Predictive Maintenance Sensor V3 - Current/Thermocouple Readings + Delay Intervals

Hardware
1

Hello NCD,

We recently got our first shipment of sensors, and overall very impressed with the quality and ease of use!

I have encountered an issue with the Predictive Maintenance Sensor (V3): https://store.ncd.io/product/industrial-iot-wireless-predictive-maintenance-sensor-2

I am currently connecting the sensors via MQTT Micro Gateway to Ubidots. I also have a Wireless USB modem on hand for testing/configuration.

Summary of issues:

  • I cannot see sensor data on Alpha Station; however, I have read on the forum that this sensor data cannot be read by Alpha Station (just shows signal strength)
  • On Alpha Station, I am able to set the delay to 60 or 120 seconds (default is 600). However, the sensor is only broadcasting every 15 minutes. This true for Ubidots, as well as the Wireless USB Modem. I have tried many times to set it to 60 or 120 seconds via Alpha Station, and when I read the sensor details, it confirms it is set properly, but does not change the actual reporting. My other sensors works without issues on a 60 second delay.
  • I have also tried configuring the Predictive Maintenance Sensor via the MQTT Micro Gateway; It also allows me to configure 60 second readings, and it says configuration was successful. But this not change the actual reporting behaviour, which seems to be stuck at 15 min intervals.

In addition, I have have some issues with the 0-100 Current Meter and Thermocouple provided with the Predictive Maintenance Sensor:

  • The current reading is not making any sense to me; I confirmed with 2 separate clamp meters that I should be measuring about 5 Amps @ 120 V; yet the current being displayed is showing positive and negative values in the millions. I have tried on different wires/load with no luck. What is the output of the current sensor? Should it be in mA?
  • The Thermocouple is also showing me a reading of 0.06 when the actual temperature is about 18 C? The vibration temperature sensor is reading properly, and I confirmed with other thermometers that the reading should be 18 C. The thermocouple is responding to changes in temperature generally, but not sure how to interpret the signal. Do I need to scale/calibrate the output?

I have confirmed that the connector to the current clamp meter/thermocouple is secured properly, and I do not see any damage to the components.

Thank You Kindly in Advance!

2

Hi,

The Predictive Maintenance sensor is a bit of an “odd ball” in the Enterprise line. It is a very robust device which can send a very large amount of data. For this reason we only recommend using it with our IoT Edge Computer.

The IoT Edge Computer can do everything the MQTT Gateway can plus much more. If possible I would highly recommend switching from the MQTT Gateway to the IoT Edge Computer. You can even return the MQTT Gateway for exchange if you received it within the last 60 days.

We have some good videos on the IoT Edge Computer and the new Vibration sensors on our Youtube channel here:

If you have any questions on this please let me know.

Thank you,
Travis Elliott

3

please make sure you set the Delay value to zero.
There is a new parameter called sample interval, use that to change the transmission interval