Ravelli Pellet Fire: Electronic Cable problem

[ripeka]

Hello everyone and greetings from down under.

We have a new Ravelli Pellet Fire which we have used 5 times. In that period of time, the electronic cable (that runs the control panel) has come loose and fallen out twice. It is an absolute fiddle to get back into place, and the first time it happened, the retailer had to come out and poke it back in. Last night I just couldn't do it, despite have long nose pliers and fiddling around for over 1/2 hour as the cable connection to the electronic panel is way inside the metal housing. My husband later had a go and got it in. The cable seems to wiggle itself loose from moving the electronic panel up and down on the top of the machine (as it ought to). However, the fact that this then causes the cable underneath to wiggle lose seems ridiculous and a massive design fault. Has anyone else had this with Ravelli fires? If not, then I figure that ours is a dud connection and they will need to replace the panel and connection part.

I have googled and can't find it being reported as an issue so I am thinking it might be a problem with our unit.

I can confirm that the cable has not been wiggled out of place owing to pouring pellets into the hopper on top of the cable as we have been extremely careful after it came out the first time cause it was such a pain.

A photo is attached to show it now correctly in place but you get the idea of how fiddly it is to get back there!

Thoughts?

 

[heat seeker]

I would try to find a way to secure the cable to part of the stove just outside the opening. That way, when the cable itself was pulled or moved, the motion would not continue to the connector, and dislodge it. There should be some sort of strain relief there; not having one from the factory is poor electrical practice. It's hard to believe that the manufacturer didn't provide some type of strain relief! You may be able to fabricate your own.
There may be a latching mechanism as part of the connector itself. It may be broken, or not engaged. Can you see the ends of the connector - are there little latches that perhaps engage either the board or its connector?

 

[ripeka]

I would try to find a way to secure the cable to part of the stove just outside the opening. That way, when the cable itself was pulled or moved, the motion would not continue to the connector, and dislodge it. There should be some sort of strain relief there; not having one from the factory is poor electrical practice. It's hard to believe that the manufacturer didn't provide some type of strain relief! You may be able to fabricate your own.
There may be a latching mechanism as part of the connector itself. It may be broken, or not engaged. Can you see the ends of the connector - are there little latches that perhaps engage either the board or its connector?

Thanks - that's a good point about finding a way to provide strain relief for the cable. There is about 6 inches of cable that feeds in and out of a hole in the metal hopper box - the cable must then run down between the outside of the hopper box and the outside of the machine exterior and down into the electrics at the back. We could possibly tape the cable to stop it feeding back into the hole and thus removing all strain on the connector part. The tape would need to be able to handle the reasonable heat of the hopper box. Will think a bit more about any other ways to keep the cable from coming under stain and moving about.

Re the latching mechanism: At the moment we can't see the ends of the connector as the cable is connected and working. Husband reckons he got it to connect pretty firmly when he put it back. If it comes out again, we will take another look. When I was looking at how the cable and the housing latched, it didn't look as though it would be all that secure but we shall see whether it works itself loose yet again.

 

[heat seeker]

You could use zip ties, or cable clamps from a hardware store. I'd be reluctant to use tape, as it generally won't hold up to the heat and stress.

By the way - I hope you have the stove unplugged when you reconnect the cable!

 

[BigJohnfromCT]

Hello everyone and greetings from down under.

We have a new Ravelli Pellet Fire which we have used 5 times. In that period of time, the electronic cable (that runs the control panel) has come loose and fallen out twice. It is an absolute fiddle to get back into place, and the first time it happened, the retailer had to come out and poke it back in. Last night I just couldn't do it, despite have long nose pliers and fiddling around for over 1/2 hour as the cable connection to the electronic panel is way inside the metal housing. My husband later had a go and got it in. The cable seems to wiggle itself loose from moving the electronic panel up and down on the top of the machine (as it ought to). However, the fact that this then causes the cable underneath to wiggle lose seems ridiculous and a massive design fault. Has anyone else had this with Ravelli fires? If not, then I figure that ou

Hello everyone and greetings from down under.

We have a new Ravelli Pellet Fire which we have used 5 times. "

First, welcome to the forum. A lot of good advice available here. Given that the stove is new isn't there some kind of warranty period? Seems that this could be a design flaw if not with the stove line than just maybe with your u it. In any event I would contact the dealer before I started taping or zip tying things. Good luck.