Anybody here do electronics repair for a living here?

[Mike C]

I have apiece of equipment that has quit working and I can't find anyone in my area to work on it. I contacted the manufacturer and was told that the only option was to replace it. The item is a diaphram pump. It has a brushed electric motor attached to gearbox that rotates an arm back and forth in a 180 degree arc to create suction on the diaphram. The arm just sits in one place a dn vibrates slightly. The motor and GB seem fine so I think the problem is electronic. Any suggestions for someone to take a look at this?

[xtal]

Do you have a picture of assembly.....
What is the electronics susposed to accomplish????

by motor/gb looks good ??? does this mean motor spins and gear box swings with load
when some how you bypassed the electronics???????

or have you disconnected the load from the arm [which could indicate a slipping gear
under load]

#5 needs more input..........

[vintage1]

The phrases 'electronic repair' and 'make a living' are antithetical.

It takes about $100-$150 worth of labour to dismantle most things to where you can start to fault find them. Not much is worth that sort of repair bill.

Generally its back to factory, because at least they have the intimate knowledge and teh parts...

However, if your time is your own, then many things are very basic...

[electricFlyNut]

Generally its back to factory, because at least they have the intimate knowledge and teh parts...



I haven't seen many factories that know much about how the things they manufacture actually work....

[vintage1]

I haven't seen many factories that know much about how the things they manufacture actually work....

No, but they usually know when they aren't..I remember the first day at a will-remain-nameless company where I watched a girl repairing power amplifiers..

"How do you know what's gone?"

"Well I don't...I replace all these" (pointing to the TO3 devices) "and these if they look burnt" pointing at the emitter resistors "and if its still don't work, these ones here" pointing at the drivers..

"And if the bits you replace are not goie?"

"Oh Richard comes in twice a week and tests them all and any that still work go in the 'new' bin and we use em to replace the blown stuff all over again"

"What if all that doesn't make it work?"

"We replace the whole board and the old one goes to him over there, cos he gets paid a quid a board to fix, them, and if he can't we take all the stuff off, test it, and throw the rest away"

You see, no knowledge whatsoever required. JUST like car mechanics. :rolleyes:

[Gary Warner]

The phrases 'electronic repair' and 'make a living' are antithetical.


Hey, I 'make a living' repairing electronics :p. Next month will be 28 years.

Mike C,

What's the pump out of? Is a salt water tank pump (it's the only pump I can think of that can have electronic control)?

Pictures and more information on the pump and it's intended function would help me help you ;).

Gary
--

[xorcise]

Being a union electrician and making a living is not antithetical.....it's treated me well for 33 years. Making electronics a serious hobby has been much more fun and rewarding.....I think :p .

[xorcise]

this was a double post....the server is slowwwww!

[vintage1]

Here, an electrician is not the same as someone who repairs electronics.

Electricians make excellent money.

Domestic electronic equipment repairers do not, to the point where there are almost none left.

[Mike C]

Sorry to be gone for so long guys. Having a 3 week old in the house eats up free time and energy.

Gary that last phrase should give you a clue. It's a breast pump that the wife has. It only has maybe 4 months of use on it and has been stored since that time. It worked for maybe 10 minutes after coming out of storage and quit. GB seems fine and motor spins OK so it leads me to the electronics. It has what appears to be a proximity switch on the board and black plastic blade attached to arm of the diaphram on the pump that moves back oand forth. Here are some pics of the thing. The pump works by moving the arm back and forth in a 180 degree arc. the board seems to my untrained eye to be two sets of the same electronics. I'm guessing one to move the am back and the other to return it to the oriiginal position.
What do you think?
I still can't believe that for something like this that is made in the US there is no way to get it fixed at a repair facility!

[Gary Warner]

I can't say I know much about how a breast pump works, but I'll give it a go.

One step at a time... Remove the screw off the connecting rod lower end and lift the rod off the crankshaft cam. Does the gear box/motor work?

If yes, locked up pump (possible fluid/corrosion damage to pump)
If no, can you remove one lead from the motor and apply an external 5-12 volts to the motor. checking for motor running ok?

Let me know how these check out.

