Question for the gurus

[Dave]

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that does
things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his life easier
(he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took a
lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The defective
portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board which seems to be
the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify due to the
shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built it. My gut
tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the system interfaces
with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing through this
board and kept separate. This board is the one which everything plugs into
in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is the one I am wanting
to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt power resistor, forcing
it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated power load. Fire
hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall. Everything still works
because it is plugged in, and the main function of this board seems to be
allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to the front door does not
work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix. Any ideas on how I
could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe find a replacement
for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our that the
chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has ground at
pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

 

[Baron]

Dave wrote:

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that
does things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his
life easier
(he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took a
lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board
which seems to be
the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify due to
the
shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built it. My
gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the system
interfaces
with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing
through this
board and kept separate. This board is the one which everything plugs
into
in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is the one I am
wanting
to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt power resistor,
forcing
it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated power load. Fire
hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall. Everything still
works because it is plugged in, and the main function of this board
seems to be
allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to the front door
does not
work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix. Any ideas on how
I could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe find a
replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our
that the
chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has ground
at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

Might be a silly question... Have you spoken to the manufacturer ?

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[Tom Biasi]

"Dave" <db5151@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dfqdnUyjvrrcZp_WnZ2dnUVZ_sydnZ2d@posted.internetamerica...

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that does
things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his life
easier (he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took
a lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board which
seems to be the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify
due to the shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built
it. My gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the system
interfaces with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing
through this board and kept separate. This board is the one which
everything plugs into in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is
the one I am wanting to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt
power resistor, forcing it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated
power load. Fire hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall.
Everything still works because it is plugged in, and the main function of
this board seems to be allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to
the front door does not work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix.
Any ideas on how I could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe
find a replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our that
the chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has ground
at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave


Unlikely that you can replace that chip. Its probably programmed at the

factory.
When you get lightning damage as you describe its also very likely that
there are other things fried.
Get the manufacture to fix it. This is not a toy to your friend. Does his
homeowners insurance cover it?
Good luck,
Tom

 

[Jon]

"Dave" <db5151@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dfqdnUyjvrrcZp_WnZ2dnUVZ_sydnZ2d@posted.internetamerica...

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that does
things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his life
easier (he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took
a lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board which
seems to be the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify
due to the shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built
it. My gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the system
interfaces with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing
through this board and kept separate. This board is the one which
everything plugs into in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is
the one I am wanting to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt
power resistor, forcing it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated
power load. Fire hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall.
Everything still works because it is plugged in, and the main function of
this board seems to be allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to
the front door does not work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix.
Any ideas on how I could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe
find a replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our that
the chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has ground
at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

In some cases, the integrated circuits are 'belly branded', have you looked
on its underside?

 

[Dave]

"Baron" <baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:hdv2nk$3mi$1@adenine.netfront.net...

Dave wrote:

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that
does things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his
life easier
(he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took a
lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board
which seems to be
the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify due to
the
shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built it. My
gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the system
interfaces
with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing
through this
board and kept separate. This board is the one which everything plugs
into
in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is the one I am
wanting
to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt power resistor,
forcing
it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated power load. Fire
hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall. Everything still
works because it is plugged in, and the main function of this board
seems to be
allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to the front door
does not
work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix. Any ideas on how
I could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe find a
replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our
that the
chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has ground
at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

Might be a silly question... Have you spoken to the manufacturer ?

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Hey Baron,

Oh yes. They declared it proprietary information, and would say no more.
They are the ones who milled the top surface of the chip to remove all
traces of identifying numbers. sigh

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Dave]

"Tom Biasi" <tombiasi@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:4b031ffe$0$31261$607ed4bc@cv.net...

"Dave" <db5151@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dfqdnUyjvrrcZp_WnZ2dnUVZ_sydnZ2d@posted.internetamerica...
I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that does
things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his life
easier (he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took
a lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board which
seems to be the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to
identify due to the shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who
built it. My gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the
system interfaces with his phone and voice command system. Many signals
crossing through this board and kept separate. This board is the one
which everything plugs into in order to work. And it has only one chip,
which is the one I am wanting to replace. And this chip is overdriving a
2-watt power resistor, forcing it to dissipate something like ten times
it's rated power load. Fire hazard, so I unplugged that board from the
wall. Everything still works because it is plugged in, and the main
function of this board seems to be allowing everything to shake hands.
His intercom to the front door does not work, however, and that is what I
am trying to fix. Any ideas on how I could try to figure out what this
chip does, and maybe find a replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our that
the chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has
ground at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking
of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave


Unlikely that you can replace that chip. Its probably programmed at the
factory.
When you get lightning damage as you describe its also very likely that
there are other things fried.
Get the manufacture to fix it. This is not a toy to your friend. Does his
homeowners insurance cover it?
Good luck,
Tom

Homeowners insurance! Didn't even think of that. *Thank you*.

