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Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement

Introduction

Many water heaters / kettles use systems from Strix. The one I got is sold by German company Ritter.

Be extremely careful when operating the PCB out of the box as it may contain voltages of up to 320VDC!

What you need

  1. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, Open kettle base: step 1, image 1 of 2 Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, Open kettle base: step 1, image 2 of 2

    • Before you begin, be sure to unplug the kettle base.

    • Using Torx screwdriver, open kettle base and remove PCB

    • One can see the five contact rings. From inside they are: Live, Sensor +, Sensor -, Neutral, Ground

    Edit

  2. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, High voltage gap potential problem: step 2, image 1 of 1

    • The PCB is not conformally coated, so water splashing around the base can potentially enter and cause damage.

    • The design of the PCB is a bit unfortunate as the high voltage switching regulator is very close to the LDO and microcontroller.

    • Line input

    • Switching regulator

    • LDO and MCU

    Edit

  4. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, High voltage gap problem (2): step 3, image 1 of 1

    • Red circle: Isolation gap between 320VDC and 4.4VDC is about less than 1mm

    • Red arrow: Pulsed 320V (220VAC) switching regulator

    • Blue arrow: 4.4V LDO supply voltage for MCU

    Edit

  5. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, Microcontroller replacement: step 4, image 1 of 1

    • Using hot air, desolder the TSSOP16 microcontroller labeled "Y12"

    • Unfortunately I was not able to source the microcontroller allone yet. But I could order the entire board for 25€ which is better than nothing. Thank you Ritter

    Edit
Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

with 2 other contributors

Thomas Widmaier

Member since: 03/05/13

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