Q&A - Circuit Board Troubleshooting - Short #230

HVAC School - For Techs, By Techs

Bryan Orr

Training, Careers, Airconditioning, Self-improvement, Hvac, Business, Education, Refrigeration, Heating, Ac, Apprenticeship

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this short Q&A podcast episode, Bryan answers a listener-submitted question about circuit board troubleshooting: is there a quick way to learn how to check circuit boards, and if so, where are those resources?

A circuit board is a bunch of components put together on a printed circuit board (PCB). There isn't a lot of helpful universal information about circuit boards available, as they vary quite a bit by model and manufacturer. However, many of the basic components will be the same across circuit boards: microprocessors, diodes, relays, capacitors, and transformers. If you understand what these are on their own, that will help you understand what they do in circuit boards.

You mostly need to know the inputs, outputs, and sequence of operation of a circuit board to diagnose it. The sequence of operation tells you when certain things are supposed to happen, such as in an integrated furnace control (IFC); the flame rectification process is a classic example. If the flame can be proven, the operation continues; if it can't be proven, then that will cause a lockout (possibly due to improper grounding or poor placement and NOT necessarily because of the board).

A lot of issues with the board can be diagnosed if you understand the inputs and outputs (e.g., 24v signals) or observe it with your senses, such as bloated capacitors or ant nests. Becoming a master of the obvious and checking the manufacturer's literature are the top two things you can do to diagnose circuit boards.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Why, hello there. This is the HVAC School podcast. This is a short Q&A episode, and it's a question from Kevin. It's one of the questions that I get most often and do struggle to answer, but we're going to give it a shot. It's about circuit boards. Before we get to Kevin's question, we're going to hear from our excellent brand sponsors.
0:23.5	Refrigeration Technologies at refrigetec.com.
0:27.5	The ESCO Institute, with over 200 HVACR training solutions, courses, webinars, and simulators,
0:33.7	find out more by going to ESCO Group.org.
0:37.5	Santa Fe and Santa Fe and Santa Fe dehumidifiers.
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0:50.3	So Santa Fe's warranty program comes with a five-year complete replacement coverage and an extra year for parts.
0:57.5	So I'm glad at our business, Calos, we can offer a product line with so much confidence and support behind it,
1:04.1	and I would encourage you to consider doing the same.
1:06.6	To learn more, visit hvacr.com slash Santa Fe. That's hvacR School.com slash Santa Fe.
1:11.0	That's HVACR School.com slash Santa Fe.
1:15.4	Navac at navakglobal.com.
1:18.7	Carrier and Carrier.com.
1:20.7	I've been a carrier dealer for many years.
1:23.4	Carrier has their new green speed extreme, super high efficiency heat pumps out on the market now. Find out more by going to Carrier has their new green speed extreme super high efficiency heat pumps out on the market now.
1:30.0	Find out more by going to Carrier.com.
1:34.3	Is there a quick way to learn how to check circuit boards?
1:40.0	And if so, where are those resources?
1:43.6	All right.
1:43.8	Thank you, Kevin, for the question.
	...

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