JP3197524B2 - Diagnosis device for hot water supply equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to hot water supply for hot water heaters and the like.
The present invention relates to a device failure diagnosis device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a water heater, the number of functional components increases with the performance improvement. In particular, the number of electronic control units and sensors increases. For this reason, connectors on a substrate are also increasing. In the event that such a problem occurs in the water heater, it is necessary to identify a failure site such as a functional component in the water heater in addition to a human factor in order to determine the cause, and the diagnosis time is determined by the functional component. It grows with the number and requires a lot of experience and intuition. For example, a service technician searches for a fault location by referring to a manual for specifying a fault location, specifies a rough fault location, performs component replacement, checks operation, and in the case of malfunction, further performs another operation. It has been practiced to repeat the operation of replacing parts and checking the operation again.

[0003]

However, the service efficiency of the failure diagnosis and repair of such a serviceman greatly differs depending on the experience and intuition of the serviceman. For this reason, it is difficult for a service engineer with little experience to perform a complete failure diagnosis, and even if completed, it takes much time to reach the failure location.

[0004] The difficulty of such fault diagnosis is that there is a problem in a method that simply relies on the experience and intuition of a service person, and the relationship between the fault situation and the fault location, and where to place an inspection device to identify the fault location. The connection should be established based on the operation and principle of operation of the equipment, but the wiring connection between the water heater and the inspection equipment is becoming more complicated due to the higher performance of the water heater. With a highly functional water heater, it takes time to diagnose the failure, making it difficult for even a fairly experienced person to reach the failure location in a short time, and the occurrence of errors during the diagnosis cannot be ignored. However, accurate diagnosis may not be possible.

[0005] Fig. 10 shows an example of a connection state between a highly functional water heater and an inspection device. In this water heater 2, eleven main functional components 201, 20 are provided for one control board 20.
2, 203 ... 211, 6 sensors 221, 222
.. 226 are functional components 201, 202, 203,.
226 are connected through terminals 230 corresponding to the sensors 221, 222,. The inspection device 4 for inspecting the failure of the water heater 2 includes the functional components 201 and 20.
2, 203 ... 211 and each sensor 221, 222
.. Are connected with a large number of connection lines 8 with the connector 6 interposed between the connection lines 226. In this example, 17 sets of connection lines 8 are required, and the connection relation is very complicated, and therefore, diagnosing a failure of a water heater installed in each home is a very troublesome task. It can be seen.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus for diagnosing a failure of a hot water supply apparatus , which can quickly identify a failure location of a functional component in a hot water supply apparatus such as a water heater and realizes easy repair of the failure. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A failure diagnosis apparatus for a hot water supply apparatus according to the present invention is a failure diagnosis apparatus for a hot water supply apparatus for diagnosing a functional component of a hot water supply apparatus (water supply apparatus 2) for heating water supply. Connector 6), display means (display 11)
4) and control means (failure diagnosis control unit 100)
As well as to check the operation status of the functional part through the control unit is associated with the control unit of the hot water supply device to be tested a fault, the electrical quantities of the grant or functional component to said functional component through said connection means And the display means displays the various electrical quantities together with the inspection results, thereby speeding up the identification of a failure of the functional component and facilitating the repair of the failure.

[0008] The failure diagnosis apparatus of the hot water supply equipment of this invention, the late
Indicates failure symptoms of hot water supply equipment (hot water supply 2) to be diagnosed
Displays the failure information along with the guide information or this guide information
Or display means (display 11) for displaying inspection results or the like.
4) and a plurality of the guide information displayed on the display means.
Information or a selection means (input switch
104) and a functional part of the hot water supply equipment at the failure site
Detect the voltage or current generated in (201 to 211)
Detection means (voltage detection element 116, current detection element 118)
And detecting the detection means with the faulty part of the hot water supply device.
Connection means for connecting to the functional components (the connector 6), the sheet
The guide connected to the hot water device and selected by the selection means
Information or the failure site, and the display means
The required inspection signal is given to the displayed failure part,
Detecting the voltage or the current generated in the functional component
And the inspection result is displayed on the display means.
Failure diagnosis control means to be displayed (failure diagnosis control unit 100)
And characterized in that:

