Fragility of the Vive Base Stations/Lighthouses

[ntsarb]

Hi,

 

While my HTC lighthouse was in operation, it started making noise. I immediately unplugged it from power but, when I picked it up, I heard a (broken or unscrewed) piece floating around, inside the device.

I note that while I've used my HTC Vive very little, the lighthouse has likely worked hard, for several months non-stop at a time, due to unreliable Bluetooth drivers for Windows 10, failing to put it into sleep mode; see error "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)".

Are there other users with the same or similar issue? In this case, how much did it cost you and how long did it take HTC to get it repaired and returned?

 

Thanks and regards

[HackPerception]

, 

We're catching up on threads right now due to the Viveport black friday activities. Did you initiate an RMA for this? If you're in the warranty period, the repair should be free and currently all regions are operating within a 2 week turn around time. The best way to start an RMA is via the LIve chat on https://www.vive.com/us/support/contactus/ 

 

Basestations are mechanical devices so there's quite a few things that can go wrong but overall they're pretty robust considering the extremely tight tolerances that the system needs to maintain in order to operate correctly. While not very common, sometimes the little plastic cover that sits over the laser source can come loose any fly off while the station is spinning - perhaps that's what's happening here? 

[ntsarb]

Hi David (@VibrantNebula), You are spot on.

I'm one of the early supporters of HTC VIVE, an early adopter if you prefer, and my device is not covered by warranty. Also, I'm an engineer in profession and at heart, so, I opened the base station shortly after posting my message about the issue.

Indeed, the little plastic cover that sits over the laser source came loose and flew off while the base station was spinning.

My initial attempt to fix it was to glue the lens back in place, using low-temp hot glue. I noticed, on the other lens, hot glue is used to hold each corner of the lens in place. However, the hot glue that I used wasn't strong enough to keep the plastic lens in place for long; it came off after ~30 minutes of operation.

I guess the manufacturer may have used high-temp hot glue, which creates stronger bonds, is this true?

On second attempt, I used Super Glue and, once it got dry, I added low-temp hot glue. The Base Station works as expected. I haven't tested it long enough, to safely say that the lens will stay in place for long.

I'd like to know if there's a more appropriate adhesive for the lens, as well as if I can buy a replacement plastic lens, in case I damage it.

Nikolaos

PS. In the attached photo, one of the lenses is missing the glue that is meant to keep it in place.

 

[HackPerception]

 - I would certainly avoid using cyanoacrylate glue on that little "cover" as it's made of a type of plastic that's chemically reactive to most CA glue systems which will cause that type of plastic to become cloudy or brittle - that's why a type of hot glue is used as those are far less reactive. It's just a more industrial type of "hot glue". 

 

Some people have had success with adding a layer of completely transparent cellophane (scotch) tape on top of the lens. Just avoid using anything with solvents that will permanently damage that lens.