My Purple Air Classic sensor went offline. The fans aren’t spinning but the red light is on. I suspect damage from pressure washing (Painters cleaned the house the day it went offline).
I’ve tried several Micro-USB cables and am unable to get a ‘usb-serial’ connection to appear on Purple Air Utility on my M4 MacBook Pro. Therefore I can’t connect to the unit. It apparently isn’t connecting to my WiFi and I don’t see its generic WiFi hotspot.
If this unit is toast, what parts of it can be salvaged, if any.
Thanks,
Arlo
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I bet you the unit is toast. You’ll have to buy a new one. The next time the house is scheduled for a oressure wash, get the unit to a temporary safe spot the day of the pressure wash, till the danger is passed.
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Thanks, I had a reply from support and they had a couple alternatives to complete replacement. Since the board powers up, other points to try are sensor or cable replacement. I don’t suspect the cable but will try replacing the sensors as they’re only $45 and a little DIY.
Arlo
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Update: I’ve ordered replacement laser counters for my unit ($45 → $58 to the door) and replaced them.
Unfortunately,
(1) only one of the two laser sensors fans run (I assume they both should).
(2) It still doesn’t show up on WiFi
(3) When I use the Purple Air utility app on my M4 MacBook Pro, the unit still doesn’t create a serial connection port to connect to (only the two defaults appear in that menu).
In hindsight, perhaps I shouldn’t have expected new sensors alone to correct (2) or (3) above!
The questions now become
(a) Can I return the sensors as credit towards a replacement?
(b) Or can I just order a replacement circuit board (mine has a temp sensor but no microSD card)?
(c) If No to (a) & (b), are replacement units being sold that use the sensors I just ordered (PA-II / PA-II-SD)?
Thanks for any insights,
Arlo
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Hi Arlo,
Sorry that this happened. I wonder if the mainboard was damaged. We support the right to repair, so if you’d like to experiment with replacing individual components, we will sell them to you.
If you decide you’d like to replace the sensor entirely, we have some options––email us at contact@purpleair.com and reference this thread (Sensor Offline, Dead for good?).
Lastly, yes, we still sell sensors that use the laser counters you just purchased (PMS-5003). The Classic Plus and Classic Plus (SD variant) both use these laser counters.
Happy to help troubleshoot what the issue might be––perhaps we can jump on a brief call? Again, you can email us or privately message the moderators.
Thanks Andrew. Here’s the update for future customers that find themselves in this predicament.
I was given the option of replacing the entire unit with a remanufactured one at $30 off ($170) OR just replacing the control board ($35) and the temp sensor ($10). I went with the latter. In fact, the $45 was $63 to my door, but having replaced every single part of the original unit except the short mini to micro USB cable (which works fine!), I’m only out $45 + $45 in parts (which came to about $121 to the door).
Now I’ve reassembled it and find it wakes up both laser sensors (fans spinning) and connects to the PurpleAir Utility app with a new MAC address (supplied on a new sticker with the mother board, now affixed over the old one on the PVC housing.
HOWEVER, the new MAC address is not associated with my eMail address in the Purple Air servers, so I can’t register the device on their site. I’m now waiting for help to resolve that.
This is a process that’s taken several weeks, but I thought I’d document it here. I’m looking forward finishing it up and mounting it again.
Arlo
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