Edit: BTW, the black arm going to the photo interuptor would be used for taching the speed or phase feedback. The latter is unlikely. The motor will not move in two direction, but just one.

Gary
--

[Nicetie]

Being a union electrician and making a living is not antithetical.....it's treated me well for 33 years. Making electronics a serious hobby has been much more fun and rewarding.....I think :p .

How many toasters did you repair? Curling irons? TV's? Running wire isn't
repairing electronics.

Ken K5MBV

[Gary Warner]

Electronic repair has nothing to do with electricians work. Today I replaced a CXA1477AS Ic in a Sony big screen TV, to the tune of $245. No electrician I know of could have found it bad, let alone replace the 64 pin LSI Ic in 45 minutes (total time in the home), in front of the customer.

I bought this shop after an EE (electrical engineer) has bought the shop 6 months earlier, at 1/2 the price he paid for it. He thought he could fix anything.... not.

Gary
--

[Nicetie]

Electronic repair has nothing to do with electricians work. Today I replaced a CXA1477AS Ic in a Sony big screen TV, to the tune of $245. No electrician I know of could have found it bad, let alone replace the 64 pin LSI Ic in 45 minutes (total time in the home), in front of the customer.

I bought this shop after an EE (electrical engineer) has bought the shop 6 months earlier, at 1/2 the price he paid for it. He thought he could fix anything.... not.

Gary
--
I know that IC was in a socket! If not then you've got some good
desoldering equipment. :p

Ken K5MBV

[Gary Warner]

I know that IC was in a socket! If not then you've got some good
desoldering equipment. :p

Ken K5MBV
No socket. Single sided traces and desoldering braid works well. The Ic itself is only 5 minutes work. It's getting the access to the part and working with the customer that eats most of my time.

Gary
--

[FRAMEDNLVS]

gone fishing

[Gary Warner]

The original text of my reply was full of snide, giggling and blushing innuendos. But I figured if it was my wife... well, sometimes I can be nice.

Gary
--

[Mike C]

framednlvs: LOL the only thing I can tell you is this pump sucks!! Pun intended
Gary: The diaphram only creates a vacuum so no moisture touches the motor and drive. When this thing was running The arm moved back and forth in a 180 degree arc. The gb wil turn so it is not seized. Will try applying power tonight and see what happens but motor seems to turn freely.

[Gary Warner]

Gary: The diaphram only creates a vacuum so no moisture touches the motor and drive. When this thing was running The arm moved back and forth in a 180 degree arc. The gb wil turn so it is not seized. Will try applying power tonight and see what happens but motor seems to turn freely.
I was thinking about moisture durring handling and cleaning.

I don't know what to tell you about the motor needing to run 'back and forth'. It looks to me that the motor should run in one direction with the photo interuptor feeding back the speed of the pump.

Gary
--

[Mike C]

On a lark last night I hooked everything up on the bench and lo and behold the motor started running and the arm started spinning but only in one direction. OK. I put the pc board back in placeso the photo interuptor was in the proper location and the thing starts pumping back and forth just like it should. Cool it fixed itself! Put it all back together and you guessed it.... Nothing not so much as a hum or jiggle.
So maybe its a power problem. The cord plugs into the board witha 12v transformer on the other end. So I'm thinking either the socket or the transformer.
More to come in this mystery

[FRAMEDNLVS]

gone fishing

[vintage1]

On a lark last night I hooked everything up on the bench and lo and behold the motor started running and the arm started spinning but only in one direction. OK. I put the pc board back in placeso the photo interuptor was in the proper location and the thing starts pumping back and forth just like it should. Cool it fixed itself! Put it all back together and you guessed it.... Nothing not so much as a hum or jiggle.
So maybe its a power problem. The cord plugs into the board witha 12v transformer on the other end. So I'm thinking either the socket or the transformer.
More to come in this mystery

I've 'repaired' three old radios recently using in two cases nothing more than a can of switch cleaner..all the switches and valve pins were covered in oxidised gunk. The valve radio also needed new PSU capacitors..

cleaner and a bit of plugging and unplugging or switch usage, works well.

[Mike C]

Looks like the problem has been located finally. The off, on speed switch is the culprit. IF you jiggle the switch it will eventually start to work for a short while.