Salton solid state refrigerator

Jan 22, 2010 5 Replies

We have a benchtop size peltier refrigerator made by Salton, which has stopped refrigerating after about two years of operation.



The p.c.b. has two LEDs, green and red, visible here.

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The external fan still spins but the chamber is about



15 degrees C.

A few months back the p.s. failed and the two big capacitors were obviously leaking. With new caps the p.s. worked again.



Two questions before I consider troubleshooting.



  • Are peltier devices short lived?
  • Any ideas about what the LEDs indicate?

Thanks, ... Peter E.



Hi!

Not that I know of. They are very simple devices, and I've had a few operating on and off over the past several years.

However, they do use a LOT of power and sometimes the switches, power sockets and wiring used to hook them up are not up to the task. I've seen a lot of peltier-type coolers and "refrigerators" with burned switches or undersized wiring.

I'd have thought they might be used to indicate "heating" and "cooling", but it appears not. Most of the devices I've seen have a means by which to reverse the polarity of the DC power going into the peltier, effectively swapping the "hot" and "cold" ends around.

If both lights are on and the unit is switchable between heating and cooling, perhaps it is a fault indication? If there is a switch to select between these modes, is it good? (If it had melted or failed from the load, the unit might fail to operate altogether.)

I was more surprised to see a switchmode power supply in there. Every peltier based device I have (new to old) has used a transformer-type supply.

William

Nothing pertinent or helpful on their Web site, unless it is very well hidden. I'm waiting for a reply to an emessage.

The Web site marked on the PCB,

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, also hasn't helped. Appears to be provided for marketing only. No evidence of any numbers found on the PCB.

Thanks, ... Peter E.

They don't like ripple on the DC.

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