Topic: I painted my Acurite 5 in 1, have you?

[DoctorKnow]

There you go again, making excuses... and no, I am not a geek that knows all the secrets and codes, and I have spent enough time trying to "read the bridge". I payed good money.

My fan is running wide open. My temps were still 4 degrees high.

[nincehelser]

There you go again, making excuses... and no, I am not a geek that knows all the secrets and codes, and I have spent enough time trying to "read the bridge". I payed good money.

My fan is running wide open. My temps were still 4 degrees high.

Is it not doing something they advertised it to do?  Not to my knowledge.

Secrets or codes?  There aren't any secrets.  They've been published on the net for quite some time now by me and a few others.  Working code is out there, including mine.

It's just a matter of actual interest.  Any old junker computer can be used if cost is an issue.  Even with brand-new parts can get you going for well under $100.  If you can't muster that, perhaps you're asking for too much.

The antics of your 5n1 are too magical for me to follow anymore. 

[DoctorKnow]

I have my 5 in 1 working quite nicely right now. It is maintaining temp again due to paint. 

Now I want to "share", but aculink doesn't want me to share except with WUnder. All they have to do is add a line for PWS, and a line for CWOP. Start there. Next, work on a "rapid fire"  option. At night, when people are sleeping, and the weather is calm, turn it down to hourly updates.

[nincehelser]

I have my 5 in 1 working quite nicely right now. It is maintaining temp again due to paint. 

Now I want to "share", but aculink doesn't want me to share except with WUnder. All they have to do is add a line for PWS, and a line for CWOP. Start there. Next, work on a "rapid fire"  option. At night, when people are sleeping, and the weather is calm, turn it down to hourly updates.

What do you me it's "maintaining temp again due to paint".  That implies it was maintaining temps before the paint.   

It's not that they don't want you to share to other services.  Acurite doesn't mind.  They just don't provide that service.

Seriously, how much are you paying them a month to accept your data and forward it to Wunderground? 

??? How much?  Is that *NOTHING* I hear?

Again, you ask too much. 

It's not that hard get data from the bridge and do whatever you want with it.  You just want someone else to do it for you, and for free.

[DoctorKnow]

No, it was maintaining temp "spikes" before the paint. I just left out a comma or a hyphen in my sentence, but you are grasping for straws.

I would not mind paying $10 a year for acu-link to forward and manage my station data in a "rapid fire" rate or to other sites. I don't think anyone else would complain about that either that really WANTS to share with others beside wunder. It is so much easier for ACULINK to do this, than it is for us to find a solution, or have to leave our PC's on all the time.

As I said, I am going to ambient if acurite doesn't hurry up. Christmas is near.

[nincehelser]

No, it was maintaining temp "spikes" before the paint. I just left out a comma or a hyphen in my sentence, but you are grasping for straws.

I would not mind paying $10 a year for acu-link to forward and manage my station data in a "rapid fire" rate or to other sites. I don't think anyone else would complain about that either that really WANTS to share with others beside wunder. It is so much easier for ACULINK to do this, than it is for us to find a solution, or have to leave our PC's on all the time.

As I said, I am going to ambient if acurite doesn't hurry up. Christmas is near.

Nah...you just got caught again.   

Of course you might not mind paying $10 a year for the service.  That would, of course, be a bargain for you.  Less than a dollar a month and you make Acurite foot the bill for the development and bandwidth.

Do you also want a pony?

Again, you ask too much.  You knew (or should have known) what the feature set was when you bought your bridge.  I've never heard of Acurite promising any future upgrades or functionality to the services.  I don't understand your "entitlement" mentality.

If you're  not willing to use the current free and third-party options available, you might as well go to Ambient, because it's not likely Acurite is going to implement what you desire by Christmas.

Good luck.

[DoctorKnow]

Unbelievable. 

[haroldashe]

It certainly will not hurt to paint the 5in1 sensor and I might try that in the near future.  As I said, it can't hurt.

