Author Topic: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement  (Read 14351 times)

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Offline wxwatching

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #25 on: August 10, 2016, 04:42:57 PM »
I lean strongly to the belief that it will work in both your units. I certainly would give it a try. I am thinking that Acurite's incompatible warning is due to the fact that the older units do not have a socket on the board that you can plug their current temp/humidity replacement into, and they are probably not going to encourage individuals to do soldering work. Once the warranty is passed and something breaks, I see no reason in not trying to repair it on your own.

Offline tarheelbill

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #26 on: August 10, 2016, 11:08:12 PM »
Hi wxwatching.... Thank you so much for responding and also for your help. Yes I totally agree about noncompatibility is most likely just the plug because the sensor is the same and same 4 wire hookup. I went ahead n ordered 2 sensors, so gonna give it a try. If you can could you possibly show the wire hookup that you did. It looks from your picture that the red wire goes to the far right solder joint...thstd if ur looking at the main board with the back of the sensor suite to the right. And I'm assuming that the other 3 wires just follow as arranged in the ribbon. Thank you again for all your help.   :grin:
acurite 01010w weather station

Offline wxwatching

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #27 on: August 11, 2016, 09:50:05 AM »
If the 5n1 is oriented so that the main pcb board is at the top and the rain gauge at the bottom (which is how it is in the picture I took), then the four holes where you connect the cable will be oriented north and south. The red wire is in the most north hole. I don't know if your 5n1s are exactly like mine. I would suggest you trace the wire from your current temp/humidity sensor back to the main pcb board. The temp/humidity sensor should have markings for the wires showing VSS, VDD, SDA, and SCL. As I recall, SCL is the red wire. So, I would trace that back to the main pcb board and note which hole it is connected to. Then just be sure when you get the new sensor, you connect is the same way. In the end, if you connect the wires in reverse order, you will have very noticeably incorrect readings. If that happens, just reverse the wire order.

Easiest thing is to just trace the wires from your old sensor before you disconnect it and note on the main pcb board where the SCL connection is to be made and then make sure your red wire on the new sensor connects to that location.

Offline dschmidt_2000

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #28 on: August 16, 2016, 12:50:57 AM »
Mine died this weekend after 2.5 years.  Looked over at WUND and my readings were going from -20F to +130F.
Tried to reflow the chip but now it's stuck at -40F and 1% Rh. M

Went ahead and ordered a new 5 in 1 that now has the modular SHT21 board, but also bought some of these SHT21 boards from China to repair my old unit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-SHT21-Digital-Humidity-And-Temperature-Sensor-Module-Replace-SHT15-SHT11-/182103356189

This board has some components on the opposite side for level shift and pullups that I'll remove.

Offline DangHumid

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #29 on: August 16, 2016, 10:53:41 AM »
Mine died this weekend after 2.5 years.

After being told they no longer carry replacement Humidity sensors for my two year old 5-in-1 and the "simple answer is to buy another 5-in-1" I decided to spend my money elsewhere. That has saved me $97.77 and I have a much better display as a bonus.

Arduino Nano $3.20 (5 for $16)
DHT22 $0.36 (10 for $3.60)
433MHz radio receiver $1.67 (6 for $10)

Some code and an old 7" tablet I no longer use and this is what you get. While testing I actually used a 20 x 4 line LCD screen ($7.99) I had in my junk drawer.

The open space to the right of the Temp/Humidity/Rain is where I am just writing the code for the Low/High for the Month and Year for Temps, Humidity and rain.

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Offline dschmidt_2000

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #30 on: August 16, 2016, 11:10:29 AM »
Nice!  Good work there.
Now if you can get it to do an upload to WUND from the arduino I'm on board!

Did you wire in the anemometer and wind direction/rain sensors to your arduino?

Offline DangHumid

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #31 on: August 16, 2016, 05:58:18 PM »
Now if you can get it to do an upload to WUND from the arduino I'm on board!

Don't know what WUND is but the Ethernet shield allows Internet access.

Did you wire in the anemometer and wind direction/rain sensors to your arduino?

Nope, I intercept the radio transmission from the 4-in-1 (was 5-in-1 when it did Humidity :)) decode all the data with the Arduino nano, then send that (except the 99% dead Humidity) and the Temp and Humidity from the DHT22 to my home IoT network of nRF24 radios and Arduinos.

The little square in the top left of the tablet display indicates good/bad data. If it doesn't get valid data within 90-seconds that square turns red until it does get good data from the 4-in-1. Currently the 4-in-1 is sending about 30% valid data. Really pretty poor actually. In fact the 4-in-1 sends data streams twice in a row to try and assist that poor reliability. You don't notice transmission errors with the acurite desktop unit, but grabbing data to send to my IoT every thirty seconds highlights how poor it is. The 4-in-1 is only 60-feet, line of sight, from the Arduino, by the way.

