Topic: Vantaggio Vue console battery issue

[sheldon]

Hi forum,
I have a strange issue with my Davis vue console. Yesterday it started displaying "low console batteries" and then turned off: how could it turn off if the AC power supply is plugged in??
I remember last year that batteries ran out but no alert message was displayed and the console continued working without problems. I noticed that batteries had ran out accidentally when a blackout occurred. In this occasion the console turned off and when I opened the battery vane I found lot of acid  (it took me one day to remove it). This means that the console can work with just the AC adapter plugged in. Why isn't it working now? I verified that the soket is working, also because until yesterday it sended data via weatherlink IP which needs AC to work.
Have some ideas?

[archae86]

On the symptoms that you describe, the most likely case is not that you have a battery issue primarily, but an adapter issue. You mentioned that you have tested the socket and think it to be good, but it is still possible that the adapter is not receiving power from the socket, that the adapter itself has failed, or that the connection from the adapter to the console is not conducting power.

It is even possible that somehow the connection inside the console from the adapter connection point is not working.

But as you yourself point out, when things are working as they should it will not complain about the batteries when it is receiving external power.

My experience is with the VP2, I assume the Vue is similar in this respect.

[sheldon]

I'm sure that power is arriving to the console because weatherlink IP sends data online every 1 minute. On the instructions It is written that it can send data only if the power supply is connected

[sheldon]

I stated that The AC adapter is not working. I don't know why, but weatherlink IP sends data even if there is no power supply. The result is that three new batteries have ran out in three days (the nominal duration is 9 months...). Think how much energy the sending data operation takes! Now I have to replace the AC power adapter. Is it okay if I take one which has as output 5V and 1.5 / 2.0 A? The original has 5V and 0.3 A.

[Mattk]

I stated that The AC adapter is not working. I don't know why, but weatherlink IP sends data even if there is no power supply. The result is that three new batteries have ran out in three days (the nominal duration is 9 months...). Think how much energy the sending data operation takes! Now I have to replace the AC power adapter. Is it okay if I take one which has as output 5V and 1.5 / 2.0 A? The original has 5V and 0.3 A.

WeatherLink IP in a Console on D cells only should run for 2 days, an Envoy < 1 day on AA, 9 months is for a standard logger in a console, 4 months for an Envoy. WLIP draws around 100mA. For a WLIP a 5V power pack is best around 600Ma, 1.5/2.0A won't be a problem. just a bit more than required.

[miraculon]

The WLIP will kill the batteries in a couple of days. I have two VP2 consoles, one of which has WLIP. The one with WLIP was down to well below 4V (3.6 or so) because we had a power outage earlier in the month.

You can get a cheap Digital MultiMeter for about $10 or so. This will be good enough for checking the power supply to confirm that it is bad. If it is, you will want to get a new supply or constantly feed batteries into the console. WLIP will try to run on the batteries, but it is strongly not recommended by Davis. Hence the short life.

By the way all of my Davis consoles, VP2 or VUE have "C" batteries, not "D".

Greg H.

[sheldon]

while I am looking for a new adapter I put new batteries and detached the ethernet cable, so it shouldn't kill the batteries in few days. Chamging batteries is leaving me more money than buyning a new adapter 

[Mattk]

while I am looking for a new adapter I put new batteries and detached the ethernet cable, so it shouldn't kill the batteries in few days. Chamging batteries is leaving me more money than buyning a new adapter 

Won't make much difference to battery life.