[0009] With such a structure, for example as a hot water supply device, to connect the control means through the connection means to the functional components in the water heater, to verify the operation of the functional components through the control unit of the water heater. That is, electric quantities are given to or taken in from the functional parts through the connection means, and the electric quantities are displayed on the display means together with the inspection results on the display means. As a result, an inspection result indicating whether or not the functional component is normal is obtained on the display means. Based on the inspection result, the functional component that has failed can be located, and the functional component at the failed portion is replaced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a failure diagnosis apparatus for hot water supply equipment according to the present invention. Water heater 2 as a hot water heater
This is the subject to be diagnosed for failure. An inspection device 10 for performing a failure diagnosis and an inspection of a failed part is provided for the water heater 2. The inspection unit 10 performs a failure diagnosis based on a failure symptom of the water heater 2, that is, a failure state, and performs a failure diagnosis control unit as a diagnosis unit that inspects a failure site, that is, a failure location by connection with the water heater 2. 100 are installed. The failure diagnosis control unit 100 is provided with an input unit 102 for inputting various data.
Is connected to an input switch 104 as input means for inputting a failure state of the water heater 2 for which failure is to be diagnosed.

Further, the failure diagnosis control unit 100 is provided with a central processing unit (CPU) 106 as arithmetic means for processing various input data. This CPU1
Reference numeral 06 performs necessary arithmetic processing based on a diagnostic control program, a failure inspection program, and other fixed data written in the read-only memory (ROM). The RAM 110 is a writable memory in which data that is being calculated by the CPU 106 and data that indicates a failure state and the like captured by the input unit 102 are temporarily written. Then, the input unit 102, the CPU 106, the RO
The M 108 and the RAM 110 are linked by a bus 112.

Further, a display 114 is connected to the failure diagnosis control unit 100 as a display means for displaying various data such as a diagnosis result. The display 114 indicates LC
It consists of a D display and other displays.

The tester 10 has an input switch 104 and a display 1 on its front surface as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the input switch 104 is composed of a plurality of push-button switches labeled “YES”, “NO”, and “0” to “9”. Further, the display 114 displays a failure diagnosis result, input data, and the like, as shown in FIGS.

The operation will be described based on the above configuration. FIG. 6 shows an example of the failure diagnosis control program. In step S1, initialization is performed by turning on a power switch, and preparation for data input is performed. Next, step S2
Then, the failure status of the water heater 2 whose failure is to be diagnosed is input by selecting the input switch 104. Next, step S
In 3, the failure location is determined from the failure status, and in step S4, a wiring connection location is selected. If the failure location cannot be specified due to insufficient input in steps S3 and S4, the process proceeds to step S5, and the display 114 is displayed for inputting details of the failure status.
Is displayed on the display unit 114 as shown in FIG. 4 to further prompt the user to input a failure status and the like, and obtain an input necessary for specifying a failure location. As a result, in step S6, the location to which the tester 10 is to be connected is displayed on the display 114 in accordance with the failure state of the water heater 2. FIG. 4 shows a display example in that case, which shows a connection point of the inspection device 10 in the case of ignition failure.

On the basis of the result of the diagnosis, the tester 10 is connected to functional parts necessary for a fault test as shown in FIG. That is, FIG. 7 shows a selective connection based on a failure diagnosis result according to the failure state of the water heater 2. In this case, the number of connection lines 8 is six, and the simplification will be understood.

Next, FIG. 8 shows the connection example shown in FIG. 7, that is, the connection configuration of the connector 6 in the solenoid valve portion. In this case, the water heater 2 is provided with an electromagnetic valve as the functional component 201, and is connected to the control board 20. Therefore, when the inspection device 10 is connected to the functional component 201, the connector 6 is required, and the inspection device 10 is connected via the connector 6. The inspection device 10 is provided with switches SW1 and SW2,
1. The closed contact side voltage detection element 116 of SW2 is connected,
A current detection element 118 is connected between the closed contact of the switch SW2 and the control board 20. The detection data obtained from the voltage detection element 116 and the current detection element 118 is input to the input unit 102 in the failure diagnosis control unit 100.
Is input to Note that a, b, c, and d of the connector 6 indicate connection contacts. This is the case where the solenoid valve as the functional component 201 is connected, the current and the voltage flowing through the solenoid valve can be measured at the same time, and the solenoid valve is turned on / off by the instruction of the inspection device 10 regardless of the signal of the water heater 2. It can be turned off. Therefore, when a specific voltage and current cannot be obtained, the solenoid valve 201 is diagnosed as defective.

