Mach II Problems

Hey guys,

Well I purchased a used Mach II recently.

Anyway, it arrived today, and when I was carrying it inside, I noticed that something inside of it knocking around. The box was in relatively good shape, but one corner was slightly crushed.

Anyway, I take it out of the box, since something was rattling inside, and take off the side panels to take a look.

Well, first thing I notice is the rear electronic panel has detached from the mounts on the back plate, and 1 of the connections is undone. Connect it back together, and put the electronic PCB back onto it's mount. *Later find this is the connection to the 2nd rear fan, and without it, it gives me a Rear Fan failure on the LCD display.

I also figure out that the rattling noise is coming from the inside of the compressor. When I gently move the compressor to one side, something inside the compressor moves, and hits the side of it. Is this normal? I'm guessing NOT.

Either way, I try to hook it up like per the instruction. I hook it up, it goes to Stand By Mode when I plug it in on the LCD.

When I press the power button, the LCD goes dimmer, and the LCD says activated. Fans turn on, but no compressor Nothing happens, just says that for a while. After roughly a couple minutes, the LCD switches to TOO HOT.

So I look around, and see if you connect it to a running power supply, and the wall outlet, it should start on its own. Thinking here was maybe the motherboard connections were an issue.

Anyway, I connect the Mach II to the wall, and then connect a running power supply two the Mach II. Right when I connect the molex, it switches from 1 green LED to 2 yellow, and the red one is blinking. LCD displays "NO Mains"

Disconnect everything, try again, same story.

I let it sit for a while, and try it again. This time something very weird happens. When I connected it, it sounded like a rushing gas sound around the condensor for maybe 5 seconds (front), and then that stopped, then it sounded like the compressor tried to start, but it immediatly stopped.

Disconnected everything, then reconnected both the main power and the molex, and the 2 yellows LEDs come on, with the red blinking.

I checked the Fuse, seems ok.

At this point I'm thinking it got damaged in shipping, since that rear panel fell off.

Any ideas?

Can I bypass the electronic panel and see if the system itself runs?

Should something in the compressor be rattling?

All help appreciated.

hermetrically sealed compressors knock around when you move them, that is perfectly normal. i'm having a hard time following you, but to get it to start you'd just need to plug it into the wall and put a psu on the molex and turn it on. so what exactly happens when you do that?

Sorry if I'm not clear. I had a 15 hour day today, so my head is a bit out of it.


When I connect it to a running PSU and the wall, connect the Power SW to the Power SW on the case, and the other Power SW to the motherboard, when I hit the power button on the case:

It says "activated" fans turn on, nothing else. After a few minutes the LCD says "TOO HOT"

When I connect it to the wall on its own, a green led turns on. I then connect the Molex to a running psu and it then the green LED turns off, and the 2 yellow ones turn on, with the red one blinking. LCD says "NO mains" I tried doing this, but connecting the power SW to the case button, and the motherboard, same problem.

The only time it did anything different was one time, like I said, when I connected the molex, I heard a rushing sound near the condensor, then it sounded like the compressor tried to start, but then it didn't and it defaulted back to the same "NO Mains" and leds blinking.

Glad the compressor isn't broken. Looks like an issue with the electronics than. Can I bypass the rear electronic and see if the system runs on it's own?

I would check all the connections first..

sounds like a problem getting power to the starting coil and/or damage to the controller.

greenmaji said:

I would check all the connections first..

sounds like a problem getting power to the starting coil and/or damage to the controller.

Click to expand...

I checked all the connections. Everything looks to be connected. I'm guessing when the controller came off the mounting on the back, something broke on it.

Is there a way to bypass it, and just run the compressor without the controller? I want to see if the system itself still works.

Thanks

I'm sure there would be a way to wire a swich in. I just dont know how a Mach1 is wired.
Maybe someone has had to do this

find the three wires coming out of the capacitor (they're plugged into the distribution block in the back IIRC), and wire them into the wall to turn on the compressor alone. this will not turn on the fans.

crimedog said:

find the three wires coming out of the capacitor (they're plugged into the distribution block in the back IIRC), and wire them into the wall to turn on the compressor alone. this will not turn on the fans.

