BB woes. Anyone know about electronics?

IainM · May 23, 2019

The connection to the element on my Bulldog Brewer has blown. The board looks kaput but the relays seem fine. Anyone know if I've any chance of finding a replacement and repairing it, or is the whole unit kaput? The controller panel works just fine. I was just about to put a brew on too.

LeeH · May 24, 2019

HB claim they carry all spares. Give them a call.

It looks like it failed due to a poor connection. High resistance equals heat. It may be repairable buy it’s impossible to say from a photo.

Gerryjo · May 24, 2019

There's certainly damage to that board due to excessive heat due to a bad connection and I bet it's smelling of cats p%@#.
I'm not 100% certain but if you were to contact the manufacturer themselves showing the damage cause and possible outcomes that may have happened regardless of warranty they may send you a replacement or offer a discounted item as this is a manufacturing defect that should be highlighted on used equipment as bad publicity is not a great seller.

foxbat · May 24, 2019

Is that the mains input plug that's scorched? It looks like it should be given the position on the board. If the damage is limited to broken tracks on the other side then it could certainly be repaired. How exactly would depend on an examination of the board. Do you know a qualified electrician?

Interesting to see the those two unpopulated footprints nearby. It looks like they were designed to hold a class X2 filter capacitor and a MOV. Both are safety components, one of which might (or might not) have prevented this and both omitted to save a few pence from the build cost.

IainM · May 24, 2019

Thanks all. I have no idea when it happened. It was working fine last time I used it, then yesterday I switched it on and the controller was working but it didn't heat up. No smell or bang that I noticed. It's the connection from the board to the heating element. I'll contact HB and see what they say. The damage on the back doesn't look so bad, so if HB can't help I'll check to make sure the element hasn't shorted then ask my sparky buddy to see if it's repairable.

Gerryjo · May 25, 2019

IainM said:
Thanks all. I have no idea when it happened. It was working fine last time I used it, then yesterday I switched it on and the controller was working but it didn't heat up. No smell or bang that I noticed. It's the connection from the board to the heating element. I'll contact HB and see what they say. The damage on the back doesn't look so bad, so if HB can't help I'll check to make sure the element hasn't shorted then ask my sparky buddy to see if it's repairable.

If the element had shorted you should see a blackened/blister on it.Its more likely that the connection at the board is the issue.

IainM · Jul 3, 2019

Well, if anybody is interested, HB sell replacement parts, and the PCB is a very reasonable £15+vat+shipping.

LeeH · Jul 3, 2019

Bargain

Oneflewover · Jul 3, 2019

IainM said:
Well, if anybody is interested, HB sell replacement parts, and the PCB is a very reasonable £15+vat+shipping.

I'll store that useful nugget of info somewhere.....

BB woes. Anyone know about electronics?

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BB woes. Anyone know about electronics?

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