Repairing Eb8 Blown Triac

[TORX]

The story goes a little like this....

Last night I noticed that my tank temp was abnormally high at 81; my tank is set to 78-79. I figured it was just the ambient and that the plumbing goes under my house which is warm as well. Basically...I did not think anything of it.

Shortly after, I went into my storage room and before I turned the light on in the room, I noticed a glow in my sump. My heater was ON. I quickly logged into my Apex and found that the outlet was in AUTO and the status was OFF, programming was correct. Only it was obviously ON as I could see the light was on, I even switched it to OFF and it stayed ON. This is one of the main reasons that I run 2 heaters where one no its own can not over heat my tank. Both my heaters have their own control as well and that is set at 81 to avoid any conflicts with my Apex programming.

So I checked out their forum and ended up emailing support. Basically it is a mechanical issue that needs to be repaired. The only problem is that the power bar is 4 years old and well out of warranty. A little more in-depth is that the TRIAC on outlet 7 was blown (there are TRIAC outlets on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 while 4 and 8 are mechanical relays). When a TRIAC blows, it stays in the ON position and needs to be replaced. You can test this easily by unplugging the 120V POWER DISCONNECTED and all AQUABUS, use an ohm meter and measure between the power and return pins on the outlet. A good TRIAC will read open a shorted one will be closed/beep. I tested and confirmed that when unplugged it was still closed.

Although I have 3 EB8's, I do not have any spares and they are too far apart to consolidate them while I send one away for repairs. So I am stuck with needing to rewire the fish room, buy an EB8 and send this in for repair (approx $40 USD plus shipping both ways to the US), buy a new one and trash this one, or try and fix it myself. Well we all know me and off to google for information. I found a great thread on R2R Repairing EB8 blown TRIAC and figured what the hell. You can by a 10 pack off ebay for a whopping $4 or so but up to 6 weeks to get here. You can get them cheap online in other locations for cheap, but shipping rapes you. Then I remembered I have an old style DC8 and what do you know...they have the same TRIAC chip.

Off to dissect the DC8 and steal some components. Muahaha....

 

[TORX]

I used an old DC8 for parts. This is the disassemble of the DC8. Start out by removing the 4 screws on the top and 4 screws on the bottom as well as the 3 on the faceplate as well as the fuse nut and then remove the back.

Then you have to remove the board. This is a tedious task and I most definitely swore A LOT. There are 2 pins on each outlet that you need to depress to release from the outlet face. The problem is that you basically have to do it to all 8 outlets at the same time. I am sure they have a special jig or tool to do this there. Me...i used a fork and some pressure to slowly separate all 8 outlets. Here is a pic of it after I removed the plate and put it back together as it is almost impossible to see originally.

My fancy tool to depress 2 tabs at once.

I did manage to get it all apart.

From there I remove the 3 screws and nuts from the heat sink

And now to remove a TRIAC. 2 of them are mounted back to back. The heatsink separated them

Warmed up the solder iron. I threaded a zip tie through the hole on the TRIAC to put pulling force on it as I warm the solder on the other side and will be able to pull it out without floundering with wick.

Then I warmed the 3 pins from the bottom while pulling and it came out nicely.

Next I think I will remove the others while I have this gutted and tomorrow open up my EB8, remove the dead TRIAC and install this one....

To be continued...

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Luke.]

Haha nice one Mark! I guess it pays off to keep stuff kicking around , hope it's a easy repair for ya .

 

[TORX]

Haha nice one Mark! I guess it pays off to keep stuff kicking around , hope it's a easy repair for ya .

Easy...technically yes. My finger tips are numb right now seeing that it is the first one I ever opened and it took lots of persuading to get everything apart. At least I learned a few things and will be able to get into the EB8 much easier.

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Luke.]

Yeah It looked complicated for a guy like me lol but your expertise makes it sound so easy

 

[TORX]

Yeah It looked complicated for a guy like me lol but your expertise makes it sound so easy

Thank you for the kind words.


And like that...i now have 6 tested and good TRIAC switches.

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Salty Cracker]

Do you happen to have the part number on those triacs so that the rest of us that are now terrified of blowing a triac can order a few?

(also, why do you not have an email alarm on your tank for temp??)


I have 3 heaters all on one plug, my theory was that if temp spiked, it would kill all of them, never thought they would install "short to open" triacs in there, but on the plus side I can just move the heaters to another plug. WTF are you running in all of those outlets that you don't have a spare??

 

[TORX]

Do you happen to have the part number on those triacs so that the rest of us that are now terrified of blowing a triac can order a few?

(also, why do you not have an email alarm on your tank for temp??)


I have 3 heaters all on one plug, my theory was that if temp spiked, it would kill all of them, never thought they would install "short to open" triacs in there, but on the plus side I can just move the heaters to another plug. WTF are you running in all of those outlets that you don't have a spare??

