[David BresslerParticipant]

@abarney, re: SL121 (ULHC2S, Hunter Creek downstream)
This station seems to be having battery issues – going down since mid Feb and is now offline.  Do you know what’s going on here?  Is the solar panel damaged, did the station fall over, is there damage to the cable?  Is there any wire chewing issue?

Replacing the battery would solve the issue for a bit but it doesn’t seem to be charging as well as it should, so a new one would presumably have the same issue.  The solar panel was still facing south and getting good exposure I assume?  All connections good?  Wire from solar panel to board connected and good?

[David BresslerParticipant]

abarney posted an update in the group Delaware Basin Sensor Stations<span class=”time-since”>3 hours ago:</span>

I visited last night and rebooted Mayfly saw the lights blink from red to green on mayfly. Since I have no cell connection at the sight waited till I got home and still saw nothing on DRWI. My initial inspection did not find any cracked wires. I will return today to check solar panel to board connection. Is there a voltage I can measure to see if panel is producing?

[David BresslerParticipant]

@abarney please swap out SD cards and attach the data file in your next post.  Is the Hologram data plan up-to-date and active?  It’s possible the battery is being drained because the board is trying to send data repeatedly but can’t because the plan has run out.

@vogt or @lemon should have records of Hologram plan details

[David BresslerParticipant]

abarney posted an update in the group Delaware Basin Sensor Stations<span class=”time-since”>12 hours ago:</span>

“The last data record is on 4/9/19 at 2:45pm . I forwarded in email.”  – @bressler attached data file here

So the station stopped recording data on 4/9/19.  @abarney, have you managed to check to see if the Hologram cell account has been paid?

Attachments:

1. SL121LOG.txt

[David BresslerParticipant]

@abarney, you should swap the SD cards again and post the text file here (and make sure to save the file for your own records on a secure drive – you should have all SD card files since station installation in one secure location).

Still awaiting feedback from @hicks and @johnson.  You could deal with the power issue in the near-term by purchasing the battery, charger, and adaptor and swapping batteries until we figure out the issue.  Recommended battery (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13856), charger (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12711) and adaptor (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12889).

Have you confirmed that all wire connections are intact?  Solar panel wire has a solid connection?

 

[Shannon HicksParticipant]

From looking at the battery data, I’m almost positive it’s a defective solar panel, which has caused the battery to decline for the past few months without fully charging it.  I’ll visit the site later this afternoon and replace anything that has failed.

[Shannon HicksParticipant]

I visited the station today and it was indeed a bad solar panel cable. I replace the cable and put a fully-charge battery in the station, and it’s back online.

[Author]

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