Author Topic: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?  (Read 166907 times)

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Offline Mark / Ohio

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #50 on: May 08, 2010, 01:02:58 AM »
Be sure to check your spam filter.  That's were I found one of their replies to me once I went looking for it.

Mark 
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Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #51 on: May 08, 2010, 01:34:28 AM »
Thanks Mark, nothing there. I have now emailed the supplier here in the UK, will wait and see what they say.

Alan.
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Offline m77

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #52 on: May 08, 2010, 07:30:42 AM »
Mate I rang them from the uk, off peak it cost about 30p a minute but saved exchanging tons of emails.

Another time they agreed to ring me back at a pre arranged time convenient for me. 3pm uk time was when the guy had just clocked in for work so that was perfect.
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Offline Bushman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #53 on: May 08, 2010, 11:03:48 AM »
Skype.  :)  About 2 cents a minute.
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Offline m77

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #54 on: May 08, 2010, 12:29:45 PM »
Not from the uk.
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Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #55 on: May 12, 2010, 01:39:50 AM »
I have now had a reply from the supplier here in the UK where I purchased my Vue, the following is copy and pasted from their email.

'Thank you for your email. There may be one of two issues with your Vantage Vue.

1. If the console was turned on after the ISS was installed it may think that the battery is low even when it is showing full voltage. Please remove the power from your console to reset it. If this is the fault the warning should go from the console.

2. The capacitor in your ISS may be failing. If this is the case the battery warning will not go from you console after a reset. If this is the case please contact us with you full invoice address for a returns reference to be generated and we will arrange for the UK Davis repair centre to replace the capacitors.'

I have carried out the reset as suggested, but no luck. #-o  I have also sent them the information requested, so will wait and see. Will report back.

Alan.

Alan

Offline DanS

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #56 on: May 12, 2010, 04:13:43 AM »
" 1. If the console was turned on after the ISS was installed it may think that the battery is low even when it is showing full voltage. Please remove the power from your console to reset it. If this is the fault the warning should go from the console. "

Am I reading this part right? It's basically saying "if the console was turned on after the ISS that it may read the ISS wrong and to correct this, remove power to the console and reapply it". By doing this it's still no different as being turned on after the ISS.    (I get confused more easily as I age).

« Last Edit: May 12, 2010, 04:48:49 AM by DanS »

Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #57 on: May 12, 2010, 05:07:07 AM »
Like you Dan, I don't see that it should make that much difference. However, with the OS UV sensor they do say that it is important to start a search on the console within 15 minutes of activating the sensor.

I'm prepared to try anything if it solves the problem.

Alan.
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Offline johnd

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #58 on: May 12, 2010, 06:12:36 AM »
" 1. If the console was turned on after the ISS was installed it may think that the battery is low even when it is showing full voltage. Please remove the power from your console to reset it. If this is the fault the warning should go from the console. "

I've never heard this and I'm not sure it makes sense. The ISS merely broadcasts data - AFAIK it has no 2-way interaction with any listening console. So if the console was listening for a ISS signal before the ISS was able to send then it would not synchronise and would end up showing 'L'. Placing the console into setup mode and then exiting again should trigger an attempt to resynchronise and ought - I would have thought - to have reset any warning messages at this stage without any need to power cycle the console. (Power cycling won't do any harm, I'm just not sure that there's any benefit that triggering a resynchronise manually wouldn't bring more easily.)

It's always worth waiting past midnight (ie to the next day) on the day that any battery warning is triggered just to see if the warning disappears during the general reset that happens at midnight each night. Also, if there is a genuine low battery warning then of course the battery voltage ought to be measurably (ie by a multimeter) low. The question really is whether the battery warning is genuine or not. If it is genuine then that would suggest some fault in the circuitry. If not then it's only of nuisance value.
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Prodata's FAQ/support site for Davis stations
Includes many details on 6313 Weatherlink console.
UK Davis Premier Dealer - All Davis stations, accessories and spares
Cambridge UK

Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.

Offline casacota

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #59 on: May 12, 2010, 06:41:04 AM »
Buyed a new Vue 1 month ago - the programming contacts had already protection grease (3 weeks of rain and humidity mostly around 90-100% - no problem with the battery).
« Last Edit: May 12, 2010, 06:43:53 AM by casacota »

Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #60 on: May 12, 2010, 07:46:36 AM »
John,

I have had this message now for several weeks. I have also done a number of reboots of the console, oddly it doesn't appear first thing in the morning, but about 2/3 hours after sunrise, and then it will alternate every 30 seconds with the message 'Temperature Out Max'. Everything is working fine, no lost or false data. The small antenna symbol on the console is also indicating that reception is good.

