Hi all
I’m using the 19007 board with RAK4631 and running Meshtastic 2.5.11 on it. I’ve also used the same board with a RAK13100 for a while before I switched to RAK4631.
Anyway. The board has been mounted for a few months in a wood birdhouse, for clandestine installation in nearby forest and that has been working just fine with a 5V 5W solar panel on the house roof. A few days ago I took the house down and in the process dropped the house roughly a meter to the grass below. Nothing looks broken and the node remains operational but it no longer charges from the solar panel. I’ve tested with two different panels and there isn’t even a faint red LED glow when I shine a flashlight to the panel.
Everything seems to correlate with the drop but I’ve changed cabled and all. Is there a known sensitivity to the solar charging circuit or something?
Welcome to the forum @TheHoff
There is no known vulnerability of the charging circuit.
Did you check the solder points of the solar panel connector on the board?
I’m no electrical engineer but the solder points looks ok. I even tapped some more solder on them. If I put a voltmeter to them I get a few volts when the panel is active.
Did you check the panel disconnected from the base board.
In sun light you should get close to 5V on the open circuit.
If the panel works, then you have unfortunately broken something on your Base Board.