When connected to a sensor, the current,
In addition to the voltage, a resistance value, a frequency, and the like can be measured according to the sensor. In some cases, a voltage can be applied to the sensor, or a current can be passed.

Next, FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the failure diagnosis apparatus for hot water supply equipment of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, the failure diagnosis control unit 100 is installed inside the inspection device 10, and the failure diagnosis control unit 100 alone determines or identifies the failure location of the water heater 2. In this embodiment, By linking a failure diagnosis control unit 100 built in the inspection device 10 and a host computer 21 as a main processing device installed in the failure diagnosis center through a telephone line 22, a diagnosis program stored in the host computer 21 can be obtained. This realizes comprehensive failure diagnosis while referring to the diagnosis data. In such a failure diagnosis device, a failure diagnosis can be performed by quickly referring to data of a new product or an old product, and a wide range of failure diagnosis can be performed.

Further, in the embodiment, the case where a wired or telephone line is used has been described. However, as a communication medium for transmitting data, various data transmission media such as light and radio waves can be used.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. a. A failure of a functional component operated by a control unit of a hot water supply device such as a hot water supply device that has become sophisticated and complicated can be quickly identified, and highly reliable failure diagnosis and easy repair can be realized. b. It is possible to reduce the number of wires between the water heater and the inspection device for the inspection, simplify the connection work, and prevent a connection error by simplifying the connection. c. In the case of a new product, it can be handled by changing the program of the inspection device, so that the burden on the serviceman is reduced, and the failure diagnosis and repair can be simplified without being affected by the experience and intuition of the serviceman. d. Since the number of inputs and outputs of the inspection device can be reduced, the inspection device can be simplified by sharing the connectors, functional components, sensors and the like of the control board of the water heater. e. By using the indicator and input unit of the inspection device, other than inputting the failure status and displaying the necessary wiring points, items that cannot be checked by the inspection device itself, such as whether gas or water is supplied or the igniter is ignited It is possible to urge the user to confirm whether or not the inspection is performed, and it is possible to give sufficient consideration to what the tester cannot do, and to perform a highly reliable comprehensive failure diagnosis.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a failure diagnosis device for a hot water supply device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a tester which is an embodiment of a failure diagnosis apparatus for a hot water supply apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an input switch of a tester in the failure diagnosis device illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display on a display of a tester in the failure diagnosis device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display on a display of a tester in the failure diagnosis device shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a failure diagnosis apparatus for a hot water supply apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a connection relation of testers by the failure diagnosis device shown in FIG. 1;

8 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of a circuit configuration showing a connection relation of testers by the failure diagnosis device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the failure diagnosis apparatus for hot water supply equipment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing a connection state of a conventional inspection device in a water heater.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Hot water supply device ( hot water supply equipment ) 6 Connector (connection means) 20 Control board (control section) 100 Failure diagnosis control section (control means) 114 Display (display means) 201 Functional parts

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24H 1/10 301

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A failure symptom of a hot water supply device for which a failure diagnosis is to be made.
The guide information to be displayed or the fault location together with this guide information
A display means for displaying or displaying an inspection result, etc., and a plurality of the guide information or
Selecting means for selecting the failed portion; and a voltage generated in the functional component of the failed portion of the hot water supply equipment.
Or a detecting means for detecting the current, and the detecting means is provided with the function of the failed portion of the hot water supply apparatus.
Connecting means for connecting to the component, and before being connected to the water heater and selected by the selecting means
Specified from the guide information or the failed part, and the display
A required inspection signal is given to the failed part displayed on the means.
And the voltage or the current generated in the functional component is
Detected by the detecting means and the inspection result is displayed as above
And a failure diagnosis control means for displaying on the means.