Robobrew V3 1000W element died—suggestions?

[deadwolfbones]

Taking the high load off a circuit board is a common mod for cheap 3d printers. Their heated print beds are high amp for the cheap printed boards they typically come with.

It looks like there's enough space there in the base of the robobrew the fit an SSR and heatsink... You could use that power connection as an SSR signal instead. Install an SSR and remove a ton of the load from the printed board to up it's life. Would probably be a $20 mod if you have the wire handy.

Have to admit this is like sanskrit to me. Googling tells me a SSR is a solid state relay, but I have no idea how to go about wiring such a thing.

 

[IslandLizard]

I have a RoboBrew and I am going to take the heat off the board through a contactor. I have already had 1 RoboBrew replaced due to the fact that the board got fried. The vendor was quick to send me a new one, but it has the same board, so I am pretty sure that 5 brews in I would be in the same place with a fried board. They just can not handle the heat that is put out by the wires. If you go to the RoboBrew facebook USA page you will see all kinds of problems that people are having with the boards.

What part of the board got fried? Traces?

FWIW, an SSR should be used, not a contactor. I guess you'd need 2 of them, one for each element. Or use one SSR to always switch on both elements (wired in parallel).

 

[HarkinBanks]

Heat is the biggest issue with many of these enclosed devices. We are facing the same problems with the Brewie device and have rigged up small computer fans to cool the element connections.

This board should really be shielded from the elements. A muffin type fan would help things I suspect.

I'm going to open up my base and explore.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Opened up my bottom. Glad I did, my pump was completely off its mounting bracket. The nuts were just clanking around. Fixed it all back up.

There is quite a bit of room in there. You could easily wire in a computer fan to blow in cool air or blow hot air out.

Some pics:

 

[brewman !]

If I bought one of these things, I'd embed an RPi running CraftBeerPi and put a better pump on the outside.

That element looks a lot like an element from a radiant stove top. It would be easy to replace it with a 240V model.

If someone burns theirs out, I'll buy it. PM me.

 

[tracyk]

What part of the board got fried? Traces?

FWIW, an SSR should be used, not a contactor. I guess you'd need 2 of them, one for each element. Or use one SSR to always switch on both elements (wired in parallel).

The power from the plug to the relays, but I am using a double pole contactor instead of a solid state relay. There is not enough room for a heatsink in the bottom.

 

[IslandLizard]

Opened up my bottom. Glad I did, my pump was completely off its mounting bracket. The nuts were just clanking around. Fixed it all back up.

There is quite a bit of room in there. You could easily wire in a computer fan to blow in cool air or blow hot air out.

That loose pump is inexcusable. Now all those loose hanging wires being so close to the exposed heating elements is bit worrisome too. I wonder how they got UL certification with that.

 

[IslandLizard]

The power from the plug to the relays, but I am using a double pole contactor instead of a solid state relay. There is not enough room for a heatsink in the bottom.

I hope the contacter holds up. It depends on the amount of switching it need to do per hour x hours used.

 

[IslandLizard]

The power from the plug to the relays, but I am using a double pole contactor instead of a solid state relay. There is not enough room for a heatsink in the bottom.

I hope the contacter holds up. It depends on the amount of switching it needs to do per hour x hours used.

 

[deadwolfbones]

To circle back on this, I ended up completely removing the board, and yeah, it dead:

I bought a replacement board from Brewer Dude (who orders them from MoreBeer). They sent me a V3.1 board, which isn't compatible with the V3.0 display I have. (Different pins on the ribbon cable.)

Nathan at Brewer Dude went above and beyond and ordered me a V3.1 display on his own dime, which should arrive today. I'll install it and let y'all know how it goes.

 

[IslandLizard]

To circle back on this, I ended up completely removing the board, and yeah, it dead:

A few burned out traces are easy to repair/replace/make better on boards like that, as well as failed components on the other side. Unless the problem rippled through the whole circuitry, then a total replacement may be the best course of action. And then you may run into compatibility problems as you noticed.

This kind of failure should not happen though!

 

[deadwolfbones]

The new boards are reportedly much improved w/r/t reliability, though I think only time can really confirm that. We'll see!

 

[IslandLizard]

The new boards are reportedly much improved w/r/t reliability, though I think only time can really confirm that. We'll see!

I sincerely hope so.
At least you're able to replace them yourself, instead of having to ship that whole unit back at your cost, as 'warranties' often demand.

I understand the need for updated revisions, sure, and they should be free replacements whenever the older one(s) exhibit problems.

Now if they aren't compatible with existing (older) parts in the machine, then the manufacturer should provide the extra needed parts as well, free of charge. The cost to the manufacturer for those replacement parts is relatively small, they're often only a small percentage of the listed dealer price after applying hefty markups. Keep that in mind.

 

[deadwolfbones]

If I had paid for the unit in the first place, I'd definitely be expecting free replacement parts. Since I didn't, I'm ok paying $35 or whatever to get it working again.

 

[IslandLizard]

If I had paid for the unit in the first place, I'd definitely be expecting free replacement parts. Since I didn't, I'm ok paying $35 or whatever to get it working again.

Oh yeah, it's still a bargain for ya.

 

[BrunDog]

To circle back on this, I ended up completely removing the board, and yeah, it dead:

I bought a replacement board from Brewer Dude (who orders them from MoreBeer). They sent me a V3.1 board, which isn't compatible with the V3.0 display I have. (Different pins on the ribbon cable.)

Nathan at Brewer Dude went above and beyond and ordered me a V3.1 display on his own dime, which should arrive today. I'll install it and let y'all know how it goes.

I don’t see anything wrong here :-0

 

[brewman !]

Throw in an RPi with CraftBeerPi on it. Bolt the SSR to the plate that closes off the the bottom, by the floor.

 

[deadwolfbones]

Circling back around on this one more time: I got the new display to go with the new board, and the unit is back up and running. Brewed a batch on it last weekend with no issues.