Tips and troubleshooting

Start with these basic procedures if a system is not operating properly.

1. Ensure your system is well grounded. See Grounds. The symptoms of a poorly grounded system range from bad measurements, to intermittent communications, to damaged hardware.

2. Using a voltmeter, check the voltage of the primary power source at the CHG and BAT terminals on the face of the data logger, it should be 10 to 16 VDC. If connecting to a power source via the CHG terminals, voltage measured should be 16 to 32 VDC.

3. Check wires and cables for the following:

   • Incorrect wiring connections. Make sure each sensor and device are wired to the terminals assigned in the program. If the program was written in Short Cut A CRBasic programming wizard suitable for many data logger applications. Knowledge of CRBasic is not required to use Short Cut., check wiring against the generated wiring diagram. If written in CRBasic Editor The CRBasic programming editor; stand-alone software and also included with LoggerNet, PC400, and RTDAQ software., check wiring against each measurement and control instruction.

   • Loose connection points

   • Faulty connectors

   • Cut wires

   • Damaged insulation, which allows water to migrate into the cable. Water, whether or not it comes in contact with wire, can cause system failure. Water may increase the dielectric constant of the cable sufficiently to impede sensor signals, or it may migrate into the sensor, which will damage sensor electronics.

4. Check the CRBasic Campbell Scientific's BASIC-like programming language that supports analog and digital measurements, data processing and analysis routines, hardware control, and many communications protocols. program. If the program was written solely with Short Cut A CRBasic programming wizard suitable for many data logger applications. Knowledge of CRBasic is not required to use Short Cut., the program is probably not the source of the problem. If the program was written or edited with CRBasic Editor The CRBasic programming editor; stand-alone software and also included with LoggerNet, PC400, and RTDAQ software., logic and syntax errors could easily have crept in. To troubleshoot, create a simpler version of the program, or break it up into multiple smaller units to test individually. For example, if a sensor signal-to-data conversion is faulty, create a program that only measures that sensor and stores the data, absent from all other inputs and data.

5. Reset the data logger. Sometimes the easiest way to resolve a problem is by resetting the data logger (see Resetting the data logger for more information).

For additional troubleshooting options, see:

Also, consider checking, or posting your question to, the Campbell Scientific user forum https://www.campbellsci.com/forum . Our web site www.campbellsci.com has additional manuals (with example programs), FAQs, specifications and compatibility information for all of our products.

Video tutorials www.campbellsci.com/videos and blog articles www.campbellsci.com/blog are also useful troubleshooting resources.