Power Issue – EnviroDIY

This topic has 6 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2023-12-21 at 9:29 AM by Jake Lemon.

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- 2023-12-11 at 8:58 AM #18225
  Jake Lemon
  Participant
  I have a station that was recently deployed that cannot maintain sufficient battery voltage. The strange thing is that the voltage drops over one 15 minute increment, rather than gradually over time. Voltage consistently is dropping from the low 4V to the low 3V between successive measurements. Then, at times, the voltage with jump back up to the high 4s and as high as 5.0V which I’ve never seen before. We have swapped out the battery and mayfly logger and the issue seems to still be occurring. I suppose my next step is swapping a solar panel but I see they are currently out of stock. Thanks for any insight folks may have into this issue.
  
  https://monitormywatershed.org/tsv/3_mile_road/7557/
- 2023-12-12 at 10:31 PM #18232
  Shannon Hicks
  Moderator
  It sounds like things aren’t connected to the Mayfly board properly. The 3.7v Lipo battery gets connected to only one of the JST jacks labeled LIPO BATT on the Mayfly board, then a 6v solar panel gets connected to only one of the jacks labeled either SOLAR1 or SOLAR2, and not both. Are you using one of the old style glossy 3.5w panels, or one of the newer 5W ETFE panels with the textured matte finish? They are in stock: https://voltaicsystems.com/5-watt-panel-etfe/
  
  What happens if you unplug the solar panel from the Mayfly board, what kind of reading to you get? And have you tried swapping the battery pack for another one?
- 2023-12-14 at 8:56 AM #18238
  Jake Lemon
  Participant
  Thanks Shannon. I did swap the battery when I swapped the logger. I am using the matte finish panel. Also, I went to the EnviroDIY knowledge base parts list and clicked the link for the panel there. The link sends me to the old panel on Adafruit rather than the new panel we are using.
  
  I believe everything is plugged in to the correct ports on the Mayfly but we can double check. I’ve noticed those new panels are difficult to plug in, so maybe something happened. there. I can also swap out the 2-pin cable connecting the panel to the Mayfly to see if that is the issue. Thanks again.
- 2023-12-15 at 9:36 AM #18244
  Jake Lemon
  Participant
  Any tricks on getting the new solar panel jacks plugged into the 2-pin adapter cable? They are really difficult to get in and I’m wondering if something was damaged while it was being plugged in due to the effort of getting the plug seated.
- 2023-12-15 at 12:42 PM #18251
  Shannon Hicks
  Moderator
  They’re spring-loaded quick connect jacks. The wires go in the round holes not the rectangular ones. If you tug on them and they don’t come loose, then they should be connected properly. If they pop out, then you’ve just got to insert them further. I usually use my fingers, but you could also use something like needle-nose pliers to push one wire at a time into the hole until you feel it securely click into place. If you need to release them, put a small pointed tool like a tiny flat-blade screwdriver or some really pointy tweezers into the small rectangular hole next to the round one, and it will release the spring and allow you to remove the wire to try again.
- 2023-12-18 at 1:07 PM #18255
  Jake Lemon
  Participant
  Thanks Shannon. I was actually talking about the stereo jack. See attached image.
  
  Since we transitioned to the new panels it has been very difficult to get the stereo jack from the panel plugged into that adapter cable. Any recommendations on that are welcome.
  Attachments:
  solarcable-scaled.jpg
- 2023-12-21 at 9:29 AM #18266
  Jake Lemon
  Participant
  Hi Shannon. So I just received a few more panels. The stereo jack cables are going in relatively easily with these. I think I received some damaged hardware, causing the stereo jack cable to be very difficult to get plugged in. And causing a bad connection to the logger.
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