As far as sharing with networks other than Weather Underground and faster uploads, it can be done fairly easily.  George Nincehelser used a Raspberry Pi mini computer and will provide the code for programming it free.  The Pi has the advantage of being able to store data and offers the capability to manipulate that data.  Depending on what you get with it, the cost for the Pi is around $50-$80.

I went with the Meteobridge because I did not really care about storing or sorting through data...only sharing with WUG and several other networks in near real time (30 second intervals), although a minute would probably be sufficient. The Meteobridge, including the TPLink router and licensing for the code used to flash it was about $100. The Ambient Weather Bridge is the same as Meteobridge but costs $200 on Amazon for a "turn key" device pre-flashed.

[DoctorKnow]

It certainly will not hurt to paint the 5in1 sensor and I might try that in the near future.  As I said, it can't hurt.

As far as sharing with networks other than Weather Underground and faster uploads, it can be done fairly easily.  George Nincehelser used a Raspberry Pi mini computer and will provide the code for programming it free.  The Pi has the advantage of being able to store data and offers the capability to manipulate that data.  Depending on what you get with it, the cost for the Pi is around $50-$80.

I went with the Meteobridge because I did not really care about storing or sorting through data...only sharing with WUG and several other networks in near real time (30 second intervals), although a minute would probably be sufficient. The Meteobridge, including the TPLink router and licensing for the code used to flash it was about $100. The Ambient Weather Bridge is the same as Meteobridge but costs $200 on Amazon for a "turn key" device pre-flashed.

I really recommend you paint it. It helps a lot. I would not have painted mine if it hadn't been for joining this forum, and discussing it with others on what to do to fix the issue of high temps. I don't understand why nine has tried to wreck it all running over to acurite, when he is a part of the paint crew himself! 

I look at the idea of a mini computer, and I think to myself, for the cost of it, I could have a brand new weather station. I do not have a problem leaving my computer on. However, I think that Ambient and their wireless all in one with the wireless console is the best thing going. Both Acurite and AMbient have promised to add more sharing sites, but acurite said this a long time ago, and hasn't delivered.

[DoctorKnow]

I thought I'd update this. There are still some skeptics saying it's only helping maybe 1 degree with their sensors... Maybe so, but for me it has helped the most when the sun is setting in the evening, and the side of the bottom is baking. I now see only a two degree spike during this time, instead of a 4 to 5 degree spike over the real high temperature for the day. Today it was burning hot outside with a high of 92, and my temp had dropped down to 88 before the sun starting hitting the bottom west side of the 5 n 1, and my temp only rose up to 90 during this time, where as before, it would have gone to 95.

I hope that helps make sense of the paint job, and maybe will give you an idea of what to look for on yours.

[nincehelser]

I thought I'd update this. There are still some skeptics saying it's only helping maybe 1 degree with their sensors...

Would you please refrain from the disparaging remarks of others just because their results don't agree with yours?

[nincehelser]

I really recommend you paint it. It helps a lot. I would not have painted mine if it hadn't been for joining this forum, and discussing it with others on what to do to fix the issue of high temps. I don't understand why nine has tried to wreck it all running over to acurite, when he is a part of the paint crew himself! 

I didn't wreck anything.  I just reported what I found regarding yellowing.

I don't "run over" to Acurite.  I'm a fairly common fixture there.

Again, please refrain from the personal attacks.

[DoctorKnow]

 

Calling someone a "skeptic" is not an attack on them. You are making this WAY to personal, and are too involved when you refuse to paint your 5 n 1.

Let's try to get along for the sake of those who care.

[nincehelser]

Calling someone a "skeptic" is not an attack on them. You are making this WAY to personal, and are too involved when you refuse to paint your 5 n 1.

It most certainly is.

Just as when you called me a liar for sharing my experiment.

Just as when you call a product "stupid" and "dumb" for not doing something it wasn't designed to do.

