2006 Camelot - Het pump and furnace diagnose

[nvrtoofast]

Hey all,

During the summer, one of my control boards went bad on my AC unit. I recently replaced the board. I have a penguin II in zone 1 and a Brisk II in zone 2 And a Micro Aire controller. The Penguin is a reversible while the Brisk is not. After repair, I currently have two issues:

- The Penguin Heatpump will not blow heat. Can't seem to activate it. Both units function as AC

- The furnace shows activated on the microaire but does not come on in any zone.

This may be due to the control board setup. I'm adding a pic of the DIP switch for the Zone 1 Board.

Current ON settings is | Zone1: Furnace only | Zone2: Furnace and Zone 2 | The microaire shows AC and Furnace for zone 1&2.

When I activate the furnace on Zone 1 or 2 The zone heaters do not blow. I switched on electric heat and then also tried Diesel. Niether worked. I'm currently in South Carolina and the Heat pump would be sufficient but I cannot figure out how to turn it on.

My need here is to get a strategy to diagnose the situation. I need to:

- Have a functioning heat pump

- Have a functioning furnace

Side Note: I have not maintenanced the furnace in more than 1 year. I used it extensively in winter 2022/2023 and it functioned well.

Thank you in advance for the help.

[vito.a]

Several questions.  Which control board did you replace?  

Did you copy the dip switch settings from the old control board?  If not, do you still have it?

Is either your Brisk Air or Penguin (and its control board) original equipment?

Do you still have the original Dometic 5 button Comfort Control thermostat?  (It would be very easy to reinstall it and perform a System Reset just for troubleshooting).  

Difficult to see your pictures.  First, your Penguin II heat pump must have the heat pump dip switch on (assuming it's a heat pump).  

Do you have an Aqua Hot heat system? 

Did you perform a thermostat system reset when you installed the new control board? 

Also, when you set the Penguin II board to heat pump, make sure you perform another thermostat system reset.

Attached is a picture of my Penguin II heat pump control board.  

Let me know how it goes?

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by vito.a

[nvrtoofast]

Thank for dropping in. Here are some answers to your questions.

Which control board did you replace?  The control board for Zone 2, the rear unit. It is the Brisk unit and NOT the original unit.

Did you copy the dip switch settings from the old control board?  If not, do you still have it?
Unsure. I did a lot of troubleshooting and switched the rear board to the front and modified the system a lot. I have a photo I took of the control board before removal but it is also hard to read. My camera really did not like the boards.

Is either your Brisk Air or Penguin (and its control board) original equipment?
Zone 1: The Penguin is OEM

Do you still have the original Dometic 5 button Comfort Control thermostat?  (It would be very easy to reinstall it and perform a System Reset just for troubleshooting).  The 5 button controller broke. It is the reason for changing to microaire

Difficult to see your pictures.  First, your Penguin II heat pump must have the heat pump dip switch on (assuming it's a heat pump).  
My Board only has 8 switches. there is not a heat pump switch like your 10 switch board.
The switches present are: Heat Strip, Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, Furnace (on), Deferential (no idea what this is but it is OFF), Stage (also no idea OFF), Gen Start.

Do you have an Aqua Hot heat system? Yes. But it is the older system with only one electrical heater. It is a electric/diesel boiler.

Did you perform a thermostat system reset when you installed the new control board? No I did not.

Also, when you set the Penguin II board to heat pump, make sure you perform another thermostat system reset.
No heat pump switch.

Attached is a picture of my Penguin II heat pump control board.  
I'm attaching a pic of the board before moving it around. It is also blurry and hard to see. Stupid Phone.

 

Would like to know what differential and stage dip switches are. Still open for questions.

 

[DBRV.0]

12 hours ago, nvrtoofast said:

It is also blurry and hard to see. Stupid Phone.

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but it may be possible for you to touch a location on the screen for focus.  My iPhone does this.  For example, when you take a picture of a dip switch, hold the phone/camera steady while you touch the screen where the dip switch appears.  It should focus on that object.  You can review your success by displaying the photo you just took, and zooming in on the object to check focus.

