The perks of being a mechanic

**ShaneB** · 10-20-2015, 09:53 AM

And having some basic understanding of electrical. You have no problem tearing into your expensive equipment to make an attempt to repair it.

I posted a couple days ago about my Mytee Firebird suddenly quitting on me. Just shut off on its own and wouldn`t turn back on. Instead of going to Mytee and looking for support I just tore into it myself and found the problem. There is an inline fuse on the neutral side of the wiring that had blown. a tiny little 15A that was actually physically secured to the boiler! Doesn`t seem very smart to me even if it was wrapped in a heat protective sleeve. A quick stop at an auto parts store and im sure I can wire in a new fuse and ill be back up and running! Glad this isn`t going to cost me more than a few $$$.

On another note. Special thanks to Mytee for putting in ONE SINGLE ANNOYING SECURITY SCREW that I ended up drilling out because who the hell has the tool to remove it? I mean seriously Mytee??!?!? You don`t want people fixing their own stuff obviously. I was strongly considering buying a Mytee Tempo extractor next year but now I`m not so sure. Between the firebird blowing a fuse within the first year, and you trying to make it so we cant open the unit up, I have a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and im not sure I want to purchase another of your products.

Obligatory pictures. Still in pieces, need to go buy a fuse

**tropicsteve** · 10-20-2015, 10:15 AM

I usually have some extra parts left over when I do it.

**Ronkh** · 10-20-2015, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by tropicsteve

I usually have some extra parts left over when I do it.

Don`t know why they use so many screws and parts. Just costs em extra $$$$

**ShaneB** · 10-20-2015, 10:53 AM

This thing was surprisingly simple. Just a heating element, switch and fuse along with a little bit of wiring. Actually what I`m questioning now is why the retail price of it was upwards of $400 before they discontinued it.

Mine will go back together minus one screw because I don`t feel like replacing the one I drilled the head off of

**ShawnF350** · 10-20-2015, 11:15 AM

Shane, good find.
What you have there is a thermal fuse. Hopefully it just failed. But it`s made to melt open when you exceed 464F.
Make sure the thermostat is working properly.
If you had it plugged into a 15a circuit an
Identical replacement will be fine.
Sometimes I wonder if they fail because your close to edge on the rated current.

**ShawnF350** · 10-20-2015, 11:16 AM

Make sure to secure it back to the boiler with fiberglass tape or how it was from the factory.

**ShaneB** · 10-20-2015, 12:41 PM

Well I hope it wasn`t a thermostat issue

**ShaneB** · 10-20-2015, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by ShawnF350

Shane, good find.
What you have there is a thermal fuse. Hopefully it just failed. But it`s made to melt open when you exceed 464F.
Make sure the thermostat is working properly.
If you had it plugged into a 15a circuit an
Identical replacement will be fine.
Sometimes I wonder if they fail because your close to edge on the rated current.

It was a cooler day I was using it. I was outside and it was in the 40s at the time.

Seeing as it was insulated I don`t think the heat from the tank would of caused an issue. I didn`t notice anything abnormal with the operation before it failed. My guess is just too much current or maybe it just failed from normal use. I dunno. It was securely clamped to the tank with a clamp and screw so maybe that was intentional? Should I go out of my way to get an identical replacement or can I wire in a normal 15A fuse? Would any specific 15A thermal fuse work? When it comes to the fine print on the fuse outside the current rating my knowledge is pretty poor.

lol wow I rattled off a bunch of questions there. Sorry

**ShawnF350** · 10-20-2015, 01:40 PM

Try either Mouser or Digikey and get the exact replacement. Get a few extra if they are cheap enough. You could get a replacement with the same ratings, but awhy risk getting the wrong specs.
Was there any chance it wasn`t level or was almost outta water?

Mouser Electronics, Inc.

**ShawnF350** · 10-20-2015, 01:41 PM

DigiKey Electronics - Electronic Components Distributor

**edb** · 10-20-2015, 02:11 PM

Mcmelecronics.com is another place i use sometimes. If you cant get the exact part make sure all the specs are the same.

**Stokdgs** · 10-20-2015, 02:49 PM

Glad you found the problem - great trouble shooting skills !

Now for the next level of trouble shooting - what caused the failure ?

Have you ever taken a really good meter like a Fluke for example and measured the current coming out of the socket you use ?
Is it stable, does it move around, is it higher than what would be considered normal ?

I know you dont want to go back into your machine again, lose more time, etc., so I hope you can get this wrapped up and never have to back into there again..
There are a lot of Mityvacs out in the world and yours is the first one I have ever heard of having a problem..

My old standby Mytee HP60 Spyder has run a zillion hours (10 years old) extracted hundreds of gallons of black, nasty, stuff out of carpets, and has never had an issue of any kind..
My power for this machine has always been through a nice new 20amp leviton heavy duty socket, 12awg new romex wire all the way to the fuse box on its own new 20amp breaker.

All the extension cords I have ever used on this are as short as possible and they are always 12awg wire and new.
I stick my Fluke DMM (calibrated by Fluke) all over the circuit at least once to insure I know what is going on with power to the unit.

I never let the tank run out of water and take extra steps to insure its always full, and never use anything that will cause a lot of foaming so I am extracting foam back into the recovery tank...

Obviously in your case, it was heat that caused the thermal fuse to go, so I hope you can find and eliminate the source of the higher than normal heat level..

Glad you are good with tools and are about done with this little challenge !
Dan F

**ShaneB** · 10-20-2015, 04:08 PM

This is a mytee firebird steamer not an extractor. It does beg the question as to why it happened. Any input as to what isn`t exactly the best thing for a steamer? I always thought it was just make sure to fill with distilled water, which I always do. As for letting it run out. Maybe it did blow the fuse at the time it ran out because while what made me notice there was a problem was a drop of pressure/output of steam, I`m not sure exactly when it lost power. Kind of assumed it just blew and that`s what made me lose pressure. But maybe it lost pressure due to being out and blew the fuse due to being on with an empty tank.

maybe I should retract my previous statement about mytee. At least I can still complain about the damn screw! Lol