Topic: HELP PLEASE!! Vantage Vue humidity WAY too low during Humid weather??

[pvwxaustralia]

My thoughts, too.  

However, the frustration level is sufficient that sending the whole station to EcoWatch for a complete checkup would be a good thing to do.  Either the station has developed some fault, or it hasn't.  Either the humidity sensor is faulty, or it isn't.  Either the logger is faulty, or it isn't.  And EcoWatch probably has batteries.

Sending it to them would be a good idea, except they are on the other end of the country, will take at least a week to get there and at least a week to get back and possibly another week for testing in the middle. My data is used by local media for observations for my area so 3 weeks without data is unacceptable in that regard! And knowing Australia Post it would be highly likely that the unit would be damaged in transit.

I'm pretty confident there is nothing physically wrong with the console or the ISS as a whole, and I think the problems I'm having with the data logger are because it keeps falling out of place, I can't seem to keep it in place for one day without it falling out, i'm not sure how that is causing 30 minute gaps in the data though.

And i'm 100% sure the humidity reading is faulty. I got sick of sending in dodgy data to WU and PWS so just applied a simple calibration offset for the time being during the suspect periods. I went out today and purchased another 2 systems to check humidity, during rain today Vue showed 80%, other systems were all above 95% so i'm confident something is wrong there.

Oh and yes console firmware is up to date (2.14 is what the station says is installed), and surely simply swapping computers can't make that much difference. Even when I leave the station continually connected to Cumulus for a few days, when I connect to weather link and download the data there is still gaps in the data and i've got the feeling its got more to do with the fact that the logger keeps being dislodged from it's port inside the Vue.

[pvwxaustralia]

The rise and fall in the graph represents when I set the calibrations.
I checked every 10 minutes and adjusted the humidity on the Vue to match that of my other comparison stations until 1pm when I got sick of that and just the calibration back to 0, then at 5pm I increased the CAL by +2 every 5 minutes until the humidity compared to the other stations.

Without the calibrations set today's low humidity would be 76% and the high would be 80%. My other comparison stations show low's around 70 to 75% with highs around 95 to 100%  while the nearby official station had a low today of 78% and high of 100%. Which is what you would expect as it has been drizzling rain for most of the day.

[SlowModem]

I'm pretty confident there is nothing physically wrong with the console or the ISS as a whole, and I think the problems I'm having with the data logger are because it keeps falling out of place, I can't seem to keep it in place for one day without it falling out, i'm not sure how that is causing 30 minute gaps in the data though.

I'm pretty sure there is at least one thread that deals with the datalogger falling out and easy fixes for that (put in a small piece of foam or cotton or something).

[moehoward4]

You beat me to it, Slow Modem, that was going to be my next idea. BUT, when he does this, make sure to do the console power down routine, leave the logger out for 10-15 mins then do the power up routine after reinstalling the logger. And what's to say those 'other' humidity devices that you've bought are 'accurate'?????

[pvwxaustralia]

And what's to say those 'other' humidity devices that you've bought are 'accurate'?????

Because they all compared correctly to other nearby stations while the Vue did not. This is becoming a pain to try and prove to anyone that there is a problem, it seems no one believes me, even Ecowatch.  
I know the local area and the behaviour of the local weather, I live in a VERY humid area, humidity is always higher than 80% at least once daily, though my Vue is not recording that.

Here's some graphs I've quickly chucked together to compare local humidity data from today, make that yesterday, Wednesday has just finished.

It rained for most of the day too, so although the humidity doesn't necessarily have to be at 100% it surely was higher than the max of 80% the Vue shows.

Okay, here's Wednesday's humidity from my Vue with no calibration rules applied:


Here's Wednesday humidity from the nearby official Airport weather station
Rain also affected this station today as you can see by the high humidity.


And here's Wednesday humidity from another local station on WeatherUnderground. IQUEENSL96. (My humidity reading has always compared very well to this station in the past until recently).



ALSO, can't believe I didn't think of this earlier, I have two friends in the local area that also own Vue's, I've checked with one of them's website and it reports current humidity at 100%, as you would expect given the conditions outside now.

[dalecoy]

On March 10th, this was posted

4.  When you worked inside the Vue, did you first shut down the console?  Have you ever had a problem of the logger falling out of (getting disconnected from) the console?

Yes, when I first brought the data logger it was a shocker for disconnecting from the station, which obviously caused a loss of connection from the console to the pc. I managed to get it in place and working properly and haven't even touched the console since in fear of moving it out of position. Haven't had any problems since then.

So, I discounted the very-common data-download problems after a logger is improperly re-installed after it is improperly (by accident or whatever) removed.  

And now you complain about the logger falling out of the console many times.  And you don't understand how this could affect things.

and I think the problems I'm having with the data logger are because it keeps falling out of place, I can't seem to keep it in place for one day without it falling out, i'm not sure how that is causing 30 minute gaps in the data though.

Well, that is one of the most common causes of the data-download symptoms that you have been reporting.  It's also quite possible that it can cause problems with the data (like ---).  This is a lot of wasted time and effort (for you and for us).  

When the logger is disconnected while the console has power, follow the instructions in the book for installing the logger.  That is, remove all power from the console.  That's battery and AC.  Now put in the logger.  Then restore power.  At that point, the data in the logger may also be corrupted, so use software to clear the archive.  You will lose all archived data, of course.  

And I'm betting you didn't tell EcoWatch about this part of the problem, either.  They certainly know about the logger disconnections, and know the solution - just get a small piece of foam and install it in the console, to help hold the logger in place.

[pvwxaustralia]

So, I discounted the very-common data-download problems after a logger is improperly re-installed after it is improperly (by accident or whatever) removed. 

