Auber DSPR1 Problems... is it broke?

[joeymac]

So I just finished my power controller today and plugged it in to test function. No heater element or anything - I just plugged my multimeter into the output to read the output activity. The way my controller operates is a 3 pole switch that sends either 120v to the duplex outlets (for brewing and hot plate usage) or a continuous 240v to the heater element plug (for bringing boil up to temp quickly) or a regulated 240v to the heater plug (for distill controlled by the dspr1).

Well the full power 120v and 240v modes work just fine when I select those outputs, but the 3rd mode regulating the 240v output with the dspr1 doesn't even activate the relay. I get no power out that receptacle. The dspr1 controls light up and I can turn it on and off and even change the power percentage... but no ssr output. I even put a meter directly on the dspr to see the 12v signal pulsing... but there's no 12v output there either.

Does there need to be a heating element actually attached to the plug for the dspr to function? I wouldn't think so since the ssr is opto-isolated. Could this dspr be bad... are they reliable?

[ShineRunner]

I'm not familiar with that controller, but I would personally try to simplify things by removing the switches from the equation and connect the controller directly to the ssr. If it works, then you know the switches are goofing it up. Not sure why the output would still not work, but you never know. Start with the simple stuff and work from there..

[joeymac]

Yeah, but the switches are working for the Other outputs, so I don't think the wiring is bad. It rings out just fine... but it could be bad. When I get home I'll pull the dspr out and test it alone.

[ShineRunner]

Single poles from a switch can go bad. I don't think that's what is happening, but you gotta start with the easy stuff first. I'd also call Auber on Monday. I've heard they're pretty good with customer service. They should be able to give you some hints on troubleshooting that exact piece..

SR

[still_stirrin]

I looked up the specs, the DSPR1 clearly states in their data sheet that the DSPR1 is NOT compatible with SSVR's. Its output is a varying 12VDC PWM current, not voltage.

And I looked at the spec sheet for the Teledyne SQ24D25 and it says that it looks for a VOLTAGE input (3-32VDC) for control. That means it IS a SSVR. So, the two are NOT compatible.

You got the wrong parts. Sorry for the bad news.
ss

[joeymac]

It's a SSR. Well, technically 4 SSRs in a single package, but it's not an SSVR. It's just sayign that any voltage from 3-32VDC triggers the switching and it can handle line loads of 24-280VAC... but when switched the full load value is switched. All SSRs accept a range of voltage for triggering; and it's typically 3-32v because standard TTL circuits operate on 5VDC (with 2-5VDC considered "ON"), commercial automotive and industry controls are 12VDC, and standard milspec and aviation circuits are 28VDC. So an SSR that uses a 3-32VDC control can be used in many applications.
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_ ... ucts_id=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.teledynerelays.com/pdf/industrial/sq.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Besides, if it was an SSVR then why does it pass the full 120v to the duplex and full 240v to the heater when the switch is in those two modes where the SSR is controlled by a continuous 12v from the DC power supply. If it was an SSVR, it should only pass about 31% of the load voltage with 12v.

[rad14701]

Most all relays require a load in order to fire up... It can be something as simple as an incandescent light bulb... But if you have incompatible components it probably wouldn't help to add a load...

[joeymac]

As you can see, the DSPR1 appears to work to just fine. When 'off' the standby indicator lights up. When 'on' it shows the percentage and the green output indicator even appears to light up and blink with the pulsing. However, if I put a meter on the actual 12VDC output, there is nothing but solid zeros. So I disconnected the 12V output on the DSPR1 from the rest of the controller wiring so it only had the 120VAC input and it still showed zero output. odd.

I don't think it has anything to do with the control wiring because it looks like the DSPR1 isn't even outputting a signal of its own.

[joeymac]

Most all relays require a load in order to fire up... It can be something as simple as an incandescent light bulb... But if you have incompatible components it probably wouldn't help to add a load...

The relay is passing voltage to the receptacles on its own with no load when triggered using the 12VDC power supply. Using the meter on the rceptacles, they show less than 14V or so and when the SSR is triggered the receptacles show the full 120V or 240V. When the DSPR triggers the SSR, nothing happens. In fact, I can't even detect the dc signal from the DSPR1 when putting the meter directly on its pins.

[ShineRunner]

So I didn't catch if you took the switches out of the system to see if it will power the SSR directly? You've determined that the SSR works independently, but it's not getting a signal to fire from the controller. If the negative wire is wrong somewhere in the system with all those switches the DC output won't work.

