Topic: Envoy Baro stopped working.

[Bashy]

Hi folks, has my envoy had it now?

I got an alert from AWEKAS saying they've swtiched off this sensor, when i checked weather display, the baro was stuck, what I failed to notice was that it was stuck from 20th of January  I am surprised about not hearing anything about it before now lol

I have sent an email off to Davis support but i am not holding my breath for a repair.
I have a USB weatherlink, could i use the Envoy 8x as a substitute and would it work with WD straight away, ie plug and play?

I deffo need a new one cause WD will not work with the Baro not working :/

Thanks

EDIT:

Thankfully Davis support got the baro working again, I do however, have a spare baro chip on its way,
So glad I bottled out buying one off of ebay now This is what support said to do.

Usually when we see this, it is caused by the elevation calculation creating an error. To fix this, try setting the elevation to 0.
Then test again. If you start seeing the Barometer, you can then set the elevation back to a valid value.

[kobuki]

See: https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24732.0 and then http://madscientistlabs.blogspot.com/2014/12/no-pressure-i-got-this.html

[Bashy]

See: https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=24732.0 and then http://madscientistlabs.blogspot.com/2014/12/no-pressure-i-got-this.html

Thank you, that helps a lot

[Bashy]

Whilst Davis support got the Baro talking again, its not actually moving, stuck on 1016mb or 1019mb adjusted.
I have ordered the sensor but will also need a rework station and to be honest, I am not confident in a decent outcome lol

Does anyone know if Davis would recondition it?

[kobuki]

I have ordered the sensor but will also need a rework station and to be honest, I am not confident in a decent outcome lol

All you need is a soldering iron. Don't be fooled into buying an arsenal for rework, it's a pretty simple job. Just watch a few videos on Youtube. If you have moderate soldering skills, you're good to go.

OTOH, Davis probably can fix it for you even if you somehow screw up.

[Bashy]

Ah, now there is the problem right there, soldering skills, if we are working on a 1 to 10 scale, then I'm certainly 2 or below lol.

I that write up, he tried with a soldering iron and had to give up and bought a rework station, and managed it in one go, hence my mention of getting one, looking at about £60 max, still quids in but if Davis get back to me and they can do it for around the same price, then I will deffo send it Off. Also sent an email to John at prodata to see if its within there scope of talents, in for a penny an all that.

Side note, Ali ain't even shipped the senor yet, I think the 7 days shipping is misleading and actually means dispatch times

[kobuki]

You can get a hot air station for much less than that, get one used. At AliExpress, that is in fact the dispatch time, yes...

[Bashy]

Bugger, thought it was, to be fair, I did think 7 days  was a tad quick for China to the UK 😂 will have a look on Ali, thanks

[azchrisf]

Ahem, if it is SMD and hot air then it will definitely be beyond his skill range if he says it's a "2" with a soldering iron.
SMD requires special tools too like paste, braid, magnifiers, etc.

Plus the cost of the sensor, a lot of skill and patience, etc.
And if you overheat the component or don't solder it right, get ready to buy another and do it again. And god help you you lift a pad.

I think in this instance it might be better to send it to Davis or buy a replacement.

[kobuki]

Ahem, if it is SMD and hot air then it will definitely be beyond his skill range if he says it's a "2" with a soldering iron.
SMD requires special tools too like paste, braid, magnifiers, etc.

Soldering experience might pose an issue but it's definitely doable using soldering iron, maybe some resin and other common soldering tools - but using a hot air gun makes it a lot simpler and virtually no other tools are required besides a tweezer, maybe, and some cleaning agent like IPA. All he can lose is the price of the chip and some time. And it's not like I'm some soldering expert, but have done many SMD soldering jobs without much issue. Though if feeling uncertain, best to send the unit to Davis.

[Garth Bock]

I had one of my Envoys kinda brick on a firmware update. I was updating a 1.90 to 3.80. Even though the manufacturing date put it early of '06 the board in it was from late '05 apparently. The baro was the only thing that wouldn't work. They repaired it, and updated it for $75US.

They currently have an Envoy I bought on eBay for next to nothing. It's firmware was 05/27/05. Since they don't send out the updater (used it once a long time ago) anymore they are updating it for free.

[azchrisf]

Ahem, if it is SMD and hot air then it will definitely be beyond his skill range if he says it's a "2" with a soldering iron.
SMD requires special tools too like paste, braid, magnifiers, etc.

Soldering experience might pose an issue but it's definitely doable using soldering iron, maybe some resin and other common soldering tools - but using a hot air gun makes it a lot simpler and virtually no other tools are required besides a tweezer, maybe, and some cleaning agent like IPA. All he can lose is the price of the chip and some time. And it's not like I'm some soldering expert, but have done many SMD soldering jobs without much issue. Though if feeling uncertain, best to send the unit to Davis.

Well, yes, it can be. It just depends on the size of the SMD component. I know some of the first and biggest aren't too hard to solder using a regular iron just have to be a little more careful. But good points.

