SERVICE MANUAL

AIM 9167 1200oC Muffle Furnace

Open the rear panel, by unscrewing the self tapping screws. You will have access to the rear, where the connections to the heating elements are located. The furnace has 6 sets of super Kanthal heaters. The ends of these six heaters are identified as 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, 9 and 10, finally 11 and 12. Measure the cold resistance of Each of these segments at ambient temperature is approximately 2.6 to 2.7 ohms each. All these six segments are connected serially. i.e., 2 and 3 is shorted, 4 and 5 is shorted, 6 and 7 are shorted, 8 and 9 are shorted, finally 10 and 11 are shorted. The resulting single heating profile comprising of all the six heaters are then connected to mains through a MCB wired in series with a Solid State Relay. The input to the Solid State Relay is from the temperature controller control output. The SSR specifications are: Input : 3 to 32V DC Output : 80 to 480V AC with a current carrying capacity of 40A. The probable causes for the Furnace not heating UP could be due to any one or more of the following reasons and they can be corrected against remedial measures given along side.

Sl. No.
1

Nature of problems
Furnace Not switching ON

Probable Reasons for problems

Mains Supply may be absent Mains Fuse if installed in power line may be faulty The Power ON MCB is defective. One or more segments of heaters could be defective The SSR could be faulty The temperature controller

Possible remedies
Check power line and correct problems Replace defective fuse with good one. Replace defective MCB with Good MCB. Replace the defective segments and wire them as before. Replace defective SSR with good working new SSR Replace the temperature

Furnace Switching ON; but the heating is not taking place

could be faulty The thermocouple could be faulty

controller assembly Replace the thermocouple.

PS: In order to solve field problems temporarily, when only one segment of the heater is defective, you can short the defective segment and continue normal operation until the new heater segment is replaced at the earliest opportunity. But this option should be avoided when there is a possibility of getting an immediate replacement. Further, this option should not be carried out when more than one segment has become defective. Whenever a heater segment goes bad, especially due to ageing, it is recommended to replace the set of heaters completely. This will ensure that the current drawn by all segments will be same.

Mains 230V input

Test lamp 100W 230V W

How to check the SSR?

Make out a test jig as described above. Momentarily touch and remove the read lead to battery +. Then the test lamp should glow and go off. When you keep the Red lead continuously, the test lamp should light continuously. If this behavior is observed, then the SSR is OK. Else, the SSR could be faulty ( the battery should be in good working)