[DoctorKnow]

Calling someone a "skeptic" is not an attack on them. You are making this WAY to personal, and are too involved when you refuse to paint your 5 n 1.

It most certainly is.

Just as when you called me a liar for sharing my experiment.

Just as when you call a product "stupid" and "dumb" for not doing something it wasn't designed to do.

No NO No.

I said you were "trying to make me out to be a liar!" I never called you one. Go back and read... I also NEVER said it was stupid and Dumb.  I am not going to argue with you today. I am locking the topic again until you can handle the facts.

[jimmy1913]

Dr.Know you are right about the painting of the 5 in 1 don't listen to these guys,we know what a difference that the painting of the unit did!And your right about most of the 5 in 1 units read extremely high some times 7+ degrees.

[nincehelser]

Calling someone a "skeptic" is not an attack on them. You are making this WAY to personal, and are too involved when you refuse to paint your 5 n 1.

It most certainly is.

Just as when you called me a liar for sharing my experiment.

Just as when you call a product "stupid" and "dumb" for not doing something it wasn't designed to do.

No NO No.

I said you were "trying to make me out to be a liar!" I never called you one. Go back and read... I also NEVER said it was stupid and Dumb.  I am not going to argue with you today. I am locking the topic again until you can handle the facts.

Your words were quite plain.  You never bothered to clarify them.

I'm done arguing with you about it.  You can stick with cherry-picking anecdotal reports if you want.  You can pooh-pooh the data and experiences of those who don't back you.  You can even create a mutual admiration society of fellow true-believers. 

But it isn't science and doesn't reflect reality.

[DoctorKnow]

Calling someone a "skeptic" is not an attack on them. You are making this WAY to personal, and are too involved when you refuse to paint your 5 n 1.

It most certainly is.

Just as when you called me a liar for sharing my experiment.

Just as when you call a product "stupid" and "dumb" for not doing something it wasn't designed to do.

No NO No.

I said you were "trying to make me out to be a liar!" I never called you one. Go back and read... I also NEVER said it was stupid and Dumb.  I am not going to argue with you today. I am locking the topic again until you can handle the facts.

Your words were quite plain.  You never bothered to clarify them.

I'm done arguing with you about it.  You can stick with cherry-picking anecdotal reports if you want.  You can pooh-pooh the data and experiences of those who don't back you.  You can even create a mutual admiration society of fellow true-believers. 

But it isn't science and doesn't reflect reality.

I do not understand why you are so against painting the unit, and/or having accurate data coming out of the 5 in 1? Are you one of these "climate change" pushers? I just don't get it... You are the one who said "use glossy paint" and that is what we did. You should not be all out of sorts like this. 

[nincehelser]

I do not understand why you are so against painting the unit, and/or having accurate data coming out of the 5 in 1? Are you one of these "climate change" pushers? I just don't get it... You are the one who said "use glossy paint" and that is what we did. You should not be all out of sorts like this. 

I'm not necessarily against painting the unit.  As you point out, I suggested glossy paint if you did it. 

It's just not the "silver-bullet solution" you keep advocating (if it's really a "solution" at all). 

Pushing everyone to paint their sensor as if it's going to do something magical is inane.

As for my opinions on the global warming debate, you clearly don't know what mine are. 

It's sound more like you have a problem with "science" in general, and just stereotype people who use science as a tool as having a particular political belief.   You could never be more wrong about that.

You should not be all out of sorts because I mentioned my yellowing experiment.  Heck, I didn't even mention paint, yet you went off the deep end, like I was some infidel blaspheming your gospel of paint.   

[DoctorKnow]

I think you want people to believe that "solar panels" are the smoking gun with regard to the design flaws of the 5 in 1. It's becoming clear that they are not the only issue. There is no way for that little fan motor to keep up with all the heat build-up in the bottom section when the sun is at a low enough angle. Whether on the east side or especially the west side, you need to reflect the suns rays, and having a darker color on there creates a radiator effect on the inside of the housing. I think if the 5 in 1 had a proper radiation shield on the bottom and was painted white like the ambient or davis, that it would not even need a fan... The fan is nice and all, but really isn't necessary if the unit had a white coat all over.

