Replacement & Repair

Our sensor systems are developed for very harsh environments. Although our products are very robust, they are still systems with complex hardware and firmware that can occasionally break.  To be exact, less than 3% of units in the field fail and need replacement - but it does happen!

Troubleshooting

Before assuming the unit is completely damaged and needs repair, be sure to check out the typical troubleshooting questions and steps on our troubleshooting article.  Because the sensor is an electronic system, like many, a simple power cycle can often "fix" any buggy operational characteristics it exhibits.  This is accomplished by performing a hard reset of the device. Instructions on how to do this are below. Another common fix is to update the firmware, instructions are available here.

What We Can & Cannot Repair/Replace

We will replace failed units that are bought within the last 90 days or one year if it is a battery failure.  We experience five common failure modes in order of frequency (although cumulative these failures still make up less than 3%):

• Dead battery - The batteries are lithium-ion batteries that can degrade over time.  With age and use these batteries may lose a significant amount of their original capacity.  More information on batteries is available in our battery specifications article.
• Damaged USB receptacle - The USB receptacle can become damaged if it has been overstrained.  We've seen this occur occasionally when used in environments with heavy vibration and shock while the device was plugged into USB.  We recognize why the USB port was used (to extend battery life and/or communicate digitally to the device), but special care needs to be made to provide strain relief to the USB cable.
• Broken/damaged main accelerometer - The main accelerometer can occasionally fail and need to be replaced.  This will be evidenced by a very large DC offset in the data meaning that one of the channels is shorted out or broken.
• Disconnected or damaged SD card - The SD card used for storage in the enDAQ sensor is in an SD card holder and can be replaced.  Occasionally the SD card will come dislodged from the holder and/or damaged but can be replaced.
• Broken/damaged outer control pad - The control pad on the top of the enDAQ houses some sensors that can become damaged if impacted directly. Depending on the failure of these sensors, it causes other problems in the device if/when there is an electric short.

Of the five common failure modes on that list, only the last two (SD cards and control pads) can be repaired or swapped out.  Everything else needs a full unit replacement due to the mechanical potting we use. In the image below of a split-view of an enDAQ sensor, you can see that the accelerometers, battery, and USB receptacle are all on the bottom of the PCB.  That volume is mostly filled with a potting compound to rigidly couple/fix the accelerometers to the enclosure bottom.  This potting, when cured, resembles a hard plastic like Delrin or polycarbonate.  The board cannot be removed from it without significantly damaging the board.

The Replacement/Repair Process

To initiate a replacement or repair of a device under warranty, please contact our Customer Success Team with the following information:

• Serial Number of the Device
• Original order number 

Our Customer Success Team will then create a return merchandise authorization (RMA) number for you. After we receive your unit, we will troubleshoot and verify if the unit needs a replacement or repair (if possible). If the unit is still under warranty, perform the necessary fix/production and ship back a working unit. If the unit is not under warranty but a repair is possible, we will send a quote for the cost of repair.