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Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement

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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!

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  1. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, Open kettle base: crwdns2935265:01crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0 Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, Open kettle base: crwdns2935265:01crwdnd2935265:02crwdnd2935265:02crwdne2935265:0

    • 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

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  2. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, High voltage gap potential problem: crwdns2935265:02crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:01crwdne2935265:0

    • 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

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  4. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, High voltage gap problem (2): crwdns2935265:03crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:01crwdne2935265:0

    • 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

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  5. Ritter (Strix) Kettle 'Fontana' Microcontroller Replacement, Microcontroller replacement: crwdns2935265:04crwdnd2935265:01crwdnd2935265:01crwdne2935265:0

    • 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

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

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