Offline dschmidt_2000

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #32 on: August 17, 2016, 12:14:24 AM »
WUND is WeatherUnderground.

Nice! Where did you find info on decoding the RF stream?  I've got a thin-net PC running 24/7 just to do rapid fire updates to WUND. At 5 watts, isn't a lot of power but would love to get it even lower.

Offline DangHumid

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #33 on: August 17, 2016, 12:06:39 PM »
Nice! Where did you find info on decoding the RF stream?

Online of course. Isn't everything online? :D

Here ya go, I have modified it a bit to keep down the time spent hogging interrupts as it drives my nRF24L01 radio network crazy. I can't find the original, but it was done by Jens Jensen and pretty sure 2015.

Code: [Select]
(c) 2015 Jens Jensen
#import <avr/eeprom.h>
#define SYNC_HI 675
#define SYNC_LO 575
#define LONG_HI 450
#define LONG_LO 375
#define SHORT_HI 250
#define SHORT_LO 175
#define RESETTIME 10000
#define PIN 2 // data pin from 433 RX module
#define MAXBITS 65 // max framesize
#define RESET 0 // no sync yet
#define INSYNC 1 // sync pulses detected
#define SYNCDONE 2 // complete sync header received
volatile unsigned int pulsecnt = 0;
volatile unsigned long risets = 0; // track rising edge time
volatile unsigned int syncpulses = 0; // track sync pulses
volatile byte state = RESET;
volatile byte buf[8] = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0}; // msg frame buffer
volatile bool reading = false; // have valid reading
unsigned int raincounter = 0;
const float winddirections[] = { 315.0, 247.5, 292.5, 270.0,
                                 337.5, 225.0, 0.0, 202.5,
                                 67.5, 135.0, 90.0, 112.5,
                                 45.0, 157.5, 22.5, 180.0
                               };
#define MT_WS_WD_RF 49 // wind speed, wind direction, rainfall
#define MT_WS_T_RH 56  // wind speed, temp, RH

void setup()
{ Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println(F("Starting Acurite5n1 433 WX Decoder v0.2 ..."));
  pinMode(PIN, INPUT);
  attachInterrupt(0, My_ISR, CHANGE);
}

void loop()
{ if (reading)
  { noInterrupts();
    if (acurite_crc(buf, sizeof(buf)))
    { float windspeedkph = getWindSpeed(buf[3], buf[4]);
      int msgtype = (buf[2] & 0x3F);
      if (msgtype == MT_WS_WD_RF)
      { float rainfall = 0.00;
        unsigned int raincounter = getRainfallCounter(buf[5], buf[6]);
        float winddir = getWindDirection(buf[4]);
      } else
      if (msgtype == MT_WS_T_RH)
      { float tempf = getTempF(buf[4], buf[5]);
        bool batteryok = ((buf[2] & 0x40) >> 6);
      } else
      { Serial.print("unknown msgtype: ");
        for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
          Serial.print(buf[i], HEX);
          Serial.print(" ");
        }
      }
    } else
    {
      // failed CRC
    }
    reading = false;
    interrupts();
  }
  delay(100);
}

bool acurite_crc(volatile byte row[], int cols)
{ cols -= 1; // last byte is CRC
  int sum = 0;
  for (int i = 0; i < cols; i++)
  { sum += row[i];
  }
  if (sum != 0 && sum % 256 == row[cols])
  { return true;
  } else
  { return false;
  }
}

float getTempF(byte hibyte, byte lobyte)
{ int highbits = (hibyte & 0x0F) << 7;
  int lowbits = lobyte & 0x7F;
  int rawtemp = highbits | lowbits;
  float temp = (rawtemp - 400) / 10.0;
  return temp;
}

float getWindSpeed(byte hibyte, byte lobyte)
{ int highbits = (hibyte & 0x7F) << 3;
  int lowbits = (lobyte & 0x7F) >> 4;
  float speed = highbits | lowbits;
  if (speed > 0)
  { speed = speed * 0.23 + 0.28;
  }
  float kph = speed * 60 * 60 / 1000;
  return kph;
}

float getWindDirection(byte b)
{ int direction = b & 0x0F;
  return winddirections[direction];
}

int getRainfallCounter(byte hibyte, byte lobyte)
{ int raincounter = ((hibyte & 0x7f) << 7) | (lobyte & 0x7F);
  return raincounter;
}

