Lyen controller broken (replace the IC)?

[japperrrr]

Long story short:
Could I simply solder a new IC onto the board and program it the same way as I would normally do? Or would I need to install additional code onto it before soldering it to the pcb?





Long story long:
I bought two 9 FET controllers from Lyen a few months ago and have been using to power my 6-phase "Hubmonster" them without any problems. Then suddenly the capacitors exploded and took 7 out of 18 mosfets with them.

After trying to contact Edward Lyen several times without succes (he doesn't respond to my emails) I decided to start repairing the controllers myself. First I replaced all the blown mosfets, and then I installed some high-quality Panasonic capacitors onto the boards instead of the unbranded capacitors Lyen used.

Before re-installing the controllers I tried to upload new parameters to them. Only one of the controllers accepted this. The other one had a short-circuit between the 5V and GND, which of course caused malfunction. I followed the traces all the way to the IC and found 3 possible causes: the voltage regulator, the capacitor or the IC itself. After having desoldered both the voltage regulator and the capacitor, I concluded that the short-circuit was inside the IC. Replacing it would be the only option here.

Somehow I managed to desolder the IC and I plan to solder a fresh one onto the board. Hopefully this will fix the controller, and with the new HQ capacitors they shouldn't blow again. The only question that remains is whether I will be able to program the IC for use in the controller.

 

[amberwolf]

Where did you source the chip from?

Unless you pulled the IC from the same controller model, then unless it comes preprogrammed from the manufacturer for that, then you'll need to get the code itself from the manufacturer of the controller to program it initially.

Otherwise it may not have any code in it at all to do anything, since when you program it for your specific controller settings those are only the settings values, not the actual controller code.




Re: capacitors--the capacitors don't carry current thru them directly; they source or sink current to smooth out the voltage. What usually happens is that controllers get hot inside, which heats up and even boils the electrolyte in them out, and then they fail to do their smoothing job. (sometimes this also makes them blow their ends out, sometimes there is no visible sign). Then the voltage spikes they were there to smooth could be higher than the FETs' rated voltages, and then a FET blows, and then other FETs can be taken out by that failure. When they fail, depending on how they fail, they can damage other stuff in there, usually gate drive circuits, but sometimes all the way back to the MCU chip itself, toasting it.

That's probably what happened in yours.

Unfortunately there's probably still other stuff blown in yours that isnt' fixed yet that won't allow the controller to work till it is fixed.

 

[Ohbse]

Cut your losses and move on, even if with all your investment of replacement parts and large amounts of time pans out, you're still left with a junky controller from 6 years ago. There are a number of more affordable sine wave controllers that are easily programmable, more reliable, superior quiet power delivery, accurate throttle control etc

Lyen stuff was 'ok' many years ago, now is very outclassed. Unfortunately there's a wealth of recommendations on these boards that are now undeserved. I certainly didn't have a good experience with my 18fet unit I bought from him first getting into this field, blew up twice for no apparent reason and I left it alone after that and moved on.

 

[japperrrr]

So from what I understand, I will only be able to repair the controller if Lyen sends me a new IC?

Unfortunately he is not responding to my e-mails but I will try contacting him one more time then. It would be the least he could do since I already repaired everything else myself. Let's just call it "limited warranty" then.

Could I maybe buy a different Infineon controller and take its IC to use on the Lyen controller?

 

[japperrrr]

And another e-mail out to Lyen. I've sent him the url to this topic so hopefully he will respond and show is willingness to solve this.

 

[brumbrum]

And another e-mail out to Lyen. I've sent him the url to this topic so hopefully he will respond and show is willingness to solve this.

I usually find that if he has an answer to the query/email then he responds within 24hrs. If he does not have an answer he does not respond at all. That is from my experience spanning over the last few years of emailing him.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Cut your losses and move on, even if with all your investment of replacement parts and large amounts of time pans out, you're still left with a junky controller from 6 years ago. There are a number of more affordable sine wave controllers that are easily programmable, more reliable, superior quiet power delivery, accurate throttle control etc

Lyen stuff was 'ok' many years ago, now is very outclassed. Unfortunately there's a wealth of recommendations on these boards that are now undeserved. I certainly didn't have a good experience with my 18fet unit I bought from him first getting into this field, blew up twice for no apparent reason and I left it alone after that and moved on.

Have you got some you would recommend in the same class and price range?