Author Topic: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)  (Read 4424 times)

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Offline crawdad62

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Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« on: September 01, 2017, 08:03:39 PM »
Just received my Davis VP 2 (6163). Put everything together and turned on the console. Everything was good except wind speed. I spun the cups by hand and nothing. Decided to call Davis before I mounted everything. Well so far I’m not impressed with Davis technical support. Talked to a nice lady who kept insisting the arm should point north. I told her it was in my living room and I was spinning it by hand. She just wasn’t getting it and said it should be fine when mounted and oriented correctly. Well it’s up and nothing. Direction is perfect. I’ve taken the cups off and reinstalled. I’ve checked the plug in the ISS. Not sure what to do next. Can’t figure if it’s a problem at the “business end” or at the ISS. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions? I bought it at Scaled Intruments.

Offline WheatonRon

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2017, 08:20:24 PM »
 When I move my cups very fast, it doesn't read immediately on the console. A second or two delay. Is that the problem? If that is not the issue, why don't you reboot the console. Take the batteries out for a minute or two then reinstall. See if that fixes the problem.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2017, 08:22:04 PM by WheatonRon »
Davis VP2 with SHT31 (3 complete VP2 systems—2 with a daytime fan and 1 that has a 24 hour fan); CWOP--CW5020, FW3075 and FW4350; WU--KILWHEAT17, KILWHEAT36 and KILWHEAT39; WeatherCloud.net; CoCoRaHS--IL-DP-132; and Weatherlink 2.0

Offline crawdad62

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2017, 08:22:34 PM »
No. That’s not it. I know what you’re talking about. The direction did that. But it’s been mounted all afternoon and hasn’t recorded a thing and it’s been quite windy today.

Offline WheatonRon

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2017, 08:29:38 PM »
After trying rebooting, try using a different transmitting channel. Maybe there is a nearby station that is interfering with yours. The default is channel 1, but the system has 8 channels--try a different one.
Davis VP2 with SHT31 (3 complete VP2 systems—2 with a daytime fan and 1 that has a 24 hour fan); CWOP--CW5020, FW3075 and FW4350; WU--KILWHEAT17, KILWHEAT36 and KILWHEAT39; WeatherCloud.net; CoCoRaHS--IL-DP-132; and Weatherlink 2.0

Offline CW2274

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2017, 08:30:28 PM »
I don't recall this exact issue before but will digress about how really skeptical I'm getting about Davis support. More and more folks seem to be getting really uneducated folks on issues with their PWS (me included). Not saying some aren't privy, but you will almost surely find better, more accurate info here. Hell, I'll bet many of us have owned our PWS longer than some Davis "techs" been outta grade school.
You'll get an answer here, good or bad, but almost surely accurate, with time.

Offline Mattk

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2017, 08:55:34 PM »
Unfortunately there are very few old age Davis techs left who did know what they were talking about, these days is appears more like a call centre with decisions being made based on a trouble shooting decision tree and cheat sheet.

There was a bad batch of the new anemometer design that was bad news but that was about 3 years ago, you are unable to tell anemometer build date but may // the ISS Mfg. code. One would think your ISS & Console have a more recent and closely matching Mfg. code?   

Offline WheatonRon

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2017, 09:07:31 PM »
The easiest way to diagnose this issue is to borrow a known working VP2 console from your friend down the street--but make sure the borrowed console is on the same channel. The likelihood of you having such a friend probably is not great, just a suggestion.

