[PureClean Window Cleaning Ltd]

Can anyone shed any light why it happened? its nearly 2 yrs old, variflow from cleaning spot, analogue.

it had 2 fuses, 1 from the positive off the battery, and one just before the controller, both 10amp.

it did say it should have a 7.5amp fuse, could that be the reason?

my last controller broke, it didnt melt, but there was a burn mark on the circuit board.

i did wire this controller myself, i connected it to the main battery to charge it, i never noticed it getting charged, i had to bring it in every night. the battery is newish, quite a large one.

thanks for your help in advance.

[Ian Sheppard]

Did you have both fuses on the same cable? The red one from between the battery and controller?

If they were both in the same line it would need 20 amps to take out the fuse.

The PCB is designed to take a maximum current of 10ams it sounds to me as if you have overloaded the controller. and taken out the main processor

[PureClean Window Cleaning Ltd]

not sure will check tomoz. thanks.

[R.C Property]

Did you have both fuses on the same cable? The red one from between the battery and controller?

If they were both in the same line it would need 20 amps to take out the fuse.

The PCB is designed to take a maximum current of 10ams it sounds to me as if you have overloaded the controller. and taken out the main processor

that dont sound right at all, a  10amp fuse will blow at any amp's over 10amp, no matter how many you have in a line, the wire in the fuse hasnt changed, its still the same.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Ian! R C property doesnt know what you do for a living 

[Window Washers]

Can anyone shed any light why it happened? its nearly 2 yrs old, variflow from cleaning spot, analogue.

it had 2 fuses, 1 from the positive off the battery, and one just before the controller, both 10amp.

it did say it should have a 7.5amp fuse, could that be the reason?

my last controller broke, it didnt melt, but there was a burn mark on the circuit board.

i did wire this controller myself, i connected it to the main battery to charge it, i never noticed it getting charged, i had to bring it in every night. the battery is newish, quite a large one.

thanks for your help in advance.

10amp fuse can and will kill a controller did two of mine (supplier fail), 7.5 is what you need I learnt this the hard way going against what they said!!!, half the new and older people supplying these type of things just sell you it not caring, same as a water softener what's that all about, save you money and cost you thousands it annoys me loads over complication to the highest degree!!

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

Guy on ere made one £9
Buy one !!!

[R.C Property]

Ian! R C property doesnt know what you do for a living 

Yer works for spring.

Still don't explain how a single 10amp fuse knows that another 10amp fuse is fitted at other end of wire and the know not to blow at anything above 10amps.


The wire in the fuse it rated to blow at anything over 10amp, you don't change that wire in that fuse so it will always be rated at 10amp.

[Spruce]

Ian! R C property doesnt know what you do for a living  

Yer works for spring.

Still don't explain how a single 10amp fuse knows that another 10amp fuse is fitted at other end of wire and the know not to blow at anything above 10amps.


The wire in the fuse it rated to blow at anything over 10amp, you don't change that wire in that fuse so it will always be rated at 10amp.

I wondered the same thing myself. I didn't make sense to me at the time.

Kleenkleen was an autoelectrician and I see he didn't comment either way.

The easiest way to fry a controller is to wire it up incorrectly - Varistream warn that do this will make the controller unrepaireable in their instruction manual. It can easily happen though especially if you swop batteries around to charge them.

[rosskesava]

So what is the fuse actually for?

That may sound a daft question but our kettle went bang recently even though it had the right fuse in the plug.

Could be that it was the same type of fault with the pump controler. i.e. a fault that for some reason doesn't blow the fuse.

[R.C Property]

So what is the fuse actually for?

That may sound a daft question but our kettle went bang recently even though it had the right fuse in the plug.

Could be that it was the same type of fault with the pump controler. i.e. a fault that for some reason doesn't blow the fuse.

that could of just been water getting into the electrics of the kettle,

so thinking about it it could be one reason, electrics dont like damp! could cause a short and burn out!

[Ian Sheppard]

A fuse in any appliance be it Dc or AC is to protect against a current spike exceeding the manufactures maximum load rating for that appliance. In the case of the control the maximum load rating is 7.5amps.
Current higher than 7.5 amps is likely to cause the copper circuits on the board to overheat and put the circuit at risk of burning.
 
