I received the beautiful emonpi a few days ago, and finally got an opportunity to start the set up. The LCD lit up briefly, and then nothing. Since I have been playing with a Raspberry Pi for a while, I removed -- very carefully -- the emonpi from its case and connected it with with my RPI's micro usb power supply. Everything worked fine! In fact, I was able to use the ethernet connection and set up an emoncms account. Obviously I don't plan to run a naked emonpi for data logging, so the question is, why was the power not getting through with the emonpi as delivered?
1. Is it the micro connector on the emonpi?
2. Is it the USB cable?
3. Is it the power supply?
Should I simply send it back, or are there some reasonable steps I can take before I resort to that?
EMONPI power connection
Submitted by warnerdan42 on Sat, 04/07/2015 - 01:53»
Re: EMONPI power connection
Hi Dan,
Very sorry, It sounds like you might have received a faulty unit. We will send you a replacement on Monday. Please could you send the emonPi PCB back to us for debugging.
Re: EMONPI power connection
Thanks. Will do.
Re: EMONPI power connection
Actually, if you haven't sent back the emonPi yet. Could you do a quick debug? It might be an easy issue to fix.
Now the emonPi has been removed from the Raspberry Pi does the red LED on the emonPiu light up then turn off in a few seconds when power is applied via the mini-USB connector, without being connected to the Pi. If so the emonPi is working fine. The issue could be the OOK module PCB footprint pads shorting out on top of the on Pi's USB sockets. There should be a layer of tape present on top of the Pi's USB sockets to insulate against this. This issue will be fixed on the PCB rev
Re: EMONPI power connection
Glyn,
Good news, I managed to resolve the problem. It was the cable. I'll send it to you, if you want to wave it under your supplier's nose, but otherwise I'm perfectly happy with everything as it is right now.
I did check out the USB sockets, and I didn't see any tape. On the other hand I am not exactly sure what I was looking for. It appeared to me that there was good clearance between the USB sockets and the PCB sitting directly above them in the emonPi.
Thanks for your quick responses.
Re: EMONPI power connection
Great news! Don't worry about sending it back, I've already had words with supplier.
If it's working there is no need to worry about the tape.