Author Topic: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure  (Read 3174 times)

Ikarus

Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« on: August 03, 2017, 12:47:55 am »
Hi all. Having been a proud and delighted user of PAW for over a year now, the unit recently stopped working. It wasn't broadcasting a wifi hotspot although the red and green lights seemed to be doing their thing. I updated the software manually, but still no go. I then removed the components from the usb ports, and discovered that the WiFi dongle was red hot to the touch. On closer inspection, the black plastic on the dongle showed signs of heat deformation/melting at the point of contact with the metal usb shroud. I've tried to attach a couple of photos. I guessed that this was the cause of my problem and ordered a new WiFi dongle of the type recommended by Pilotaware. This arrived today and the unit now works perfectly again. Has anyone experienced this phenomenon before and are there any causes known? I don't particularly want to have to repeatedly change the WiFi dongle if this is a design feature.

Mig29fuk

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Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2017, 07:25:37 am »
Is the WiFi Dongle positioned above ADS-B dongle in USB matrix? The ADS-B Dongle gets quite hot and may have influenced the damage externally and internally?
I have used a USB Male to USB Female short cable to move ADS-B Dongle away from RPi Unit.
Regards
Gerry
G-MYUP
White Ox Mead Airstrip
Bath. England

Ikarus

Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2017, 07:11:55 pm »
The Wifi dongle is in the bottom right usb port as you look at the rear of the unit, underneath the GPS dongle. I will use a short extension lead as you suggest and see if that helps. Any ideas why it would get that hot though?

JCurtis

Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2017, 07:20:37 pm »
Faulty dongle probably, those Chinese type of things are pot luck.
There is a reason why something costs ~£3 from china including shipping...

Surprised you didn't get other issues too, as when you effectively plug a small heater in the power draw can be quite large and cause issues elsewhere.
Designer and maker of charge4.harkwood.co.uk, smart universal USB chargers designed for aviation.  USB Type-A and USB-C power without the RF interference. Approved for EASA installs under CS-STAN too.

Ikarus

Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2017, 07:23:59 pm »
I take your point...I replaced it with a RPi recommended version costing a whole £6! Not used to paying for something aviation related that hasn't got a load of noughts at the end!!

cyclone1

Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2017, 06:43:16 pm »
I too have ordered two short usb extensions one for the wifi and the other for the gps dongle, slightly diffent lengths. I noticed when I did the update the other day when removing the gps dongle how hot it was at the metal part of the usb which of course is right above the wifi dongle. I have already extensions for the two aerials so I can have the unit as a stand alone within the plane. Helpful little bits of advice from the forum inputs.

exfirepro

Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2017, 11:47:44 pm »
It is a known issue that SDR dongles generate a fair amount of heat, which can be absorbed via the metal body of the USB ports on the Raspberry Pi and redistributed to dongles in adjacent ports.

Under normal circumstances, this isn't a problem, but can be if the unit is subjected to significant additional heating, for example by being exposed to strong sunlight for a long period on the coaming in a bubble canopy (though not much of a problem with our recent weather  :-\ ).

Moving the GPS Dongle onto a short USB lead can also help reduce potential mutual screening between it and the WiFi Dongle and can also help improve the mounting position of the GPS.

Regards

Peter

rodent0_2

Re: Over heated WiFi Dongle causes PAW failure
« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2017, 09:10:02 pm »
I had one do that about six months ago, took a new pi with it....
Nick

Aircreation Tanarg G-CHFT