You bought your unit from SI, and many of us have dealt with its owner Ryan Wilhour, who is extremely helpful. If you don't find an answer in this Forum, give him a call. Another user in this Forum is Johnd, who is a Davis reseller in the UK. He too is very helpful and contributes a lot in this Forum but he is likely in bed now--check this thread in the morning if our suggestions didn't work-Johnd may have some better ideas.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2017, 09:29:21 PM by WheatonRon »
Davis VP2 with SHT31 (3 complete VP2 systems—2 with a daytime fan and 1 that has a 24 hour fan); CWOP--CW5020, FW3075 and FW4350; WU--KILWHEAT17, KILWHEAT36 and KILWHEAT39; WeatherCloud.net; CoCoRaHS--IL-DP-132; and Weatherlink 2.0

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2017, 09:30:32 PM »
Call Davis and ask them to send you an "Anemometer test cable".  [See for instance http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=31795.msg319389#msg319389 ]

That plugs into your ISS and you can determine if the problem is in the ISS, or in the anemometer+cable.

Offline crawdad62

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #8 on: September 01, 2017, 09:37:48 PM »
Call Davis and ask them to send you an "Anemometer test cable".  [See for instance http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=31795.msg319389#msg319389 ]

That plugs into your ISS and you can determine if the problem is in the ISS, or in the anemometer+cable.


Beauty!!! That’s what I kept wondering. Whether it was the ISS or the anemometer.

Offline WheatonRon

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2017, 09:44:58 PM »
Call Davis and ask them to send you an "Anemometer test cable".  [See for instance http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=31795.msg319389#msg319389 ]

That plugs into your ISS and you can determine if the problem is in the ISS, or in the anemometer+cable.


Beauty!!! That’s what I kept wondering. Whether it was the ISS or the anemometer.

You have a brand new unit! Why should you play detective and probably wait weeks for a solution? Call Ryan at SI, I bet he will ask you to send the defective unit back and he will send you a whole new unit. He may first know of a known issue. I would try our suggestions above first.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2017, 09:54:32 PM by WheatonRon »
Davis VP2 with SHT31 (3 complete VP2 systems—2 with a daytime fan and 1 that has a 24 hour fan); CWOP--CW5020, FW3075 and FW4350; WU--KILWHEAT17, KILWHEAT36 and KILWHEAT39; WeatherCloud.net; CoCoRaHS--IL-DP-132; and Weatherlink 2.0

Offline CW2274

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2017, 09:57:51 PM »
Call Davis and ask them to send you an "Anemometer test cable".  [See for instance http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=31795.msg319389#msg319389 ]

That plugs into your ISS and you can determine if the problem is in the ISS, or in the anemometer+cable.


Beauty!!! That’s what I kept wondering. Whether it was the ISS or the anemometer.

You have a brand new unit! Why should you play detective and probably wait weeks for a solution? Call Ryan at SI, I bet he will ask you to send the defective unit back and he will send you a whole new unit. He may first know of a known issue. I would try our suggestions above first.
Unless you find an immediate answer, I completely agree. I'd be willing to bet he'd send you new "whatever" even without getting the old stuff back first.
Dude rocks.

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2017, 10:01:24 PM »
You have a brand new unit! Why should you play detective and probably wait weeks for a solution? .... I would try our suggestions above first.

Those are also "detective" measures.  But, along with you, I favor trying some initial troubleshooting measures first, rather than imposing on Ryan's fantastic reliability and service.

OTOH, consulting Ryan would be a good move. 

Or - following directions available here in the forum - perhaps crawdad62 could make his own anemometer test cable.  See this thread:
http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=26648.msg256684#msg256684

I believe that it is unlikely that the problem lies in the console.  Most likely the anemometer-or-cable.

Perhaps following the instructions in the console manual would help?

For instance, Page 34, "Wind speed reads 0 either
all the time or intermittently"

"The problem may be with the anemometer. Test anemometer
by spinning wind cups. Check reed switch fields on diagnostic
screen (see page 37)"

..........  Hmmm............................................
« Last Edit: September 01, 2017, 11:46:41 PM by dalecoy »

Offline crawdad62

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2017, 12:29:41 PM »
Thought I'd give an update. I emailed Ryan on Saturday and he emailed me back on Monday and suggested I remove and reseat the wind speed cartridge. I removed it and looked into the head and the wires looked good. I reset the cartridge and while I was there I removed and reinstalled the wind cups again. Didn't help. I emailed Ryan back and he said it was probably a faulty anemometer and to contact Davis on Tuesday due to the holiday. He said to let him know what transpired from Davis. So I was at a standstill until I could phone Davis. I decided to go look at the other end (the ISS connection) again. I check the ISS female side and the contacts were nice and straight and nothing of note. However when looking at the RJ connector I noticed just a little bit of the plastic from the connector covering one of the contacts. I removed it gently and low and behold it worked! I contacted Ryan and alls well.

