Hi, my channel B went bad a while ago, and I finally got around to replacing the sensors with new ones. It’s all working fine, I see similar data between both A and B sensors. However, on the map it still shows “Laser counter channel B is downgraded. This is usually due to abnormal readings caused by faulty hardware or contamination with debris or insect.”
How do I get the map to know I’ve swapped out sensors and that they’re now both good? I’d like the confidence to move up from the 80% it is currently.
The sensor was still downgraded because it was manually downgraded by a PurpleAir staff member. When a laser counter is manually downgraded, it must be manually un-downgraded.
I agree that the sensor looks great and I’ve gone ahead and removed the downgrade. Everything on the map should be looking good.
My B sensor has suddenly dropped to 0% after being at 100% for a month or two after a cleaning of both lasers. I checked the fans, and they’re both working fine. Is it possible that you guys downgraded it from your end? It seems unlikely because I’ve had it set on Private for a week or so. Thanks.
I’ve found your sensor. We haven’t manually downgraded a channel, but it does appear that the system has automatically downgraded channel B in your device. Now, channel B has been experiencing some erratic behavior, so I think the downgrade is justified. However, downgrades do not affect the readings from channels, they only affect which readings appear in the sensor’s map marker.
You mentioned that you tried sensor maintenance and confirmed that both fans are working. Have you opened up the laser counters as you mentioned in a different community post?
Also I’ve just confirmed that your sensor is under warranty. Please reach out to contact@purpleair.com for replacement options.
Hi Kieran,
I just took it apart and cleaned it. There was a little dust on the receiver. It looks like it’s tracking the A channel OK now. This is the 3rd time I’ve done this to this sensor, and once to the A channel sensor. I’ve noticed there are 3 other monitors in my area with a downgraded B channel. Is this a coincidence, or is there some reason why it always seems to be the B channel that has problems? Thank you.
Hi Kieran,
The B sensor is doing better after I took it apart and cleaned it again, but it still seems to be misbehaving, and the match % is hovering between about 45 and 55%. I’ve got some tools coming in a few days, that will make it easier to take them apart for cleaning. I could try cleaning it again, but I wonder if it has a problem other than being dirty. After the previous times I cleaned it, the match progressively went back up to 100%.
You said my warranty is still good, but if it’s for one year, I think it ends in only another month or so. If you think there’s something wrong with the monitor and not just the sensor, I’d prefer a new monitor, before the warranty expires. If you think there’s something wrong with just the sensor other than being dirty, maybe you could just send me a new sensor. Or, I can try taking it apart and cleaning it again. What do you think? Thank you.
I have a similar issue. I recently ordered and received a pair of PA-2 PMS5003 from Purpleair and have installed them. They are tracking nicely from A to B and also with other nearby installations. But my map display still says my channel B is degraded. My station is
Sensor: 253 Military E
Regression for the past few days shows R2 > 0.99
Had it been manually degraded?
Dear technical support. I have issues with our Purpeair sensor, that channel A was downgraded. We have found bugs and spider webs inside cleaned it several times in summer, but seems in the map, it showed still that channel A is downgraded. We brought device into indoors and removed the casing and found again spider and web inside. I have cleaned it and sensor went online today, but map shows, that it is still downgraded. How we can reset this that it is not downgraded anymore? Now its colder temperatures here and should not be anymore bug problem and we know how to clean it on site now:) Thanks for advance
Hi @MihkelPin It looks like your sensor currently has no downgrades applied, so I assume you must have contacted our support team at some point. Everything looks great right now! If you have any other issues, please let me know.
For others reading this thread, if your sensor has a downgraded channel and you don’t think, or are unsure, if it should be, please reach out to our support team at contact@purpleair.com. We’ll look into it and remove any downgrades if necessary.
Not sure if i should reply here or create my own thread, but i too must have been manually downgraded. I replaced both sensors, but it still shows donwgraded after it being fixed since yesterday. How can i get this fixed?
I must observe that if you are going to “manually downgrade” a sensor, it might be nice to notify the owner. I went to a lot of trouble in recent days to replace both sensors in my PA-II. And it kept saying that sensor B is still broken. So I spent the money to buy a third sensor, and replaced sensor B for a third time. Still it kept saying that sensor B is broken. Meanwhile I was up and down a ladder probably six times in this process, with the attendant risks of any ladder activity.
Now I suspect what was really going on is that you had manually downgraded my sensor B, and that my third and fourth and fifth and sixth ladder trips were not really needed. And the money I spent on a third sensor was wasted.
I had carefully studied all of the documentation that came with my monitor. I think there was nothing in the documention about manual downgrading and about the need for the owner to contact you to ask for manual un-downgrading.
I also carefully watched your video about replacing sensors in the PA-II and I did not see anywhere in the video where it was mentioned that I needed to contact you to ask for manual un-downgrading.
The way I got to the video was by reading your pages about replacing sensors, and nowhere in those pages did I see a mention of the need to contact you to ask for manual un-downgrading.
But just now, completely by chance, I stumbled upon this community and this forum in which you reveal this process of manual downgrading and the need for the owner to explicitly request manual un-downgrading.
The sensor is called “ruby-ranch” and I can send you the MAC address if you need it. I hope you can un-downgrade my sensor B.
And I suggest that in future it would be very helpful if, when downgrading a sensor, you might let the owner know. I believe my email has been in your system for many years now as the owner of this monitor.
