Author Topic: Battery failures on Vantage Vue? (Read 167586 times)

clweb · « **Reply #200 on:** July 11, 2011, 12:03:10 PM »

I noticed that I have a "Battery failure" message only on hot (>30°C) sunny days.
The message dissapears at theevening and only comes back when the next day is hot.
Maybe some tolerance in the electronic components of the battery survey circuit.

Weerstation · « **Reply #201 on:** July 23, 2011, 01:46:10 PM »

Hi All,

I came across this thread googling LOW TRANSMITTER BATTERY 1.
Thanks for posting everyone, I learned a lot today.

I got the warning this afternoon.
I am not sure if this was a coincedence, I had not seen the warning earlier, but it appeared at the same time it started raining this afternoon. (First tick of 0.2 mm)
The day had started sunny and windy, humidity was at 65%.
So, no moisture problem.

My station is up and running since the beginning of December 2009.
I have had no problems so far.

Battery is still the same I got with the device.

I mentioned I had not seen this warning earlier and I should have because I am looking at the console a lot.
Now we had a lot of rain on Thursday July 14, very windy too.
I noticed that the rain gauge wasn't working well.
It stopped counting at 50 mm of rain although it was raining pretty steady.
It continued counting, then stopped again for some time, still raining, counting again.
Ending at 56 mm, real amount was 65 mm. (Used plain old raincollector)

I have not seen problems with the raingauge since then.

Do you guys think this was related to a low battery voltage. (There was no message Low Battery)
I have not seen any problems with transmitting other data that day.

So my guess is just to replace the battery for a new one.

What do you guys think.

TIA

btw. Can you check the battery voltage from the ISS via the diagnostic screen on the console?

ps

After running the diagnostic screen, the message was gone for a while.
I see the message is back again.
See if it will stay away after midnight.

4wd · « **Reply #202 on:** July 23, 2011, 02:57:43 PM »

You probably need change the battery, it's the first thing to try anyway and they are not expensive.
Mine started to show genuine low battery warnings at about 14 months old.
I expect it would have carried on for some time longer.

meteotrets · « **Reply #203 on:** August 18, 2011, 05:15:17 PM »

Hi all,

I have also the "low battery" issue with my european version (I live in France).
I installed it in june 2010, and no problem until two days ago.

The message has appeared on the console, and the ISS has stopped to transmit.

Yesterday, when I removed the ISS from the roof, I have noticed that the LED was blinking strangely,
and that grease is present on the gold contacts.
I have changed the battery by a new one ..
The message was still here, but the ISS has restarted to transmit data.

Today, I have upgraded the console firmware from 2.12 to 2.14.
And once again, the message was still here.

I have sent a mail at support@davisnet.com to describe my problem
but no response yet.

I'm really disappointed that ISS fails two months after the end of the warranty

I don't know what to do more

perhaps someone has an idea ?

Frederic

d_l · « **Reply #204 on:** August 18, 2011, 08:41:18 PM »

Quote from: meteotrets on August 18, 2011, 05:15:17 PM

I don't know what to do more
perhaps someone has an idea ?

Frederic

Fredric, has midnight passed since you replaced the battery. The low battery warning should clear on consoles automatically after local time midnight.

If it hasn't, then you have a problem.

Weerstation · « **Reply #205 on:** August 19, 2011, 02:58:08 AM »

Quote from: d_l on August 18, 2011, 08:41:18 PM

Fredric, has midnight passed since you replaced the battery. The low battery warning should clear on consoles automatically after local time midnight.

I got the warning twice now since Juli 13th and it cleared after midnight.
No problems that I know of so far.

See post #201

meteotrets · « **Reply #206 on:** August 19, 2011, 04:01:10 AM »

Quote

The low battery warning should clear on consoles automatically after local time midnight.

This morning at 9AM, the message is still here.
The good news is that the ISS seems to work fine.

I will try to change the battery again with another one.
My new battery is an ENERGIZER, not a DURACELL like the original one.