Click to expand...

There are 3 wires coming into the white block, and are attached permantly (well without a connection, just forced in there). Then 3 more wires coming out of the that block, and then connect directly the the wall outlet back side of the wall outlet.

I'm thinking that block is a relay to turn the compressor on and off. It's probably normally open to.

So I'm guessing I need to remove the 3 wires coming directly out of the compressor and connect those to the wall?

Whats the best way to do this?


Thanks

A lot of phase change units get damaged in shipping... I know this first hand.
good luck, getting it running.

Indyxc1 said:

There are 3 wires coming into the white block, and are attached permantly (well without a connection, just forced in there). Then 3 more wires coming out of the that block, and then connect directly the the wall outlet back side of the wall outlet.

I'm thinking that block is a relay to turn the compressor on and off. It's probably normally open to.

So I'm guessing I need to remove the 3 wires coming directly out of the compressor and connect those to the wall?

Whats the best way to do this?


Thanks

Click to expand...

just pop em out of the distribution block (probably want to remember where they go too) and make your own power cord

If your controller's really hosed.. you might want to wire it and the fans though switches.

Alright, I connected the wires from the compressor directly to the power cord. Left the ground attached to the power distribution. It should run without ground right?

When I plug into the power cord, the compressor shakes for a second, and then quiets down. I hear it hum like a fridge, but very quietly.

I let it do that for a while ~2 mins, and nothing happened beyond the compressor getting hot to the touch. Evap head never got cold, condensor never got hot.

Any ideas?


*Edit

I let it sit for a while, and I plugged it back in. This time right after I plugged it in, it made that weird swishing sound near the condensor for 3-5 seconds, like a gas was escaping. I smelled around and it did smell somewhat like a chemical smell. It might of been my imaginaiton again.

You guys think the gas is leaking out?

Alright, it seems to be officially f*ed in a variety of ways. The electronic panel already didn't work it seems. Now the mechanicals are F*ed.

I pulled the front cover, the one that covers the LCD display, and plugged it in after letting it sit for a while.

I felt some gas coming out of the top row of fins on the condensor, that was smelly, and had a greasy feeling.

I looked around, but could not find a leak and break anywhere which is odd.

I'm guessing this isn't suppose to happen?

I'll try to get a video in a few minutes here.

Well, looks USPS did a number on this one.

that sounds like the oil that's escaping through what appears to be a leak in the condensor

you should claim insurance then get it repaired/upgraded by someone

Thanks for the help guys.

Guess it's F*ed.

Looks like I have to go through the USPS, and see if they will honor their insurance.

Good luck man, sorry to hear you got a bad delivery... sometimes crap just happens. Hope it all works out well in the end.

Indyxc1 said:

Thanks for the help guys.

Guess it's F*ed.

Looks like I have to go through the USPS, and see if they will honor their insurance.

Click to expand...

NP.
Could you let us know how it goes with USPS?

Just an update for anyone that cares..

USPS confirmed my my belief this would be a hassle. I visited them and the options are:

Don't file an insurance claim, and fix it

or

File an insurance claim, surrender the Mach II to them, wait about 3-6 months and THEN they might POTENTIALLY pay for it. If they decide not to pay, then I get the Mach II back.

I ask, well what about repairs? The lady says, yeah you can get it repaired. So I say, yeah will USPS pay for it then? She says, No.

Well, OBVIOUSLY I KNOW I CAN GET IT FIXED ON MY OWN DIME.

So what should I do?

I paid 350 for it, 400 total for shipping.

The minimum need to be done to it, it seems, to fix the broken lines, and a regass. If the controller still works, then it's good to go.

If not, then I have to wire up switches for the compressor and fans.

I talked to student of mine about USPS insurance claims, and he said it took him roughly 7 months of constant haggling to get his money back for something USPS damaged.

Moral so far: Don't use USPS

I would say, Screw USPS and fix it yourself.

i went into a post office with a paypal reciept, an invoice of repair, my mach1, and my packaging, and the insurance claim form which i had filled out. it took about 5 minutes and i got my check in a month.