Indeed. My board has not seen high temperatures. I don't know what uC they are using but really can you deliberately make such poor quality chips on purpose?
I am used to designing stuff to be indestructible and last forever.
The only thing I can think of
Well I'm not a conspiracy theorist but sometimes I wonder at how fast stuff breaks down when I am used to designing stuff to be indestructible and last forever
I am used to designing stuff to be indestructible and last forever.The only thing I can think of
These two statements don't add up. You're used to designing stuff to last but you can't think of failure modes?!
Open pull-up resistor.
Shorted ceramic cap.
Open ceramic cap.
Silver leeching causing termination failure of SMD caps or resistors (potential cause of above opens).
Fractured via.
Fractured solder joint.
Just a few random thoughts. We'll ignore the 'good looking' electrolytics, and the assumption there's no additional circuitry in the thermistor input.
Oh, and it's also possible at some point in the last 9 years of services and repairs someone has given the chip a nice belt and the damage is finally apparent.
Now when you say boiler, you mean for heating your home, not hot tap water right?
I know that the hot water tanks have a microscopic thin layer of glass coating in them which supposed to last only 10 years. After that time, as the glass thins out, and the water reaches metal, the metal eventually begins to rust and your water goes brown. My last hot water tank began browning after 16 years of use and I switched it quick before either my tank ruptured, or, too much metal rust would permanently damage my piping and faucets. If a heater boiler has a similar glass coating, it may have a similar lifetime expectancy, or, at least check with the manufacturer and they will tell you the life time of the tank.
This is a gas combi boiler, it heats both radiators for heating and hot water instantly for domestic use. The controller board looks brand new, like i say a thermistor would go straight to the uC so if it's saying that the fault is there then it must be the uC itself, one of the hardiest components surely?Hot water tanks for domestic use have the glass lining, otherwise the hot water will begin to taste funny after 2 years or so... You may stretch your tank to around 15 years if you fix your controller board, however, it is recommended in the industry to swap tanks every 9-10 years. I never kept my hot water tank boiling steaming hot, so the heat from the gas burner below the tank didn't erode away the glass lining too fast (thermal stress) and I managed a 16 years. I guess if you are in a more mild climate compared to here in Montreal, you may get away with 20 years...
Now when you say boiler, you mean for heating your home, not hot tap water right?
I know that the hot water tanks have a microscopic thin layer of glass coating in them which supposed to last only 10 years. After that time, as the glass thins out, and the water reaches metal, the metal eventually begins to rust and your water goes brown. My last hot water tank began browning after 16 years of use and I switched it quick before either my tank ruptured, or, too much metal rust would permanently damage my piping and faucets. If a heater boiler has a similar glass coating, it may have a similar lifetime expectancy, or, at least check with the manufacturer and they will tell you the life time of the tank.
This is a gas combi boiler, it heats both radiators for heating and hot water instantly for domestic use. The controller board looks brand new, like i say a thermistor would go straight to the uC so if it's saying that the fault is there then it must be the uC itself, one of the hardiest components surely?Hot water tanks for domestic use have the glass lining, otherwise the hot water will begin to taste funny after 2 years or so... You may stretch your tank to around 15 years if you fix your controller board, however, it is recommended in the industry to swap tanks every 9-10 years. I never kept my hot water tank boiling steaming hot, so the heat from the gas burner below the tank didn't erode away the glass lining too fast (thermal stress) and I managed a 16 years. I guess if you are in a more mild climate compared to here in Montreal, you may get away with 20 years...That sounds like a very odd set up to me. I don't have a hot water tank at my house, but my parent's do. The tank is made from copper and is situated in an upstairs cupboard, over 5 metres away from the boiler. The water in the tank never mixes with the tap water. Water circulates from the boiler, through a coiled pipe, inside the tank, which acts as a heat exchanger. The tank does have a heating element (immersion heater), which can be used in case the boiler or gas supply fails.
That sounds like a very odd set up to me. I don't have a hot water tank at my house, but my parent's do. The tank is made from copper and is situated in an upstairs cupboard, over 5 metres away from the boiler. The water in the tank never mixes with the tap water. Water circulates from the boiler, through a coiled pipe, inside the tank, which acts as a heat exchanger. The tank does have a heating element (immersion heater), which can be used in case the boiler or gas supply fails.
US/Canada. Odd is normal.
Now when you say boiler, you mean for heating your home, not hot tap water right?
