Hello,
We used an Audiomoth with a protective plastic bag, but some moisture came in, and now it does not work properly
Placing the switch in the DEFAULT
position the green led produces long flashes (approximately 1s), but no recording occurs
In the CUSTOM position, it also does not record when by programming it should, and the flashes are short and green
When it is scheduled, apparently the whole process is done correctly, but afterwards the program is not executed at the agreed times
I imagine that the humidity will have caused damage to the microprocessor, but I would like to know if you have any measurement protocol in some points of the PCB to confirm or rule out this failure, or to isolate the cause of the problem in the circuit
Best regards,
Hi Alex,
No, if I take out the batteries and, after a minute, I put them back, when I put the switch in CUSTOM, only the green LED flashes, with the sequence that appears in the video. The red LED only flashes 3 times at the moment of passing the switch to USB, indicating the charge of the batteries
As Jenna says I will try to disassemble the battery compartment, observe the components by the assembly face, and apply some CRC type moisture-proof liquid to see if I can get them to resuscitate
Regards,
Thank you I will get in touch with Alistair. Please could you post any details of the materials you used to make yours and what worked better just in case they are not available? Thank you. Jenna
I don't but he'll definately announce them through twitter - @Al2kA @arribada_i
That's great thank you. Do you know how I can order them and roughly what the cost will be? Thank you
The laser cut ones will definately be available. He's just got the first batch laser cut in Slovenia.
Hi Alex, Thanks for the reply. Is the ones that Alistair is getting ready possible to order. Last time I posted this someone replied and said you should have cases ready to sell by September time but that it wasnt guaranteed. If you could confirm if you are ion a position to sell cases that would be great then if you wont be selling any in the coming months I will try to make my own? Thanks. Jenna
Hi Jena,
Yes, we deploy them in plastic bags for short deployments when it isn't likely to rain. I wouldn't recommend deploying them long term that way. In Belize we've deployed them in off the shelf electronics enclosures with a hole drilled in the front to let the sound in and a waterproof acoustic membrane sticker over the front. Google for "waterproof acoustic membrane". Our last deployment used plumbing components to make waterproof housings - again with the sticker to cover a hole. We are also just about to post the plans for the laser cut acylic case shown below. Alastair Davies is getting some of these made up to supply to others. We're hoping to gets funds for an injection moulded case eventually but there is a lot of low cost custom made cases being developed by users at the moment and we'd encourage anyone who has a design to share it.
Alex
Hi, I'm having similar problems, the plastic bags just aren't waterproof in rain storms. Every time it rains and water gets in the bag they stop recording and are flashing green as Jose says, luckily for mine, for now once I dry them out and configure them they start working again but I dont know how long the machines will take this water damage for and I'm loosing a lot of data, if this happens in our main field season in September it will ruin the data. Please can you tell me when these water proof cases will be ready? I will be purchasing 55 units in the next May groupgets and will be using them for a big project out in the tropics but I cant really do it in these bags. Thanks Jenna
Does the RED led light at any time. If you don't set the time after replacing the batteries and try to put it into CUSTOM mode it should flash both LED together to warn you of an error. Does this happen?
Thanks for your quick answer. Yes, the first thing I did was try another card, but the operation is the same. Right now the device is already dry, since it has been inside for several days.
Regarding Alex's comment, yes, when I do the programming, the clock counts the seconds correctly, and the whole process is apparently done correctly
I thought about removing the battery compartment to make a visual inspection of the components
As I said in the previous post, if you have any suggestions regarding verifications to be made on the PCB, I would appreciate it
Best regards,
Also check that the time is changing correctly in the configuration app. After you set the time, does the it count seconds correctly? Putting it in a bag of rice for a while might help dry it out.
Hi Jose,
Sorry to hear of the damage. It looks to me like the SD card or SD circuit is not functioning. The long flash could be an SD card error. First - You could check for moisture in the SD card connector and if its all dry, try reformatting that SD card or using an alternate SD card. Let us know how it goes?
Thanks,
Andy