void My_ISR()
{ unsigned long timestamp = micros();
  if (digitalRead(PIN) == HIGH)
  { if (timestamp - risets > RESETTIME)
    { state = RESET;
      syncpulses = 0;
      pulsecnt = 0;
    }
    risets = timestamp;
    return;
  }
  // going low
  unsigned long duration = timestamp - risets;
  if (state == RESET || state == INSYNC)
  { if ((SYNC_LO) < duration && duration < (SYNC_HI))
    { state = INSYNC;
      syncpulses++;
      if (syncpulses > 3)
      { state = SYNCDONE;
        syncpulses = 0;
        pulsecnt = 0;
      }
      return;
    } else
    { syncpulses = 0;
      pulsecnt = 0;
      state = RESET;
      return;
    }
  } else
  { if ( pulsecnt > MAXBITS )
    { state = RESET;
      pulsecnt = 0;
      reading = true;
      return;
    }
    // stuff buffer with message
    byte bytepos = pulsecnt / 8;
    byte bitpos = 7 - (pulsecnt % 8); // reverse bitorder
    if ( LONG_LO < duration && duration < LONG_HI)
    { bitSet(buf[bytepos], bitpos);
      pulsecnt++;
    }
    else if ( SHORT_LO < duration && duration < SHORT_HI)
    { bitClear(buf[bytepos], bitpos);
      pulsecnt++;
    }
  }
}


Offline tarheelbill

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #34 on: August 17, 2016, 03:46:52 PM »
Hi wxwatching..... And also everyone else with temp/humidity sensor issues. I ordered the replacement parts available through acurite. Even though it has a 4 terminal connector and says it isn't compatible well guess what? It is the same but just improved circuit board. It still uses the sht21 sensor and I replaced 2 of them yesterday on 2 5n1 sensors and readings are actually more accurate than they ever been. The reason they apparently say the replacement part isn't compatible is because of the connector and that's it. So if you feel comfortable in doing a little soldering, you can save your 5n1. Again I wanna thank wxwatcher for the encouragement to try. And if anyone needs help with connections please let me know
😊😊
acurite 01010w weather station

Offline dschmidt_2000

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #35 on: August 17, 2016, 04:11:16 PM »
So if you feel comfortable in doing a little soldering, you can save your 5n1. Again I wanna thank wxwatcher for the encouragement to try. And if anyone needs help with connections please let me know
😊😊
Excellent! Can you tell me - are the traces now buried on an inner layer of the board vs on the top?

Also does the new board drop into the same mounting slots and fit well inside 5 in 1 housing?

Offline tarheelbill

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #36 on: August 17, 2016, 04:45:34 PM »
Hi dschmidt...... The boards still. Have traces on outside but definitely a new improved coating...more like a conformal coating. Definitely a hardier setup. The sensor is the same sht21. It.does fit In the same way. Your old sensor faced the rain Guage and this one will too. The big difference is this new sensor has a white connector on the wires for newer 5n1. But I just removed connector n soldered straight to main board like old sensor. But. I can already tell more accurate results. Maybe it's cause I was so use to false info... Lol. But I hope this helps and I'd definitely go for it. I give credit to wxwatcher for helping me. I'll help anyway I can.... Ty
acurite 01010w weather station

Offline nincehelser

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #37 on: August 17, 2016, 05:47:48 PM »
So if you feel comfortable in doing a little soldering, you can save your 5n1. Again I wanna thank wxwatcher for the encouragement to try. And if anyone needs help with connections please let me know
😊😊
Excellent! Can you tell me - are the traces now buried on an inner layer of the board vs on the top?

Also does the new board drop into the same mounting slots and fit well inside 5 in 1 housing?

If you go back to the start of this thread you'll find several pictures of the new modular sensor and how it fits into the wind tunnel.

Offline rct

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #38 on: October 17, 2016, 05:53:21 PM »
I'm about to do the same repair.  The 5-n-1 has a soldered ribbon cable.   What's the collected wisdom on the best way to do it:
  • replace jumper cable on the temperature sensor board with the ribbon cable coming from the main board?
  • replace the ribbon cable, after cutting the connector off, soldering to main board?
  • Solder a matching male connector (4-pin JST??) onto the main board?  (Anyone know the specific connector type/part?)

Thanks

Offline nincehelser

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #39 on: October 17, 2016, 06:05:32 PM »
I'm about to do the same repair.  The 5-n-1 has a soldered ribbon cable.   What's the collected wisdom on the best way to do it:
  • replace jumper cable on the temperature sensor board with the ribbon cable coming from the main board?
  • replace the ribbon cable, after cutting the connector off, soldering to main board?
  • Solder a matching male connector (4-pin JST??) onto the main board?  (Anyone know the specific connector type/part?)

Thanks

Personally, I'd replace the ribbon cable.  That's mainly because they seem to be weakly soldered on the board.

