Our dataloggers are designed to work in some pretty extreme conditions and to keep working for a long time unattended.  We put a lot of effort into ensuring this is the case and are proud of our results.

Occasionally the limits of our gear have really been put to the test.  In April, a major fire on the historic wharf at Raglan destroyed an iRIS 320 and all of the monitoring equipment with it.  Then earlier this month, another iRIS 320 came close to suffering the same fate on the Waikanae river. The iRIS is actually in the enclosure at the top of the green pole and was unharmed by the fire.

The harsh treatment of dataloggers is not new.  This logger took a direct lightning strike via the radio aerial.  You can see where the pressure inside the logger has bent the lid against the central screw holding it on (unfortunately this logger didn't survive and is now a museum piece):

We have had loggers survive some pretty extreme conditions.  This one is at Powell Hut on Mt Holdsworth in the Tararua Ranges and is still working perfectly (Photo by Matt Rowland - winter 2008):

and when the lahar flowed down Mt Ruapehu in March 2007, our gear was right in the middle of it:

The good news is that these are definitely the extremes!

- Malcolm Barr