Most batteries are 85 to 110 AH so there is a  potential to exceed the maximum operating current of the controller. The controller draws miiliamps of current sufficient to power the processor the remaining current passes across the control to the pump. The pump account for almost all the current drawn from the pump

Fitting a higher rated fuse than recommended has allowed higher current to pass across the board than its maximum load rating. The resulting heat has melted the control.

There are a number of factors which could cause a pump to draw a sudden current spike over 7.5amps.

[R.C Property]

A fuse in any appliance be it Dc or AC is to protect against a current spike exceeding the manufactures maximum load rating for that appliance. In the case of the control the maximum load rating is 7.5amps.
Current higher than 7.5 amps is likely to cause the copper circuits on the board to overheat and put the circuit at risk of burning.
 
Most batteries are 85 to 110 AH so there is a  potential to exceed the maximum operating current of the controller. The controller draws miiliamps of current sufficient to power the processor the remaining current passes across the control to the pump. The pump account for almost all the current drawn from the pump

Fitting a higher rated fuse than recommended has allowed higher current to pass across the board than its maximum load rating. The resulting heat has melted the control.

There are a number of factors which could cause a pump to draw a sudden current spike over 7.5amps.

nice answer and explanation about it.

could you explain what you mean with this please as it has me confused on how 2 10amp fuses in line will need 20amps to blow them as you stated before?? cheers

[Ian Sheppard]

It will depend on weather the fuses are in series or in parallel.

If in series Then the short would blow the 1st 10 amp fuse it hits however if the fuses are in parallel then you effectively have a 20 amp fuse.

I suspect due to the level of damage you describe the fuses were in parallel as it would need a lot of heat to melt the board.

Cheers

Ian

[R.C Property]

It will depend on weather the fuses are in series or in parallel.

If in series Then the short would blow the 1st 10 amp fuse it hits however if the fuses are in parallel then you effectively have a 20 amp fuse.

I suspect due to the level of damage you describe the fuses were in parallel as it would need a lot of heat to melt the board.

Cheers

Ian

ok thanks for clearing that up,

so if they run both in line the first one would blow and thats it,

but if they was side by side then the 2 10apm rated fuses become a 20amp fuse, so if there is a power surge of 15 amps then that wont blow either of the 10amp rated fues?

[Ian Sheppard]

It will depend on weather the fuses are in series or in parallel.

If in series Then the short would blow the 1st 10 amp fuse it hits however if the fuses are in parallel then you effectively have a 20 amp fuse.

I suspect due to the level of damage you describe the fuses were in parallel as it would need a lot of heat to melt the board.

Cheers

Ian

ok thanks for clearing that up,

so if they run both in line the first one would blow and thats it,

but if they was side by side then the 2 10apm rated fuses become a 20amp fuse, so if there is a power surge of 15 amps then that wont blow either of the 10amp rated fues?

Yes thats puts it nicely. In your case I suspect the spike was some where between 10 - 18 amps.

Cheers

Ian

[R.C Property]

It will depend on weather the fuses are in series or in parallel.

If in series Then the short would blow the 1st 10 amp fuse it hits however if the fuses are in parallel then you effectively have a 20 amp fuse.

I suspect due to the level of damage you describe the fuses were in parallel as it would need a lot of heat to melt the board.

Cheers

Ian

ok thanks for clearing that up,

so if they run both in line the first one would blow and thats it,

but if they was side by side then the 2 10apm rated fuses become a 20amp fuse, so if there is a power surge of 15 amps then that wont blow either of the 10amp rated fues?

Yes thats puts it nicely. In your case I suspect the spike was some where between 10 - 18 amps.

Cheers

Ian

wasnt my controller, was just interested about the fuse layout etc.
cheers

[dave0123]

I bought one from the cleaning warehouse other day with the charging faculty. Will have to check it has a 7.5 amp fuse and not higher.

[dave0123]

Ian,

BTW while we are on the subject of these controllers i want to mount mine on a plate next to tank by screwing it on. No mounting screws came with it or anything but there is 2 small holes at the rear. Do you have to open the unit to mount it? I don't want it to invalidate the warranty.

It is a cleaning warehouse one however i believe spring just produce these on there behalf..

Dave

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Without seeing the exact wiring set up it would be hard to say what has caused this 'meldown'.
Always use the correct fuse.