitor and replacing it. And so I put the unit on the bench. One wire in the audio path was immediately next to the AC line to the power switch. Moved the audio wire, hum goes away. Place wire back into original position, hum returns. Redress wire, replace two lightbulbs and two years later, my new den stereo hasn’t skipped a beat. Case history #2. 1966 Admiral stereo (Chicago is Admiral territory) Believe it or not I picked this up as a virtual new-old-stock unit. Estate sale. Unit looks new. Cord still coiled. A relative of the estate says it never worked right so it was just put away. I bought it. One channel is dead. If I went to the internet they would think I was nuts for NOT chopping out EVERY capacitor and replacing it. Was the problem a capacitor? Yes. Would mass replacement of every capacitor have fixed it? No! Why? Because Admiral never installed the capacitor. It was left out. The unit never worked. I installed the missing capacitor and the unit worked perfectly. My rant is over. I hope trade schools become popular again so kids get the training they need. | ||
| Post# 1082205 , Reply# 17 7/24/2020 at 11:38 (1,364 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
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Gizmo, would that brand name vac be an Electrolux, or a Miele product? | ||
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