Wine Fridge Power Board

[jkessler00]

I found a couple helpful articles on here from people having the same problem as myself. I have the dual zone Wine Enthusiast 12-bottle fridge that lost cooling on one side. There was no power to the fan so I knew it wasn't the thermocoupler. I purchased a new board before finding this site but I immediately replaced the caps on the new board with Nichicon. Things were great for a few hours and then the other side died. Instead of another new board, I bought all new caps, diodes, and transistors to try and fix this myself. It powered right on and worked for about 15 minutes before the fan stopped. I can hear a high pitch beeping coming from the board but I can't tell where exactly. It is not outputting power. If I unplug it and wait a bit and then plug it back in, it works for a few minutes before stopping again with the beeping. Does this ring any bells?

[budm]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

So you replaced ALL the caps except the large main filter cap? Pictures?

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

No, I replaced every single cap. I'll get a pic later.

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

I'll probably have to pull this back out for better pics...not sure if you can tell anything; or if there is anything to even tell.

[keeney123]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

Check to see if the 12 volt supply is not connected both to the fan and Peltiers with Ohm meter and unit unplugged. I think your power supply is being told to turn off. This could be with the thermocouples or the connectors from them to the power board could not be making good contact. Also the rheostats that adjust the setting could have bad connectors. You could see if the heat sink is getting hot when the fan is off. That would indicate a bad connector to the fan. Also, you could break one line going to the Peltier device and see if it pulls current when the fan is off. I believe you will find that the fans and Peltiers are connected directly to each other, at least the external fans.

[Longbow]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

There was no power to the fan so I knew it wasn't the thermocoupler.

This assumption may not have been much help to you. No fan power doesn't eliminate a bad fan!

I purchased a new board before finding this site but I immediately replaced the caps on the new board with Nichicon.

Don't understand your logic. Why wouldn't you install the new board and re-evaluate?

Things were great for a few hours and then the other side died.

I am not a professional appliance repair guy, but a quick failure of the new board would definitely point to something outside of the control board. (i.e. the fan, or other external part.)

It powered right on and worked for about 15 minutes before the fan stopped. I can hear a high pitch beeping coming from the board but I can't tell where exactly.

Points to a faulty fan or other external part in my opinion. Most new appliances use brushless electronic motors. If you have the means, pull the fan and monitor the current while running it on the bench. Ditto on the cooling device. Probably draws too much current from the control board, heating up various parts. I would definitely get a service manual at this point. Let us know what you find.

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

I have been messing with this on and off for a couple weeks now. I didn't mention every little step but I confirmed the fan was good when I noticed it wasn't running. I didn't have a quick failure on a new board. This unit has two boards and the other died (or so I thought) after replacing the first board. I replaced all caps, diodes, and transistors on the second board. I had the same issue so I decided $48 for a new board was better than the time I had already wasted to this point. I plugged the new board in and now it does the same darn thing; runs for about 5 minutes or so and the fan goes off. I hear a beeping coming for both boards; both of which are brand new. I can unplug the fridge, plug it back in, and it'll run again for a bit before the left side shuts down. The left is the only one that shuts down even though both beep. It's the most aggravating thing...
I'll try to record the current draw on both sides.

[budm]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

May be your Peltier module is bad?

[redwire]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

Assuming the (new) power supply board is working, something to check would be the Peltier cells.
Look for shorts - from the module to chassis ground, and for corrosion from moisture on the cold side. Cheap cells do not use solder inside and are a bit fragile.
If originally the fan died, the Peltiers could have then overheated. They can get damaged, but usually a controller has an over-temp shutdown which might be what you are seeing trip. Five connectors and a few wires on your PCB; do you know what they connect to?

You can measure the Peltier voltage and current before/after the unit shuts down. My guess - either the cells are failing when hot, or the PSU is making an executive decision based on the temperature sensors.

[keeney123]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

If it is the left side you could connect the right power board to the left side peltier and see if the same thing happens. If it runs OK than try connecting the left thermal couple to the right power board and see what happens. If it still is OK then try connecting the left rheostat to the right power board.

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

I had a spare Peltier that I swapped in this morning. The fridge stays running now but the left side throttles down after a bit. The voltage is exactly half the right side to the Peltiers. All connections are tight. The only thing I am not certain on is the single wire that connects to both boards. I have to connected to CN4-Fan on both. I have the fans connected to CN3-Fan. I still hear beeping from both. It sounds like a hearing test; high-toned and very faint.

[budm]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

You should check the current draw of the Peltiers, most of the time it shorted out and tries to draw lots of current and causes power supply to go into shutdown/restart cycle.

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

Well, now both boards and both Peltiers are new. I changed the first chip with the first board. I am at a loss.

[redwire]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

What's it doing or not doing now. One or both sides cool, fan runs etc.
Does it have a door switch?

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

The left side runs but throttles down to half speed after 20-30 minutes. The right side stays running fine. Both sides cool. I don't believe there is a door switch but I'll double check.

[jkessler00]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

I checked everything over again tonight. I did find that the two big caps that I replaced on each board were 220V instead of 200V. I'm not sure how that happened but that is the only thing left I can find to try is to put the originals back.
I did this because I've heard over and over that these boards come with junk caps so I replaced all with Nichicon.

[redwire]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

I would double-check the polarity and value of the new caps, and their soldering. Then I would confirm the cables/connectors didn't get mixed up. A felt pen mark or two helps.
220V primary caps are OK. It wouldn't give troubles you are seeing.

I found a schematic for a wine-cooler power board that looks similar to what you might have, except that extra socketed-DIP IC. I can't read PCB part #'s in your pics.
That circuit shows it's an always-on 12VDC 5A power supply and a thermistor/op-amp with power transistor (somewhere) linear? controlling the fans and Peltiers, which are all in parallel.
The temperature sensor on CN1 has something in series on CN2 which I think is a door switch.

You can try warming up the temp sensor with your fingers or a lighter and the voltage to the Peltiers/fan should ramp up. Or apply ice and it should back off.
Can you check the 12VDC is always good, LEDS not flickering etc.

[multimeter]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

does the cooler have a compressor?,or just fans?,ive known compressors to draw too much current on fridges/freezers and cause problems

[goontron]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

does the cooler have a compressor?,or just fans?,ive known compressors to draw too much current on fridges/freezers and cause problems

RTFT
Peltier cooler.

[multimeter]

Re: Wine Fridge Power Board

S.t.y.f.a.ole