[coupe pete]

Hi all. I built and installed a Pro2+ a few years ago. It has performed flawlessly except for the occasional wifi connection issue, expired battery and debris or spiders preventing the rain gauge from working. However, the TX unit is no longer transmitting and I need to get it going. Is there a troubleshooting guide or check list someone can point me to ? With a fully charged battery and everything connected it still does not appear to work. When i last checked it the Tx LED was not flashing ?  Any help appreciated.

[hornychz]

Hi all. I built and installed a Pro2+ a few years ago. It has performed flawlessly except for the occasional wifi connection issue, expired battery and debris or spiders preventing the rain gauge from working. However, the TX unit is no longer transmitting and I need to get it going. Is there a troubleshooting guide or check list someone can point me to ? With a fully charged battery and everything connected it still does not appear to work. When i last checked it the Tx LED was not flashing ?  Any help appreciated.

Hello, coupe pete,

Please tell us how your TX unit is powered. Are you using some sort of solar panel with a controller and battery or are you just powering with the battery alone? Can you measure the battery voltage when it is connected to the TX unit (i.e. under load)?

[coupe pete]

Hi all. I built and installed a Pro2+ a few years ago. It has performed flawlessly except for the occasional wifi connection issue, expired battery and debris or spiders preventing the rain gauge from working. However, the TX unit is no longer transmitting and I need to get it going. Is there a troubleshooting guide or check list someone can point me to ? With a fully charged battery and everything connected it still does not appear to work. When i last checked it the Tx LED was not flashing ?  Any help appreciated.

Hello, coupe pete,

Please tell us how your TX unit is powered. Are you using some sort of solar panel with a controller and battery or are you just powering with the battery alone? Can you measure the battery voltage when it is connected to the TX unit (i.e. under load)?

It is powered via a 12v battery with a solar panel and controller. The battery was flat when it failed. I recharged it and reconnected it. I had trouble with the Multimeter but I think it was at 13v when I reinstalled it. I will remeasure tomorrow and confirm.

[hornychz]

Hi all. I built and installed a Pro2+ a few years ago. It has performed flawlessly except for the occasional wifi connection issue, expired battery and debris or spiders preventing the rain gauge from working. However, the TX unit is no longer transmitting and I need to get it going. Is there a troubleshooting guide or check list someone can point me to ? With a fully charged battery and everything connected it still does not appear to work. When i last checked it the Tx LED was not flashing ?  Any help appreciated.

Please tell us how your TX unit is powered. Are you using some sort of solar panel with a controller and battery or are you just powering with the battery alone? Can you measure the battery voltage when it is connected to the TX unit (i.e. under load)?

It is powered via a 12v battery with a solar panel and controller. The battery was flat when it failed. I recharged it and reconnected it. I had trouble with the Multimeter but I think it was at 13v when I reinstalled it. I will remeasure tomorrow and confirm.

Be careful when handling the battery. When you want to disconnect it, you should probably disconnect the solar panel first and then the battery (eg when replacing).
Connect in reverse: first the battery and only then the solar panel. Otherwise, there is a risk of destroying the solar controller and possibly the TX unit due to the high
voltage from the panel.
Good luck!

[coupe pete]

Hi all. I built and installed a Pro2+ a few years ago. It has performed flawlessly except for the occasional wifi connection issue, expired battery and debris or spiders preventing the rain gauge from working. However, the TX unit is no longer transmitting and I need to get it going. Is there a troubleshooting guide or check list someone can point me to ? With a fully charged battery and everything connected it still does not appear to work. When i last checked it the Tx LED was not flashing ?  Any help appreciated.

Please tell us how your TX unit is powered. Are you using some sort of solar panel with a controller and battery or are you just powering with the battery alone? Can you measure the battery voltage when it is connected to the TX unit (i.e. under load)?

It is powered via a 12v battery with a solar panel and controller. The battery was flat when it failed. I recharged it and reconnected it. I had trouble with the Multimeter but I think it was at 13v when I reinstalled it. I will remeasure tomorrow and confirm.

Be careful when handling the battery. When you want to disconnect it, you should probably disconnect the solar panel first and then the battery (eg when replacing).
Connect in reverse: first the battery and only then the solar panel. Otherwise, there is a risk of destroying the solar controller and possibly the TX unit due to the high
voltage from the panel.
Good luck!

I measured the voltage during the day and it measures as 14.5 volts. I did not disconnect the battery. The Arduino power light is on and the tx light is not flashing.

[werk_ag]

For trying to help, can you please tell us the version of your TX board?
Thank you

Werk_AG

[coupe pete]

For trying to help, can you please tell us the version of your TX board?
Thank you

Werk_AG

Tx Ver 3.12

[werk_ag]

From the symptoms you said, try to remove the TX board, check if there isn't any bad contact between the Nano and the socket and try to reprogram it again.
The TX Led and the transmitter board are driven by two independent pins, as both seem to not be working thus my suggestion.

[coupe pete]

 

Ok - i tried inspecting the unit and could not see any sign of water ingress or insect debris.

I then disconnected the power and removed the Nano and inspected it. Could not see any issues. I then reconnected it and disconnected it about 5 times and it did not make any difference.  When I pressed the reset button on the nano the "l" LED next to the power LED on the nano flashed briefly.

I then reflashed the nano and it did not seem to make any difference.  

I then replaced it with a new nano and that did not seem to make a difference.

I then checked the voltages on the TX board. The 3.3, 5 and 9V connection points all had the correct voltage. The Battery voltage was 14.4 volts, it was a bright sunny day.

I placed the multimeter on the TX LED and the voltage was pulsing even though i could not see the LED flashing. Not sure if the LED is working ? or if its just nor visible in bright daylight

None of this seemed to help as the receiver is still not getting any data.

Open to suggestions on where to go next ?

[hornychz]

I then disconnected the power and removed the Nano and inspected it. Could not see any issues. I then reconnected it and disconnected it about 5 times and it did not make any difference.  When I pressed the reset button on the nano the "l" LED next to the power LED on the nano flashed briefly.
I then reflashed the nano and it did not seem to make any difference.  
I then replaced it with a new nano and that did not seem to make a difference.
I then checked the voltages on the TX board. The 3.3, 5 and 9V connection points all had the correct voltage. The Battery voltage was 14.4 volts, it was a bright sunny day.
I placed the multimeter on the TX LED and the voltage was pulsing even though i could not see the LED flashing. Not sure if the LED is working ? or if its just nor visible in bright daylight
None of this seemed to help as the receiver is still not getting any data.
Open to suggestions on where to go next ?

I would definitely try the debug mode. This means enabling the debug outputs of the TX unit to the USB port, upload new firmware and watching the output in Arduino IDE monitor... 
 

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Debug
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#define ENABLE_DEBUG
#define DEBUG_ID0  
#define DEBUG_ID2  
#define DEBUG_ID3  
#define DEBUG_ID4  
#define DEBUG_ID5  
//#define DEBUG_SLINTERFACE
//#define EASYWEATHER_TEST

If you didn't know what the identifiers 0 to 5 mean, their description is in the Config_Options.h file just a little higher:
 

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Define which data this unit will send. 0 = Not send this data, 1= Send this data
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#define ID0  1   // Temp/Hum Data
#define ID1  0   // Not Used
#define ID2  1   // Wind data
#define ID3  1   // Rain data
#define ID4  0   // SolRad / UV data
#define ID5  1   // Hardware Status - System Temp, Battery Voltage etc

And after doing it put the output here, please.

(It is also possible that after a few years of "being outside" the entire PCB will need to be resoldered. It depends on how well prepared it was for the outdoor environment.)