Needing new pic 16f76 programmed of possible

[Ashly90]

Hey everyone,
On a previous thread I was asking about a pcb I’ve got that’s not working correctly. We think it’s down to the pic16f76 going bad. Was wondering if anyone is able to write a program and program one? And if so what sort of cost this would be? It’s for a electronic pipe freezing machine ( rothenberger plumb eco freeze ) . Not sure how easy it would be to do as you first have 3 buttons to select a pipe size, then 2 buttons to select either freeze of defrost, then a start button. It will then freeze the pipe and once it knows it’s frozen it will beep every ten seconds as an audio indication that it is still frozen. Hope someone can help

 

[Pommie]

As I said in your other thread, a schematic is a must.

Mike.

 

[Ashly90]

As I said in your other thread, a schematic is a must.

Mike.

Sorry yes was about to reply to that bit someone else said to also start another thread asking this. I can’t find a schematic so how do I go about drawing one? This is all new to me

 

[Pommie]

You identify all the components and work out how they are connected. If it's a two sided board it's not too difficult.

Mike.

 

[narkeleptk]

you could use a schematics program like Kicad for help drawing it out. May seem a little intimidating at first but usually you can grasp it well enough within about 30 minutes. For figuring out the schematic you just need your eyes and continuity mode on your DMM.

 

[gophert]

The. Manufacturer seems to have a nice website with replacement parts for sale. Why don't you start there?

 

[Ashly90]

The. Manufacturer seems to have a nice website with replacement parts for sale. Why don't you start there?

Thanks for the reply, I’ve had a look but can’t find anything for this machine. It’s quite old now 10+ years so seems they don’t hold any stock for this machine

 

[be80be]

I got a something with a 16f76 could you show what it is and where are these links

The. Manufacturer seems to have a nice website with replacement parts for sale. Why don't you start there?

 

[DrG]

Thanks for the reply, I’ve had a look but can’t find anything for this machine. It’s quite old now 10+ years so seems they don’t hold any stock for this machine

I had posted the website in the other thread and was a little disappointed that you did not try harder to follow up. For what you are trying to do, ALL information on the unit is valuable - user guide, schematics (of course) and so on. This is especially true if you want to try to reverse engineer the board toward reprogramming the PIC or otherwise get it working again or building a new board.

Look hard on the site. Write them, several times if they don't response (giving them some time). If they don't have any information, ask them who might. Wherever plumbers and pipe people congregate, make a few inquiry posts.

It's a great project, if you can pull it off. Making your own schematic could be tedious and difficult for you, but I am not suggesting that you don't do that. I am suggesting that you have not yet done all that you could before doing that, or even while doing that.

Soap Box: Not too long ago, I repaired a function generator that I had been given over 25 years ago - so long ago that I wasn't even sure who gave it to me (likely someone throwing it out). I wrote the company asking for help. I even asked if it was OK with them if I posted a schematic on a site like this one. They tried to be helpful and actually agreed (grudgingly) to let me post the schematic. Happily, I never had to as I replaced two chips and used a can of spray on all the pots and built a new power supply as an alternative to batteries. I would love to read a similar success story from you.

 

[Ashly90]

I had posted the website in the other thread and was a little disappointed that you did not try harder to follow up. For what you are trying to do, ALL information on the unit is valuable - user guide, schematics (of course) and so on. This is especially true if you want to try to reverse engineer the board toward reprogramming the PIC or otherwise get it working again or building a new board.

Look hard on the site. Write them, several times if they don't response (giving them some time). If they don't have any information, ask them who might. Wherever plumbers and pipe people congregate, make a few inquiry posts.

It's a great project, if you can pull it off. Making your own schematic could be tedious and difficult for you, but I am not suggesting that you don't do that. I am suggesting that you have not yet done all that you could before doing that, or even while doing that.

Soap Box: Not too long ago, I repaired a function generator that I had been given over 25 years ago - so long ago that I wasn't even sure who gave it to me (likely someone throwing it out). I wrote the company asking for help. I even asked if it was OK with them if I posted a schematic on a site like this one. They tried to be helpful and actually agreed (grudgingly) to let me post the schematic. Happily, I never had to as I replaced two chips and used a can of spray on all the pots and built a new power supply as an alternative to batteries. I would love to read a similar success story from you.

