Solenoid Alert

[UW Stig]

And... still fails. Maybe I was hearing things. I put the unit back together did a couple of calibrations, and it still gives the solenoid error. Swapped batteries, repeated, no joy. Verified again that the solenoid works putting DC against it. Verified that no voltage was coming down the wires to the solenoid. Felt for breaks in the wire (none).

I still don't know how the unit knows the solenoid doesn't work. As it's a digital signal that goes down through the divecan, something needs to send back that it didn't work. I guess that's the SOLO board in the battery box. But, that same box also must measure DC voltage of the Ext Battery, which does show up in the NERD (via digital divecan connection) so it must be alive and talking. Obviously it was because the firmware took and shows up in the BUS devices. I tried putting a resistor against the battery box thinking that maybe it needed a resistance before it would send a voltage, but that didn't work either.

Richard's recommendation was to find someone else with a Divecan controller to eliminate if it was the Nerd or the Revo battery box, but I don't know anyone with a unit in the Raleigh NC area- and my dive partner at the coast has an analog controller.

 

[rsingler]

I still don't know how the unit knows the solenoid doesn't work.

I'm not sure that's what it's telling you. Some logic circuitry is saying that there's a fault in the solenoid activation circuit. Yet your solenoid works. It's beginning to look like a SOLO board fault. Which is being recognized by the controller.

 

[broncobowsher]

You are on the wrong coast from me. The nice part is you don't need a DIVCAN NERD, a DIVCAN Petrel could be plugged in to test it. I'm sure there is someone on the East coast that has one.

How about the wires where they connect to the solenoid. Pinched, corroded, fatigued, etc.?

If you do have to send the SOLO board in, send it with your solenoid as well. That way the whole electronics package can be checked together.

 

[lermontov]

The rEvo-lution (rEvo rebreathers)

try here -
i think there is a east coast revo forum

 

[UW Stig]

I'm not sure that's what it's telling you. Some logic circuitry is saying that there's a fault in the solenoid activation circuit. Yet your solenoid works. It's beginning to look like a SOLO board fault. Which is being recognized by the controller.

Yes, I think it the solo board, which is of course in the Revo battery box- and yet Shearwater has the firmware for it, so I guess it's a Shearwater part (the solo board).

I've asked Shearwater if there are diagnostics available for the board. The initial response I got from them is "solenoid error means it detects too high or too low a voltage". I don't fully buy that because the latest firmware that I flashed said it corrected incorrect solenoid errors, so there must be other reasons for the faults.

I'm frustrated in that I don't get any voltage from the solo board, I think I would see 6+V when it fires, but I get nothing. I'm wondering if it needs a certain impedance to actually send the voltage. My next step is to try to see if it can fire my Revo2 solenoid, I'm hoping just my solenoid is bad (at least meaning it draws too much current).

 

[UW Stig]

You are on the wrong coast from me. The nice part is you don't need a DIVCAN NERD, a DIVCAN Petrel could be plugged in to test it. I'm sure there is someone on the East coast that has one.

How about the wires where they connect to the solenoid. Pinched, corroded, fatigued, etc.?

If you do have to send the SOLO board in, send it with your solenoid as well. That way the whole electronics package can be checked together.

No, the wires looks brand new in both the battery box and where it connects to the solenoid. It uses the upgraded gold/water resistant connectors (instead of the old spade connectors).

Good call on sending the whole shebang in, because I am suspicious of the solenoid. My battery that I pulled out was drastically low (3.5v), so I wonder if the solenoid was drawing too much power?

 

[KenGordon]

I had a new Solo board (necessary) and solenoid (as a precaution) when I had my 5 year old JJ serviced last year. It was not terribly expensive.

Say your error goes away, do you trust the unit to carry on using it?

 

[UW Stig]

I had a new Solo board (necessary) and solenoid (as a precaution) when I had my 5 year old JJ serviced last year. It was not terribly expensive.

Say your error goes away, do you trust the unit to carry on using it?

Interesting question- if it just 'goes away' do I trust it? No. But, I can always fly it manually if something were to happen- part of the training.

 

[broncobowsher]

The 9V battery was down to only 3.5V when you removed it? Do you have RMS? I recall that can eat through the 9V battery.

Speaking of 9V battery, have you tried a different one? Different brand, bought from a different store, with a fresh date on it? It would really suck to take it apart and send it in just to find you got a bad batch of batteries.

 

[UW Stig]

Some more debugging, absolving the solenoid. I hooked up my Revo 2 wires to the Revo 3 solenoid and it would fire with the Predator (Revo 2)- and wouldn't with the Nerd on the Revo 3 when I reverted.

I looked again for voltage on the Revo 3 solenoid wires and only got trace voltages (20-50mv) when it tried to fire. I'm pretty sure the problem is the battery box on the Revo 3, but I'll send both to Richard to debug since I couldn't find a divecan in the area to isolate the controller or the battery box.

I'll update when I get it back.