Need Help with Empress Control Board January 2006

[Mike Lae]

The control board blew one of the 5A fuses but not before it popped a capacitor on my Empress pellet stove built in January 2006. It is a 2-fuse board and I want to replace the capacitor but the details are gone on what remains of the capacitor. Can any of you help me with details on the capacitor or what may be printed on yours if you have a similar model? The print is very small but I believe the middle line ends in "301" and the last line ends in "527" but I could be wrong. The serial number of the stove is 144370. You can see the remains of the capacitor just to the left of the main connector.

 

[Toddman]

Mike, are you referring to what used to be in Position U9 on that board? I have the same stove and I belive it's a 2006 or 2007. I need to remove my control board for trouble shooting today and might be able to get you the details from mine, assuming that's not what blew on mine too. Let me know and I'll see what I can do to help.

 

[Mike Lae]

Yes, the U9 is what I have issues with and would greatly appreciate if you could send me the numbers that are printed on your U9 component.

Background that might help you in your troubleshooting: Our auger was not turning so I pulled the control board to find that one of the fuses was blown. I should have been more patient and gone out and gotten a fuse. But instead I wanted to see if I shorted across the fuse with a screwdriver, if I could get the motor to turn. I believe that instead our auger was jammed with pellets and the fuse had protected the motor. By shorting the fuse, my U9 blew instead. Dumb! Could have kicked myself for that. Anyway, that is my hypothesis and I need to replace U9 and test the system with the proper fuse and confirm.

Thank you for reaching out to me.

 

[Toddman]

Yes, the U9 is what I have issues with and would greatly appreciate if you could send me the numbers that are printed on your U9 component.

Background that might help you in your troubleshooting: Our auger was not turning so I pulled the control board to find that one of the fuses was blown. I should have been more patient and gone out and gotten a fuse. But instead I wanted to see if I shorted across the fuse with a screwdriver, if I could get the motor to turn. I believe that instead our auger was jammed with pellets and the fuse had protected the motor. By shorting the fuse, my U9 blew instead. Dumb! Could have kicked myself for that. Anyway, that is my hypothesis and I need to replace U9 and test the system with the proper fuse and confirm.

Thank you for reaching out to me.

I'll try to get mine out today and get your whatever info I can find on it. Stand by.

 

[Toddman]

Yes, the U9 is what I have issues with and would greatly appreciate if you could send me the numbers that are printed on your U9 component.

Background that might help you in your troubleshooting: Our auger was not turning so I pulled the control board to find that one of the fuses was blown. I should have been more patient and gone out and gotten a fuse. But instead I wanted to see if I shorted across the fuse with a screwdriver, if I could get the motor to turn. I believe that instead our auger was jammed with pellets and the fuse had protected the motor. By shorting the fuse, my U9 blew instead. Dumb! Could have kicked myself for that. Anyway, that is my hypothesis and I need to replace U9 and test the system with the proper fuse and confirm.

Thank you for reaching out to me.

Hi Mike, my stove is a 2007 and the board looks slightly different but the same capacitor is in the same place. Here's a closeup I just took. To me the numbers look like 1301 0637. I hope this helps you.

Best regards,

Todd

 

[jzm2cc]

I don't have a power board handy, but that looks like a voltage suppression thyristor, not a capacitor. Guessing the board saw a voltage spike at some point in time.

 

[mikefromiowa]

I agree with @jzm2cc, that component looks like a surge suppression device (not a capacitor) which has sacrificed itself trying to protect the board. It may be shorted. If it is, you could remove it, reinstall the auger fuse and see if the board still works. (You shouldn't need the surge suppressor in circuit to test the board, but if the old one is shorted, it needs to be removed before doing this).

If the board works, I think you could replace the surge suppressor with something like this

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/littelfuse-inc/V130LA10CP/1009203

If it does work, don't run the board for an extended time without a replacement surge suppressor.

 

[Mike Lae]

Wow! What great knowledge and experience here. Thank you for the information. And special thank you to Todd for starting out the help with the photo of his board and the numbers. I will order the surge suppressor from Digikey today.

 

[Mike Lae]

Just wanted to close up a loose end to let you know how it all worked out and thank you for your help. I did replace what I thought was a capacitor with your recommended voltage suppression thyristor that I bought from Digikey. I installed the reworked control board back into our pellet stove and it worked! It has been working perfectly for 2 months and my wife couldn't be happier. Thank you to all for helping me resolve this. A great bunch of people here. Happy New Year!