WS69 Repair.

[TonyG]

I have just successfully repaired my 3 year old Ecowitt WS69 Sensor array. My brother had the same fault about a year ago and mine went a month ago so that's a 100% failure rate on a sample of 2. So I'm guessing this info may come in useful to others running the same kit.
The symptoms are no communication with the GW1000 and the red light underneath the array shows a solid glow. The failed component is a 'Super Capacitor' and is easily identifiable and quite easy to replace. I had to source the capacitor from China via Ebay. I was unable to get the correct value in a size that would fit in the case. I found a 2.5F (instead of the original 2F) of the same dimension and this is working fine.
A £5 repair (I bought x2) instead of an £86 replacement. Result!!

[HansR]

Well done

[TonyG]

Thanks!

[wifi75]

Hi interesting, my external drive has been acting up for a few days, I have a ws69, just like you.
In fact it doesn't connect to the gateway, and by reading this article I assume that I also have the super capacitors.
I have already purchased a couple from Aliexpress and I also found 2F 5.5V.
Tomorrow I'll dismantle everything and check anyway, but I'm sure mine also has the same problem.
thanks for your sharing.

[TonyG]

You're welcome. I hope you were able to sort out your problem.

[Grouper]

Thanks very much TonyG !

My 2 year old WS69 started intermittently losing contact with the console a couple of months ago during one of the storms. It had the symptoms you described where the led is on constantly. I brought it in the house, cleaned the insides and it started working again. I had contacted Ecowitt and they suggested putting wax on the rear of the pcb to repel any moisture that may have got inside. I used an smear of silicone grease, put it back together and it has worked until today !

I had noticed signs of some corrosion by the supercap +ve lead but thought that maybe some moisture had got in. However looking more closely I can see that the corrosion is caused by "capacitor juice" which has escaped and is visible at both ends of the supercap. I have temporarily cut the supercap out, reassembled and it is now working fine on the batteries. I have ordered a new supercap from Ebay, it's 2.5F 5.5V AVX SCMS22F255PRBA0 which matches the dimensions of the original Buntcap and is UK stocked so hopefully will get it quickly.

Thanks again for posting your findings as I'm sure many other WS69 owners will need it too !

Dave

[profzarkov]

Hello Dave
Many thanks for your article.
I've had a weather station for many years and the ecowitt sensors have always been good.
I had the same problem - intermittent connection.
I have also cut out the capacitor and it now works fine.
Luckily I have an old ws69 and have snipped out the capacitor from that but do I really need to replace it? I take it the solar panel & capacitor run the array in daylight and into the night with the batteries being there for back up....can I leave it without the capacitor?
My soldering skills aren't great and I don't want to , what's the technical term - bugger up the circuit board!

I'm yearning for the new WS90 with no moving parts - is it a worthwhile upgrade?
Cheers
Steve