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ECM Giotto Premium Plus - eBay 'bargain' from US arrived today....

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  • #16
    Nice outcome Lb...

    Mal.

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    • #17
      Quick update: the parts arrived from JetBlack and I found I'd ordered the wrong size Parker solenoid coil: I should have known it was too big as it's the size we use on the chiller system at the winery. I'll get around this by swapping out the entire solenoid as I have a spare 240V AC solenoid (an ODE) since I've changed the one on the other machine to a 24V DC ex SMC.

      Checked the new thermostat and found the ratings, checked the old one and it is indeed 240V rated so I could have used it.

      Meanwhile I've cleaned up the chassis which was in fairly poor nick:


      Chassis before

      Some of the features on this confirm my prejudice against Italian engineering as being more concerned with form than function: the feet in the above pic are held on with long M4 screws, all of which are bent and 3/5 of which have damaged the rivnut to which the fix in the chassis. Partly this is because the whole drip tray assembly is cantilevered off the front of the machine and, to make matters worse, two of the feet are attached to this. No wonder it bent.

      I hacked together a couple of support brackets and replaced the feet with much stronger ones (M6, which in theory will be about 5 times as stiff), the brackets are SS but the feet I could get off the shelf are in gal so I'll have to replace them at some stage.


      Bracing

      As you can probably tell I've done a basic rust removal and respray, I think I'll get the thing re-powdercoated eventually.

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      • #18
        So I finally got around to rewiring this thing this week, only to find that despite both being labelled "Gicar RL30 Micro ST" the two controllers are not the same: the one out of the Izzo (240V) is missing one relay and connection compared to the one out of the ECM (120V). The boards, however, bear the same design number and look to be identical.


        RL_30s_1

        There are five options as I see it:

        1. Buy a new controller (about $250).

        2. Use one of my DIY controllers (about $60).

        3. Replace the power transformer on the 120V controller with a new 240V Tx (about $6).

        4. Swap the transformers from board to board (no cost but I end up with one non functioning board).

        5. Rejig the control schema for the ECM to suit the Izzo controller (no cost but a bit of faffing about).

        I opted for #3, a suitable transformer* is available off the shelf from RS components but stock is in the UK so there's a 5 day lead time. I'm impatient to finish (despite having done nothing for weeks) so I decided to swap the transformers now and put the new transformer on the donor board when it arrives.



        RL_30s_2


        RL_30_noTx

        Surgery seemed successful and the patient lived, so on to wiring it up.

        In the end I used the fibreglass sheathed wiring from the Izzo for anything attached to the boiler and new PVC insulated wire for just about everything else.


        Wired

        Testing will have to wait until Monday. Once I have it working I'll post up the wiring schematic, I couldn't find one so I drew it myself.




        * It's not the same but it looks like it can be hacked to suit. I'll post a thread on this when it arrives and I mount it up.
        Last edited by Lyrebird; 7 December 2018, 11:56 PM.

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        • #19
          Replacement transformer arrived today. The original Tx has a 2VA rating, the 12V single secondary transformer available had only 1.5 VA so I opted for a 2 x 6V unit with a 2.3 VA rating (RS stock number 1213827) . Of course this means it has extra pins but the PCB is already drilled to accept those pins:


          RL_30_Tx

          The secondaries are laid out to allow easy connection in series so all that was required is a single wire linking pins 6 and 10:


          RL_30_Tx_wire
          Last edited by Lyrebird; 14 December 2018, 12:05 AM.

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          • #20
            What is the state of this project now after a year and half?

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