Anecdote: Until recently, I have had a Sparkfun ENS160 air quality sensor indoors for some time, connected to my always-on RPi using Qwiic and accessed via I²C. It was great to have up until my better half ran a $VERYLARGEVOLUME of unusually strong onions through a food processor a couple of months ago. It hasn't worked since. Now 99.9% of the readings are 0 with the occasional, one-off, random spike. So today I've unplugged it and accepted that it no longer works, killed off by the excessive vapor from that batch of onions. Maybe someone will find the information useful.
I've worked in some large kitchens in the past and have dealt with multiple 20 kg bags of onions at a time on a regular basis back then, no problem (but no AQ sensors back then either). However, the burn during this incident quickly drove me from the adjacent room and forced me to open all the doors and windows. Needless to say the TVOC readings went absolutely bonkers. At that point, the ENS160 stopped working and hasn't worked since that event either for CO₂ or for TVOC. I can't fault it for that.
The other sensors on that chain still seem fine. They include an AHT20 relative humidity sensor, a BMP280 atmospheric pressure sensor, and a VEML7700 illumination sensor. They all seem to be unaffected, though the humidity sensor needs to be brushed clear of dust occasionally to keep the readings accurate.
I've ordered a replacement CO₂ sensor to add into the I²C chain but will wait a while before replacing the TVOC capabilities.
I've worked in some large kitchens in the past and have dealt with multiple 20 kg bags of onions at a time on a regular basis back then, no problem (but no AQ sensors back then either). However, the burn during this incident quickly drove me from the adjacent room and forced me to open all the doors and windows. Needless to say the TVOC readings went absolutely bonkers. At that point, the ENS160 stopped working and hasn't worked since that event either for CO₂ or for TVOC. I can't fault it for that.
The other sensors on that chain still seem fine. They include an AHT20 relative humidity sensor, a BMP280 atmospheric pressure sensor, and a VEML7700 illumination sensor. They all seem to be unaffected, though the humidity sensor needs to be brushed clear of dust occasionally to keep the readings accurate.
I've ordered a replacement CO₂ sensor to add into the I²C chain but will wait a while before replacing the TVOC capabilities.
Statistics: Posted by tpyo kingg — Tue Jan 06, 2026 1:02 pm — Replies 1 — Views 47