I was wondering if a smear of Petroleum Jelly on the contacts would do any harm.
Alan

Offline Mark / Ohio

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #61 on: May 18, 2010, 12:49:57 AM »
...I was wondering if a smear of Petroleum Jelly on the contacts would do any harm.

Your best bet would be to stay with some type of dielectric compound that is made for the purpose if you go that route.  Anything else could have conductive impurities in it.

Mark 
2002 Davis VP I Wireless, WeatherLink (Serial), GRLevel3, VirtualVP, StartWatch, Weather Display, Windows 10


Offline m77

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #62 on: May 21, 2010, 01:46:01 PM »
I have just seen the dreaded battery message about transmitter 1 being low.

I put the battery in late October 2009 so it has been going a good 7 months - through a Uk winter too.

What shall i do? Start by trying a new battery?

What type?

How long do I have before it goes completely and doesn't function? Hours, days, weeks?
« Last Edit: May 21, 2010, 01:48:56 PM by m77 »
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Offline dalecoy

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #63 on: May 21, 2010, 05:00:36 PM »

What shall i do? Start by trying a new battery?

What type?


Yes, what you should do is what the book says to do.

First, consider finding your VUE Console manual, and looking on Page 3, where it says what to do:
"LOW BATTERY TRANSMITTER (ID#): Replace the battery in your outdoor Integrated Sensor
Suite (ISS) ..."  From that point:

Step 1:  Find the Vue ISS Manual.

Step 2:  Look on page 14 to find the type of battery.

Step 3:  Purchase a new one, see the earlier part of the manual for installation instructions.  See the earlier parts of this topic for other advice about resetting the console, etc.

Step 4:  Observe results and report them here. 

Offline Coldfront

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #64 on: May 29, 2010, 03:21:30 PM »
I too have just experienced the "Low battery transmitter 1" issue. It just appeared today. Both the Vue console and a pro2 console are reporting this. Are we purchasing this grease out of pocket on our own or is Davis sending it out on a complaint basis? Does this stuff ever have to be reapplied? In the heat will it liquify and run ? My unit was installed in December 2009 and has been operating flawessly until today. It seems awful strange that 4 open contacts that are gold plated would behave in such a manner especially with nothing contacting them. I'm not entirely convinced that this is the solution to this problem but am willing to give it a try If it works. I dread having to go up on the roof (hate heights) but such is life. I'm gonna check for the green light this evening and if need be pick up a new battery once I obtain the proper grase and do it all in one shot.

Offline 4wd

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #65 on: May 29, 2010, 03:27:33 PM »
Oddly mine did it again today, and no way was it condensation related - humidity was low at the time this morning.
If you spot it on the console you can simply go into set up mode (but don't change anything) and then press done to exit set up mode.

This will stop it on mine so far although it probably resets itself at midnight anyway.
The point is it isn't really a problem with the battery or capacitor at all, just the monitoring of it.

Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #66 on: May 30, 2010, 09:18:08 AM »
I too have just experienced the "Low battery transmitter 1" issue. It just appeared today. Both the Vue console and a pro2 console are reporting this. Are we purchasing this grease out of pocket on our own or is Davis sending it out on a complaint basis? Does this stuff ever have to be reapplied? In the heat will it liquify and run ? My unit was installed in December 2009 and has been operating flawessly until today. It seems awful strange that 4 open contacts that are gold plated would behave in such a manner especially with nothing contacting them. I'm not entirely convinced that this is the solution to this problem but am willing to give it a try If it works. I dread having to go up on the roof (hate heights) but such is life. I'm gonna check for the green light this evening and if need be pick up a new battery once I obtain the proper grase and do it all in one shot.

Coincidentally I installed my Vue in December 2009. Three weeks ago I removed the battery from the ISS and gave everything a clean and then replaced the original battery. To date I have had no further warnings of low battery. Maybe a clean and reset did the trick.

Alan.
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Offline Coldfront

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #67 on: May 31, 2010, 11:31:18 PM »
Update... Removed 6 month old OEM Duracell CR123 battery (It read 3.1vdc), cleaned the 4 gold contacts and coated with Permatex Dielectric silicone grease (Purchased at an automotive parts store). I've left the battery out for overnight tonight and will reinstall tomorrow AM.

