Fujimoto processor crapped out, repair?

[Imke]

Hi all,

my Fujimoto Cp-31 tabletop processor crapped out on me today, I don't know if there's ever a good time for that to happen, but i have about a 100 prints to print, so way bad timing.

Anyway, it looks like it's something with the circuit board or the battery, the temperature display is wacked, showing "all bars black", meaning I can't decipher the dev. bath temperature read out. When I switch the machine off, I get a dim display of a temperature (as opposed to "all bars black"), normally it would show the temp of the dev bath slowly cooling down, but now the display only shows the last temp reading, which then doesn't change, even with the bath cooling down.

The manual suggests battery trouble when the display acts up and says a reset of the display (and a re-dialing in of the high and low settings of the dev. bath) would fix the problem. I tried and it didn't, the display is still weird, and I can't dial in the setting with all bars black (which still happens, even after reset).

Does anybody here own a Fujimoto, or can somebody recommend a repair service in the Southeast (I live in Savannah)? Omega just took over Jobo, and their tech support is still trying to familiarize itself with the processor (= no reliable answers yet).

Or can anybody, from my very garbled description, point to a possible solution? Is this most likely to be something related to the circuit board, or might some wires have gotten crossed or damaged internally?

Any thoughts are, as always, appreciated.

Cheers,
Imke

 

[df cardwell]

If you called Jobo in Germany, you might charm them into telling you how to contact the old Ann Arbor, Michigan repair people for old Jobo USA.

Also, for Fujimoto in Japan.

Dead Link Removed

Often, the repair technician can talk you through a diagnosis over the phone, and often you can fix it. It's a little like the nun landing the 747 in a bad movie.

good luck

.

 

[Imke]

If you called Jobo in Germany, you might charm them into telling you how to contact the old Ann Arbor, Michigan repair people for old Jobo USA.

Also, for Fujimoto in Japan.

Dead Link Removed

Often, the repair technician can talk you through a diagnosis over the phone, and often you can fix it. It's a little like the nun landing the 747 in a bad movie.

good luck

.

Thank you, much obliged, I'll try to locate them.
Always wanted to fly a 747. Don't know about being a nun, though.

 

[UF_labtech]

This thread is old but maybe someone knows the answer?

I know this thread is old but I have the exact same problem with a Fujimoto CP-51.

The processor was running for about two hours and then it just started doing the same thing described in the original post. I am waiting for a reply from Omega-Satter for some technical support but figured I would put out a call for help.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mike Wilde]

Mine came uised (and dirty too) that way, with the digital thermostat crapped out and flaky - sometiems its there, sometimes not. I think it is related to an electrolytic capacitor in the digital thermostat drying out.

I just bypased it with another temp control unit. It is not quite as precise - a bit more hysterisis. It was originally developed as a prototype lot of 100 boards by a guy as a way to get more efficiency out of running the furnace fan in a furnace for just as long as there is heat still in the heat exchanger. The furnace vendor he was partnered with backed out of the deal, and so the guy sold 100 of the things on ebay. I bought 5 so the postage would be more reasonable.

I don't auto replenish in my unit (well not yet; the parts to do so are lying around waiting for me to use them), so I stuck the thermocouple into the replenisher inlet tube location, but I would just stick it in where the old digi sensor goes if I did it today; I was hoping that the digi sensor would come back to life, but it hasn't in the last 2-3 years.

I was tidying the workshop last weekend (yes, it does happen periodically, I tell my wife) and found the spare four units left from my original purchase. The one I use I run off of an old departed laptop power brick, since this control board wanted something likle 18V to make the op amps work right, and the power inside the CP-31 is 100V, ala Japan standard voltage, which switch mode power supplies like the old compaq brick are most happy to work with.

PM me if you think you are up to doing your own equipment modification. I will take some digisnaps of the modifications, and then bundle up a pair of controllers and the schematcs for the thing so you have a bit more hope getting your unit back in business. I would hope that you could paypal me for the cost of the postage.

 

[Imke]

Hi, I posted the original message, in my case it turned out to be a dead battery on the circuit board. I sent the board in (to Omega Satter) and had a new battery installed, don't remember how much it ended up costing me.

For all Fujimoto related questions I always call John @ Service Photo, he can give discounts on parts and is a great help with troubleshooting. Their number: (410) 235 6200.

Good luck, hope this helps!

 

[frotog]

Arghh! Stabilizer/dry unit heater has run amok. Thermostat appears stuck in "on" position. Temperature continuously rises. Guess I'll call John in the morning. Or maybe the Joboman out in califonia.

 

[Chan Tran]

anyone has one of these thing crapped out with good mechanical parts?
If I have one I would install new good temperature controller plus new motor drive.

 

[Mike Wilde]

My cp-31 wash dry unit ocassionally would go nuts and leave the UV heater element on for too long.
Cycling the power on the w/d module off and then on would clear the issue. It usally happend intermittently only on the first power up of the day.


Now it is not heating at all, but I have not had time to figure if it is dead, of if there is just a bad connection or fried out triac somewhere.

Update me as to how your heater fix gets resolved if you could.please?

 

[frotog]

My cp-31 wash dry unit ocassionally would go nuts and leave the UV heater element on for too long.
Cycling the power on the w/d module off and then on would clear the issue. It usally happend intermittently only on the first power up of the day.


Now it is not heating at all, but I have not had time to figure if it is dead, of if there is just a bad connection or fried out triac somewhere.

Update me as to how your heater fix gets resolved if you could.please?