Dave

 

[Dave]

"Jon" <NoThanks@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:hdvofb$16r2$1@adenine.netfront.net...

"Dave" <db5151@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dfqdnUyjvrrcZp_WnZ2dnUVZ_sydnZ2d@posted.internetamerica...
I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system that does
things like opening doors on voice command and such, to make his life
easier (he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took
a lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board which
seems to be the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to
identify due to the shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who
built it. My gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the
system interfaces with his phone and voice command system. Many signals
crossing through this board and kept separate. This board is the one
which everything plugs into in order to work. And it has only one chip,
which is the one I am wanting to replace. And this chip is overdriving a
2-watt power resistor, forcing it to dissipate something like ten times
it's rated power load. Fire hazard, so I unplugged that board from the
wall. Everything still works because it is plugged in, and the main
function of this board seems to be allowing everything to shake hands.
His intercom to the front door does not work, however, and that is what I
am trying to fix. Any ideas on how I could try to figure out what this
chip does, and maybe find a replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our that
the chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has
ground at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was thinking
of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

In some cases, the integrated circuits are 'belly branded', have you
looked
on its underside?



Yeah, blank, ufortunately...

Dave

 

[Baron]

Dave wrote:

"Baron" <baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:hdv2nk$3mi$1@adenine.netfront.net...
Dave wrote:

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system
that does things like opening doors on voice command and such, to
make his life easier
(he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took
a
lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board
which seems to be
the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify due
to the
shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built it.
My gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the
system interfaces
with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing
through this
board and kept separate. This board is the one which everything
plugs into
in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is the one I am
wanting
to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt power resistor,
forcing
it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated power load.
Fire
hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall. Everything still
works because it is plugged in, and the main function of this board
seems to be
allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to the front door
does not
work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix. Any ideas on
how I could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe find a
replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our
that the
chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has
ground at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was
thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

Might be a silly question... Have you spoken to the manufacturer ?

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Hey Baron,

Oh yes. They declared it proprietary information, and would say no
more. They are the ones who milled the top surface of the chip to
remove all traces of identifying numbers. sigh

Thanks,

Dave

Hi Dave,
I suspected as much, but had to ask.
I take it that they want an arm and leg to repair the kit.
I'll assume that they do.
Sorry that I have nothing I can offer to help.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[Dave]

"Baron" <baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:he1rli$scu$1@news.eternal-september.org...

Dave wrote:


"Baron" <baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote in message
news:hdv2nk$3mi$1@adenine.netfront.net...
Dave wrote:

I have a friend in a wheelchair who has a home automation system
that does things like opening doors on voice command and such, to
make his life easier
(he's parallyzed from the neck down.) Unfortunately his house took
a
lightning hit a while back and part of this system got fried. The
defective portion has a 16-pin DIP chip at the heart of the PC board
which seems to be
the main problem. It is burned out, but impossible to identify due
to the
shaving of it's identifying markings by the people who built it.
My gut tells me that it might be a PLL, as this portion of the
system interfaces
with his phone and voice command system. Many signals crossing
through this
board and kept separate. This board is the one which everything
plugs into
in order to work. And it has only one chip, which is the one I am
wanting
to replace. And this chip is overdriving a 2-watt power resistor,
forcing
it to dissipate something like ten times it's rated power load.
Fire
hazard, so I unplugged that board from the wall. Everything still
works because it is plugged in, and the main function of this board
seems to be
allowing everything to shake hands. His intercom to the front door
does not
work, however, and that is what I am trying to fix. Any ideas on
how I could try to figure out what this chip does, and maybe find a
replacement for it?

Sorry for the long-winded post. I just got back from figuring our
that the
chip in question was not the PLL I thought it might be. It has
ground at pin 15, and that rules out the two possibilities I was
thinking of.

Many thanks for any help.

Dave

Might be a silly question... Have you spoken to the manufacturer ?

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Hey Baron,

Oh yes. They declared it proprietary information, and would say no
more. They are the ones who milled the top surface of the chip to
remove all traces of identifying numbers. sigh

Thanks,

Dave

Hi Dave,
I suspected as much, but had to ask.
I take it that they want an arm and leg to repair the kit.
I'll assume that they do.
Sorry that I have nothing I can offer to help.

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

Well, thanks for trying, Baron. No apologies necessary, you are *trying* to
help. And what they want is to sell him a new system... sigh Oh well.
Maybe the state will step in like they did in the first place, when they got
him the original system.

My best to you,

Dave