HELP Massage chair without a controller.

[678den]

I inherited an older massage chair that really doesn't have a brand name on it, only says "Mutifunction Massage Chair". I don't have the controller for it but would would like to get it going. Is there any app, or software, USB cable or ??? that can be connected to where the remote connected? There are 4 wires: black, white, green and red. It looks like a good quality chair. It has body and leg massage. When I plug it in it makes a noise like it is zeroing out and getting ready to run but I have no way to control it.
I have pulled the back off of it and looked at every component and the is no model number on the chair or anywhere on the control board.
I have attached some pictures. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[DaJMasta]

I think you just need to find a controller for it.  The boards there probably drive the various functions of the chair, but probably don't have any programs, settings, higher order control functions, etc.  At least with massage chairs I've seen (admittedly only a few), the controller module basically has all the smarts, so the cable you have is probably just a serial communication link, power, and ground.


Maybe there's a manufacturer's mark on the underside of the chair in the frame somewhere.... maybe something on the board's silkscreen that we can't see in the pic, or maybe that brief board identifier can be used to trace it down.

[678den]

Thanks. I looked everywhere on the chair and there is nothing on it to identify the manufacturer. Even if I could find a remote for it I really can't see putting out $100 and then not have the chair work. I'd like to at least find a way to test the chair before throwing any money at it.

[DaJMasta]

Maybe the best choice would be to trace out those wires to that main controller PCB.  If you can find out what chip/pins it goes into (or if you monitor the output with a scope) you may be able to determine the protocol used for commands.

While it would likely not be an easy task to reverse engineer the commands, it would at least give you an avenue of approach for a homebrew solution.

[TheMG]

What is the main IC on that control board? Is it some type of microcontroller, or just an I/O expander?

It's entirely possible that the control board has no "smarts" at all, and that the only microcontroller was inside the wire remote and the ICs on the control board are just I/O on an I2C bus or something like that.

Unfortunately the pictures are not good enough resolution to read any of the IC markings. Could you post better pictures showing the IC numbers or just read them off and type them down, especially that main IC?

[678den]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I will get some better pics of the board or at least post the numbers.

[coromonadalix]

I recently trashed my girlfriend  massage chair made by panasonic an ep755,   it began to have motor clutch problems, they need to be cleaned for debris in them ...  they slip over time and usage.     

The remote wiring did ressemble yours,  i think it was voltage divider controlled, i dismantled it, there was no ic or any controller in it, just a ton of resistors.

[678den]

I uploaded another picture of the board. I managed to get the number off the semiconductor, , it has the red arrow in the attached picture. The number is:

MC908GT16CBE
     1L35W
   CTAA0717

I really appreciate all of your help.

[678den]

Pic didn't upload. Here it is.

[DaJMasta]

Well the quickest google shows that it's a micro, unsurprisingly, so what pins on it does the controller connect to, and what are their function?  If it's a hardware serial pin, there's something in the controller to talk to it but you may be able to come up with and send your own commands, if it's an analog input pin, maybe you can screw around with a potentiometer or two and see if you can get it to react.

[coromonadalix]

show us where the missing remote or the wire(s) are supposed to go ??  i cant see the plug ??

[678den]

Thank you all so much for all of the help. Sorry for the delay in replying, I have been out of town. After some more flipping and turning I did manage to find a brand tag on the chair (pic below). I have not been able to trace down the remote wire however. It enters the chair in an area that is not easily accessible and there are no plugs on the board that have the same colored wires. I will have to tear it down some more in order to trace the wire.

[vk6zgo]

It is possible that the wired remote doesn't have any "smarts" at all----just a lot of switches.
My wife has a"power lift" chair, as she has trouble getting around.

This has a bunch of switches which send either zero volts or some DC voltage to the control circuitry in the chair.

On our remote, after some use,  the lead lost several conductors where it entered the remote's case.
Although I only had to reterminate the wires, I did check the switches, out of curiosity, but that was on the DMM Ohms range, so don't know the operating voltage.

If you can find a common rail on the board, then check if there are volts on the other wires, it may help.
You could also trace the wires back to where they connect to on the board.

[t1d]

I searched by the chair make/model information and the circuit board model. No joy. So, here are my thoughts...

Firstly, you have a low number of posts... That leads me to think that maybe you are not an electronics hobbyist and that you probably do not have a lot of skills for working on the circuit. This idea could be completely wrong, of course. But, it would help to have some idea of your skills and how much time/effort your are willing to put into the project.

Second, I have a philosophy... If something is broken and doesn't work, me fooling around with it can not make it not work more... Meaning, it can't hurt to mess around with it. If you agree with that idea, then read on...

Thirdly, these chairs sometimes have a separate power supply box... Let's make sure that your chair has a power cable that plugs into the wall. Yes? If not, you have more problems.

If so, then the circuit board is likely to only do a few functions... Power regulation, chip control for different massage programs and switching the motors on and off/controlling their speed... If you can live without the different massage programs, tapping directly into the motors and switching them on and off would not be that difficult, assuming you have basic skills and tools.

I think I see a couple of relays. These probably provide power for the motors. Find some way to energize them and things are likely to start vibrating.