So far, with no battery, the Capacitor has continued to power the ISS for 4 hours now. I'm not sure how long the cap will hold the charge but the instructions in this forum said it was necessary for the system to go dead to restore correctly. I'm hoping that will happen sometime over the night. With sunsets here (Southern Ontario) near 9pm and nautical sunrise around 5am at this time of year, theres not a lot of time to drain the cap before the solar cell starts charging again. (I left the ISS on the pole on my roof). I may need to block the solar panel with something if the cap holds its charge overnight. 

I did note that the battery side is awful close to these contacts. They say to apply a liberal amount of grease but it does get flattened by the battery side. I'm wondering if the close proximity to these contacts in our now humid weather does cause some kind of cross circuiting on the metal clad battery jacket and thus the reason for the dielectric grease. I did catch the green light flash once and only once but I gave up watching for it after 15 minutes. I have both a Vue console and a VP2 console and both were indicating low battery on the ISS transmitter 1. So I don't think it's a console issue.  I'll post my results.

Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #68 on: June 01, 2010, 02:17:33 AM »
Coldfront. Your report was interesting as my 6 month old battery was recording 5.9 volts, which would indicate that your Canadian winter has had a greater drain on the battery than mine hear in the UK, most odd. I can only assume that all OEM Duracell CR123 batteries hold the same charge when new. The new one I purchased as replacement (should I have needed it) read 6.2 volts.

Alan.

PS. Still waiting for a response from the Davis tech team. I did get an email from a Brett Lane at Davis on the 14th of May saying someone from their tech department would contact me.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2010, 08:37:35 AM by killwilly »
Alan

Offline 4wd

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #69 on: June 01, 2010, 04:30:29 AM »
The CR123 battery is a 3V so far as I know?
I don't think Duracell are anything special, it needs to be a Lithium type to maintain voltage in low temperatures.

Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #70 on: June 01, 2010, 08:50:22 AM »
The CR123 battery is a 3V so far as I know?
I don't think Duracell are anything special, it needs to be a Lithium type to maintain voltage in low temperatures.

I thought the same as you (3V), but the one I bought was a, "123 Energizer Lithium Photo" which registered 5.9 volts on my multimeter, in fact I bought two and they both had the same charge.

Alan
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Offline Bushman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #71 on: June 01, 2010, 10:53:32 AM »
That can't be right.  the 123A is a 2/3A cell which regardless of chemistry is 3v.
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Offline dalecoy

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #72 on: June 01, 2010, 10:54:17 AM »
The CR123 battery is a 3V so far as I know?
I don't think Duracell are anything special, it needs to be a Lithium type to maintain voltage in low temperatures.

I thought the same as you (3V), but the one I bought was a, "123 Energizer Lithium Photo" which registered 5.9 volts on my multimeter, in fact I bought two and they both had the same charge.

Alan

What did it say on the package?  What does your multimeter read, when checking a regular flashlight battery?

What size is the battery?  The 223 battery is 6V nominal.  The CR-123 is 3V.  

Offline Coldfront

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #73 on: June 01, 2010, 11:33:51 PM »
Update...

We had a pretty good Thunderstorm rumble through these parts most of last evening so I did not get up on the roof to reinstall the Cr123 battery. What I did discover was the capacitor was able to maintain it's charge throughout the night and carried on through the day as the sun rose and the solar cell recharged it. I replaced the battery earlier this evening and went through the setup process (cycled through) on both the Vue and the VP2 console to erase the "Not receiving from transmitter 1" message. So far so good. I deviated from the instructions that stated that the VSS must be allowed to discharge completely before reinserting the battery. We'll find out how important this step is if the message returns in the morning.

 Alan, the Duracell that is OEM is rated for 3vdc. All the CR123 type photo batteries over here are rated the same. I googled the brand you mentioned and it too was rated for 3vdc. I'm confused as to the voltages you were obtaining. Are the photo batteries in the UK rated at a higher voltage than those in North America?


Offline killwilly

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #74 on: June 02, 2010, 08:31:22 AM »
Update.

It would appear that my multimeter has had a fit.  :roll: I checked a new 1.5volt AA battery and that was registering 3.4 volts. A trip to the shops in the foreseeable future to get a new meter is on the cards.  :grin:

Alan
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