No Power In Chair Massager Repaired
A lady brought me lots of stuff to repair and one of these was a chair massager that does not power up. She explained that smoke was coming out of the controller and then the massager went dead.
It is a leather seat massager and the quality of the leather and the making is just amazing.
Since the customer informed me of smoke coming out of the controller,
I headed directly there and opened up the device.
My new helper (my son) took the screws and the cover off; right away I could smell a bad burn (also confirmed by my helper, LOL). If you look to the left side of the photo you will be able to see the cause of the smell.
There is a bulging part on the top of that IC and it has to be replaced; Part number: ULN2003AN.
Click here to access the ULN2003AN IC Datasheet
As I flipped the board to desolder the IC for replacement I noticed the solder bridge between the two wires which confirm the damage seen on that IC. Right away, I fixed that solder bridge and continued with the installment of the IC.
The damage was extended to the bottom of the IC as well. I have plenty of the same exact part in the shop for this IC is used a lot in treadmills.
Once the IC was replaced and everything was put together thanks to my helper, I powered up the machine and as seen in the photo, the machine was up and running.
My helper is trying out the massager and seems like he was ok with it because he wanted to sit on that chair for a long time.
Mission Accomplished.
This article was prepared for you by Waleed Rishmawi, one of our ‘Master Authors’ and currently working in the Bethlehem area of Palestine repairing electrical and electronic equipment.
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Note: You can check his previous article on How To Repair A Remote Control Car
Parasuraman S
July 30, 2021 at 12:20 pm
Congratulations on your developing an assistant! How I wish I had a son who would take interest in servicing and lend me a hand! Both of my sons, who are employed, do not have any interest or convenience to do so! My elder son is a qualified electronic engineer but does not have time or interest to do any type of service job! Second son is staying in Bangalore (a 500Km away city)!
A good troubleshooting and solution! Many thanks for the tips and data shared!
Waleed Rishmawi
July 30, 2021 at 3:04 pm
Parasuraman: you are most welcome. my son is still not fully interested in my kind work. He is there because there is not school and he is just spending time but once in a while I interest him in using a screwdriver to take apart something, testing a playstation after it was serviced. He likes the fact that he gets paid for doing such work and he is saving money for school. so in a way, I love having him in the shop, helping me in any way he can and at the same time creating self dependency and responsibilities he can uses in his future. have a blessed day
Parasuraman S
July 31, 2021 at 8:40 am
Good and responsible upbringing! Your son is really lucky to have a father like you!
Albert van Bemmelen
July 30, 2021 at 1:20 pm
Good repair after a strange solder bridging short circuit killed the ULN chip. The question remains how the solderbridge did get there?
Waleed Rishmawi
July 30, 2021 at 3:07 pm
Albert: thanks man. I asked the customer about that and he said that he is an electrician and he wanted to solder the cold joints thinking that it would solve the problem but in fact, he killed the device instead. have a blessed day
Yogesh Panchal
July 30, 2021 at 1:47 pm
well done! Waleed
Waleed Rishmawi
July 30, 2021 at 3:07 pm
Yogesh: thanks man. have a blessed day
Babu M S
July 30, 2021 at 10:00 pm
Good job . One more new thing learned from this article.You please convey my best wishes to your son.
Waleed Rishmawi
July 31, 2021 at 3:46 pm
Babu: thanks man. I am glad you liked it. my son thank you as well. have a blessed day