If the light on the front is lighting up, it should be firing. But if the negative isn't completing the circuit, it may think it's firing, but electrons are not actually flowing...

[shadylane]

@ joeymac
Just a thought
For trouble shooting purposes. Remove the output wires from pins 6 and 7 on the DSPR1
And connect a 9 volt battery to see if the SSR gates on. while in the "3rd mode"

[ShineRunner]

@ joeymac
Just a thought
For trouble shooting purposes. Remove the output wires from pins 6 and 7 on the DSPR1
And connect a 9 volt battery to see if the SSR gates on.

He's directly connected the 12v power supply and it turns on the SSR. At least that's what I gather in the post above my last one.. SSR seems good.

It seems to me that the controller is working but more than likely a switch is wired wrong. Or something like that. This is DC, so it needs a complete circuit to pass any signal along. If one of those switches is wonky, then you won't see any voltage on the output terminal- even if the controller is working and firing.

SR

[shadylane]

No Dc output from DSPR1
1. DSPR1 is bad
2. DSPR1 doesn't like firing 4 SSR's at once
3 The DPST switch is bad or wired wrong

[joeymac]

@ joeymac
Just a thought
For trouble shooting purposes. Remove the output wires from pins 6 and 7 on the DSPR1
And connect a 9 volt battery to see if the SSR gates on. while in the "3rd mode"

I did this. I am able to fire the SSR successfully with a 9v replacing the DSPR1 in the 3rd mode. Looks like a bum DSPR1

[Yummyrum]

Is the DSPR 1 set to. burst fire mode ?
If its in time proportion mode with a 100 second rate you might not get what you are expecting
I also believe it is the right part to drive your SSR .....

[joeymac]

Is the DSPR 1 set to. burst fire mode ?
If its in time proportion mode with a 100 second rate you might not get what you are expecting
I also believe it is the right part to drive your SSR .....

It's in burst fire mode, but i tried it in both.

[joeymac]

Found the issue this morning! I disassembled the DSPR1 and found 2 pins that were unsoldered that looked like they should have been. Not bad solder but NO solder on some connections. One pin was to the large (56kohm 1W?) power resistor and the other was the 5th pin of the transformer. I figured it already wasn't working so I soldered them up and now I get 12.45vdc output and it still behaves normally. Everything looks good, so I'll reinstall it when I get home and test out the controller again. But I'm sure this was the issue. I'm just really surprised at this because I kind of considered Auber to be pretty high quality. There's no way this product could have been tested for quality control before heading out the door.

I'll tell ya, the kids in these Chinese factories are really starting to slip... kids these days, huh?

Here's a pic where I already soldered the resistor's lead to the board, but you can see the transformer lead is still open:

[rad14701]

Good find, joeymac...!!! Sounds like the QC inspector just slapped a sticker on instead of doing the actual QC testing... A cold-solder joint I could understand but not a no-solder joint... Unless there are other issues it's a good chance that everything should work as intended... Keep us posted...

[joeymac]

I would have thought they used wave-soldering for something like this, where parts are masked off and joints are fluxed and then solder is literally flowed over the whole board - sticking to everything that gets fluxed. It's pretty quick because you can do dozens of boards at once with one person soldering instead of a bunch of people soldering. But I guess these must get hand-assembled (and obviously not function checked )

I am a little concerned output is 12.45v instead of being closer to 12v actual. Makes me think something else is missed or just off because there's no trim pots anywhere to adjust voltage.

[rad14701]

I would have thought they used wave-soldering for something like this, where parts are masked off and joints are fluxed and then solder is literally flowed over the whole board - sticking to everything that gets fluxed. It's pretty quick because you can do dozens of boards at once with one person soldering instead of a bunch of people soldering. But I guess these must get hand-assembled (and obviously not function checked )

I am a little concerned output is 12.45v instead of being closer to 12v actual. Makes me think something else is missed or just off because there's no trim pots anywhere to adjust voltage.

In some of the third world countries all of this equipment is manually soldered by women and children who work for what could essentially be considered slave wages... It's cheaper to do that than spend money on expensive soldering tanks and associated equipment...

I wouldn't sweat that 12.45V reading as it most likely falls within the allowance for error... After all, we're not talking about a $10,000 precision piece of equipment... Check your car battery and I can guarantee it'll read higher than 12V fully charged and the alternator would probably crank out up to ~14.2V... Repeatability is far more important than exactness and that's all we're really looking for for our purposes here...

[joeymac]

Controller works like a charm now, that was it!

[shadylane]

Controller works like a charm now, that was it!

Troubleshot to the component level, over the internet