Do you think the brand of the battery has an influence ?

Flag · « **Reply #207 on:** August 19, 2011, 06:01:03 AM »

Quote

Do you think the brand of the battery has an influence ?

No

MaverickNH · « **Reply #208 on:** January 15, 2012, 08:57:11 AM »

My Vue, purchased soon after release, had Low Battery problems. I got the grease from Davis, smeared it on, kept the unit in the dark for 2 days, then put it back up. It worked fine for less than a year.

I have been replacing batteries with increasing frequency. Twice in 2010 and it died again last night, when temperatures went below 0F. I don't check the unit frequently so may have missed a Low Battery warning.

This morning, up upgraded the console firmware, upgraded the CP210x driver from 6.3 to 6.5. I just popped in a new Duracell Ultra Lithium, the light blinked once green, I pressed & held the button 3sec, it remained green during press, then blinked green 3x rapidly when released. By the time I was back inside, the ISS had connected to the console.

I've read this entire thread but am not very electronics savvy - does this sound like a supercap or solar panel issue?

4wd · « **Reply #209 on:** January 15, 2012, 02:12:15 PM »

It's asking a lot of a battery to perform below 0°F
Are you getting the lithium type?
I do suspect the firmware update has reduced the incidence of 'false' low battery alerts.

MaverickNH · « **Reply #210 on:** January 16, 2012, 06:46:53 PM »

Yep - Lithium. Maybe I'll have to move to Florida where it's warmer. Hmmm...but then the hurricanes would blow my Vue away.

It's not so much the Low Battery warnings that have been my problem, it's dead batteries at increasing frequency.

Quote from: 4wd on January 15, 2012, 02:12:15 PM

It's asking a lot of a battery to perform below 0°F
Are you getting the lithium type?
I do suspect the firmware update has reduced the incidence of 'false' low battery alerts.

Scalphunter · « **Reply #211 on:** January 16, 2012, 07:35:01 PM »

I would look for something else besides cold draining yor batteries. I use Alkys in weather system at my cabin and it shows it records down to 45 below most of the times and once to 58 blow. They are strictly in an unheated enviroment. I think your solar not is not getting enough sn light to do it's job. Any shadows across it durning yor max sun.

John

William Grimsley · « **Reply #212 on:** February 19, 2012, 02:02:03 PM »

Hi There,

I have the Vantage Vue and I woke up this morning to find my data had "---" in. It came back after a while and I then got that same error message "Low Battery Transmitter 1". I then went into "Setup" then "Done". It then stopped showing the message.

Hope all goes well with it.

Will

http://www.newton-poppleford-weather.co.uk

C5250 · « **Reply #213 on:** February 19, 2012, 11:34:44 PM »

Quote from: williamwilbur on February 19, 2012, 02:02:03 PM

I have the Vantage Vue and I woke up this morning to find my data had "---" in. It came back after a while and I then got that same error message "Low Battery Transmitter 1". I then went into "Setup" then "Done". It then stopped showing the message.

Your ISS battery is dead and has to be replaced. Your ISS is now just being powered via solar, going into setup on the console after the ISS gathered enough solar energy to start working again, just made the message go away until the next night that there is not enough stored energy in the supercap to last the night.

William Grimsley · « **Reply #214 on:** February 20, 2012, 06:41:21 AM »

Hi there,

You are right my Vue disconnected again but for less time so i think its charging up now

dalecoy · « **Reply #215 on:** February 20, 2012, 10:17:39 AM »

Quote from: williamwilbur on February 20, 2012, 06:41:21 AM

Hi there,

You are right my Vue disconnected again but for less time so i think its charging up now

The solar panel does not charge the battery. Replace the battery. Replace the battery. Replace the battery.