[Bashy]

Thanks guys, I have the sensor on its way, but in the mean time I'm gonna get wll, then repair the board if I can and sell it, Davis support are doing my head in, they reply in the 1st instance and then take days to answer a y follow ups, it's been 5 days since, they said the board is refurbishable but it was dependent on location, I replied it being the UK and not heard out since

[Bashy]

Hi folks, just removed the board from its housing and thought, there's no way I can repair this myself, the soldering is on the top of the board

I was looking the board over and noticed some corrosion on 3 of the component connecting points, 1 is the battery +, don't know what 2nd one is, but the 3rd is the barometer, so I grabbed a nail brush and cleaned them up as best I could. Then went out on a limb and thought I would power it up and see if it made any difference, and so far, the barometer has come back, it went offline totally, no readings at all before. Now it's actually showing a reading and changing too so fingers crossed, but then I now have a erm, spare Envoy and logger lol

[Bashy]

Nope, shes stopped again, it got down to around 7C and 94% (davis) humidity in the lean too, i brought it back in a quicky took out the board and i am sure the backside of the baro was slightly damp, the rest were ok, i don't have anything to moisture-proof it except for super glue, should i try that or waste more money on the expensive stuff? i think the main issue is that the corrosion has affected the golden traces in places and some of the solder connections are a little coroded too, i think i am going to have to attempt a repair, time to watch some rework videos me thinks, cause those solder points are tiny even under 10x, i doubt my hands will be steady enough :/
I will keep updating as i progress but it will be a little while before i buy the rework station I may even put a call out on FB to see if any one has the skills needed...

[kobuki]

Watching a few videos on the subject is not a bad idea, lots to learn from them. Corrosion is problematic if it eats away traces. I'd suggest cleaning all corroded parts thoroughly to see how they look and then attempt the replacement. It can be a hit or miss or just more work. In any case, if you can fix it, the device is prolly better off as a spare for yourself than something you can sell... BTW, can you post a few pics?

[Bashy]

Hi, yeah, I've gently scrubbed it and used 70% rubbing alcohol, its still not showing any thing again, I've also checked the traces using my multimeter and they appear OK, in the images of the actual sensor, you can see 2 connections that are corroded too.

I have take images of just the damaged sections, the red battery lead is also loose on the board, I can't do out yet till I can get the rework station, here's the images

[Jim_49]

The first 3 photos look like interdigital capacitors.  The corrosion would impact the capacitance value.  The corrosion between the fingers could turn them into resistors or, at the very least, very leaky capacitors.  Not having a schematic makes it difficult to determine what impact the corrosion has on the circuit.

In the fourth photo it looks like corrosion has gotten under the solder mask.  You will need to remove that to get to the affected area.  Maybe clean that off and tin it?  Hopefully the copper hasn't been eaten away.

The fifth photo looks like corrosion from battery acid.  You'll need a stiff bristle brush to get that off.

The next two photos look like badly corroded battery terminals.  Probably need to replace them as it looks like all the plating has corroded away.  You could try cleaning them but I think they will continue to corrode and increase the contact resistance.

In the last photo you will need to clean the corrosion off the component pins on both the sensor and the capacitors next to it.  You might try some liquid flux and a soldering iron and then clean the area real good with a chemical cleaner.  I doubt alcohol will provide the desired results, but it might.  Replacing the sensor shouldn't be too difficult.  Get a couple sizes of solder braid and some flux to suck the solder off the pins.  Use a fine point tip on the soldering iron and keep the tip clean.

[Bashy]

Thanks for taking a look Jim, much appreciated, if nothing else, it will be a good learning project, although with what i need to spend on tools and consumables, it might be cheaper to just buy another board will need to price it all up and see, but even so, will give me sommat to do...

RE battery terminal, the batteries have never corroded in the time that i have had the Envoy and i am fairly certain i would have noticed the corrosion, not 100% though as i cannot remember.

I am surprised that this device has corroded, don't they put these in the field? I've certainly seen consoles in the field in those cabinets, so the Envoy is not out of the question.

[kobuki]

with what i need to spend on tools and consumables, it might be cheaper to just buy another board

I'd be surprised if you had to spend more than $50.

[Bashy]

I'm looking at least £50gbp in a rework station, then thers the helping hands with magnification, the right solder, flux, tinnner, etc, bare in mind, all I have a an el cheapo iron, so I need everything

[kobuki]

If you follow Jim_49's great advice, you don't need a hot air gun, which you could get used anyway for a lot less. Don't worry about the soldering iron, if it does the job - though it's easier to work with better ones. But whatever you get, the learning experience is priceless

[Bashy]

The way I'm looking at it is for the long term too, plus the hot air is the backup solution, my eyes are not the greatest anymore and I don't have the steadiest of hands nor the skills, so if I have everything to hand then the higher chances of success, ps my iron is a single heat at 35w I believe, the tip is the size of a bread knife lol, so starting from scratch seems the better option