apostolakisl Posted October 10, 2013 Posted October 10, 2013 Well I have had another lamp linc burn out. I opened it and sure enough diode D2 is black and it registers as a short both directions with my multimeter. Anyone tried fixing these? I know they extended the warranty, but I am not sure when or where I bought this particular one to get it covered.
Brian H Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 Do you know which hardware revision failed? I have seen two major Lamplinc/Icon Dimmer hardware revisions. That are 100% different from each other. I did see a post on the Smarthome forums where someone repaired the zener diode {D3 in the old V2.0 Lamplinc Version} that had failed. I have a later V4.3 I will look at and see what diode is the zener in it. I believe they used a higher wattage one and mounted it on the heat sink for better heat dissipation or surface mounted was harder to find. I never saw any information on a warranty extension for Lamplincs or Icon dimmers. Than again I have no dimmer modules in my setup.
arw01 Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 I have a used outlet linc that came bad from ebay, bought it soo long ago not even sure who I bought it from.. Will tear it apart and see if it's the diode out of there. Got a few other modules over the years with broken off pieces that were so small you could not make out the part number to order one to fix it! Also have a keypad relay that I wired up incorrectly because of a wierd way the electrician ran a loop in 1955 or whenever that burned out the MOS, need to order a new one off mouser someday and see if that fixes it permanently. I only have single CFL's on my one lamplinc that is left, the other I converted to the outlet dimmer so I could get a dual band device at the end of a leg. Solved a lot of communications problems that one did. Alan
Brian H Posted October 11, 2013 Posted October 11, 2013 D2 is not the 30 volt zener I was thinking about. It does look like one of the two in the power supply.
apostolakisl Posted October 11, 2013 Author Posted October 11, 2013 Ooops. It is D3 not D2 diode. It is a 2856D2 (that is how I got the D2 in my head). V1.0 Rev 1.2 It might have been made in the 17th week of 2006 as it says 0617 on the same sticker as rev 1.2
Brian H Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 D3 is a 30 volt surface mounted Zener diode. Band is closest to the D3 silk screen on the board. I have seen two brands used in older Lamplinc/Icon Dimmer and Appliancelinc/Icon On-Off modules. One is marked 30A and the other 15 and a 30 just below it. I have carefully measured both types and the voltage across it is 30 volts. The Nover(RH) 470uF/35V cap is directly across D3. I have not found the wattage of D3 as I have not found the manufacturers data sheets with the top marks I have seen on D3. The 15 on the one version may mean 1.5 watts but that is a guess. The +30 volt and +5 volt logic supplies are directly connected to the AC Hot Line Input. All the regulation and current limiting is in the Neutral side of the supply. The tubular part in the shrink tubing. From the Line Input Pin to the PCB is a fuse.
TJF1960 Posted October 12, 2013 Posted October 12, 2013 That looks to be the same zener that smartlabs used in their icon switchlincs back in 08 or 09. I had trouble with a couple of them back then, that zener would fry. I was told that they were having problems with that part and were switching back to the glass body zener. If I remember correctly the higher wattage the load the more frequent the zener was frying. I switched out the switchlinc finally and installed the normal higher cost switchlinc and havent had a problem since. I did replace the zeners in the failed icons with a higher wattage leaded model from digikey. Haven't had any problems with them since although they aren't used all the time either. And in my case anyway, after replacing the zeners the switches worked fine.
apostolakisl Posted October 13, 2013 Author Posted October 13, 2013 Thanks guys. The thing ohms out as shorted. Do you think that would have destroyed other components? For what it's worth, the fuse is not blown. Repairing this is certainly more trouble than it is worth, but I still feel the need to do it. Of course I would need to pick a diode to replace it with and I'm not hearing a definitive on that. TJF, would you suggest I get the same diode you got? Also, I am have a feeling the pcb pads are toasted as well, but I can probably pick up a solder spot somewhere else. And that lamp linc was running a lamp with a 10watt led bulb for the last 4 years. I forget what it was doing before that, I think just Christmas lights. Not exactly a high load. Oh, and I had 2 other lamp lincs die on me a few years ago that had the same problem but I knew when/where I bought those and got them rma'd. But both of them burned out just plugged into the wall with no load at all . . . just waiting for Christmas.
TJF1960 Posted October 13, 2013 Posted October 13, 2013 It has been my experience that when zeners go they usually do short. They are using either a capacitor or resistor as a current limiter for the 30 volt section so if you don't see one that has overheated then they may be a good chance replacing the Zener will fix it. When I get home tomorrow I will look up the part number if the zeners I ordered. It is leaded so you won't have to worry if the solder tabs are toast and you have to solder it to other points.
Brian H Posted October 13, 2013 Posted October 13, 2013 I looked at a recent V4.3 Icon Dimmer. Actually was one of the X10LM465s sold briefly by Smarthome but never changed the firmware. Just the label. It has a glass Zener diode in it. I believe a V4.3 Lamplinc I have also has a glass diode. While a very new v4.A Appliancelinc still has the plastic one in it.
TJF1960 Posted October 13, 2013 Posted October 13, 2013 I went overkill and ordered a 5 watt 30v zener. On Semi makes a 3 watt but its not carried thru Digikey and I didn't want to go any lower because I just wasn't sure what exact wattage the original was. The 5 watt part body measures .35" long, .135" dia and total body + lead length is 2.4". Digikey pn 1N5363BGOS-ND. The lead thickness is .040", cost is $0.53 each.
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