Knowledge/Fault finding/Reading Braemar ICS fault codes off the board LEDs
Reading Braemar ICS fault codes off the board LEDs
The ICS control board shows its codes as flashes. Each green flash on the LED marked PWR is 10, and each red flash on the one marked HT is 1. So one green and eight red is FC18. The red FLT LED shows the lockout condition. The layout varies between single stage, two stage and modulating boards.
- Green PWR flash
- 10each flash
- Red HT flash
- 1each flash
- Service PIN
- 7378MagIQtouch, coolers and heaters
- Fault log holds
- 10 codesmost recent
How do you read a Braemar ICS code?
The codes aren't on a screen. You count flashes, and the two LEDs work as tens and units. The green one marked PWR counts the tens, the red one marked HT counts the units, and the red FLT LED tells you which lockout condition it's sitting in.
So a single green flash followed by eight red flashes is FC18, condensate detected during start. Two green and three red is FC23, room fan not running. It feels odd the first time. After that it's quick.
The three lockout levels
| Level | Reset by | How |
|---|---|---|
| L0 | Itself | Automatic reset |
| L1 | The user | MagIQtouch Retry, or hold the ICS RESET button 1 to 2 seconds |
| L2 | A technician | Settings, Service, heater, PIN 7378, Reset Lockout Status |
Which code should you chase first?
Seeley International owns the Braemar brand, and Seeley's own advice here beats most troubleshooting guides. The fault log holds the ten most recent codes, and the instruction is to find the earliest recurring fault code.
In most cases the earliest code is the real problem. The later ones are knock-on faults caused by it. Chase the newest code and you'll spend your afternoon on a symptom.
- Pull the log before you touch anythingTen codes, in order. If you reset first you've thrown away the evidence.
- Find the earliest recurring codeNot the most recent, and not the most alarming. The one that keeps coming back first.
- Fix thatThen see which of the others disappear on their own. Usually most of them.
- Clear the fault history before you leave siteSo the next person, including future you, is reading this visit rather than the last three.
Straight from the manual
Don't keep resetting a heater without finding the cause
It's tempting, especially on a cold day with an unhappy customer standing next to you. The manual puts it bluntly. "Do not repeatedly reset a heater without identifying the cause of the lockout."
The lockout is a safety function doing its job. Keep resetting it and you're relighting a burner the board has already decided isn't safe. There's even a code for it. FC49, five lockouts within 15 minutes.
If you can't find the cause on site, isolate the heater and come back with the part. That's a better conversation than the alternative.
Which codes look like a dead board but usually aren't?
There's a family of codes that look like board failures and usually aren't. Here's Seeley's list of the most common causes of FC22 and FC50 to FC63.
- Unstable mains supply
- A failed transformer
- Moisture in the ICS board
- A damaged MagIQtouch cable
- The heater configured wrong
- Corroded connectors
- External components loading up the board's voltage rail
- Early ICS software versions
Their conclusion is the bit to remember. Always inspect power quality, communication wiring and external circuits before condemning the ICS board. The same goes for the pressure codes. Always inspect the complete pressure and airflow path before replacing components.
Which codes cover which part of the heater?
| Range | What it covers |
|---|---|
| FC01 to FC03 | Low pressure switch |
| FC04, FC05, FC09, FC15, FC16 | Thermistor and temperature sensing |
| FC06, FC07, FC11 | Ignition and flame detection |
| FC08, FC17, FC18 | Condensate |
| FC10, FC19 | Heat exchanger (HX) over temperature switches OT1 and OT2 open |
| FC12 to FC14 | High pressure switch |
| FC20, FC21 | Flame rollout, during start and during run |
| FC22 | Supply voltage out of range |
| FC23, FC24 | Room fan not running, or running backwards |
| FC31 to FC39, FC45, FC64 | Combustion air and combustion fan |
| FC49 | Five lockouts within 15 minutes |
| FC50 to FC63 | MagIQtouch communication and internal ICS |
| FC70 to FC78 | Flame circuit monitoring |
Had a fault that didn't make sense?
The ones worth talking about are the ones where the code pointed one way and the cause turned out to be somewhere else entirely.
Send it through. If enough people have hit the same thing it becomes a page.
Who this is for: small and medium HVAC contractors in Victoria. If you're a homeowner after a rebate or a repair, you need a licensed contractor, not us, and yours can point you the right way.
Related
- Most overheat faults are airflow, not gasBrivis codes 40 to 43 and 53, and Braemar FC10 and FC19, most often come down to restricted airflow. Here's the order I'd check it in.
- Seeley evaporative fault codes, FC01 to FC09All six public codes, which models each one applies to, how to read the LEDs, and Seeley's own warning about using the wrong code table.
- Soft water can be too pure for the cooler's probesMelbourne mains has about 55 mg/L of dissolved solids, a sixth of Adelaide's. So scale matters less here, and very soft water can fool the probes.
- How to read a fault code before you look it upAlmost nobody explains how a code is displayed, only what it means. Here's how to bring the code up on each brand, which is the bit that stalls you on site.
Review date: 1 April 2027. Figures in this area change without much notice and this page carries some that will go stale. Every number above is dated and sourced so you can check it yourself. If you find something out of date here, tell us and we will fix it.