Jem ZR-33 HiMass Heater Problem

[FlippinMadNut]

Hey all - new to the Blue Room and this is my first post

 

My problem is as follows : ZR-33 powers up ok but the green ready light never comes on - I have metered over the heater block and am getting 240v ok (the thermal switch on top of the heater checks out fine as well) - I suspect that the thermocouple may be dodgy as when I turn the pot. on the main board to zero the green light comes on and I can fire the machine all be it with only unvapourised fluid coming out.

 

Looking at the heater block the thermocouple seems to be buried in the depths and held in with ceramic paste - any ideas on how I

 

a) test the thermocouple to see if it is knackered

b) bypass the thermocouple to get the machine working

c) replace the thermocouple

[KevinE]

If the thermocouple had gone, the heater would switch off for safety reasons and you wouldnt get 240V on the heater terminals. Test for presence of 240 across the heater with a test lamp, not a dig multimeter. (upscale thermocouple break protection).

 

By messing with the calibration pot on the pcb, you're just fooling the pcb that you want the heater to work at room temperature and it's enabling the pump becuase it thinks it's got there already. I hope you marked where the pot was originally!

 

It sounds more like your heater element is open, if you say you have 240 on the heater connection, then surely it must be getting hot if the heater's ok!???

 

Disconnect the heater (mains unplugged!) and measure the resistance of the heater. For your own piece of mind, you can measure the T/C as well if you want, they're usually near-short when they're ok.

[jlightfo]

Hey all - new to the Blue Room and this is my first post

 

My problem is as follows : ZR-33 powers up ok but the green ready light never comes on - I have metered over the heater block and am getting 240v ok (the thermal switch on top of the heater checks out fine as well) - I suspect that the thermocouple may be dodgy as when I turn the pot. on the main board to zero the green light comes on and I can fire the machine all be it with only unvapourised fluid coming out.

 

Looking at the heater block the thermocouple seems to be buried in the depths and held in with ceramic paste - any ideas on how I

 

a) test the thermocouple to see if it is knackered

b) bypass the thermocouple to get the machine working

c) replace the thermocouple

 

 

Time for a new heater methinks. Usually when martin smoke stuff goes pop. its best just to change the componant rather than try to fix it. It prob wont cost much more or less either.

[ceecrb1]

Wanna bet!?

I replaced a heater element on a zr33 just last week... and got a right bollocking as it cost so much!! Havn´t seen the invoice so not sure how much it was....

 

All advice so far seems good.

 

Def, as said before, check the element, as an OPEN circuit to see if there is a resistance between the terminals, this indicates a "good" element..

 

I have had a very similar problem with ours... but I cant remeber what the solution was, it was definately electronic, on the PCB´s rather than electrical..

 

Truth is our zr33 spends soo much time in my workshop that its getting to the stage we´re going to "retire it" even in its working state.. its just no reliable!!!

 

(maybe thats our bad luck with it rather than quality etc)

[TIII]

as has been said, it sounds like the heating element has gone. voltage at the heater indicates that the unit is trying to heat, turning down the calibration pot suggests the thermo is ok, does it heat? measure resistance across the heater, it's almost certainly gone open circuit.