HERE are the ones that are recommended, but you can search ebay for the same and get them for a few dollars free shipping. This place has a base ship rate of $20USD for less then $100 order. So even 1 would be $21.43USD. I have 7 spares now if you want me to mail you 2 for the price of a stamp.

I do have one, only it is set for 81 and the tank was 80.9 when I saw it. The heaters are set to 81 as well. So I am double protected. Even at that, I would look at the alarm and turn off the outlet assuming that the heater shut off when it didn't. I also have a high temp action that shuts down my skimmer, lights, heaters and circ pumps if it hits 84. Basically only my return pump will run.

In my fish room I run the return, skimmer, 2 heaters, MJ1200 for mixing tank, kamoer doser, sump light, and my biopellet reactor (not hooked up right now). I could go without it with just regular power bars if I really needed to.

 

[Salty Cracker]

It actually might be cheaper than a stamp to get 10 on them shipped around the world, gotta love China http://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-BTA16...608574&hash=item488abdd7f2:g:Ax4AAOSw32lYroTn

 

[kapelan]

.....
In my fish room I run the return, skimmer, 2 heaters, MJ1200 for mixing tank, kamoer doser, sump light, and my biopellet reactor (not hooked up right now). I could go without it with just regular power bars if I really needed to.

That's the the reason why it was burned out.
On these hot days triac was just overheated.

 

[Josh]

If you keep getting triacs burn out from overheating try using the triac to operate a small relay and let the relay handle the load. Can get cheap enclosed plastic/glass relays for 10-15 dollars. All the triac would be responsible for is pulling in the coil on the relay which is peanuts.

Good on ya for getting right in there and fixing it though

 

[SamB]

Mad skills @TORX !
Bravo
Over my head and I would never attempt such an operation but for those of the reefers who are on the fence about such things, you've given some guidance and mentorship. You are a great example to us all !

 

[TORX]

It actually might be cheaper than a stamp to get 10 on them shipped around the world, gotta love China http://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-BTA16...608574&hash=item488abdd7f2:g:Ax4AAOSw32lYroTn

True enough with our lovely Canada Post rates. I would have done it, I could have waited, but this is more fun...so far

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[TORX]

And I seem to be wrong. The DC8 has a BTA12 600BW chip and the EB8 has a BTA12 6CWG chip. I did install it and the powerbar did not work at all. As soon as I removed the chip it worked again. Off to eBay i go I guess. It sucks that I have to take it all apart again in a few weeks.

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[TORX]

Or...I can just admit that I am a dumb ass. After I replaced the chip, I put it all together, plugged it in and the status light did not come on. !@#$. So I took it all apart to recheck and everything was right...and it was. I took out the replacement chip and plugged it in and the light came on. I put the original bad chip in and the light came on. I put in a new replacement chip in and the light came on. I put the first replacement chip back in and the light came on. Hrmmm....!@#$...WTF. So I started assembling it again. I got the board back on the faceplate and put all the plastic outlet covers back on. Then plugged it in and the status light was OFF. I had not touched any wires or anything...why the hell isn't it working again?!?!?

Oh wait...The LED leads were bent and apparently I did not align the LED diode with the small clear window to see the light when the cover is on. I seriously just spent over an hour, took it all apart, swore a lot, probably almost cried and tested multiple TRIAC's for no reason as the first replacement worked...only the LED diode was not aligned so I could not see it.

All back together again and working. The outlet is responding to my programming and manual changes are working. Total repair time would have been an hour if I had not thought I messed up. Total cost $0 using tools and parts I already had at home and I still have 5 replacement TRIAC's. Pics to come.

 

[TORX]

Victim...

Removed the back. Close up of the outlet and tabs that you need to pop like the DC8.

Separated the outlet cover from the board.

Outlet cover has tabs locking it into the face. I placed some tape to help protect the face plate.

Not too bad. Some chipping but it is only the second time doing this. Plus most will be hidden with the outlet cover when I re assemble.

Remove the heatsink just like the DC8 and removed the old chip. I put the new chip in and used the heatsink nut and bolt to hold the chip in place and also so that when I put the heatsink back on the holes will be aligned.

Heatsink back on. I reversed the way the heatsink nuts and bolts, so much easier to work with and hold the nut.

The bent diode that led to me disassembling the whole thing for a second time. Straighten that bad boy and be sure it lines up with the faceplate

We have power

Sent from my SM-G925W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Nonuser]

Well you're certainly persistent. its nice when you can fix stuff at home.

 

[TORX]

Well you're certainly persistent. its nice when you can fix stuff at home.

You are right there. Kids were great and left me alone during the frustrating stages lol. Kept a fire extinguisher on hand just in case as well though. LoL