Author Topic: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?  (Read 166909 times)

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Offline arrowspace90

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #350 on: April 23, 2015, 04:15:05 PM »
I wish Ambient sold the VP 2 with the option of no console.  It comes with the package but I don't need it and could have paid less if I could opt out of it.

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #351 on: April 23, 2015, 04:42:02 PM »
Well, I never have "low transmitter battery" problems with my cabled VP2, and the fan runs 24/7 with AC power, and the rain bucket heater runs all winter.

Is your cabled VP 2 easy to run power to?  Did you have to install a special line to it?
Mine will be on the roof.  No power up there. 
I did lose some data this past winter on frozen precip.

"Easy" is a very undefined term.  I didn't have much trouble running wires out through the basement wall, and then underground (where necessary), and up the pole.  In a previous location, I didn't have much trouble running wires up through the wall and through the roof (with a pipe), across the roof, and up the pole.  But your mileage may vary, depending on lots of factors.

All of the wiring to the VP2 is "low voltage", so I don't need power on the roof (or outside the house).  The transformer that powers the rain bucket heater, and the one that powers the FARS, are in the basement.  With the wireless VP2, you could do the same thing (there's a DC power input connection on the board in the ISS).

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #352 on: April 23, 2015, 04:45:29 PM »
As far as the battery, perhaps it's now charged properly?

Nothing charges that battery.

Arrowspace90, does that console have the latest firmware version?

Offline CW2274

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #353 on: April 23, 2015, 05:07:43 PM »
As far as the battery, perhaps it's now charged properly?

Nothing charges that battery.

Arrowspace90, does that console have the latest firmware version?
Ya, I keep forgetting that.

Offline arrowspace90

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #354 on: April 23, 2015, 09:51:04 PM »
As far as the battery, perhaps it's now charged properly?

Nothing charges that battery.

Arrowspace90, does that console have the latest firmware version?

I will check

Offline W Thomas

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #355 on: June 24, 2015, 05:36:53 PM »
Reviving this thread a little.. I took mine down today and put it on the bench at the shop. A complete dis-assembly and cleaning while looking for a cause for the humidity to drop to nearly nothing at night. I found mine had the exposed contacts and I have had the low battery issue plenty of times in the last few years..  I applied a generous amount of service grade dielectric insulating grease to the contacts and after re-assembly I have the low battery warning again.. Battery is good as I checked it before re installation. CR123 reads 3.09 vdc and the solar panel produces a little over 2vdc with a flashlight directed toward it.

At the moment the humidity is reading really close to the official sites closest to me.. Not really sure if I fixed anything and I hate those kind of fixes :oops: I doubt Davis would sell me the part or parts as neither are on their page as available ,and to fix both problems may require a sensor board and a transmitter PCB.  Probably as expensive as a new ISS LOL!

Anyone else been seeing these problems often??


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Offline George Richardson

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #356 on: June 24, 2015, 06:33:10 PM »
Wayne, FWIW, when a battery gets down close to its nominal voltage, I consider it "bad" rather than still "good". A new CR123 should read close to 3.25 volts.

JMO

George

Offline W Thomas

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #357 on: June 24, 2015, 09:28:30 PM »
The battery that is in it now is less than 7 mos old. I replaced it some time back in the winter just before a big cold spell but I can't remember the exact date. Should have written it down. I'll pick up another one to be sure since I'm not sure what the threshold voltages are.

Thanks George!


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Offline dalecoy

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #358 on: June 24, 2015, 09:55:05 PM »
It often takes "overnight" to get rid of the low battery warning.

Offline EA1EF

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #359 on: April 26, 2016, 05:48:26 PM »
Post to notice thar after repair Vantage Vue as post in 331 response  in this thread, the solution (INSTALL A NEW SUPERCAP and remove the potted supercap)
Quote
.

Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #331 on: December 07, 2014, 06:15:25 PM »
QuoteModifyRemove
recent i buy a Davis Vantage VUE (USA version) with the battery problem....

the propietary report that only on sunny conditions work the ISS and baterry goes down on few days...

the VUE ISS are deplorably (dark, vane crashed, lost screws, etc) but repair it (vane can repair with central steel insert of 2 cm and two componets glue)... finally go to source problem:

- dissamble all modules (take photos for mount) and take ISS transmitter module.

- on ISS module remove carefully the potted on supercap zone for can cut both PINS

- when supercap are isolate from PCB try to charge it (apply 3v correct pollarity) need one or two minutes charging for complete charge.. and quickly test supercap voltage (must be 2,85v fully charged)

- wait a few minutes (5 to 15 or more) repose and test voltage again...  my supercap lost in 5 minutes to 1,5v and stabilize it. (50F 2.7v supercaps remain one week from 2.7 to 2.5v)

- The bad supercap cant remobe because are potted but easyly can add other supercap outside with two drill, separate bad supercap pins and solde new supercap pins to PCB (see polarity)

my Davis vantage VUE console mark always "low battery trasnmitter" advise but you can test battery voltages from weatherlink (with datalogger) in WEATHERLINK - WINDOW - ALARM AND BATTERY STATUS -> and here say STATION BATTERY OK when console say low... (much better in WeeWX and WVIEW take reads of battery and supercap voltages and logging it)

need wait a few months for test and sure repair but by the moment station are two weeks of fine work.

www.meteocampoo.es TEAM

did not work properly, battery drain in two moths and after works only with sun power hours.

by moment I thing that only have one solution: INSTALL A WIRED POWER SUPPLY OR OVER DESIGN A SOLAR PANEL WITH BATTERY AAND REGULATOR FOR 3.0 vOLTS...
« Last Edit: April 27, 2016, 01:29:08 AM by EA1EF »

Offline dalecoy

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #360 on: April 26, 2016, 05:56:01 PM »
Post to notice thar after repair as post in 331 response  in this thread the solution (INSTALL A NEW SUPERCAP and remove the potted) did not work properly, battery drain in two moths and after works only with sun power hours

by moment I thing that only have one solution: INSTALL A WIRED POWER SUPPLY OR OVER DESIGN A SOLAR PANEL WITH BATTERY AAND REGULATOR FOR 3.0 vOLTS...

Do you really have a Vue? 

Why did you post this comment in this topic?

Offline EA1EF

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #361 on: April 27, 2016, 01:22:16 AM »
Yes Sir, I have a  Davis Vantage Vue as I describe in post 331 of this theme.

I reply here because have battery failure that drain it in two monts and i m looking for any solution.

It is a evidence easy know, you only need to read this theme,

 Best regards
« Last Edit: April 27, 2016, 01:24:41 AM by EA1EF »

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #362 on: April 27, 2016, 05:53:38 AM »
I'm new to this forum but I've had a solution to the "low battery" problem for a while now...and it works very well for me. Like most people with this issue, I also went through the quick fixes of firmware update, dielectric grease and serial battery replacements...at best with very transient success.
I accepted that a dead supercap was the problem, but unlike those with access to the failed component (Pro2), those of us with Vantage Vue consoles have the main board encased in resin.
So the only solution was an external power supply. I set this up with a 5W solar panel feeding into a regulator that charges a 1.2Ah 12V battery (its very small). The battery output is fed into a dc-dc converter which reduces the output to 3V, which I feed directly to the battery terminals of the vantage vue.
All the components are housed in a 4x4" weatherproof box mounted on the same pole as the ISS (with the wiring
running through drilled holes directly into the pipe)
Costs: solar panel $9, regulator $7, DC-DC converter (buck converter) $2...all from ebay and for about $20 I have a much more robust, durable and modular solution.
Basically, the system has enough capacity to power the ISS for exponentially longer than the supercap ever could.
Its all mounted neatly and looks pretty high-tech (IMHO!) and has been working well for about 6 months now.

Hope it helps a few of you with the same issue.

