Topic: Anemometer maintenance?

[Cienega32]

What kind of maintenance do any of you VP2 owners perform on your anemometer?

Anybody ever have any wind cup resistance? Any shaft bearing problems?



Mine spins freely but I'm starting to suspect that it may have developed some problem in the 30-40MPH and up range. I'm wondering if it's struggling in that range while TV weathernets in town are hitting 50! I can't be that lucky to be avoiding all the peak speeds and it feels/sounds like more than what is reported.

Looking at 2 other VP2s in the area (2 or 3 miles away), they're showing gusts of 14, 16 or so while we had a wind advisory. Mine had 30MPH. It makes me wonder.

[W3DRM]

I've had my VP2 for over three years now and have had two problems with the anemometer:
 (1) It occasionally freezes up during heavy snow storms.
 (2) The anemometer stopped registering any wind on the console. That was caused by a corroded connection I had used to extend the length of my wiring from the anemometer to the ISS. Once I dried and cleaned the  contacts, it has worked flawlessly.

I would suggest checking the cabling first and if nothing is found there, take the unit down and visually inspect the anemometer unit to make sure the drip ring and wind cups are correctly aligned. The instructions for this can be found in the ISS Installation Manual that came with your unit. The anemometer should spin freely with no binding at all.

[ocala]

Is it blocked by anything?
Also, different wind readings are normal. Just like rain 2 miles away will be different then your total.
A lot of different factors affect wind speed. Terrain, trees, buildings, the weather in your area.
As has been discussed before we all live in our own micro-climate. No two locations are going to be exactly the same.
Your data should be reasonably close to other stations in your area. Maybe try looking at the average wind speed for all locations and see what that shows.
I would guess after time the anny would need some maintenance. What, I don't know. There really isn't a whole lot to take a part and clean.

[d_l]

Have you read what Davis has to say about anemometer maintenance?: http://www.davisnet.com/support/maintenance.asp 

There isn't much you can do.  Pull it apart and clean it.  Re-assemble and check the bearing spin resistance and play.

[Cienega32]

I have all that covered, as far as the basics. I just didn't know if any of you had any other little tricks. Guess everyone stays with the SOP.

As far as the two stations with the lower reads, I write that off to siting. The whole area was under wind warnings and they mustered up 16MPH gusts? Something blocking those readings. I'm in the open but I seem to be "stuck" in the 30-40 range as far as gusts. Maybe it's just me but after 30 years of living with these southwest desert type wind storms, I would swear I had higher gusts.

Time to hit with the leaf blower!