Tekmar repairs

Weezbo

in the middle of winter ...i think i would power things up on go and check on the availability in spring .... right now it is at or about 30 below...winter will soon be here...there or wherever :)

the northern lights are beautiful i wish i had some batteries for my electronic camera i could make a pinner video for the video section ...

HB told you right. send it back for repairs. thats the tekmar requirement to you ...the reason being they are diligently tested inspected and retested long before we ever even buy one. and should something just go bad..they have a vested interest in finding out right away what that is and designe it out and or quit making them or recall them....

Rodney Summers

Tekmar repairs

Just curious about what happens if someone has an out of warranty Tekmar controller that dies? Does Tekmar provide a RMA and repair for these units? Or, are they toss and replace?

Mark Wolff_2

Tekmar

I've only run across one broken Tekmar. If it's out of warranty, I would suggest buying another one. What model went bad and why?

Rodney Summers

Tekmar

I was thinking about an outdoor reset controller, but since they are expensive and somewhat exotic I was wondering what would happen if one died in the middle of winter?

Plumdog_2

good question

I have a 354 mixing controller that I replaced with a new version. There is a row of capacitors on the sensor inputs; one of which was burned to a crisp by a heavy-handed "technician" with a smallish toolkit. The capacitors seem to have proprietary markings, making them unidentifiable to the electronics repairman. I would like to salvage this unit and use it for personal experimentation.
Trying to get this repaired has taught me that Electronics Repairs are a dying art and throw-away devices have become the norm these days. Probably to protect the design from piracy or guard the intellectual value of the design, which I can respect. But I will still fix it for my own personal satisfaction and use.

heatboy

Sent a few........

......back to the factory for repairs. It's generally less money to have them repaired than to buy new if you have the time to wait...........and wait........and wait.......

Rodney Summers

capacitors

Can you post a photo of the caps, and supply the marking values? Are they surface or through hole mount?

The value can't be too critical, probably mostly there for noise and RFI filtering in both directions. If it is across the sensor, I'd bet the device works without it, although you certainly wouldn't want risk the liabilities of using it in someone's system.

Pete

Plumdog_2

description of capacitors

My camera can't focus close enough to capture the image. But they are blue in color, 7mm in diameter, thru-the-hole(I presume, as they are soldered on the opposite side of the board), and printed as follows: Delta(symbol)07
K14RJ(R is reversed)
horiz. white line
9727
I think they straighten out the AC power to use thru 10K ohm thermisters.

chuck172

tekmar warranty

I have a tekmar 156 that was 3 weeks out of warranty. The relay is sticking.

Customer support in BC Canada is very polite. They have been giving me a very polite run-a-round.

It's obvious they don't want to give me a new control.

Long Beach Ed

Tekmar Warranty

We love Tekmar products but their horrible warranty practices has stopped our installing them.  



The warranty on their stuff is good for a year after installation or two years after the date of manufacture.  That means if you buy something that was on the warehouse shelf for two years, the Company will not honor any warranty work.  They also do not reimburse for labor. 



Their products are certainly reliable, but when one fails, you send it back, get no "loaner" and wait about five weeks for the repair or replacement. 



This simply is not an acceptable policy for our clients or for us, who ultimately lose money on these calls.  



When we did install Tekmar controls or any electronics, we always included in the wiring and/or piping a bypass that would permit operation if the control failed.   It adds little to the cost and is easy to sell to the client. 



This is becoming more difficult with the new integrated boiler controls, but we've made jumpers and the like to keep them going in the event of an electronics failure.  



Step aside, Tekmar, with your lousy warranty service, the OEM's are kicking your butt.   

chuck172

No repairs

I'm dealing with Tekmar right now on a warranty issue (unsuccessfully).

They said they do not repair controls or sell rebuilt ones anymore.

Does anyone know of a comparable delta t differential pump control comparable to the tekmar 157?

SWEI

options

Is this a solar app?  Several of the Caleffi iSolar controllers are capable.



Heat-Timer's VSP Elite will do variable speed injection pumping with outdoor reset.

bill_105

Wondering

Whatever happened to Weezbo? I don't mean to be impolite.

STEVEusaPA

There is a Tekmar person...

who reads/posts on the wall.  I would love for him to chime in.  I only have 3 customers with Tekmar controls, I'm one of them, and only once had to do some wiring magic to keep the heat on (a triple aquastat and some relays).  But the control was 3 years old and they just wanted to replace it.  Barring any large electical surges, I think 3 years is far too early for a very expensive control.

Mark Eatherton

He drifted through here on November 6th....

Hadn't been here in 3 years prior to that post.



I miss his prose as well. Guess he has better things to do.



ME

Gary Jansen_4

Just to set the record straight

Tekmar can and does repair/replace controls in and out of warranty on a regular basis. The warranty policy in effect for years at tekmar has changed recently with the new ownership at the helm. As a former contractor, and now as a Midwest area manufacturers rep, I will tell you tekmar warranty policies are as good, if not better, than a majority of controls manufacturers in the market today.



All of the tekmar controls that are "defective" in the Wisconsin/Upper Michigan territory pas through and are tested by me. Fully 75-80% of the controls I test have been abused, miswired, improper voltages applied, voltage applied to sensor terminals, pumps and other controls that far exceed the rating of the relays and the control in general, have had water come in contact with the electronics, etc. In a far majority of cases tekmar steps up to the plate and eats these repairs or replacements.



I have had the recent pleasure of dealing with a couple of homeowners that want to bypass the supply chain and deal directly with tekmar. I suspect that is the case with some of the posts in this thread.  The policy at tekmar is now and has always been that tekmar only deals with qualified, licensed heating contractors and wholesalers/distributors in regard to warranty and non warranty replacements and repairs. As always, please note I am talking about sales of product. Tekmar will spend hours on the phone with any qualified individual, attempting to troubleshoot or program an control.



The following is part of a paragraph from the tekmar Limited Warranty and Product Return Procedure. The entire warranty policy is in plain site on both the tekmar website, as well on the back of all tekmar data brochures.



The pass-through warranty period is for a period of twenty-four(24) months from the production date if the Product is not installed during that period, or twelve(12) months from the documented date of installation if installed within the twenty-four(24) months from the production date.



In rough terms, app 3 years.



There will always be someone that is put off by a company because that company won't bend the rules (again) for that particular someone. It has been my experience that tekmar has gone out of their way numerous times to try and accommodate certain situations and time frames. Of all the companies I deal with on a daily basis, I will state that tekmar is as stand up a company as you will find nowadays.



Thanks, Gary

Long Beach Ed

Tekmar Warranty

Thanks, Gary for adding a rep's view of the warranty matters.  As probably one of their largest customers in New York, we have lots of experience with Tekmar products.  We absolutely loved them for a decade, installed hundreds of them and had trouble with very, very, very  few.  



And yes, Tekmar's engineering support is first class.  We love those people.  And, to back up what you said, our local rep here has been very reasonable and generous in dealing with us as NYC master plumbers and NYS engineers.  



What beats the heck out of me is the two year limitation AFTER MANUFACTURE on warranty work.   We've installed controls that were manufactured four years ago. Oh well -- our problem.



But the good stories far outnumber the bad.  Unfortunately, one bad story and one control that we, as installers and serious wholesale customers have to eat is one to many. 



We did.  Three times.  Now we don't sell them,  Business is hard enough without having to pay for a customer's product twice. 

rich pickering

no different

The shelf date is issue no different than most other manufacturers.  The solution is to check the date on the box and refuse old stock.