Hi all
I wondered if I can get some advice on repairing our basic gate control panels, most need a Trace repair, some require new relays to be fitted, and pots etc.

the majority of faults are down to slugs.
I have no knowledge of electronic repairs, but would like to either have a go myself as we get loads through during the week, and most go in the bin, or trying to source someone through a forum like this, who may be able to steer me in the right direction as to who could possibly take them on?

any help would be gratefully received.

Harvey

 

Hi all
I wondered if I can get some advice on repairing our basic gate control panels, most need a Trace repair, some require new relays to be fitted, and pots etc.

the majority of faults are down to slugs.
I have no knowledge of electronic repairs, but would like to either have a go myself as we get loads through during the week, and most go in the bin, or trying to source someone through a forum like this, who may be able to steer me in the right direction as to who could possibly take them on?

any help would be gratefully received.

Harvey

Post as much information as you have about the gate control panels. For example, links to product descriptions, schematic diagrams, functional and disfunctional control panel photos. Chances are good there is someone(s) here who can and will help. The more info you provide, the better your chances.

 

If you are in production or distribution of these, you may also want to look at a means of prevention, especially with 'loads through the week'.
Max.

 

Thanks for the info so far.
I own a gate automation company, and one of the services we provide is repairs, most of which I can deal, and I would love a point of contact for when we get damaged CP's in.

I will take some pics of some CP's I have taken out this week and post on here.
although there different in looks, the function's are all very similar in as much as what they do.
here is one from the net we use.
http://d13z1xw8270sfc.cloudfront.net/origin/175975/za3.jpg

 

The challenge, as you know, will be getting circuit schematics from the manufacturers. Although some defects will be obvious (burned components, e.g.) replacing said components will often not fix the underlying problem that caused the component to burn/fail. For that, you will really need a schematic.

My suggestion would be to identify the most common brand/model that you have to work on, and focus on getting or creating a schematic for it. Once that is done, you can use some simple test procedures to find the fault. People here will help.

Probably you will find that the same fault(s) keep showing up over and over in failed controllers. Once you get to that point, repairs will be easy and profitable...but you have to spend the effort to get to that point.

I just went through a similar situation with conveyor speed controllers for commercial pizza ovens.

 

I work on things all day with no documentation, and know its not easy. I have found that a lot of the problems are where the power comes in (power supply) and goes out (relays on your board) the relays probably (I hope) have diodes across the coils, if you connect whatever voltage to the relay coil its rated for, with the + on the cathode end of the diode, then check the contact resistance, you will usually find a lot of problems. the power supplies will usually have shorted rectifiers or rectifier bridges after a thunderstorm in the area. when the board is about 5 years old, the electrolytic caps will usually be bad in the supply.

 

I work for an industrial repair company in the UK, we do a no fix no fee thing with a years warranty, we also pay for the delivery both ways so the customer loses nothing, might be worth sending it in to a company like mine, nothing to lose

 

Great response, many thanks for taking time .
these board are basic, and the majority are traces blown due to slugs shorting them out, and the other is relays failing.
I would like to have someone with low overheads and time for our repairs, rather than a big company, as the repairs need to be a viable option.

 

the majority are traces blown due to slugs shorting them out

A preventive measure would be a thick conformal coating before the boards are installed. Hindsight's a wonderful thing .

Edit: Won't repaired boards need some sort of safety certification? What about public liability indemnity/insurance?