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Coastal climate FX-1 dead...

  • Thread starter Thread starter MikeP
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MikeP

MikeP

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Suddenly (this morning) the bow/galley ac unit control, a Coastal climate FX1, is completely dead - no display, buttons don't function. It acts as if there is no power to the unit. However, voltage checks show power to the main control box in the eng room and power to the FX1 circuit box. Connections to the display itself seem fine. Only thing I can come up with is that the control box or display unit which also contains the control buttons has failed.

Any other ideas?

Of course, we have our 20 year old niece arriving today; we had planned for her to stay in the bow stateroom... ;)
 
Sounds about right. Any troubleshooting suggestions in your owners manual or online??
spcoolin probably knows..maybe e-mail him or post on his website....

Worth shutting the circuit breaker on and off a few times.....a silly idea, I know, but sometimes even silly ideas work....that's what I do when I give up on my computer!!
 
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MikeP said:
Suddenly (this morning) the bow/galley ac unit control, a Coastal climate FX1, is completely dead - no display, buttons don't function. It acts as if there is no power to the unit. However, voltage checks show power to the main control box in the eng room and power to the FX1 circuit box. Connections to the display itself seem fine. Only thing I can come up with is that the control box or display unit which also contains the control buttons has failed.

Any other ideas?

Of course, we have our 20 year old niece arriving today; we had planned for her to stay in the bow stateroom... ;)
Click to expand...

Hard wire it on and give her a blanket.
 
Make sure the breaker is off before unplugging the key pad. Swap out with the VIP or shut one down your not using at night to control the occupied area.
 
It may not be the key pad. I had this same issue and it was a bad component in the Electrical Box and Power Module. So I lost the "switch out" pad as well. Coastal Climate insisted that we send the Box and the controls back to them for repair. They are kind of quirky people to deal with, but turned it around pretty quick at nominal cost as I recall.
 
GJH said:
It may not be the key pad. I had this same issue and it was a bad component in the Electrical Box and Power Module. So I lost the "switch out" pad as well. Coastal Climate insisted that we send the Box and the controls back to them for repair. They are kind of quirky people to deal with, but turned it around pretty quick at nominal cost as I recall.
Click to expand...

I didn't say in my post back to Mike (on my site) that it was definitely the keypad...Could be in the board or the cable too...I did tell him how to figure out which it is...

One thing I don't know is if Coastal Climate will sell a board or keypad individually...Micro Air (who makes the FX-1 control system) in the past, used to make you send back the complete system too.
Back then, the price of sending it back for repair was almost as much as a new control kit from Cruisair...But now days I see that Coastal Climate offers the complete FX-1 kit for $325.

Marine Air does still offer the board or keypad individually for the FX-1...I can sell them thru my distributor....The board is $440 & Keypad is $480 retail...Kinda crazy huh ?

For those out there that have Cruisair SMXII controls...The SMXII does not need the keypad to run the system...Only to display it's present state, or to change settings...Meaning once it's up & running at the desired parameters...You can remove the keypad/display (while running) and the system will continue running as set...Yes the temp will cycle & all protections are still active...You can then use that keypad on other systems...The system without keypad can also be turned off & on with the breaker while maintaining all settings when powered back up...This can be a great feature when away from parts supply...Or as in Mike's situation with guests on the way on a holiday weekend...It can also keep sweet little (or big) kids from pressing buttons...

For comparison...The replacement board for SMXII is $355, and the Keypad/Display is $225...

Yes the Cruisair controls are more expensive...But in my opinion a better control, and you don't have to send anything back because of local parts supply...In fact you can also have a guy like me come to you with the parts on the truck... :cool:

Steve~
 
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We put the niece in the guest stateroom which, IMO, is not as comfortable a general set-up as the forward cabin. The forward is further from the noise of the AC compressors and, when you close the galley door, forms a nice "snug" compartment with it's own head and shower. But she's been comfortable in the guest SR...

I'll do the FX1 component swap thing later today and see what happens. Interestingly, the Admiral recalls that we went through this before and that I fixed it with rather little trouble. I vaguely recall an issue with the same ac unit's FX1 but can't recall for the life of me what I did to fix it. So I might be relearning something that I learned once before... ;)

I do like the idea of the cruisair controls that don't depend on the display to function. Then again, whatever's wrong now may have nothing at all to do with the display anyway...we'll see.

One thing I'm wondering -would a "disconnect" in the compressor wiring itself cause the display to be inoperative? IOW does the wiring to the compressor create a return circuit that the FX1 needs to "see" to function. I'm just wondering if I need to look into the compressor wiring as well...not that it takes much time to do.
 
MikeP said:
One thing I'm wondering -would a "disconnect" in the compressor wiring itself cause the display to be inoperative? IOW does the wiring to the compressor create a return circuit that the FX1 needs to "see" to function. I'm just wondering if I need to look into the compressor wiring as well...not that it takes much time to do.
Click to expand...

No Mike it does not need the compressor to light...We put them on the bench, plug in the control, and apply power...They light up with nothing connected.

Steve~
 
Thanks Steve!
 
FWIW pop the thing open and check for internal fuses. I've had a # of permanent fuses hard soldered on CB'c go bad for no reason. I think the vibrations over the years fatigue the filiments. Worth a try. Post some pics your repair tutorials are always interesting.
 
The last Micro Air produced control system I remember that had fuse protection of the board was the MTC-X...Circa 1987-1990...

Steve~
 
Mike~

One other thing I just noticed when looking at the FX-1 manual...
Top right of the board (meaning the text is right side up) there is a power LED...
If that is not lit with power applied...Forget the board...It's done...

Steve~
 
Swapped FX1 control boxes - semi success. More info on Steve's site...
 
bought several 5 years ago and one for stock. Still have it and am sure its good as new. Never been installed. Make a reduced price, and its yours, with warranty, no work, return with full refund. Let me know Good luck either way


Bill
 
For those interested, there are additional issues with another FX1 posted at Steve's site. I'm beginning to question whether these units are the best way to go as far as adding digital controls. In essence, it SEEMS as if two control boxes are faulty. I know that automatically sounds suspect - two units going bad at around the same time. But I have checked/double checked/triple checked all wiring and everything I can do troubleshooting-wise points to the fact that two boxes are bad.

I called Coastal and they can supply a new box (box only, no display unit) for $158 plus shipping. Not sure what I'm going to do.
 
Did you swap them? sometimes swaping components runs the risk of frying the good one.
 
Yes, I did swap them but voltage readings were as they should have been to the boxes so I don't see how some other problem could have caused it and they have failed in different ways. But I suppose anything is possible. One failed initially with no indication of power within the unit even though supplied power showed correct voltage. The second has failed to having the compressor/seawater pump on constantly even though the unit is turned off. Only way to shut off the compressor/sea pump is to turn off the circuit breaker to that ac unit. This would seem to indicate a stuck comp relay in the box. They micro relays are sealed units on the circuit board, not accessable in any way.

But I want to be absolutely sure that it isn't some thing elsewhere in the system that is causing them to fail before I spend money replacing the boxes with whatever.
 
Mike- for fun, verify that there is not some weird wiring from one compressor to the suspect compressor. I had some PO wiring scheme to a new master salon compressor that allowed 240 line voltage to the FX1. This fried the triac on the FX1 box, keeping the compressor running. Would work once, then always on with the pump. I left the fried box in place then wired the pump to run with compressor (as it should be). No issue with line voltage going to box, that is how cruiseair wires and the OEM wires are stought enough. I still have 3 fx1s to install...
 
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