- Jeff

[jacwjames]

If you Penguin II doesn't have a heat pump switch on he board it may not be a heat pump, that would be what triggers it to work.

Do you have a wiring diagram for the AC systems, do you know which one was wired for the furnace.  In my case my front AC was Zone 2 and the wiring for the furnace was connected there.  Front AC had the furnace wiring and communication wire from the rear AC plus the remote temp sensor.  My rear ac just had the communication cable connected from the thermostat and then a communication cable to the front and the 120 volt connection. 

So in my case the dip switches were

Rear AC

1. Zone 1 on
2. Heat Pump on

Front AC

1. Zone 2 on
2. Heat Pump  on
3. Furnace on

My recommendation would be to figure out which thermostat is wired for the Aquahot (and furnace if you have one) and make sure the dip switches are correct.  While you are checking unplug and plug back in the communication cables to make sure they have a good connection.  Then do a system reset.

 

[vito.a]

Okay.  You're going to need the original control board (or one like it) for your front Penguin heat pump to function.  The control board must have Heat Pump selected in the dip switch settings.  

Then we need to figure out which unit your Aqua Hot Furnace is connected to, front or rear.  Look at the pictures you took and figure out which unit had Furnace selected.  Change that control board dip switch to Furnace- On. 

You can try a few things.   You could try placing both furnace dip switches on and see if that works.  Or, if you currently have one control board with Furnace on and it's not working, then try the opposite unit.  

Once these dip switches are properly set, you must perform a thermostat reset.  This configures the thermostat for the proper control settings.  Then everything should function properly.  

Your questions about Differential and Stage dip switches:  (Short answer is leave both off.  Also leave the Gen start off.)

Differential - Differential is the temperature difference between the “ON/OFF” cycle of the thermostat in the furnace mode. The normal differential is preset in the circuit board with the dip switch set to the “OFF” position. In some situations, it may be necessary to decrease the differential. The location of the thermostat may create a condition where the normal differential will not maintain your comfort zone. If this occurs, the differential can be shortened by placing the differential dip switch to the “ON” position.

Note: Setting the differential dip switch should only be required when installation conditions are less than desirable and is not covered under the limited warranty. 

Stage selection - stage is not used on these units. Leave in the “OFF” position.

Let me know how it goes.  

 

[nvrtoofast]

Thanks for the updates. The replacement board is the same as the one it replaced. Not necessarily OEM as I am not the first owner.  Will double check all outputs and connections. Heat pump worked before changes so It does exist. Just need to make it happen.

 

DBRV.O Your phone tip normally works. low light and other factors inhibited photo and I wasn't really taking it for show. Just took what I got and ran.

Thanks to all comments. I'll go through another troubleshoot this weekend.

 

[Tom Cherry]

2 hours ago, nvrtoofast said:

Thanks for the updates. The replacement board is the same as the one it replaced. Not necessarily OEM as I am not the first owner.  Will double check all outputs and connections. Heat pump worked before changes so It does exist. Just need to make it happen.

 

DBRV.O Your phone tip normally works. low light and other factors inhibited photo and I wasn't really taking it for show. Just took what I got and ran.

Thanks to all comments. I'll go through another troubleshoot this weekend.

 

Coming in LATE.  FIRST......

Your Pictures, even FUZZY are clear if you read and research.  

