Thanks for the fine contributions on this board.

I was given an non-working Emerson FR24SL 8-bottle wine cooler. As suggested, I disconnected the Peltier power from the board, plugged into the wall and the unit powered up. I then reconnected the Peltier and the unit was able to cool down to 50 degrees in an 80 degree room. Yeah!!!

Removed all but the 200V caps (those are made by a different company - HY) and will replace. Have attached a photo of my board. It has both model numbers printed on the board Not sure if the FX102 is highlighted or crossed out by the markings, but I identified the caps and added their descriptions to the bottom of the photo.

Hope this helps someone else.

 

View attachment 159393

Thanks for the fine contributions on this board.

I was given an non-working Emerson FR24SL 8-bottle wine cooler. As suggested, I disconnected the Peltier power from the board, plugged into the wall and the unit powered up. I then reconnected the Peltier and the unit was able to cool down to 50 degrees in an 80 degree room. Yeah!!!

Removed all but the 200V caps (those are made by a different company - HY) and will replace. Have attached a photo of my board. It has both model numbers printed on the board Not sure if the FX102 is highlighted or crossed out by the markings, but I identified the caps and added their descriptions to the bottom of the photo.

Hope this helps someone else.

What are the two chip numbers, TL494?

 

Hello! I found 6 vine botle peltier cooler in garbage, was not working. Board is a bit diferent in design (MP-011, PCB120102K3), but caps are same as on MP-012 board. It was completly dead, no vent turning no lights on led.
I replaced C8 and C10 first but still no luck.
Only quiet "click" sound when I pluged it.
I left it pluged and mesured temperature on two main transistors (on my board 13005D). One of them showed 50 celzius and growing.
I knew that is dead. Bought pair of new transistors, (asume that second one is ok, but will change it for better) asked guy in store to give me "stronger" ones. (He sold me 13007 transistors)
Also bought all caps, some of them are for 125° celzius, some are 105° (he did not have all for 125°) and also he did not have ones for 50V so he gave me for 63V. Main two with 120uF he gave me for 400V (a bit bigger, but they fit).
Replaced all, put new thermal paste on transistors and voila! Working as new !!
Thank you all for this thread, and to spend your time to explore the thing!
Will post some pics if I found out how to do it from my mobile.

 

Here are some pics.
Cost for all caps and transistors was 80HRK (around 13 USD)

 

I’d like to confirm that Fx105 can be used to replace fx-101. I did a cap replacement/transistor replacement on a fridge I found next to a dumpster and the board crackled when powered still. Seems it was beyond repair.

I ordered this board for $35:
https://www.partsmadness.com/appliance-parts/rf-5210-110-haier-pcb-power/

It’s smaller, but it works. I screwed part of it in and hot glued the rest to keep it off the back of the fridge. It has less caps and smaller controllers. Maybe they finally got it right

 

Just to say: Another FX-102 fixed by full recap.

 

Thanks to the suggestions here, I fixed a very similar board with a re-cap. Mine is a Vinotemp 18 bottle cooler. Problems exhibited were a lack of front panel display, or a really faint display, preceded by an audible clicking sound (which I assumed was a fan failing, but as it turns out, all 3 fans are fine. Once the unit finally stopped working, there were no LED lights lit on the PSU. One of my 25V 47uF caps was way out of range (measured at ~200nF out of circuit) so I recapped everything - it took about an hour. While the PCB was similar to most on here, it's a little different - no secondary side fuse, and the number of caps are different, but the board is, by and large, the same.

One of the 200V primary side caps had some signs of heat damage once I removed it and examined it, and it tested ok, but I replaced it regardless. Total digi-key parts were ~$12 plus shipping.

Thanks again.

 

Thanks to the suggestions here, I fixed a very similar board with a re-cap. Mine is a Vinotemp 18 bottle cooler. Problems exhibited were a lack of front panel display, or a really faint display, preceded by an audible clicking sound (which I assumed was a fan failing, but as it turns out, all 3 fans are fine. Once the unit finally stopped working, there were no LED lights lit on the PSU. One of my 25V 47uF caps was way out of range (measured at ~200nF out of circuit) so I recapped everything - it took about an hour. While the PCB was similar to most on here, it's a little different - no secondary side fuse, and the number of caps are different, but the board is, by and large, the same.

One of the 200V primary side caps had some signs of heat damage once I removed it and examined it, and it tested ok, but I replaced it regardless. Total digi-key parts were ~$12 plus shipping.

Thanks again.
View attachment 165858

Nice job. Nothing replaces but the caps?

 

Nice job. Nothing replaces but the caps?

Caps only. Another test i did before recapping was to disconnect the peltier element and turned on the supply - the board turned on, but wouldnt with the element connected. I measured peltier resistance, and it was low, but not zero. I also powered it from my bench supplies - it took a lot of current, around 7-8A at startup at 12V (needed 2x bench PSU), but it stabilized and got warm so that seemed to indicate that it was working.

