Dacor ERD30 Relay Board

[mikeyj67]

I have a Dacor ERD30 range.  The broiler quit working a couple of months ago.  I was able to diagnose the problem as a bad relay that was labeled BR.  I replaced the board and everything worked fine until a couple of days ago.  We started noticing an unusual smell, and last night the oven quit working all together.  All the buttons on the panel work except the ones that control oven functions.  Looked at the new relay board and the relay labeled DLB has melted.  I am assuming that this is the main relay judging by the gauge of the wire.  What would cause this?  I don't want to put another board in and have it blow up again due something else that needs to be checked or metered.

 

Thanks

[northeastappliance]

Most of the time I see things melted it's from a loose connection. It's possible that one of the wires going to the relay had a loose or poor connection which will generate a ton of heat. Or maybe a failing relay.  

If you ordered the board online it might have a 1 year "return for any reason" warranty. Most online companies have a great return policy. 

[mikeyj67]

I was able to get it replaced.  I was just wondering if there were other things that needed to be checked prior to installing the new board.  My voltage checks out.  Would a failing high limit switch or element lead to this?  Thanks for your help.

[Hiroshi]

Hi-limit switch is not a suspect. If the element were failing in a way that could cause a huge load across your relay, there would be other physical evidence- the element would be "unzipping" and arc welding itself in a fantastic fashion... Northeast appliance is on the money, I would check the prongs on your power plug for signs of overheating or arc burns, then proceed to the terminal block that the power cord bolts onto and look for any blackened or crispy lugs there... until you have had some hours of safe, supervised baking, I would not leave the unit roasting a turkey for four hours unattended... it may have just been a bad make in the relay contacts.

DLB stands for "double line break" relay and it has a hand in both the bake and broil cycles, so if there is a problem that destroyed your DLB it could be anywhere in the heat circuits.

[VikingDaniel]

There are a few very important factors with issues of this type. The age of the house wiring, is there knob and tube anywhere between unit and box, are connections tight at terminals or in junctions. Much like a microwave door switch, the more a relay has to switch on and off, and the amount of voltage going through the switch while switching will determine it's longevity. In Dacor, if the power is fluctuating due to poor connectivity, the switch is actually engaging many times more then it should which in turn heats up the relay. This then makes for cold solder joints, fused contacts, or outright failure of the relay. If the unit is going through boards, this is most likely the cause for the premature failures.

Daniel from Oceanic Repair NJ

[coolhandluke]

My in-counters with this issue most of the time has been cold solder joints on relays which leads to arcing, which leads to over heating, which leads to melting and odor. I have been repairing TV's also for 30 years and seen a lot of bad solder connections. Even though the connection is at the bottom of the board it will cause entire relay to over heat up to spade connectors on top. They use silver solder today on PCB's and it is more brittle than lead 60/40 solder, tends to crack. Every time relay is energized it is heating up and vibrating from current running through it, plus it's usually mounted on top of oven where it's hot. Like a small rock hits your car windshield and will cause a small pit or crack, with vibration from driving and cold winter, hot summer, it will start to crack wider and wider, same with solder connections, start out small and work around pin of component getting larger. I have added more solder to relays on control boards prior to install as a preventative measure to secure connection and tolerate heat better, there is not that much solder applied on those relays on new boards. Pete from A&G Rpair