jobo heater failed

[Jim Andrada]

The heater in my CPP-2 seems to have given up the ghost. Is this something that can be easily repaired by myself? Assuming I can get the appropriate parts that is!

[Denis Pleic]

The heater in my CPP-2 seems to have given up the ghost. Is this something that can be easily repaired by myself? Assuming I can get the appropriate parts that is!

Try shops which service washing machines (or dishwashers) or provide spares - you'll probably find an appropriate replacement heater there...
I'm not sure the faulty one can be repaired, just get a replacement one. Shouldn't be too expensive.

[polyglot]

And by replacement, it doesn't need to be physically identical. Just be able to fit into the jobo fully submersed and have the same power and voltage - if you get a heater of a different power then the PID loop will be wrong so it may either not reach temperature or it may oscillate.

[koh303]

Are you sure the heater failed?
Have you checked the over heating protection fuse and reset it?
There are also several internal fuses that might have blown, and could just be replaced.

If you find the element itself has failed (a fairly rare thing) - we have the heating element in stock if.

[amac212]

Are you sure the heater failed?
Have you checked the over heating protection fuse and reset it?

I second this. If you've not tried to reset the thermal overload circuit breaker, do so first (that little recessed white button). Good luck!

[Jim Andrada]

Uhh - I don't see any recessed white button or fuse. Any clue where to look? Would be easier if I had a manual I guess.

It probably is an overheating issue - I turned it on last night and figured it would take a while to come up to temperature so I went in the other room to mix the chemistry. When I took the bottles out to take in the other room the water level apparently dropped below the pump pick-up and I didn't catch it and left it running for 30 min or so with no water circulating.

[Keith Pitman]

899528995389954


Here's a few scans that might be helpful with the circuit breaker and fuses. The circuit breaker location is shown in the third photo on page 10.

I burned out my heater a few years ago and it was very expensive to repair. If your drain valve doesn't shut off completely, I'd suggest you replace it. It will be a lot cheaper than a heater, assuming you can recover from this incident. You can buy a Jobo-type drain valve on Ebay. I think the Jobo valve is pretty crappy and I fabricated one from parts from the plumbing and garden departments at Home Depot; cheaper too.

Good luck.

[Jim Andrada]

Hi Keith. Thanks for the service info

I wonder if I have to take the lift off to get at the switch - I don't see anything in the spot where the manual shows a circuit breaker switch.

Also - everything seems to be working except temperature control - the temperature display is lighted and functioning. The manual page you sent had a note that the temperature display wouldn't light if the circuit breaker or fuse was tripped.

[Keith Pitman]

Hi Keith. Thanks for the service info

I wonder if I have to take the lift off to get at the switch - I don't see anything in the spot where the manual shows a circuit breaker switch.

Also - everything seems to be working except temperature control - the temperature display is lighted and functioning. The manual page you sent had a note that the temperature display wouldn't light if the circuit breaker or fuse was tripped.

On my CPP2, there is a 1/4" hole on the left end of the Jobo. On mine there is some sort of black label above it. The reset switch is inside the hole. Poke it with the end of a pencil. Hope it works. By the way, I have a piece of plastic tape over the hole to keep water out.

[koh303]

Jim,

The reset button is part of a small assembly that often moves out of place making it inaccesible from the outside, and will require you to open the housing to get at it.

Though the manual says the fuse will kill the display in some cases everything will seem to work except for the heater itself.

Opening the housing is simple, however the reset fuse on older machines, especially ones that spent their lives in higher humidity areas become oxidation and frozen making it hard to operate even when it is in the right position.

You will need to remove the lift, remove the 4 large nuts holding down the control head, and take it out of the trough.
Then remove the six small screws connecting the top and bottom half of the housing.

You will see the reset fuse right away.

See if you can reset and report back.

[Jim Andrada]

Well, I got the lift etc off the machine and took out six quite small screws, but the bottom part won't separate from the top part. I can lever it slightly and see that it SHOULD pop off but it's convincingly stuck together. It seems that at some point someone ran a bead of silicone caulk all around it and I'm guessing that top and bottom are rather well glued together.

Any thoughts???

I'm afraid to apply any real force to it for fear of breaking something.

[koh303]

Jim - be sure to remove all the knobs at the top of the control unit before opening it.
Once that is done, you can begin removing the upper section. Jobo applied the silicone goo to some machines past a certain date. It is gooey and gluey, but it is not that strong and you should be able to lift off the top cover slowly.
The only thing to note is to make sure not to apply any pressure on to any of the knobs sticking out of the top half as they are very fragile and expensive to replace.
While supporting the control head from below use your thumb to push open the front of the housing while lifting the rear gently with your other hand.
Good luck - let us know how you go.

[Jim Andrada]

Thanks

Any trick to removing the knobs or do they just pull straight off (They seem pretty well attached)

Thanks

[Jim Andrada]

OK - finally got the knobs off. But no luck separating the sections and I'm worried about breaking something if I push too hard. I can get one end to spring about 1/16th of an inch but that's about it so far.

I'll have another shot at it in the AM

[koh303]

The goo will start separating after a while when you lift the upper section, just hold it up as much as you can and watch as the goo lets go.

[koh303]

Also - forgot to mention you will need to remove the sealing tape around the main drive unless you have already done that.

[Jim Andrada]

Ah! Sealing tape! That might be it.

There is something that looks like a small piece of tape between the drive gear and the "back" side of the unit - is that it? It isn't very big, though.

[tgtaylor]

The reset button is part of a small assembly that often moves out of place making it inaccesible from the outside, and will require you to open the housing to get at it.

Does the reset button move out of place once it has been reset? On my CPA, which has never been reset, the little white button (looks like the head of a small nail) is visible a few millimeters inside the hole.

Thomas

[koh303]

The button does not move, but the entire fuse assembly sometimes comes off its bracket inside the housing making it inaccessible from the outside.
In those cases it needs to be reseated and then reset.

[Jim Andrada]

Nothing to report today - I was down with a bad cold. I'll try removing the tape tomorrow.

Thanks

[Jim Andrada]

OK - next question. Does the lift have to be separated from the unit first? It looks like there is a lip on a plate attached to the lift that wraps around and overlaps the part that would have to separate in order to get the bottom section off.

If so, not exactly sure of how to get the lift off.since I didn't install it, it was in place when I got the machine.

[koh303]

Yes - the lift must be takes off before any other procedure is attempted.

Remove the 2 screws holding the lift down and then just lift it up, the flap on the rear of the machine will just pop off, or you can use a flat head screw driver to help it out.

[Jim Andrada]

Successs!

I got it all apart and saw the white (well more of a dirty gray) button and pushed it and it clicked and I powered up while touching the heating element and could feel it warming up.

And best of all, the white button was exactly where it was supposed to be and indeed IS reachable without disassembling anything so all this drama could have been avoided IF I had looked into the hole at the right angle, since the button is located just slightly above the center of the hole and needs to be looked at from slightly below in order to see it clearly.

And thanks to Omar who stuck with me through this!

[tgtaylor]

Glad to hear that you got it going again Jim.

Thomas

[Jim Andrada]

Thanks Thomas.

Sorry we couldn't get together last time I was in SJ - let's try again next time.

[koh303]

Great - glad to hear you figured it out!

[Ed Bray]

Does the CPA2 have the same little reset button for the heater?

[Sal Santamaura]

Does the CPA2 have the same little reset button for the heater?Yes it does.

[Ed Bray]

Yes it does.

Bugger, I knew I should have bid more for the CPA2 with non-working heater :-(