I know that the hot water tanks have a microscopic thin layer of glass coating in them which supposed to last only 10 years. After that time, as the glass thins out, and the water reaches metal, the metal eventually begins to rust and your water goes brown. My last hot water tank began browning after 16 years of use and I switched it quick before either my tank ruptured, or, too much metal rust would permanently damage my piping and faucets. If a heater boiler has a similar glass coating, it may have a similar lifetime expectancy, or, at least check with the manufacturer and they will tell you the life time of the tank.
This is a gas combi boiler, it heats both radiators for heating and hot water instantly for domestic use. The controller board looks brand new, like i say a thermistor would go straight to the uC so if it's saying that the fault is there then it must be the uC itself, one of the hardiest components surely?Hot water tanks for domestic use have the glass lining, otherwise the hot water will begin to taste funny after 2 years or so... You may stretch your tank to around 15 years if you fix your controller board, however, it is recommended in the industry to swap tanks every 9-10 years. I never kept my hot water tank boiling steaming hot, so the heat from the gas burner below the tank didn't erode away the glass lining too fast (thermal stress) and I managed a 16 years. I guess if you are in a more mild climate compared to here in Montreal, you may get away with 20 years...That sounds like a very odd set up to me. I don't have a hot water tank at my house, but my parent's do. The tank is made from copper and is situated in an upstairs cupboard, over 5 metres away from the boiler. The water in the tank never mixes with the tap water. Water circulates from the boiler, through a coiled pipe, inside the tank, which acts as a heat exchanger. The tank does have a heating element (immersion heater), which can be used in case the boiler or gas supply fails.
US/Canada. Odd is normal.
Forty years ago a hot water tank was the norm in UK houses and flats. The switch to combi boilers started en-masse in the 80s for new build and replacement of existing boilers.
Sometimes stuff does just fail for no readily apparent reason. Several years ago I fixed a Bosch dishwasher with an unusual fault, the "fix" was adding an external pullup resistor to one of the IO pins on the microcontroller and today it still works just fine. I know of several other identical dishwashers that have not had any electronic faults at all so I'm not inclined to believe that it was the result of a design flaw. Failure analysis is a complex topic, there are so many factors that come into play.
Now when you say boiler, you mean for heating your home, not hot tap water right?
I know that the hot water tanks have a microscopic thin layer of glass coating in them which supposed to last only 10 years. After that time, as the glass thins out, and the water reaches metal, the metal eventually begins to rust and your water goes brown. My last hot water tank began browning after 16 years of use and I switched it quick before either my tank ruptured, or, too much metal rust would permanently damage my piping and faucets. If a heater boiler has a similar glass coating, it may have a similar lifetime expectancy, or, at least check with the manufacturer and they will tell you the life time of the tank.
This is a gas combi boiler, it heats both radiators for heating and hot water instantly for domestic use. The controller board looks brand new, like i say a thermistor would go straight to the uC so if it's saying that the fault is there then it must be the uC itself, one of the hardiest components surely?Hot water tanks for domestic use have the glass lining, otherwise the hot water will begin to taste funny after 2 years or so... You may stretch your tank to around 15 years if you fix your controller board, however, it is recommended in the industry to swap tanks every 9-10 years. I never kept my hot water tank boiling steaming hot, so the heat from the gas burner below the tank didn't erode away the glass lining too fast (thermal stress) and I managed a 16 years. I guess if you are in a more mild climate compared to here in Montreal, you may get away with 20 years...That sounds like a very odd set up to me. I don't have a hot water tank at my house, but my parent's do. The tank is made from copper and is situated in an upstairs cupboard, over 5 metres away from the boiler. The water in the tank never mixes with the tap water. Water circulates from the boiler, through a coiled pipe, inside the tank, which acts as a heat exchanger. The tank does have a heating element (immersion heater), which can be used in case the boiler or gas supply fails.
US/Canada. Odd is normal.
Forty years ago a hot water tank was the norm in UK houses and flats. The switch to combi boilers started en-masse in the 80s for new build and replacement of existing boilers.I didn't say having a water tank was odd. Read Brian's post I was responding to, which you removed. It's odd to have a steel hot water, which is heated directly by a gas flame. I've never seen that before!
Indeed. My board has not seen high temperatures. I don't know what uC they are using but really can you deliberately make such poor quality chips on purpose?
If your product is connected to mains 24/7 you've got to test for brown outs, surges, fast triansients and more,[...]