• Which Microaire do you have?  The one for the OLD FIVE BUTTON or the one for the NEW 10 BUTTON.  You should be able to read the PN and reference that on the Microaire site...HERE is what I can find...and there are questions.
• You have TWO furnaces....the OEM HVAC was 13.5 KW and the control boards or modules were in the Plenum.  The 15 KW's are outside on top under the shroud
• You DO NOT HAVE AN AQUAHOT....again....TWO FURNACES...so lets not go down that rabbit hole
• The Board in the FRONT unit ain't the RIGHT ONE.  Someone has put in the RETROFIT or USED THE 5 BUTTON THERMOSTAT.   https://epi.dometic.com/externalassets/dometic-penguin-ii-13-5k-with-heat-pump_73164.pdf   GO TO page 13.  The OEM Penguin II board looks like this.  It has 10 DIP Switches.  The RETROFIT Kit had 8. ODDS ARE....from what you said the BRISK is a BRISK II and should have had the 10 DIP Controller
• NOW, it would not be logical (whoever said HVAC was logical)...to put KITS in BOTH.  They are the CCC2.  Vito's picture is for the CCC2...or 10 DIP Switch board.
• IF you have 10 dips in the back and 8 DIPS in the front...you need to get the OEM (came with it) board for the front.  You need to DOWNLOAD the instructions for the RETROFIT board as it involved cutting and splicing and rewiring.  You have GOT to get the 10 DIP board for the Penguin II and put it in the FRONT.
• NOW...if you have BOTH the CCC2 10 DIP Boards....then you will have to verify...as stated....that the Microaire will work with the 10 Button.  We had a member post that Microair said that would "FOR FREE" reflash, presumbably, a OLD model (5 Button) so it would WORK with the 10 Button NEW CCC2.
• You have a "mixed" assortment... and until you get the system BACK into the OEM for each one...The 10 Dip Configuration... I don't think that there is much than we can do for you.

That's my take and we have helped out a bunch...  Do some reading and searching here.  There are LOTS of topics dedicated to this....BUT...the OEM wiring can and is being used for the NEW 10 Button CCC2.  BUT you can't MIX CCC (8 Dip) and CCC2 (10 Dip) boards...

 

[nvrtoofast]

Tom,

Correct on multiple fronts here.

- I don't have the Aquahot. I've got the old Hydro-Hot system. In any case not as nice and not the same one furnace fits all. lol

- The MicroAire is very recent and replaced a 5 button controller. Being newer it should work with 10 DIP but I'll verify.

- The Brisk II did not come with a new board and reused the existing 8 DIP that was in place.

- The Penguin is a 13.5 KW unit and had the 8 DIP board when I got the rig. Likely changed by the previous owner at some point. The wiring looks like it was done by a rat or a squirrel  so the may have followed the modification instructions you mentioned. I'll read through the docs you highlighted to check it out. The heat pump worked before the 5 button bit the dust.documentation will help to sort it out. 

- It is a mixed bag currently. But, both boards are 8 dip so if I got a 10 I would need to get two. I'll do a tad more research and run through it all this weekend. Hopefully I'll get by without buying two new 10 DIP boards. If not that's OK.

Thank you for the jump ahead in research. I always research but enjoy getting a head start from the Veterans. AND, HVAC seems logicl till too many cooks get in the kitchen before you can get your hands on the soup. But hey, that just makes it a fun challenge.

[Tom Cherry]

2 hours ago, nvrtoofast said:

Tom,

Correct on multiple fronts here.

- I don't have the Aquahot. I've got the old Hydro-Hot system. In any case not as nice and not the same one furnace fits all. lol

- The MicroAire is very recent and replaced a 5 button controller. Being newer it should work with 10 DIP but I'll verify.

- The Brisk II did not come with a new board and reused the existing 8 DIP that was in place.

- The Penguin is a 13.5 KW unit and had the 8 DIP board when I got the rig. Likely changed by the previous owner at some point. The wiring looks like it was done by a rat or a squirrel  so the may have followed the modification instructions you mentioned. I'll read through the docs you highlighted to check it out. The heat pump worked before the 5 button bit the dust.documentation will help to sort it out. 

- It is a mixed bag currently. But, both boards are 8 dip so if I got a 10 I would need to get two. I'll do a tad more research and run through it all this weekend. Hopefully I'll get by without buying two new 10 DIP boards. If not that's OK.

Thank you for the jump ahead in research. I always research but enjoy getting a head start from the Veterans. AND, HVAC seems logicl till too many cooks get in the kitchen before you can get your hands on the soup. But hey, that just makes it a fun challenge.

You sound like you got a plan.  However….when you call Microair, please keep us posted.  The 10 Button is a 350.  The 5 button is a 357.  The member that got an email saying LEAVE IN the 10 Button CCC2 and ship us back your 5 button (presumed to be the 357) and we’ll reflash it to 350 has never responded or confirmed.

The conversion of the Penguin II to the older 5 Button CCC system has been done many times….but it requires concentration, per the members, but many have made it work.

Keep us posted….