If you lack skills and tools, look for a "MakerSpace" club in your area. These clubs are made up of individuals that tinker with stuff. Electronics, computing, carpentry, metal works, mechanics, everything "hackable." Lots of them have amazing tools. All of them have helpful, friendly members. Additional resources might include the shop teacher at your local high school, or your local vacuum repair person (though they are going to want to be paid.)

The board and its functions could be completely recreated, of course, using a different controller chip and writing custom massage programs to suit your desires. This might be accomplished with an "Arduino" controller. Arduinos are controllers set up for hobbyist to easily control electrical circuits, by writing their own control code. You'd need a 13 year old, from the MakerSpace... lol.

Let us know your skills, tools and the amount of work you are willing to put in it and we will help you along. (The amount of work may be expanded, if you want to work on it for the sake of learning.) We are glad you have joined our community; welcome!

[t1d]

I searched by various terms found on the label. Part of the trick was in knowing that other languages do not put terms in the same order as English.

“Comia massage chair” led me to this advertisement for a very similar chair, offered by an individual owner. https://offerup.com/item/detail/778162024/

Further digging led me to...

https://search.gmdu.net/hohohom/Massager%20Chair.html
Ningbo Comfort Health Equipment Co., Ltd.
Ningbo Comfort Health Equipment Co., Ltd. is a Sino-foreign joint venture high-tech enterprise specialized in R&D, production and sale of kinds of massage equipment. Our brand COMIA comes from a rising Italian high-tech sports health care brand. Since establishment, our company has attached importan...
Telephone0086-574-88951555AddressTangying Industrial Area, Dongjiao Development Zone, Fenghua,Nin

Clicking on “Ningbo Comfort Health...” led to
https://www.gmdu.net/corp-439865.html
Which is a full page about the company…

Clicking on the link:
http://www.comfortworld.com.cn
leads to the company’s new website, now called:
http://www.behealthy.com.cn/

Clicking the English translation button, in the top-right corner leads to:
http://en.behealthy.com.cn/

It appears that they do not show your model in their current style offerings.

Here is another advertisement that lists some features… One of which is air bags for your calves, I think… Cool...
http://www.commerce.com.tw/modules.php?modules=products&action=detail&ID=E0117978&no=81651

I suggest that you contact
1) the person that has one for sale… Ask for a copy of the manual, pictures of the controller (can they get pictures of the inside, too?) and the model number for the chair.
2) Ningbo’s Overseas Market manager and ask for a) the controller and PCB schematics (I doubt they will share them, but it can’t hurt to ask.,) b) see if they have a spare controller laying around and c) find out who does their USA repairs (or sales.)
http://en.behealthy.com.cn/blank6.html
If all you end up with is the USA contact information, ask that group for the same stuff.

Happy hunting! Let us know how you do. I will be very curious, of course.

[678den]

WOW! Thank you so much t1d for all the time and effort you put into that. You really knocked it out of the park!
As far my skill level I am geared toward more mechanical stuff but I have done quite a bit of soldering and do my own wiring, relays and old school stuff. I have swapped out chips in my sons xbox via a YouTube tutorial. I have a decent soldering iron and a multimeter.
I have heard of the Arduino but I think I'd need some hand holding to get through that one.
The effort I want to put in....I'd love to get the chair going and I do have a tendency to get a bit obsessive about things so I guess I'd go for it.
It does plug directly into the wall.
I don't know how I'd go about getting in there and wiring directly to the motors it does have the airbags and there's a lot going on there. I will definitely hit up the offer up guy and follow all of the links from your research.
I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!!

[t1d]

WOW! Thank you so much t1d for all the time and effort you put into that. You really knocked it out of the park!

Mysteries are fun and you can get a lot done, when you can't sleep.

As far my skill level I am geared toward more mechanical stuff but I have done quite a bit of soldering and do my own wiring, relays and old school stuff. I have swapped out chips in my sons xbox via a YouTube tutorial. I have a decent soldering iron and a multimeter.
...
The effort I want to put in....I'd love to get the chair going and I do have a tendency to get a bit obsessive about things so I guess I'd go for it.

Yep, go for it!

It does plug directly into the wall.

Great!

I don't know how I'd go about getting in there and wiring directly to the motors it does have the airbags and there's a lot going on there.

Yes, the air bag would be the trickiest to work out, because it needs to oscillate on and off. Maybe skip that function, for now.
As for the other functions, they might be tricky, too, because you may need to reverse a motor's direction, as opposed to just turning it on and off. You just won't know, until you play with it. But, playing with it might not be that difficult...
- Mines well remove the circuit board, you will have to to solder it, anyway.
- Take really good pictures of its front and back.
- Take really good pictures of the relays, too. Write out all of the text on the relays, for us.
The information about the relays will tell us what voltage is needed to trip the relay. We can get a pretty good guess of where to probe for that voltage with your multimeter on the circuit board from the pictures of it. Once the proper voltage supply is found, you just need to wire a switch from it to the relay. If you do this neatly and in a temporary way, maybe you can enjoy the chair, somewhat, until you come up with a proper controller.

I will definitely hit up the offer up guy and follow all of the links from your research.

You may want to press on to contact the individual that has the one for sale. A copy of the manual and pictures of the controller would be a huge help. You need to catch the person, before they sell their chair.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!!

Please do! We have fun helping.