The reason we did not put the 4.2 upgrade into the shop is that we work on a 5.0 PCB that would be a major upgrade with the ESP-32-C3 chip and some other new features. We just started testing that new board and if things go well it should be available in a few weeks.
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Hi Achim!
Do you have any updates on when DIY Pro on 5.0 PCB / ESP-32-C3 would be available for order?
If all goes well in probably 4-6 weeks.
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Oh, and I recently assembled v4.2.
It works, by the way, well, I’m happy, thanks for the designed it!
I found out that the air in my bedroom needs to be ventilated more often.
I was about to buy a couple additional AirGradient indoor kits.
(I have some previous Indoor Pro 4.2 kits that I bought, and need to solder…)
However, I see above there is some new Indoor Pro 5.0 coming out? That seems pretty exciting 
.
Questions:
- Is there any information on what the new improvements in 5.0 will be please?
- what is the latest ETA? I assume if I am about to order a few Indoor Pros right now, I should wait a bit of time before ordering, to get the new version?
- Is there any way to upgrade the exisiting Indoor Pro 4.2 units to 5.0 easily?
- I noticed on the shop that there is no longer an unsoldered kit available to order. Is that an intentional decision? Or is it just related to the new 5.0 PCBs arriving?
Thanks,
Victor
Victor, thank you for raising all these important questions. I started to write on a newsletter that would cover most of them but here are already the details:
- Version 5 Improvements will be:
- Switch to ESP32-C3 module directly on the PCB (same as the outdoor PCB)
- Components now SMD assembled
- Includes 11 RGB LEDs that can shine through the enclosure (or kept switched off)
- Improved PCB airgap to temperature sensor
- External hardware watchdog for long uptime
- JST plug for breakout pins
Here a two pictures of the new board:
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ETA is unclear. We are just producing the first batch and I expect them next week but we will not immediately put them for sale as we want to first test them throuroughly and also send for CE, ROHS and REACH certifications. If all goes well probably early October.
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Yes, all sensor modules are compatible with the new board and we will put the board up for purchase on our shop with a special discount for people who bought the previous versions
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We took the unsoldered kit out of the shop for the moment because we had a number of people that overestimated their soldering skills and could not solder it properly. Then the monitor did not work and the people got frustrated. I feel pretty bad if people spend quite some money on the kit and then it does not work. I would love to bring it back. Maybe with a large disclaimer about the soldering skills needed?
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Thanks @Achim_AirGradient for the quick response!
- Wow - those boards look very pretty =). Can’t wait to see them! The extra LEDs sound neat - is that for some kind of traffic light system on AQ, or some other kind of functionality?
- October isn’t too far away - I can wait till then hopefully, haha. (I’m also happy to put in an order now, if that helps with predicting demand ? Would I be able to put a note to hold off shipping, till 5.0?)
- Just to confirm - you mentioned above that all components are SMD soldered? How would we upgrade existing 4.2 units to 5.0 - do we just swap the entire PCB in, with all the components on it? Or are there still parts that are modular, or soldered on?
Also - the new LEDs on version 5.0 - I assume the old 4.2 plastic enclosures won’t have cutouts or light-pipes for that, will they? Should we also buy new 5.0 plastic enclosures?
(I do appreciate you looking after your existing/previous customers!) - Yes, that makes sense. You mentioned components are now SMD soldered - what parts would still need to be through-hole soldered for DIY?
- Yes it is a traffic light indicator. Can be used for any air parameter. In our old commercial product we use it for PM and CO2 (can be changed on the server) but I am curious what kind of application the community comes up with.
- Yes we might start some kind of pre-order. I want to wait until next week when I get the first boards in hand.
- Yes just swap the entire PCB in, then move the sensor modules to the new board. So you then only have “left” the old PCB and 4.2. board.
Most of the enclosures we shipped do have thinned areas for the LEDs already but some do not. So this needs to be checked and we might offer one upgrade kit with enclosure and one without. - I think only the pin holders and some connectors are TH.
I would love to see an upgrade kit of some sort, or even just the ability to piece it together from accessories and spares in your online shop. I’ve got a trio of v3.3 boards that are ready to be upgraded when v5 drops.
Yes we will 100% offer an upgrade kit.
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I would love to be able to purchase the unsoldered kit, as the soldering process itself is a great pleasure for me. I would agree that the big disclaimer would be nice to ensure folks buying it do not underestimate the complexity. The kit contains small connectors which I can solder fine nowadays, but would straggle to do when I only started to solder.
Another idea is to put a link to a soldering how-to-video for beginners, something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qps9woUGkvI (the first link with above million views from search).
I want to second it - upgrade kit of the PCB 5.1 + enclosure would be great to have.
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I’m slightly sad to see the move to ESP directly on the board that isn’t removable. That was one of the things I really liked about the original one, was it was something completely modular and with through hole design, it was possible to solder it yourself.
Now there are a lot more components and so many SMD, that aspect is mostly gone. You can still plug in different sensors, but just has a different feel to it.
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Yes I agree that some people enjoy the modularity and soldering of the old kit. However others would like to have a very well manufactured and stable running board and SMD just offers a higher quality and reliability. Our aim is to become fully open hardware so we also need a very high quality board for our fully assembled and certified monitor.
Probably best could be to keep the older kit available as kit that needs to be soldered (with a big disclaimer) and have the newer versions for the ones that need more convenience.
Achim,
What practical advantages a user would get from PCB v5.0 compared to PCB v4.2 (assuming it was soldered as appropriate ) ?
Nice work on providing an AQ device!
Curious if the v5.x board might integrate a later version of the plantower? Like the PMS7003 or PMSA003 which instead of a cable has header pins?
We tested both of these sensors quite extensively and the pms5003 is superior in our accuracy tests and life time.
Ah, how odd. Wonder what they changed!? As the 5,7 & A is the generational number from my understanding.
Sucks though as the header pins would make it much nicer.
Apparently the larger PMS5003 can create a more even air flow that leads to better measurements.
It’s probably too late if not already done, but wondering if it is possible to change config settings without having to open the enclosure? (Basically being able to press the buttons without opening)