Thanks for your response Mike. When I powered up the unit this morning I monitored the temp. with an external thermometer. Everything is working as it should. Very strange as the temp in both stabilizer baths soared up into the 40's - got so hot steam was rising off the baths. Still can't figure out what might have caused this. I had just finished flushing the tanks a few times with water and then dropped some new racks in that I bought from a friend of mine. After dumping the water I reprimed the pump rather aggressively with a large funnel over the suction hole inside the tank...I hope I didn't hurt the pump or something...
Re: your IR thermostat irregularities...Try calliing Dave Smith at joboman.com. He was trained on fujimoto's in Japan, knows them better than anyone I've ever spoken to and he might have a fresh circuit board for your wash/dry module (if that's what's causing the problem).

 

[Mike Wilde]

Long time for a reply... I fixed my W/D heater staying stuck on a few months ago, and all has been good since I put it back together.

I fixed it the same way I fix other old electronics going flaky... replaced the electrolytic capacitors on the control board of the w/d unit.
One in the hysterisis circuit is a bipolar unit like is used in a speaker crossover - watch out for that if you are doing this yourself.

One relaxing night unsoldering the old and resolderingi in the new, while watching TV. Parts cost was under $10.

 

[frotog]

Awesome news Mike! Nothing like DIY.

My problem turned out to be a much more simple fix. Apparently any extra wash module (I'm running an extra stabilizer bath between the two bodies) needs to be grounded properly otherwise it will reek havoc on the MB computer, causing erratic thermostat behavior. Fortunately I did not fry anything!

 

[EdSawyer]

hi Guys - I am going through my spare CP-31 and it's having the issue that OP had posted about, which apparently can be fixed with a replacement battery. Does anyone have the battery spec? Supposedly it's rechargable, and when I put a multimeter on it with the processor running it seems to be around 6vdc (or at least the charge voltage appears to be that). It's soldered to the board, and looks like either a partial AA size or some coin-cells soldered together possibly, and then shrinkwrapped. I didn't see a part number on it. Any ideas?

thanks
-Ed

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Always good to wake up long sleeping threads. The battery is ancient Ni-Cad long dead. Either 1/2 or 2/3 size AA if I recall. I'm not sure if you can still buy NiCads. It should run without it just won't remember it's settings. Check for leakage around the battery, cleanup if needed.

 

[mshchem]

Is it like a stack of shrink wrapped nicads? Like Hasselblad battery packs. Should still be easy to find on eBay. 6V would probably mean 4 cells?

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Okay looked thru some of documents I have. Seems like the battery is a stack of Ni-Cad cells totalling 7.2 v. Six cells @ 1.2v each. The mentioned replacement was a battery pack from a cordless phone. also mentioned in that email is the age of the electrolytic capacitors and their health.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

Amaziing...I scoured all of the CP31 documents I have - part lists, schematics, service, operations and nothing showing or listing a battery - odd b/c CP-31 users know its there. I have a CP-32 (I gathered up all the CP31 docs because I couldn't find any manuals or service docs for the CP-32). In fact, the CP-32 doesn't even have the front drawer access panel; I think the CP-32 has a more integrated design and I don't even know if the CP-32 retained the battery that the CP-31 has and short of disassembly don't know how to find out if the CP-32 still uses a battery.

Mike

 

[George Nova Scotia]

I'm surprised it's not on the schematic. Any chance you have a scan of the schematic? It's one of the things I don't have, I thought I did but it doesn't seem to be among my manual stack.

 

[Dirb9]

I don't have a battery listed on my parts list either, just the main board. 6v seems really high for a charge, maybe the unit is expecting the internal resistance of the battery to drop it to a normal level?
I can't speak to the CP51 or Cp32, but on my CP31, the battery was a single NiCd 2/3 AA (1.2v). Since the battery does die after a few years, to avoid having to keep removing and re-soldering the battery, I removed the old battery and soldered in an AA battery holder, and am just using a normal AA NiCd cell, cost for both was about $5 at digikey. Plus that way if it discharges I can pull it out and just pop it in a charger. Or in a pinch, I suppose an NiMh battery would work, though an alkaline would probably not be ideal since the unit trickle charges when it's plugged in.

 

[oafysgbk]

Is there any consensus on what voltage this battery needs to be? I am about ready to replace mine as well but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be 1.2V or 6V. Thanks all

 

[oafysgbk]

Update: I fixed mine and it works properly with a 1.2V replacement. Much thanks to Dirb9

 

[x.rasenas]

Thought I would renew this thread as I'm having trouble getting my CP-31 up and running.

My W/D unit's dryer/fan is not turning on when prints go through. I do not have the 3 pin DIN cable to connect the W/D to the processor but the last owner said the fan/dryer would auto turn on when a print made its way through. Do I actually need the 3 pin DIN cable? Not sure if I need to start replacing the cables to the pull out board for help in getting the dryer/fan to turn back on.

Any info would be great.

Thanks

 

[Brent Waterworth]

Having troubles with my LCD as well - pretty much the same as OP.

Can somebody tell me (or show me with a photo) where the battery is located on the control panel? I researched the batteries people have mentioned in here & im seeing all sorts of shapes/sizes on Google…none of which are looking like the ones I have on my CP-31 control panel.

I’ll attach photos below this post to show the display & also my control panel for reference.

Thanks

 

[Brent Waterworth]

Update - located the battery on the motherboard but having issues sourcing this type of battery: “2/3 subc 1.2v NiCd 650mAh”

Can i just a non 2/3 version & a higher mAh?

Example: I found a “Tenergy NiCd Sub C 2200mAh battery - not 2/3 + a higher mAh

 

[Ianshiff]

Hey! Running into the same screen problem where all the icons are on at once. Is the battery on the board the orange guy soldered on near the left middle of the board?