Watchmon failure...

H

HughF

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Jan 1, 2018
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I noticed I stopped receiving thingspeak updates earlier today. Logged into the single board PC running the watchmon toolkit and it had lost usb connection to the wm4.

When I got back from work the cellmon network had stopped responding, no lights on at all. The blue led was on solidly on the wm4. I cycled power to the wm4, and it failed to power up or do anything. I'm now suspecting it has failed completely.

Does anyone in the UK have a watchmon I can borrow whilst I wait for a replacement to be shipped from Australia? I'm running with my critical contactor hard wired on, luckily my cells stay well balanced and I've dropped my absorption timer down so I should be alright, but it's still a little disconcerting not having a supervisor present.
 
Have you talked to batrium about? I Guess People Will ask what and why it happened.

I live in Sweden and unfortunately both My wm4s are currently lended out :(
 
I have emailed them this morning. It just stopped working, everything was fine the day before and the morning when I left for work.

To be fair, we have had a heat wave this week in the UK. I will check for 3v3 on esp32 module
 
Did you Power it from Main source only, usb, or both?
 
Update: 3v3 is present on the correct pins (2, 3) of the esp32 module.

Batteries took 2kWh before dropping to float today and are nicely balanced. Nothing giving me cause for concern. I will take the wm4 to work and see if I have a clock running and whether there is any data on the tx/rx lines.
 
I'm travelling this week, due back to UK midweek - if you've not sourced one by then I'll send you one.
 
Sean said:
I'm travelling this week, due back to UK midweek - if you've not sourced one by then I'll send you one.
Click to expand...

Cheers Sean,I'll let you know if I need to take you up on that offer. Hugh
 
New wm4 on order from Australia. Sean, do you have a spare on the shelf I could borrow until dhl can get mine over here, which I expect will be a week or more?
 
HughF said:
New wm4 on order from Australia. Sean, do you have a spare on the shelf I could borrow until dhl can get mine over here, which I expect will be a week or more?
Click to expand...

No problem, PM me where you want it sent and I'll get it dispatched tomorrow.

Did you figure out what killed your WM ?
 
Sean said:
HughF said:
New wm4 on order from Australia. Sean, do you have a spare on the shelf I could borrow until dhl can get mine over here, which I expect will be a week or more?
Click to expand...

No problem, PM me where you want it sent and I'll get it dispatched tomorrow.

Did you figure out what killed your WM ?
Click to expand...

PM Sent...

The onboard 3v3 regulator circuit has packed up on the WM. The ESP32 will power up and program when the board is connected via USB and is taking power from the host computer. Power it from the DC input terminals and it is dead... I haven't traced through the circuit yet to see where the problem is. I suspect the buck converter.
 
What did you power it via? The battery bank? And if so what was the max voltage on the battery bank?
Just curious to know from my side.
 
daromer said:
What did you power it via? The battery bank? And if so what was the max voltage on the battery bank?
Just curious to know from my side.
Click to expand...

My initial testing was incorrect. The 5v and 3v3 buck converters on the board are working fine...

I power it from the pack voltage, max that has ever been is 55v and the primary buck chip is good for 75 max according to the data sheet
 
Oki then that isnt the issue. I think recommended max is 65VDC in. (Some marginal :) )
 
Sean said:
It'll go via RM Special so you should get it tomorrow.
Click to expand...

That Is good of you Sean, cheers.

daromer said:
Oki then that isnt the issue. I think recommended max is 65VDC in. (Some marginal :) )
Click to expand...

I've received an rma number from Maxine, the defective wm4 will be coming back to you next week Daniel... Let me Know what you find.
 
Update: New WM4 received, and I immediately bricked it by giving it a firmware update from 1.0.31 of the toolkit software. I thought that was odd, as I assumed it would pull the latest firmware from batriums servers at flash time. So I thought, perhaps it doesn't....

Grabbed the latest toolkit software and flashed the bricked board, back to life it came...
Thought I'd try flashing the previously faulty, original WM4, that has also now come back to life...

Moral of the story, don't assume - check.
 
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