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2017, 12:40:21 PM »
I decided to go look at the other end (the ISS connection) again. I check the ISS female side and the contacts were nice and straight and nothing of note. However when looking at the RJ connector I noticed just a little bit of the plastic from the connector covering one of the contacts. I removed it gently and low and behold it worked! I contacted Ryan and alls well.

Thanks for sharing.  Just to be clear (because of "RJ" terminology) - do I correctly assume that the problem was with the plug connector that's on the end of the cable?  [i.e., not the RJ socket connector that's part of the ISS transmitter]

Offline sho23

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2017, 12:47:20 PM »
Thought I'd give an update. I emailed Ryan on Saturday and he emailed me back on Monday and suggested I remove and reseat the wind speed cartridge. I removed it and looked into the head and the wires looked good. I reset the cartridge and while I was there I removed and reinstalled the wind cups again. Didn't help. I emailed Ryan back and he said it was probably a faulty anemometer and to contact Davis on Tuesday due to the holiday. He said to let him know what transpired from Davis. So I was at a standstill until I could phone Davis. I decided to go look at the other end (the ISS connection) again. I check the ISS female side and the contacts were nice and straight and nothing of note. However when looking at the RJ connector I noticed just a little bit of the plastic from the connector covering one of the contacts. I removed it gently and low and behold it worked! I contacted Ryan and alls well.

We got a replacement wind direction, and noticed the same thing --- some little plastic blocking the RJ from making a good contact. Glad that's solved!

Offline crawdad62

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #15 on: September 05, 2017, 12:49:21 PM »
I decided to go look at the other end (the ISS connection) again. I check the ISS female side and the contacts were nice and straight and nothing of note. However when looking at the RJ connector I noticed just a little bit of the plastic from the connector covering one of the contacts. I removed it gently and low and behold it worked! I contacted Ryan and alls well.

Thanks for sharing.  Just to be clear (because of "RJ" terminology) - do I correctly assume that the problem was with the plug connector that's on the end of the cable?  [i.e., not the RJ socket connector that's part of the ISS transmitter]

Yes the plug on the cable. Not the jack.

Offline WheatonRon

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #16 on: September 05, 2017, 02:05:49 PM »
I decided to go look at the other end (the ISS connection) again. I check the ISS female side and the contacts were nice and straight and nothing of note. However when looking at the RJ connector I noticed just a little bit of the plastic from the connector covering one of the contacts. I removed it gently and low and behold it worked! I contacted Ryan and alls well.

Thanks for sharing.  Just to be clear (because of "RJ" terminology) - do I correctly assume that the problem was with the plug connector that's on the end of the cable?  [i.e., not the RJ socket connector that's part of the ISS transmitter]

Yes the plug on the cable. Not the jack.

Glad this worked out. However, I am surprised that this problem wasn't detected at the Davis factory before it was shipped. I guess they assumed the cable would be fine from wherever they bought it (I doubt Davis makes its own cables). But it goes to show, that not all VP2 units are 100% tested before shipping to the final customer.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2017, 02:47:37 PM by WheatonRon »
Davis VP2 with SHT31 (3 complete VP2 systems—2 with a daytime fan and 1 that has a 24 hour fan); CWOP--CW5020, FW3075 and FW4350; WU--KILWHEAT17, KILWHEAT36 and KILWHEAT39; WeatherCloud.net; CoCoRaHS--IL-DP-132; and Weatherlink 2.0

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #17 on: September 05, 2017, 03:32:32 PM »
.... I am surprised that this problem wasn't detected at the Davis factory before it was shipped. I guess they assumed the cable would be fine from wherever they bought it (I doubt Davis makes its own cables). But it goes to show, that not all VP2 units are 100% tested before shipping to the final customer.

