Hi all, I'm new here and a newbie, but am trying to learn new things. I have an old 8 bottle Emerson wine cooler (Model FR24SL). Came home and it wasn't working at all. The digital display on the front wasn't working either. After pulling it off the counter, I noticed that back vent port for the fan, was covered in "dust bunnies". Poor guy couldn't breathe!

I vacuumed it off and then took it outside and blew it out with compressed air. Plugged it in and still nothing. Took the back panel off and blew out the remaining dust out. After plugging it back in, still nothing. I can hear the slightest hiss sound when I plug it in but nothing else is happening. No fan movement, cooling and no display.

My first question is, with it plugged in, I looked for and found the green and red lights on the PCB and neither were lit or blinking. I used a laser temp gun and pointed it at different caps and things on the board, and only one was elevating in temp, so based on that and the slight hiss, I believe there is power going to it. Is that a safe assumption?

If so, I should just be able to replace the PCB and be good? This leads into my next question:
The PCB I pulled out of it is: FX-101 but shows 10.5V.

And on the back of the unit, the label shows "POWER: 70W(@77°F).

BUT...when I look up replacements PCB's, I only see the following options for the FX-101:
FX-101 10.5V 50W
FX-101 12.5V 70W

To replace what I have, it appears I need:
FX-101 10.5V 70W - which is not one of the options from several vendors found online.

I also found a FX-102 but it has the same specs as above.

Is it ok to either keep the 10.5V and go from 70W to 50W?
or
to go up to 12.5V and stay at 70W?

Really appreciate any help and insight anyone can provide.
Thanks!

 

The first thing to do is do what many others have done and successfully got it working again.

Replace capacitor C8, 47μF 25V electrolytic. It is ok to replace with higher voltage rating such as 35V or 50V if it fits in the same space.

Make a note of the polarity of the original and replacement component. Replace with polarity in the same orientation.

 

The first thing to do is do what many others have done and successfully got it working again.

Replace capacitor C8, 47μF 25V electrolytic. It is ok to replace with higher voltage rating such as 35V or 50V if it fits in the same space.

Make a note of the polarity of the original and replacement component. Replace with polarity in the same orientation.

Hi MrChips and thank you so much for this insight! That is certainly a much cheaper solution. I'm going to go that route next and will update this thread afterward.

Appreciate the help!

 

The first thing to do is do what many others have done and successfully got it working again.

Replace capacitor C8, 47μF 25V electrolytic. It is ok to replace with higher voltage rating such as 35V or 50V if it fits in the same space.

Make a note of the polarity of the original and replacement component. Replace with polarity in the same orientation.

UPDATE: Ordered the replacement capacitor above as directed by MrChips and it finally came in today. After what was probably the ugliest solder job so far in 2021, I put it all back together and it turned right on when I plugged it in! It is currently cooling 3 bottles of red wine as I type.

Just wanted to post this update and thank MrChips for the info as well as share that replacing the C8 capacitor, solved the problem on my thermoelectric cooler as well.

 

Have a glass of wine on me!

 

Update: Still running but is now seems to run about 5 degrees cooler than the set temp. I have it set to 66 degrees (the warmest option on this cooler) and it stays right at/around 61 degrees. Except in the morning, it'll be at 57 degrees. It usually held with a few degrees of the set temp before it died. Is this normal operation or did I perhaps mess something up when replacing that capacitor?

 

Update: Still running but is now seems to run about 5 degrees cooler than the set temp. I have it set to 66 degrees (the warmest option on this cooler) and it stays right at/around 61 degrees. Except in the morning, it'll be at 57 degrees. It usually held with a few degrees of the set temp before it died. Is this normal operation or did I perhaps mess something up when replacing that capacitor?

UPDATE - It was just the cooler nights that brought the temp down around 5 degrees cooler than it was set. Now that we've warmed up a bit, it is right on temperature. Thanks again to Mr. Chips!