My next step was going to be to replace/ test the two primary side bjt/fets (i dont know what they are) and then the secondary side transistors, but fortunately i don't have to . Fridge has been on for 12+ hours, and temp is down to, and holding at, 54F

 

Looks like I spoke too soon! So with a minimum temperature setting of 54F on the front panel, my cooler is reporting 51F and is trying to cool further (fans all running)...
Any ideas? Maybe I damaged one of the thermocouples? Maybe I didn't plug it back in correctly? Maybe I shorted out something while soldering? Is it likely that some other component on the board is damaged from the previous cap breakdown(s)?

 

Looks like I spoke too soon! So with a minimum temperature setting of 54F on the front panel, my cooler is reporting 51F and is trying to cool further (fans all running)...
Any ideas? Maybe I damaged one of the thermocouples? Maybe I didn't plug it back in correctly? Maybe I shorted out something while soldering? Is it likely that some other component on the board is damaged from the previous cap breakdown(s)?

Could just be imprecise temperature measurement? I wouldn’t worry about a few degrees. These things are not lab quality.

 

Could just be imprecise temperature measurement? I wouldn’t worry about a few degrees. These things are not lab quality.

Understood, but prior to the failure, this thing sat at 54F for 6 years and didn't move from there (except when I kept the door open while reloading it) - the fans would come on and go off as expected. It never went below the set temp. Now the fans are on all the time (and its been well over 12h since I turned it back on), and its reporting 51F vs 54F. If it was a simple level shift (maybe due to the better caps I put in and ultimately some RC type shift), then I'd expect the fans to start cutting off now and then as it holds the temp at the new perceived 54F, but reporting it as 51F. The fans are running full on, and I just set the target temp to 66F, and nothing has changed - fans still full on, still max current draw.

Based on this schematic (https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/attachments/emerson-wine-cooler-board-schematic-2-jpg.93456/) I only see one NTC temp sensor (resistance gets less the more temp increases). So if there was a break in the NTC wiring/sensor circuit, making R infinite, then the board would assume everything was cold, and stop further cooling. If there's a short on that circuit, then the board would assume it was too hot and try and cool it down. Is my understanding correct?

 

Is my understanding correct?

I can't make that judgement, at least not without a long study of the schematic. Perhaps an expert will drop in. But of course a failed sensor could be an issue. On the other hand, it is sensing and displaying a temperature. Does it have more than one sensor? It does seem like your thermostat is not cycling. Can't say I've seen that before.

 

I can't make that judgement, at least not without a long study of the schematic. Perhaps an expert will drop in. But of course a failed sensor could be an issue. On the other hand, it is sensing and displaying a temperature. Does it have more than one sensor? It does seem like your thermostat is not cycling. Can't say I've seen that before.

The sensors seem to be working, but not my chiller is cooling to to the low 40s. Clearly something has changed - Ive made it too efficient!. It seems my replacement caps have upset the balance but I dont see how to re-balance the circuit at this point. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

This thread has been immensely helpful! Thank you for helping me bring my $49 Frigidaire wine fridge back to life.

At first the temp seemed to drop ~10 degrees below the setting..but now it's sitting at the expected temp.

Mod: link deleted.E

 

I got a 18 bottle vinotemp vt-18teds Ive replaced all the caps & 2 transistor. I can only get 2.4 volt DC oout of it. anyone have any ideas what to replace next?

 

Hi All, Wayneh,

I'm Back,

well it ran for right on 3 years, but noticed the other day that the LED did not come on when I opened the door. I did replace all the CAPs with named Brand and over rated the voltages too back in 2015. This fault is different this time, its the blinking Red LED. Time to pull it out and see what's going on. Reading through the thread it is great to see a Circuit Diagram now. It is probably a bad Cap but it does look like its crow-baring.

Le't see, let the fun begin.

 

By The way, did anyone ever measure the resistance of the peltier outside the circuit, mine is 33.5Ω, seems a bit high that about .35A so only 4.3W, given these are supposed to be 70W units. I do not have a current limiting PSU to test it with. This is at about 25c, If i put it in the freezer for a few minutes it goes up to 2.3MΩ, so it seems OK. The fans do not feel the best so I'm going to replace them first just to be sure. then do the second stage caps.

 

By The way, did anyone ever measure the resistance of the peltier outside the circuit, mine is 33.5Ω....

That's a problem. I don't think I tested the ones in my cooler but I've worked with other similar TEC modules and they were ~1.2Ω. You're correct that it simply cannot draw enough power to do its job at 33.5Ω. Are you sure it was fully out of the circuit when you tested it? Another test you can try is to hook it up briefly (just seconds) to a car battery. One side should get hot while the other gets nice and cold. A 5V computer powers supply works well for this test also. You just need something that can provide a few amps of current.

 

That's a problem. I don't think I tested the ones in my cooler but I've worked with other similar TEC modules and they were ~1.2Ω. You're correct that it simply cannot draw enough power to do its job at 33.5Ω. Are you sure it was fully out of the circuit when you tested it? Another test you can try is to hook it up briefly (just seconds) to a car battery. One side should get hot while the other gets nice and cold. A 5V computer powers supply works well for this test also. You just need something that can provide a few amps of current.

Was definitely out of the circuit, might try a small 12V battery.

Thanks.