Topic: ISS issues

[weatheroz]

We've had more than a spot of rain here lately, and today suddenly my VP2 is not show temp out, humidity out, and pretty much anything that comes through the ISS

I've pulled the cover off, only to discover that it was full of tiny ants.

I then pulled the inner cover off the board inside, and found the supercap legs were very rusty.


Cleaned it down a bit, and put another battery in, but unfortunately it still isn't working.


Anyone got some ideas to get this going again, or am I out of luck ?

[johnd]

Supercap legs don't really go rusty - if there's deposit on them seemingly exuding from the supercap then it is probably faulty. So either replace the supercap or replace the complete SIM board. Sometimes replacing the supercap gives several more years of life, but sometimes it's just a temporary fix and occasionally doesn't work at all, ie the faulty supercap may have caused other components to fail. But if you're happy to give it a try then replacing the supercap with a new one is a simple and cheap first step.

[weatheroz]

may not be rusty, I'm trying to look at it in the dark.

I've tried putting the iss in to test mode, i.e. dip 4 upwards, and I can't see any flashing led going.

So how easy are the iss boards to buy? .... my VP2 was bought in the USA about 7 years ago.

Does the anemometer transmitter work as a ISS if hooked up in place of the ISS? .... was thinking I might do without wind, as long as I have temp and rain.

[Mattk]

Moisture is your problem ... and ants

The anemometer transmitter can work as a full ISS. Assume it is also a USA freq version ... and totally illegal in Oz as well?

[johnd]

Moisture is your problem ... and ants

Whatever else may be contributing to suboptimal performance, if there's exudate on the supercap legs then that's a pretty sure sign of a faulty supercap, which can stop wireless transmissions, as apparently in this case.

[Mattk]

Have never relied on a supercap and wouldn't know if they are dead, alive or done in any ISS I run, external power over rides a supercap regardless and one way to really check the transmitter issue is to power the ISS externally.   

[davidmc36]

We've had more than a spot of rain here lately, and today suddenly...........

I have seen a couple now with rust coloured legs. You have had deterioration for a while and the damp spike drove moisture into a critical spot shutting things down.

One red legged cap board had SMD components falling right off the corrosion was so bad.

Skip the cap re-n-re and go straight for the board.

In most cases I also chop the connectors from cables coming in and crimp new ones on.

[weatheroz]

Moisture is your problem ... and ants

The anemometer transmitter can work as a full ISS. Assume it is also a USA freq version ... and totally illegal in Oz as well?

Yes, all of the above.

I've looked a bit closer, and the supercap has actually rusted through one of the legs, so it making no contact.

Just got to try and find the spare supercap I got quite a while ago to see if it is just the supercap alone.

[azchrisf]

Wish I could figure out why ants like weather stations so much. I had them in my ISS too one time.

[weatheroz]

Just as a follow up, I ordered a new ISS circuit board from Scaled Instruments, and paid extra for quick delivery.

I then finally found my spare supercap I had put away more than a year ago, so I went and stripped thing down and replaced the old one, which one of the legs had rusted out.

Put it all back together again and it all works once again.


Even though I've ordered a new ISS circuit board, I'm sure somewhere down the track it will make for a quicker simpler fix at the time, but just swapping the board out.

Unfortunately for me, Scaled Instruments were quick at packing and sending my new board out, so I couldn't try for a change in postage from 3-5 day delivery to the $US50 cheaper regular delivery..... my fault alone.

[davidmc36]

I'm all for keeping spares too. Have two tipper assemblies ready for quick swap out. I think a spare ISS may get stocked too.