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #40 on: October 19, 2016, 01:42:32 PM »
I decided to check mine out since my humidity is not going up & down like it should be compared to my acurite tower and Oregon 100. Everything looked really good, and I took a pic while I was in there. Not sure why the humidity is not going higher than 92% at night lately.


Offline rct

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #41 on: October 21, 2016, 12:45:08 PM »
I've somewhat successfully replaced the temp/humidity sensor in my 5n1 without the pins.   It's easy to see why the temp/humidity board failed since the traces have been eaten through.  See attached.  The new board looks pretty well sealed (lacquered?).   

I used new individual wires and replaced both ends.

George's warning about the fragile nature of the ribbon cable was very apropos, looks like I broke the wind speed sensor cable on reassembly, so now I need to take it all apart and do another repair.

Related note for another topic: I suspect I need to replace the fan motor, I think it's got too high of a resistance to get started, though runs once started.  Where are people getting the replacement motors from?

Thanks.

Offline rct

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #42 on: October 21, 2016, 12:55:43 PM »
Forgot to mention a tip for others attempting the same repair.  The pins are in the same order on the replacement board.  Both have the pins labeled.  The pins on the exposed side of the main board aren't labeled but are in the same order as you would expect from using a ribbon cable.  The Vss pin is negative, the Vdd pin next to it is positive.  With a voltmeter, with the batteries installed in the 5n1, you should see ~2 -3 Vdc between the Vss pin and any of the other 3 pins. 


Offline davefr

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #43 on: October 25, 2016, 02:36:35 PM »
My 5 in 1 just failed for the same problem.

The root cause of the problem was not the chip.  It's the trace that had developed an open circuit from corrosion. I just soldered on a tiny shunt wire from the two pads on the circuit board and the problem was solved.  I sealed the other traces with lacquer.  It looks like AcuRite didn't do a very good job sealing that circuit board.


Offline rct

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #44 on: October 25, 2016, 03:04:13 PM »
My 5 in 1 just failed for the same problem.  [...]  It looks like AcuRite didn't do a very good job sealing that circuit board.

FWIW, the replacement boards seem to be have a full lacquer coat, unlike the old boards which have none.   Glad you were able to repair yours.  The corrosion on mine was right near the chip so not easily fixable.

Offline nincehelser

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #45 on: October 25, 2016, 03:17:45 PM »
My 5 in 1 just failed for the same problem.  [...]  It looks like AcuRite didn't do a very good job sealing that circuit board.

FWIW, the replacement boards seem to be have a full lacquer coat, unlike the old boards which have none.   Glad you were able to repair yours.  The corrosion on mine was right near the chip so not easily fixable.

They've been trying different coatings over the years, apparently with mixed success.  The latest version does look far more robust, though.

Offline Tangster1

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #46 on: August 22, 2017, 01:18:10 PM »
I just replaced my old board that died after just a bit past 3 yrs old with the new accurite board. Just snipped the plug off cut old ribbon tape at board slit the insulation to separate wires took hemostat removed old wires & remove  a little insulation of new blk and red wires on new board tinned them 1st and soldered them onto op board where i removed old wires from underneath station is working like a charm thanks for the pics and info guys really helped me

Oh and to add my board looked like new no corrosion or spotted traces did see one spot on top of board right were temp sensor was mounted a area were lacquer had popped or flaked off . I guess mine just went bad the bottom of the board was clean and green solid covered in epoxy I guess it is ?
« Last Edit: August 22, 2017, 01:23:42 PM by Tangster1 »

Offline daman

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #47 on: August 22, 2017, 06:09:01 PM »
I saw a couple of pictures on Acurite's site that can help determine if you have one of the newer 5n1 sensors that are compatible with the replaceable module.

One has to do with the configuration of the Acurite logo.  The other has to do with the location of the A-B-C channel switch.

But as I said earlier, it shouldn't be hard to make the replaceable module fit an older unit if you're willing to solder. 

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My 5n1 contradicts this information, my 5n1 logo says only "ACURITE" on the side and i DO have the replaceable module.
 
KMIBADAX38
AcuRite Iris/AcuRite Access

Offline Tangster1

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #48 on: August 23, 2017, 08:01:32 AM »
 My older one I replaced board in got it new in May of 2014 did not have the newer logo when it went crazy 2 wks back I just brought a new one as I wanted a new color display anyways .

  The new one has that plug module of the Temp and humidity board were as the older one with just accurite in a little darker then unit logo on side didn't . I'm just guessing but maybe yours was one of the last runs of the older circuitry with newer housings ?


Offline daman

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Re: 5n1 Humidity Sensor Replacement
« Reply #49 on: August 23, 2017, 08:05:24 AM »
You could be right? I was surprised to see it had the replaceable module when I had it apart last week cleaning it and checking for bugs.
KMIBADAX38
AcuRite Iris/AcuRite Access

 

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