It's been one of those weeks.....
Oct 23, 2016 8:46:39 GMT
Post by tyrednexited on Oct 23, 2016 8:46:39 GMT
...for things to go t*ts-up.
I was away in the peripatetic property in the week.
Not only having to put up with visiting almost-Cheshire (now Greater Manchester); with the nights now turning colder, the required heating worked for about an hour on 230V, and then packed in.
The heating unit is around £2k's worth of combined space and water heating, and should function on gas and/or mains electric. Anyone who is caravan/motorhome savvy will know that these are generally installed for the convenience of the designer/builder, and certainly not for ease of access and maintenance. Mine is in the bowels of the under-bed furniture, in a little "cave" with top access only.
The control panel was telling me, via blinking lights, that there was an issue with the 230V supply (no sh*t, Sherlock), and to check, in order; the presence of 230V, that the overheat protection hadn't triggered (a red button in the unit), and that the 230V fuse on (actually in - and that is in with extreme prejudice) the unit itself hadn't blown.
Simply gaining access was a work of epic proportions, but the unit itself was installed in the bottom of the "cave" with all the electronics (under covers) on the side up against the side of the 'van. I first checked 230V through to the junction box feeding the unit, then managed to clip the 12V connection cover off and check the overheat button (not tripped). The 230V connection cover was below the 12V one, screwed on with little clearance, and with all the cables cable-tied to it. A flashing LED on the 12V PCB was sending a code which translated to the same diagnosis as the control-panel.
At this point, as the heating was still working on gas (of which we had an ample supply) I decided discretion was the better part of valour, and put it all back together again until we came home.
Now back home, out came all the beds again, and the unit was dismantled back to the same state, and the 230V cover removed gingerly (cutting cable ties and working with a small torx screwdriver). Removing some of the heating ducting gave just enough space to lever the cover out of the way (I couldn't remove it), and then using a mirror I managed to grasp and remove the fuse, which, when tested, was dud.
It is a specialist, slow-blow, high interruption fuse, but a couple of visits to Maplin finally elicited the fact that their "microwave" fuses were in fact the correct specification, and they had an open bag of them somewhere in the back - I took 2 (and I'm still sure that, though I questioned it, I got charged for two bags of 10, rather than 2 individual fuses, but by that time, I didn't really care).
Anyway, getting a fuse out blind, having found it with a mirror, is much easier than getting one back in blind (when you can't use the mirror because your hand is in the way), but quite a bit of time, and much swearing later, it was replaced.
Tested, it worked, and was left on test for some time (switching on and off occasionally to potentially create a surge). It's all back together now, properly covered, cable-tied and the rest.
But, though fuses sometimes go spontaneously (and actually, this one runs with not a lot of "headroom"), they also usually go for a reason - I'm dreading the next use "in anger".
I was away in the peripatetic property in the week.
Not only having to put up with visiting almost-Cheshire (now Greater Manchester); with the nights now turning colder, the required heating worked for about an hour on 230V, and then packed in.
The heating unit is around £2k's worth of combined space and water heating, and should function on gas and/or mains electric. Anyone who is caravan/motorhome savvy will know that these are generally installed for the convenience of the designer/builder, and certainly not for ease of access and maintenance. Mine is in the bowels of the under-bed furniture, in a little "cave" with top access only.
The control panel was telling me, via blinking lights, that there was an issue with the 230V supply (no sh*t, Sherlock), and to check, in order; the presence of 230V, that the overheat protection hadn't triggered (a red button in the unit), and that the 230V fuse on (actually in - and that is in with extreme prejudice) the unit itself hadn't blown.
Simply gaining access was a work of epic proportions, but the unit itself was installed in the bottom of the "cave" with all the electronics (under covers) on the side up against the side of the 'van. I first checked 230V through to the junction box feeding the unit, then managed to clip the 12V connection cover off and check the overheat button (not tripped). The 230V connection cover was below the 12V one, screwed on with little clearance, and with all the cables cable-tied to it. A flashing LED on the 12V PCB was sending a code which translated to the same diagnosis as the control-panel.
At this point, as the heating was still working on gas (of which we had an ample supply) I decided discretion was the better part of valour, and put it all back together again until we came home.
Now back home, out came all the beds again, and the unit was dismantled back to the same state, and the 230V cover removed gingerly (cutting cable ties and working with a small torx screwdriver). Removing some of the heating ducting gave just enough space to lever the cover out of the way (I couldn't remove it), and then using a mirror I managed to grasp and remove the fuse, which, when tested, was dud.
It is a specialist, slow-blow, high interruption fuse, but a couple of visits to Maplin finally elicited the fact that their "microwave" fuses were in fact the correct specification, and they had an open bag of them somewhere in the back - I took 2 (and I'm still sure that, though I questioned it, I got charged for two bags of 10, rather than 2 individual fuses, but by that time, I didn't really care).
Anyway, getting a fuse out blind, having found it with a mirror, is much easier than getting one back in blind (when you can't use the mirror because your hand is in the way), but quite a bit of time, and much swearing later, it was replaced.
Tested, it worked, and was left on test for some time (switching on and off occasionally to potentially create a surge). It's all back together now, properly covered, cable-tied and the rest.
But, though fuses sometimes go spontaneously (and actually, this one runs with not a lot of "headroom"), they also usually go for a reason - I'm dreading the next use "in anger".