I have a user manual but it has hardly any info in it at all. I’ve re contacted the manafacturer to see if they can get anything but last time they said all the info they hold is on the website, this one is no longer on there due to the age of it. I’ve tried plumbers forums but they have no useful info to be honest

 

[Ashly90]

I got a something with a 16f76 could you show what it is and where are these links

This is the machine I’m on about, it’s the Australian version of the website as it’s the only one with it on there

Products

ROTHENBERGER is one of the world's leading manufacturers of innovative, technologically sophisticated pipe tools and pipe processing equipment in sanitary, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, gas and environmental technology.

www.rothenberger.com.au

 

[gophert]

This is the machine I’m on about, it’s the Australian version of the website as it’s the only one with it on there

Products

ROTHENBERGER is one of the world's leading manufacturers of innovative, technologically sophisticated pipe tools and pipe processing equipment in sanitary, heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, gas and environmental technology.

www.rothenberger.com.au

I sent this link to my Brother-in-law. He said there was a big marketing campaign for this product about 10-yeas ago. It is just too slow and takes too much power to be effective. He says everyone in the industry uses dry ice when a pipe needs to be frozen off. He essentially said it is a gimmick or for use in very rural areas if you cannot find dry ice.

 

[Ashly90]

I sent this link to my Brother-in-law. He said there was a big marketing campaign for this product about 10-yeas ago. It is just too slow and takes too much power to be effective. He says everyone in the industry uses dry ice when a pipe needs to be frozen off. He essentially said it is a gimmick or for use in very rural areas if you cannot find dry ice.

Fair enough, in the uk we use these quite a lot, for freezing here it’s either electric like these ones or the canned spray stuff. I’ve used these numerous times and not had an issue. They do take a while to freeze which could be why some people don’t like them. The main reason I like them is they freeze and then hold the temp so it’s always frozen until you ask the machine to thaw it.

 

[narkeleptk]

I have never been a professional plumber but I have redone a few houses of mine. I could have used this device more then once for sure. Even with the water off you get drips which hinder the soldering process. I used an old trick my dad taught me with bread to stop the drips and then flushed it out when done. Worked fine for small scale bathroom remodels but if I was a professional plumber I could easily see the value in these pipe freezers (which I never knew existed!). Why would I want to waste time buying and handling dry ice all the time when machine's like this exists? I don't see any gimmicks, I see a useful tool.

 

[be80be]

I don't think the pic 16f76 would be why this is not working
but then the whole story would be nice like links to what you have posted pic of
what you think is broke

 

[narkeleptk]

be80be if you check his other thread you will understand better. It does seams the pic is at fault.

Help with pcb issue

Hey everyone, I’ve got a electronic pipe freezer ( was given to me by a friend as faulty ) . I’ve got it on but it doesn’t seem to do a lot, if I push the buttons they light up whilst it’s pressed and I get a couple of lines on the screen that’s it. I’ve noticed the resistors look bad to me (...

www.electro-tech-online.com

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

be80be if you check his other thread you will understand better. It does seams the pic is at fault.

I'm also dubious, PIC's are EXTREMELY reliable and hardy, and to be fair most other processors are as well - mostly it's something external that's causing the problem.

Most of the actual fault processors I've changed that were faulty were in Sony CRT TV's, a large SM device - rather annoyingly when the LOPTX fails it commonly takes the processor with it. But even more annoyingly, the exact same PCB was used in 16:9 sets and 4:3 sets, and it's really only the 16:9 sets where the processor dies (around 90% of 16:89 LOPTX failures kills the chip).

 

[be80be]

IF you look at your board theres a chip lm7805 take a reading of it one should read 5 volts for the pic

 

[Ashly90]

IF you look at your board theres a chip lm7805 take a reading of it one should read 5 volts for the pic

Thanks for the reply, I’ve checked that, I’ve got 12v on the left and 5v on the right.

 

[Ashly90]

I have never been a professional plumber but I have redone a few houses of mine. I could have used this device more then once for sure. Even with the water off you get drips which hinder the soldering process. I used an old trick my dad taught me with bread to stop the drips and then flushed it out when done. Worked fine for small scale bathroom remodels but if I was a professional plumber I could easily see the value in these pipe freezers (which I never knew existed!). Why would I want to waste time buying and handling dry ice all the time when machine's like this exists? I don't see any gimmicks, I see a useful tool.

They are really handy, I mostly use them for rad changes, cylinder changes as it saves me draining all/most of the heating system.