Killed by static electricity

[Blicj11]

Last night I reached over to touch my Vantage Pro2 Plus console and a discharge of static electricity resulted in the console going dead. I waited and when nothing happened after 15 minutes, I unplugged it and reattached to the mains. Nothing. Then I remembered I had batteries. So I unplugged it again and removed the batteries. Reattached to power. Nothing. Called Davis Tech Support. He had me go through power cycling once more and declared it dead. He said it was most likely the microprocessor. He told me it was common in mountainous areas in arid climates.

So I am sending it in to them for repair. Will likely take a month. It's only about a year old so they are going to cover it under warranty.

Later last night, I pulled out my old original Vantage Pro2 console they refurbished for me last year. I had never even unpacked it after they shipped it back. I attached the data logger and plugged in the console. It came to life, I entered the setup settings and restarted WeatherCat. WeatherCat asked me for the IP address of the logger, uploaded the historical data and I was back in action. Pretty slick.

I was worried that the data logger might have also been zapped, but it is working fine.

Moral: Don't touch your console.

[JosBaz]

"Moral: Don't touch your console."

... or don't pet your cat when heading towards the console. 
http://www.bjbangs.net/2014/03/02/static-electricity-cats-fur-can-easily-become-charged/

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Blic.

[elagache]

Dear Blick, JosBaz, and WeatherCat station caregivers,

Last night I reached over to touch my Vantage Pro2 Plus console and a discharge of static electricity resulted in the console going dead.

Wow!  That must have been quite a large discharge to kill your console.  Do you have heavy carpeting in the house?  It isn't that easy to accumulate that much static electricity.  Nikola Tesla must be haunting you or something!

Seriously, sorry for all the troubles you've been having with your station.  Operating a weather station is supposed to be fun!

Edouard

[Bull Winkus]

Ouch! … Way to plan ahead, Blick. You've got it covered.

That dry mountain air is the culprit. It makes everything that isn't grounded a capacitor full of electrons. You could foil the sparky little buggers. I mean that literally. Attach a grounded wire to some foil next to the console and touch it before fondling your electrically sensitive bits. Or, and a bit more costly, place a grounding mat on the floor in the area.

Floor Mats

Bench mat

If the console were designed with the proper engineering controls in mind, it would have never happened. A grounded case molded of a conductive material, which still could be in plastic, is all it would take.

 

[Blicj11]

Jos, Edouard and Herb:

... or don't pet your cat when heading towards the console. 

Thanks for the link. Interesting read.

Do you have heavy carpeting in the house?  It isn't that easy to accumulate that much static electricity.  Nikola Tesla must be haunting you or something!

I placed my console in the bedroom because I have access to a wired Ethernet port in there and I'm using the IP data logger. And yes, the floor is carpeted.

That dry mountain air is the culprit.
[snip]
If the console were designed with the proper engineering controls in mind, it would have never happened. A grounded case molded of a conductive material, which still could be in plastic, is all it would take.

Yes, I agree. The Davis technician told me this is common in mountainous areas. And yes, they should design the console for this type of thing. I have other electronics in the house that also get zapped with static discharge and they all just recover after a few seconds of the screen blanking out.

[LesCimes]

This info is disconcerting! I haven't had a problem, probably been lucky. Appreciate knowing now to be more careful about static electricity. Obviously, this is also a concern with the computer. Might be time for me to pull out the old static strap for the wrist. Use to use those all the time but have gotten lax about it.

[xairbusdriver]

Many, many years ago, I found/bought an 'anti-static' pad. I think it was made by 3M. I've cut it up so often, making it fit different table top configurations, that I've lost any brand markings! But it is much more convenient than an arm band; I can hardly touch the keyboard or anything on the iMac without touching the pad first. Apparently, some one has some less than sterile wrists, however; the closest edge of the pad is showing some cleaning needs...

• <Amazon>
• <Newegg>
• <Even at Staples!>
• <This should cover anyones set up!>