Hi Guys,
I have a Pico w with a DS3231 installed piggyback.
I can set the Pico time from from the DS3231 no problem
I can set the DS3231 from the Pico no problem
The strange thing is when I power off the device from the USB and start it back up again it’s like time stands still on the DS3231 while the power is off.
That is to say if I power off for 30 seconds and then power back on again the time on the DS3231 will be exactly 30 seconds slow. Of course the Pico time is 2021 and my plan is to resync the clocks again when the Pico starts back up but the time I read back is pretty much useless.
Any ideas why the time stops ticking when I power off?
Time passes and more testing happens….
You won’t believe it. The battery on the DS3231 was at only 0.4v
Odd that the time stands still when the device is not externally powered and doesn’t default to some starting value, but maybe 0.4v is enough to store the time but not make it tick.
It’s a 3v battery and the device has had hardly any use but as it was shipped with the battery installed (from memory) so I guess it may have been on the shelf for a while.
No problem i thought.
I bought a new battery, popped the old one out and tried to install the new one and it won’t lock in. Double checked I have the right one which I do and tried the old one back in again and neither will click in.
So I’m stuck, but I thought this information would be interesting to others implementing this RTC.
I bought the DS3231 from Core but probably more than a year ago now.