And now you complain about the logger falling out of the console many times.  And you don't understand how this could affect things.

Well, that is one of the most common causes of the data-download symptoms that you have been reporting.  It's also quite possible that it can cause problems with the data (like ---).  This is a lot of wasted time and effort (for you and for us). 

When the logger is disconnected while the console has power, follow the instructions in the book for installing the logger.  That is, remove all power from the console.  That's battery and AC.  Now put in the logger.  Then restore power.  At that point, the data in the logger may also be corrupted, so use software to clear the archive.  You will lose all archived data, of course. 

And I'm betting you didn't tell EcoWatch about this part of the problem, either.  They certainly know about the logger disconnections, and know the solution - just get a small piece of foam and install it in the console, to help hold the logger in place.

I have reconnected the data logger as per the instruction booklet every single time that I've come across the problem, I've taken the batteries out and restarted the system every time the problem has occurred as per the instruction manuals directions. Then reset the clock as it is usually a little behind from having the batteries out then everything has been away again.

[dalecoy]

OK, sorry I assumed otherwise.  And you cleared the archive data, too?

[pvwxaustralia]

OK, sorry I assumed otherwise.  And you cleared the archive data, too?

That part I didn't do as I'm not sure how to clear it apart from just downloading what is on it.  

[dalecoy]

OK, sorry I assumed otherwise.  And you cleared the archive data, too?

That part I didn't do as I'm not sure how to clear it apart from just downloading what is on it.  

Downloading does not clear the archive.

In WeatherLink, there is a "Clear" dialog box.  In WL for Windows, it's located under the Setup pulldown.

Perhaps Cumulus has a similar feature.

... Then reset the clock as it is usually a little behind from having the batteries out then everything has been away again.

When you reset the clock, you are asked if you want to clear the archive.  Say yes.

[dalecoy]

The reason that you should clear the archive is:

If some software or logger operation is going on when the logger is suddenly disconnected (and you have very short intervals set, so that is highly likely) -- then the archive data can get corrupted. 

If the archive data is corrupted, it can affect future downloads (as well as perhaps causing the data files on the computer to be messed up).

Downloading archived data does not clear the archive. 

[pvwxaustralia]

I know it's been a LONG TIME since I originally posted about this problem, but I finally got around to sending my ISS away to Ecowatch (the Australian Davis dealer).

I spoke to them on the phone on Wednesday and they told me that they put my ISS into a closed off room where they had the ability to modify the humidity reading.
While they had the humidity set low my ISS was reporting correctly, but as they started to saturate the room with high humidity the ISS would read 80% then would start to fall, even though the humidity was actually increasing.
The guy on the phone said they were absolutely baffled as they'd never seen anything like it, they increased the humidity in the room up to 97% and my ISS was reporting 65% to them which is what I had noticed.
So, they took out the old temp/humidity sensor and replaced it with a new one, put the ISS back in the room and it reported 97% as it should.

So I'm just waiting now for my ISS to return in the mail and the problem will finally BE FIXED!!! 

[dalecoy]

Thanks for reporting back.  That's particularly helpful when there is some "oddity" involved.

[4wd]

I'm surprised they did all that rather than just swapping the sensor anyway.

[mackbig]

Cool. I guess they had some spare time to do the tests.  Or maybe Davis makes their international resellers do some first level, rather than just comping sensors to them.

I dont recall reading this in the prev posts. How old was the station?
Did Ecowatch do this gratis aside from your shipping expense?

Andrew

[pvwxaustralia]

Cool. I guess they had some spare time to do the tests.  Or maybe Davis makes their international resellers do some first level, rather than just comping sensors to them.

I dont recall reading this in the prev posts. How old was the station?
Did Ecowatch do this gratis aside from your shipping expense?

Andrew

The station was only just over a year old when the problem started occurring. I'd purchased it Mid-February 2011 and was seeing the problem by Mid-March 2012.

Yeah, Ecowatch replaced the humidity sensor for free, all I paid was shipping there and back.

[keepsake]

I am getting this extraordinary wrong humidity too.

In Florida, right now its 69.9 temp outside.  Running no AC inside these days, no heat either, windows open.  My Davis Vantage 2 that is hardwired is reporting outside RH at 40%, Dew point 44.4.  And yet my inside Propliphix hvac sensors are showing RH at 68% and 62% in two different buildings.  Inside is usually a bit lower than outside humidity, not according to the Davis lately.

When I called the factory I get the run around.  They won't do anything if I can't get a comparison at the outside sensor.  Yet the readings are massively off.

Seems to be a design problem.  I just with Davis staff would come forward and admit it.

[keepsake]

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:33523.1.99999

The stations in my area are 91 to 98% on the RH. 

[Ed_G]

Hi,
I live in a very humid area, at this time of year (Summer/early Autumn) the humidity is usually always higher than 60% and is usually always higher than 95% overnight.

Anyway in the last month for whatever reason the humidity readings have been becoming incorrect. It just poured down rain here for the last 30 minutes and the Vue is only reporting 81% humidity, compared to 2 months ago in a similar event when it would report 95 to 100%. When compared to the nearest official weather station my humidity is much lower.

In recent weeks I haven't had a humidity reading above 85% which is very unusual for my area. The humidity readings during the daytime are fine, it just seems to be once the humidity is high the station only reports low-mid 80's.

 My very belated response to the above post:  I had the same problem in Dec. 2010....and now again almost three years later.   Just getting off the phone with Davis Wx. Instruments very nice tech support,  they advised me that those of us unfortunate enough to live in very humid conditions  ( I live right on the Oregon coast )  will probably have to replace our outside humidity sensors every three years or so for this very reason.   The Davis proprietary sensor doesn't handle very moist conditions very well and over time will likely fail due to excessive wetness.