outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

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kjm
Posts: 6
Joined: 10 Aug 2017, 22:37

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by kjm »

Zlatolist wrote:
kjm wrote:Hi.
By my it was a capacitor that have 1.7KOhms I replaced it and since that the current is in µA range
You are really an expert, capacitor and kohm.... :lol:
and you are really idiot man
if you had only the slightest idea of the problem a bad capacitor most time the capacitor became a parasite resistor.
Do not talk about things you do not master
stolsel
Posts: 3
Joined: 01 Sep 2017, 21:54

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by stolsel »

Juglansjames wrote:Outdoor module consumption excessive. I report that both my outdoor weather module and Wind module battery consumption is ridiculous.
Based on the comments above I will be contacting Netatmo for replacements as I have complied with all the necessary consumer requiremnts
Did you manage to contact them? I'm having the same issue, like many and would also like to raise a ticket. The website support.netatmo.com only contains the obvious stuff that could be solved with an 'RTFM'...

Thanks!
stolsel
Posts: 3
Joined: 01 Sep 2017, 21:54

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by stolsel »

Left a ticket at Netatmo: simply press the <CONTACT> button in one of the FAQ's.
Lerxst
Posts: 3
Joined: 15 Oct 2017, 12:40

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by Lerxst »

bingeciren wrote: The solar charge system I developed is very simple and it does not physically modify or change the outdoor module in any way. The system consist of:
1) 6cm x 6cm solar cell. Open loop voltage under full sunlight is 4.5V and short circuit current is 30mA. Can be bought for about $5.
2) 1N series diode for preventing discharge during night time when there is no light on the panel. Salvage from old equipment or buy it for pennies cheap.
3) Magnet wire. Thin, shellac coated bobbin wire used in motors. 0.2mm or 0.3mm thick. You don't need much, 60 cm in total is enough.
4) Thin cupper or brass shim to use as battery contacts. Again, just a tiny amount is sufficient. Aluminum won't do because it cannot be soldered.

You can open the attached file and magnify to read my comments. So far, both modules are working wonderfully and the panels provide sufficient power despite being in the shade.

You can also extend the wires of the solar cell and position the cell directly under the sun if you wish while keeping the module in the shade and out of the rain.
Did you have any success with this setup?
I have done a similar thing, but with a solar panel that originally came with some LED lights. I cut both wires and used a multimeter to find out which wire was positive and negative. Then I inserted two rechargable AAA batteries, but decided to solder the wire on the springs on the battery compartment lid.

However, how do one make sure the polarization of the wires are correct?
Does the positive wire connect to the positive or negative end of the battery?
Cyberbob
Posts: 2
Joined: 01 Aug 2016, 18:06

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by Cyberbob »

cicciokio wrote: 27 Sep 2016, 11:59 @Cyberbob:
Could you please confirm if your outdoor module is working properly after your mod?
Thank you!
Cyberbob wrote:As my outdoor sensor is older than 2 years I don't have any warranty anymore. :|
Therefore I opened the case and tried to find out why I had to replace the batteries every 4 days.
As I have a second station with an outdoor sensor which runs normal, I compared the two PCBs and found out, the faulty PCB has a capacitor which is not installed on the good board. See pictures!
I measured the power consumption of both sensors. The bad one uses more than 20mA average, the other one much less than 1mA.
I removed the capacitor from the PCB and measured again. Now the power consumption seems to be normal.
I will let you know later if now everything is ok and what could be the reason for the faulty capacitor.

image1-redu.jpg

image2-redu.jpg
Yes, I can confirm even after five years the sensor is working properly with the removed capacitor. The batteries last for more than one year.
sambol
Posts: 12
Joined: 04 Nov 2019, 21:24

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by sambol »

Does newer versions of the module (do they even exist?) solve the problem? I'm willing to buy a new outdoor module, but I don't want to run into the same problem again...
MarcV
Posts: 880
Joined: 22 Aug 2016, 09:01
Location: Schoten, Belgium

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by MarcV »

I have 3 stations. Only one outside module has the problem...
...but I might be wrong...
truls
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 Apr 2017, 20:32

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by truls »

sambol wrote: 01 Jun 2022, 21:12 Does newer versions of the module (do they even exist?) solve the problem? I'm willing to buy a new outdoor module, but I don't want to run into the same problem again...
I got new ones two years ago, and have not needed to change batteries as far as I remember. They seem to have solved the problem.I bought them straight from Netatmo in Paris.
sambol
Posts: 12
Joined: 04 Nov 2019, 21:24

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by sambol »

I bought mine in July 2019, the first set of batteries lasted more than two years; the problem occurred after the first battery replacement.
Have you changed the batteries or are you still on the original set?
truls
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 Apr 2017, 20:32

Re: outdoor module battery consumption went crazy

Post by truls »

I cannot remember that I have changed the batteries.
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