It's probable that each "subassembly" is individually tested.  That is, separate tests for the central ISS unit (perhaps including calibration adjustments), the console (if any), the Solar/UV assembly, and the anemometer.  But the "major part number" collection of subassemblies is not tested together.

And a test apparatus that connected to the anemometer cable would probably not be a "standard RJ socket", because those are meant for just a few connection cycles.  It would be a different design that might well miss the little bit of plastic on the plug.

Offline Mattk

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #18 on: September 05, 2017, 04:56:46 PM »
Bad news when one finds the same issue with replacement items, QA obviously needs a review.

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #19 on: September 05, 2017, 05:36:08 PM »
Bad news when one finds the same issue with replacement items, QA obviously needs a review.

True.  It would be helpful if Crawdad62, Sho23, and others, reported this to Davis. 

Also, perhaps Ryan could inspect things, and report it.

Offline railrode1

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #20 on: September 06, 2017, 09:35:35 PM »
I was watching a Davis Pro2 station in St. Thomas, VI. today (IVISTTHO2). It held up until the last reported gust of 113mph when the anemometer failed. It was taking a beating. Surprisingly the connection was solid and still reporting tonight.
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Offline johnd

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #21 on: September 07, 2017, 03:33:47 AM »
I was watching a Davis Pro2 station in St. Thomas, VI. today (IVISTTHO2). It held up until the last reported gust of 113mph when the anemometer failed. It was taking a beating.

On the occasions that an anemometer does fail in very high winds, it's not uncommon for the cause of failure to be insufficiently robust mounting/pole etc. It's not necessarily the anemometer itself that's failed, though of course that may be the case, especially eg if the cups have not been sufficiently tightened on their spindle.
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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 WXman

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #22 on: September 09, 2017, 08:16:12 PM »
I'm dealing with the same thing right now.  Got my unit refurbished for $200 about 10 months ago.  All of a sudden this week my anemometer started showing no speed, only direction.  Diagnostic screen on the console shows the reed switch counting every 2 seconds or so.  Battery at ISS is 3 volts so it's fully charged.  Cups are tight and spin perfectly.  No nicks or cuts visible in the cable.  I have no idea why mine suddenly just quit.

I ordered a new anemometer for $105 from SI.  I hate to spend the money but I'm lost and Davis tech support was no help.   :roll:
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Offline railrode1

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #23 on: September 09, 2017, 08:38:52 PM »
I was watching a Davis Pro2 station in St. Thomas, VI. today (IVISTTHO2). It held up until the last reported gust of 113mph when the anemometer failed. It was taking a beating. Surprisingly the connection was solid and still reporting tonight.]



Well when i said it failed, i don't know how. It may have been struck by flying debris. I guess the better term would be it stopped reporting speed. It did continue to report wind direction
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Offline dalecoy

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Re: Anemometer reporting direction not speed (new WX)
« Reply #24 on: September 09, 2017, 08:44:57 PM »
The ISS manual gives the following good troubleshooting advice:

“The wind cups are spinning but my console displays 0 mph.”
The signal from the wind cups may not be making it back to the display.
Remove the cups from the anemometer (loosen the set screw). Put the cups back
onto the shaft and make sure to slide them up the shaft as far as possible. Check
your cables for visible nicks and cuts. Look for corrosion in the WIND connector
on the SIM and on splices in the cable. If using an extension cable, remove it and
test using only the anemometer cable. Contact Technical Support and ask for a
wind test cable if the problem has not been resolved.

WXman, did you remove and reinstall the cups, as recommended?
« Last Edit: September 09, 2017, 08:59:07 PM by dalecoy »