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[lingtrin]

I have just setup an appliance module for a water cooler, but if I turn off the module, the cooler stays on, why is this and how can I fix it?

[phorce1]

It's an electronic widget. Always possible you got one that's bad out of the box. First thing to do, always, if something doesn't work the way you think it should is to test it somewhere else.

Take the appliance module off of the water cooler and hook a plain old incandescent lamp up to it. See if you can make the light go on and off using the local control pushbutton of the module (if it has one). If that fails you got a module with a bad relay. If it works locally try it using a remote with a tranciever plugged in nearby on the same phase.

If all lamp tests work the cooler may have some sort of funky inductive power supply primary that is confusing the local control circuitry of the appliance module. Appliance modules have circuitry that allows you to turn on equipment locally by turning the equipment power switch off then back on. Some power supply designs confuse the module circuitry.

If that's the case you'll either have to search for a hardware mod site that shows how to disable "local control" for whichever module you have, look for a module designed to work with flourescent lights (famous for having power supplies that confuse the snot out of local control circuits), or add a few more components to isolate the cooler power supply from the module interface (that last one can get complicated, electrically).

Gerald

[lingtrin]

Gerald, thanks for your time and explanation, will try what you mentioned tonight when I get home

[dave w]

lingtrin,
You did not say if module is turning cooler OFF and later cooler comes back on, or that module simply will not turn cooler OFF.

If the cooler is turning OFF but coming back on later, phorce1 is correct in the assumption the modules "local control" is turning power to the cooler back ON when the coolers thermostat is activating. If you do not want to disable the modules local control, you can try this trick which works on our power drape motor. Using a "cube trap" or multi plug connectoer, plug a 7 watt night light into the module along with the water cooler. The night light may "mask" the coolers thermostat enough that the module will not turn cooler back ON.

[lingtrin]

Thanks for all your replies, but it seems to be a problem with the cooler, the circuit someone mentioned, cause  i tried the module with a fan and it turns it off no problem, plug it back on the cooler and it wont turn it off, the on light on the cooler just dims a little, so I un pluged the module

[phorce1]

Thanks for all your replies, but it seems to be a problem with the cooler, the circuit someone mentioned, cause  i tried the module with a fan and it turns it off no problem, plug it back on the cooler and it wont turn it off, the on light on the cooler just dims a little, so I un pluged the module

The cooler is most likely using some sort of low voltage circuitry for the lamp and thermostat. Try the night-light trick mentioned by Dave but I'm thinking you're going to have to gut the local control circuitry so the module is just a "clicking relay" that is completely oblivious to whatever is actually plugged in to it.

Gerald

[roger1818]

If that's the case you'll either have to search for a hardware mod site that shows how to disable "local control"

You can find this at Defeating local current sensing.