1000 Watts DC to AC Power W/Charger

Inverter Repaired
By Jestine Yong on June 2, 2014
My confreres working in Mapourdt, South Sudan brought two inverters ast year
!ece"ber to be repaired here in #airobi, $enya% &ne was 'ust an inverter and the other
a co"bination of inverter and charger% (n Mapourdt, the "ain source of power is soar
panes% )hen they asked one of the eectronic repairs shops in #airobi, they advised
the" to buy a new "achine rather than having the" repaired% *ccording to the
technicians the repair of the two "achines woud cost "ore than the new ones% +he guys
fro" S% Sudan brought the "achine back to the house% +hey bought a new inverter since
they were in dire need of the "achine% ( fet bad because the new inverter was
purchased at a "uch e,aggerated cost%
Before they eave ( asked the" to eave the two faied inverters with "e as they go back
to their working pace in Sudan% ( was perpe,ed by the s"oked co"ponents inside and
the burning s"e the gadgets were producing% )hen ( opened inside ( a"ost gave up-
(n the s"aer "achine a the M&S./+s were s"oked- *"ost everything was under
fire- ( put it aside and ( opened the other bigger inverter0charger, a"ost si"iar tragedy%
1owever, the inverter0charger "achine had so"e co"ponents intact% So ( decided to try
to fi, the power inverter0charger and use the s"aer inverter as a scrap%
)ith a daring spirit, ( tod "y co"rades that ( wi ook into the "achines but they
shoud not give "e a deadine% (n fact when it co"es to eectronics repair work ( don2t
ike to work with deadines% +hrough visua inspection, ( found that the transfor"er was
ta"pered so"e ti"e back% ( aso found so"e fying wires fro" the 3rinted 4ircuit
Board 534B6 that were supposed to be connected to the 7ight /"itting !iodes 57/!s6,
so"e fuses open and re"oved fro" the contacts% +he inverter0charger had a separate
34B with reays and so"e co"ponents% &ne eectroytic capacitor on this 34B was
e,poded co"petey%
8sing "y "eter ( started testing the co"ponents one by one% &n the separate 34B a
transistor MJ/ 29:: 5#3# co"pe"entary siicon power +ransistor, 10*, ;0< =:)atts6
was shorted between two eads. &n one side of the "other board ( found four (>. ?40
M&S./+s dead short as we% &n the other side of the "achine ( tested two (>7 ?11@
transistors shorted and two +3 ?0#10+ reading ow resistance between eads% +here
were aso a nu"ber of 10 oh" resistors that suffered the fate%
( recorded the part nu"bers of the fauty co"ponents% *ny strange nu"ber ( was
googing the datasheet and check their eAuivaents 5www%irf%co"6%
( eft the "achine unattended for so"eti"e not ony because ( was entanged in
e,a"inations at the coege but aso that ( did know where to buy spares in #airobi city%
+hanks to Mr% 1u"phrey $i"athi 5"y friend and author of eectronics books6 who
ca"e to "y hep and advised "e the direction where they sae eectronic co"ponents%
+he first ti"e ( went to the shops ( "anaged to get so"e co"ponents, but (>7 ?11@ was
not found% ( ca"e back to fi, the"% *fter so"e ti"e ( went again to the "arket ( get the
eAuivaent% ( repaced (>. ?11@ with S+B 1?0#10.@ since ( saw that their interna
arrange"ent is si"iar and the atter is 5www%st%co"6 is bigger in capacity than the
for"er.
( repaced a the burnt co"ponents and tested with "y 12 !4 <ot source% +here was
no response at a%
( stated suspecting the two reays on the s"a board% ( re"oved fro" the circuit one by
one and appy 12< !c separatey% +o "y surprise they cicked and they showed
continuity on "y "eter% ( put the" back but the inverter0charger coudn2t work at a% (
noticed that a transistor and 100 oh" resistor were beco"ing hot seconds after
connecting !4 suppy% ( repaced the"% ( tested with the 12< !4 again% +his ti"e a ow
votage aar" gave out the noise, but there was no *4 votage output% ( abandoned the
"achine again for so"e ti"e%
* "onth ater ( took the inverter and scrutiniBe it thoroughy% ( don2t have the capacitor
"eter so ( used "y "uti"eter to test the resistance of the caps% Si, of the 2200uf02:<
caps showed ow oh"ic vaue together with the two big 1:0uf0400 vots capacitors% (
repaced the" a%
( tested the "achine with "y 12 < !4 sourceC the aar" sti gave out the sound% +his
ti"e it was "y adapter that was not abe to suppy constant 12< !4 because when (
connect it and switched on the votage was reducing to 10< !4% +his inverter has 10%:
< !4 ow votage aar"% )hen 12 !4< is fed to the "achine, 240 <*4 is e,pected on
the output and vice versa so since it faied with ow !4 suppy ( tested with a 240< *4
source to see if the "achine can work as a charger% )hoops-- 19 to 20 <ots !4 ca"e
out fro" the !4 output ter"inas- .ew seconds ater, 1ey there is s"oke co"ing out
fro" the "ain board---- (t was a poor 10 oh" resistor burning and s"oking Auiety on
4harge testing "ode- My Dod-
( traced the ine connecting to this resistor% ( found two pairs of transistors 2222* and
290=% &n the first pair it was the 290= transistor that was shorted and on the other pair it
was the 2222* that was a cuprit% ( got the" fro" the other s"a inverter that (
regarded as scrap they were good despite the fate of the "achine% ( repaced the"% (
connected 12 < !4 the sound re"ains% #ote that every ti"e the sound ca"e out the ow
votage indicator 7/! was gowing%
)hen ( connected the 240< *4 and the !4 votage ter"inas showed 19< !4 on no
oad% +his ti"e nothing was burning% Yeah- *s a charger it works but not as an inverter%
( did not have a 12< battery therefore, ( asked a "echanic if ( can use the one of the car
batteries% ( connected the inverter to the heavy duty 12 !4< battery% ( put a 100 watts
bub as a oad on the *4 output% 4onnected !4 votage, switched on E te you what,
guessE the bub gows brighty and tested the output it was between 2@= to 240 <ots
*4- Dory to Dod--- (t worked--
+he 3ower inverter0 charger ca"e back to ife after si, "onths of atte"pts- ( never gave
up totay- 1owever, a" gad that peope in Mapourdt hospita in S% Sudan wi find
happiness in using the "achine as both a battery charger and inverter%
7uciano .rancisco +ho"as $hware 5Maawian6 studied /ectrica and /ectronics at
4o"boni +echnica 4oege and at 3oytechnic 58niversity of Maawi6% 4urrenty, he is
a student at +angaBa 8niversity in #airobi $enya%
3ease give a support by cicking on the socia buttons beow% Your feedback on the
post is weco"e% 3ease eave it in the co""ents% By the way if you have any good
repair artice that you want "e to pubish in this bog pease do contact "e 1/>/%