Clawswipe · « **Reply #216 on:** March 05, 2012, 07:01:47 PM »

Hello all,

I also received the error "LOW BATTERY ON TRANSMITTER 1" on my Vantage Vue console this past summer. I had only had the Vantage Vue for 6 months. I replaced the battery, but the message continued to show up at times. I noticed it only occurred on hot and extremely humid days. Once the high heat and humidity was gone, the messages stopped showing up. Everything has been fine since August 2011. Guess we will see what happens this summer.

NickelPlate · « **Reply #217 on:** March 06, 2012, 03:27:22 PM »

Add me to the list of folks who have had this problem. I bought my Vue in April of 2011 and started getting low battery messages a few months later in July, but only during the extreme heat of the day. Davis tech support had me check some things such as firmware version of the console and battery voltage of the of ISS battery while in the unit. They finally sent me a new ISS (or refurb, I couldn't tell) and since then (fingers crossed) I haven't had an issue. But the tech made it sound as though the heat related failures of the battery voltage monitoring circuitry had been not been unique to me.

NP

RAFU · « **Reply #218 on:** March 12, 2012, 03:55:58 PM »

I have had strange signal losses a few times since February this year, purchased Vantage Vue IP May last year. Changing battery did not work, today I sent the whole thing back to the seller (in Finland) and have asked for a warranty repair. I was quite convinced of Davis quality at the time of purchase, but now I am not so sure what the result will be.

k0dmf · « **Reply #219 on:** March 16, 2012, 12:20:23 AM »

Update!! I had moved the Console to a different location. The problem seems to have disappeared. Could of been getting some interference from some of my Ham radio equipment, but not sure. All I know is the problem has been gone since.

Pick · « **Reply #220 on:** June 11, 2012, 11:27:42 AM »

For what it's worth I got 2 years, 6 months out of my original battery.

arrowspace90 · « **Reply #221 on:** June 12, 2012, 12:44:32 PM »

I sure feel uneasy reading these low battery posts. I have had my vue up on the roof since Oct/11. It has not had a glitch.

But you can look at my photo and see that the Vue is not in an easy to reach spot for battery changes. From up there where it is perched, the only place on my treed and sloping property to put it, it is certain death if I slip and fall.

I love my Vue and the data it collects. It's something I have always wanted. I wish I could get to it more easily, but if it starts having many problems with batteries, transmitters, or super caps....

Does anyone know if the VP2's are better for maintenance?

DaculaWeather · « **Reply #222 on:** June 12, 2012, 12:51:45 PM »

They use the same scheme, whether it's the Vue or VP series. If your's has been up that long, you can expect to replace the battery in6 months to a year. Mine lasted about 2 years or so before mine was replaced.

And... if yours has lasted this long, you probably don't have one of the affected Vue's. Mine has been rock solid for at least three years now.

johnd · « **Reply #223 on:** June 12, 2012, 12:53:09 PM »

Quote from: arrowspace90 on June 12, 2012, 12:44:32 PM

Does anyone know if the VP2's are better for maintenance?

Yes, of course - the anemometer is a separate assembly that you mount up high while leaving the main ISS assembly close to ground level where it will both measure more accurately and be much more convenient for access. If you have a problem with the anemometer then you'll still need access, but that's only one component of the outside sensors rather than the whole thing.

But you knew that you were going to need access to your Vue ISS every 18-24 months or so to replace the battery? And keeping the rain gauge clean is another reason for needing access to the ISS - some folk are lucky and don't seem to be troubled by blockages, but not everyone.

SlowModem · « **Reply #224 on:** June 12, 2012, 12:55:17 PM »

Quote from: arrowspace90 on June 12, 2012, 12:44:32 PM

Does anyone know if the VP2's are better for maintenance?

One advantage of the VP2 is that you can have most of the station (the ISS) near the ground, and the anemometer up high connected with a wire (or even separate with an anemometer transmitter). Therefore, all the maintenance is waist or chest high standing on the ground.

Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted. You may wish to review your post.

Well, I guess I'm late to the party! LOL I was typing the same response.

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Author Topic: Battery failures on Vantage Vue? (Read 167586 times)