Unreliable Circuit Board

[brewster]

Hi, new guy here. I have a two chamber seisco tankless boiler in my garage and it has only been in service since Dec of 2006. In Oct of 2009 I turn it on to get ready for winter and the CB blew up. Called the original installer and they put a new CB in and it worked fine through the season. Went to turn it on again this Oct and no worky. Another faulty CB, replace it and it works fine. Even though the first CB was covered 100% by warranty still cost me a $50.00 service call from the installer. I replaced it myself this time and this board was warranty prorated and cost me $125. I'm not getting a real fuzzy warm feeling about Seisco stuff. No water leaks.

So my question is, has or is anyone controlling the boiler in another way? I would like to eliminate the Seisco circuit board and control it by some other means, but I don't know for sure what components I should use to do this.

 

[tdkkart]

Hmmm?? I haven't turned mine on for this year yet, I wait till Nov 1st so I guess I'll know Monday, but last year it fired up just fine.

 

[brewster]

Seisco boiler?

 

[tdkkart]

Seisco boiler?

Yep, actually Hydroshark, same machine, different cover.

 

[brewster]

Yep, actually Hydroshark, same machine, different cover.

Is your system relatively new?

 

[brewster]

Hi, new guy here. I have a two chamber seisco tankless boiler in my garage and it has only been in service since Dec of 2006. In Oct of 2009 I turn it on to get ready for winter and the CB blew up. Called the original installer and they put a new CB in and it worked fine through the season. Went to turn it on again this Oct and no worky. Another faulty CB, replace it and it works fine. Even though the first CB was covered 100% by warranty still cost me a $50.00 service call from the installer. I replaced it myself this time and this board was warranty prorated and cost me $125. I'm not getting a real fuzzy warm feeling about Seisco stuff. No water leaks.

So my question is, has or is anyone controlling the boiler in another way? I would like to eliminate the Seisco circuit board and control it by some other means, but I don't know for sure what components I should use to do this.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[tdkkart]

Is your system relatively new?

Assuming it turns on,maybe today, this will be it's 3rd winter.

 

[truckman5000]

dont know the type of boiler.
Check if the unit has a good ground. Also the polarity is correct from the elec. pannel. Maybee theres a shorted wire.

 

[CraigFL]

I work in a business wher I see a lot of bad circuit boards. First thing I look for is electrolytic capacitors that have buldging ends or leaks-- if so they all get replaced. Next is what is commonly called "cold solder joints". This is where the solder doesn't look shiney anymore but kind of grainey. These usually can be repaired by reflowing the solder joints--remelting. First take off any plastic that may melt or batteries and put in a hot oven for 9 minutes at 375 degF exactly. So far, this has worked on many circuit boards for me. If I can't use either of these methods, I send to someone else for repair or buy another. Sometimes EBay is cheap.

 

[truckman5000]

I work in a business wher I see a lot of bad circuit boards. First thing I look for is electrolytic capacitors that have buldging ends or leaks-- if so they all get replaced. Next is what is commonly called "cold solder joints". This is where the solder doesn't look shiney anymore but kind of grainey. These usually can be repaired by reflowing the solder joints--remelting. First take off any plastic that may melt or batteries and put in a hot oven for 9 minutes at 375 degF exactly. So far, this has worked on many circuit boards for me. If I can't use either of these methods, I send to someone else for repair or buy another. Sometimes EBay is cheap.

Rite but there reason for the board to go bad every year or so; meens theres another problem. Making the board go bad...

 

[Harleyguy]

I would try cleaning all wire connections before starting it up. If you can find the information on the power voltage and amps - micro amps - you could install an inline fuse before the board for protection. I work on computer controlled ac system for high rise buildings and most cb problems are from bad connections or voltage spikes. Sorry I can not be of more help. Clean the connections is a good bet.

 

[Thumpya]

Anyone have any ideas?

If you are wanting to continue using the Seisco but remove only the control board I wouldn't attempt that. The Seisco controls temperature by continuously modulating the amperage to the heating elements based on the temperature of the water. There is no way you can do that safely short of using a control board with a microprocessor. All you would end up doing is causing a serious failure that would most likely be more costly than replacing that board every year.