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #363 on: April 27, 2016, 05:55:46 AM »
...in response to the idea that an external solar panel with battery and regulator is the proper fix for the Vantage Vue power issue...
Its been done and has been working flawlessly for me for more than 2 years now.

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #364 on: April 27, 2016, 06:15:04 AM »
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Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #365 on: April 27, 2016, 09:03:32 AM »
Nice job Durman!!!  Nice and neat!

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Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #366 on: April 27, 2016, 12:14:18 PM »
Thanks...form and function!
I just wish Davis designed the power supply a little better...3 sources of supply and it still fails. Luckily, with my "backyard" fix it works better than it ever did. Haven't seen the dreaded "low transmitter" message in over 2 years now.

The design is simple:

5W Solar panel---->12V regulator--->12V 1.2Ah battery--->Step down converter ("buck converter")--->3V regulated output---->direct connection to ISS CR123 terminals

Power supply is totally external now, and modular so individual components can be replaced; I haven't had to replace anything as yet.

Hope it helps!

Offline EA1EF

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #367 on: April 27, 2016, 05:21:25 PM »
thanks very much for share your experience, i will make any similar solution, your share aid me a lot for take a decission


Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #368 on: April 27, 2016, 08:33:15 PM »
Eduardo, Ed here...KF4KRV.  Best wishes on the project.  73

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Offline EA1EF

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #369 on: May 26, 2016, 06:11:28 PM »
Thanks Ed, we have a team association  www.meteocampoo.es


Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #370 on: May 27, 2016, 07:24:31 AM »
Looks like a good group of stations.  What area of the country are those stations in?

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Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #372 on: May 29, 2016, 09:42:56 AM »
Thanks Eduardo.  It appears that the Bay of Biscay influences your weather a good amount.

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Offline nov

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #373 on: January 24, 2017, 12:44:52 PM »
Thanks...form and function!
I just wish Davis designed the power supply a little better...3 sources of supply and it still fails. Luckily, with my "backyard" fix it works better than it ever did. Haven't seen the dreaded "low transmitter" message in over 2 years now.

The design is simple:

5W Solar panel---->12V regulator--->12V 1.2Ah battery--->Step down converter ("buck converter")--->3V regulated output---->direct connection to ISS CR123 terminals

Power supply is totally external now, and modular so individual components can be replaced; I haven't had to replace anything as yet.

Hope it helps!


Bought a second hand Davis Vantage Vue two weeks ago M model number uk version running rev3.0 firmware and have already went through three battery's getting low battery warning on the console and getting wrong temp readings -67.8c etc when the battery gets low at 2.24v.
At first i thought it was bad sensors or the test connections on the battery pcb were shorting out due to the high humidity, so i covered them in dielectric grease and the battery terminals. It was still failing after this so after reading through various posts on here that The super capacitor could be the problem.  I did test the solar panel for output and it does output some,  as long as i keep putting a new battery in the iss it works perfect for about 5 days. I am going to do what Durman has done and make my own solar powered 3v supply unit. i will post the results here in due course.   

update : sept 2017



still going strong 8 months running of external solar power

a massive thanks to durman for helping me with my setup thank you .
« Last Edit: September 22, 2017, 12:08:08 AM by nov »

Offline websign83

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #374 on: September 21, 2017, 12:29:26 PM »
Thanks...form and function!
I just wish Davis designed the power supply a little better...3 sources of supply and it still fails. Luckily, with my "backyard" fix it works better than it ever did. Haven't seen the dreaded "low transmitter" message in over 2 years now.

The design is simple:

5W Solar panel---->12V regulator--->12V 1.2Ah battery--->Step down converter ("buck converter")--->3V regulated output---->direct connection to ISS CR123 terminals

Power supply is totally external now, and modular so individual components can be replaced; I haven't had to replace anything as yet.

Hope it helps!

Hi Durman can you help me to make an external power like your project?
I have a question. After the buck converter I have to use another hardware or I can connect the buck converter directly to the ISS Cr123 terminals?
Thanks :)

 

anything