The yellow experiment had nothing to do with the problem, which is the bottom.

[nincehelser]

I think you want people to believe that "solar panels" are the smoking gun with regard to the design flaws of the 5 in 1. It's becoming clear that they are not the only issue. There is no way for that little fan motor to keep up with all the heat build-up in the bottom section when the sun is at a low enough angle. Whether on the east side or especially the west side, you need to reflect the suns rays, and having a darker color on there creates a radiator effect on the inside of the housing. I think if the 5 in 1 had a proper radiation shield on the bottom and was painted white like the ambient or davis, that it would not even need a fan... The fan is nice and all, but really isn't necessary if the unit had a white coat all over.

The yellow experiment had nothing to do with the problem, which is the bottom.

No.  I do not believe that solar panels are a smoking gun.  Again, you make a lot of incorrect assumptions.  (I'm actually a critic of Acurite's particular two-panel solution.)

You say there is "no way that little motor to keep up".  Actually, it works fine for the majority of people.  It works especially well if powered 24/7 by an external power supply (which actually is a great "silver-bullet solution", albeit too expensive and awkward for most).

Given your inability to properly identify sensor components in the 5n1, you'll have to excuse me in that I find your grasp of thermodynamics and engineering highly suspect, let alone being able to identify "design flaws".

[DoctorKnow]

No.  I do not believe that solar panels are a smoking gun.  Again, you make a lot of incorrect assumptions.  (I'm actually a critic of Acurite's particular two-panel solution.)

You say there is "no way that little motor to keep up".  Actually, it works fine for the majority of people.  It works especially well if powered 24/7 by an external power supply (which actually is a great "silver-bullet solution", albeit too expensive and awkward for most).

Given your inability to properly identify sensor components in the 5n1, you'll have to excuse me in that I find your grasp of thermodynamics and engineering highly suspect, let alone being able to identify "design flaws".

People all over have failing motors right now, that is a FACT.

 

You're opinion of what I am able to "grasp" or "not grasp" means nothing to me. Maybe one day you will use some paint so that you can actually contribute here fairly.

[nincehelser]

No.  I do not believe that solar panels are a smoking gun.  Again, you make a lot of incorrect assumptions.  (I'm actually a critic of Acurite's particular two-panel solution.)

You say there is "no way that little motor to keep up".  Actually, it works fine for the majority of people.  It works especially well if powered 24/7 by an external power supply (which actually is a great "silver-bullet solution", albeit too expensive and awkward for most).

Given your inability to properly identify sensor components in the 5n1, you'll have to excuse me in that I find your grasp of thermodynamics and engineering highly suspect, let alone being able to identify "design flaws".

People all over have failing motors right now, that is a FACT.

 

You're opinion of what I am able to "grasp" or "not grasp" means nothing to me. Maybe one day you will use some paint so that you can actually contribute here fairly.

No.  People all over aren't having failing motors right now.  People on the support board seem to be having problems with the dual-panel module performance, but that's another issue.

As for contributions, I've provided quite a bit of information.  Factual information.  True information.  Like where the sensors are actually located.  Like the actual color of the bottom of the 5n1.

As for paint, no.  I probably will never paint a 5n1 sensor white to try to get the heat down.  I suppose if my 5n1 wasn't working properly and was covered in mold like yours was, perhaps it might make a difference.

[moehoward4]

...how many times has this subject been locked, unlocked???????????

[DoctorKnow]

Hello Moe. Are you considering painting? I did lock the topic a couple of times to try to cool nince off, but he just won't consider trying to work with those of us who are testing the paint on the bottom housing of the sensor. I am seeing such an improvement, and my data agrees with our two local ASOS and a Davis. The only thing I find lacking is the humidity running too low when it should be near 100% It runs about 8 low.