Topic: 5 in 1 anemometer failed on me. :-(

[Bruinzfan]

I have my 5 in 1 on a 40' mast.  (I also have one on a 12' pole off of my porch as a back up.)  The one on the mast stopped reading in the middle of the blizzard.  While I could see the snow going by my window sideways and the 5 in 1 on my porch spinning away.  I went out with a flashlight and sure enough it was standing still.  (All other measurements were working accordingly.) 

I was hoping it was just frozen and with the temps above freezing today it would start working again.  No luck.  I'm really not looking forward to colapsing the mast with about 20" of snow on the ground.  :-/

[DanS]

I've heard of tapping the mast with a hammer to send 'shock waves' up, possibly freeing the sticky anemometer.?.

[SlowModem]

I've heard of tapping the mast with a hammer to send 'shock waves' up, possibly freeing the sticky anemometer.?.

Just don't stick your tongue on it!   

[vreihen]

For what it's worth, mine hasn't turned since Friday night either.  It looks like the snow is still blocking the cups.  The shocker was that it read -7 F for the low last night, despite being covered in an insulating layer of snow/ice.  That's the record low for this unit since I installed it in 2011.....

[moehoward4]

My Davis VP2 and WMII thawed out at about 3pm today, don't have a clue what I had for wind through the 'Blizzard'. They froze up about 9pm Friday.

[Bruinzfan]

Thanks for the reply everyone.  Makes me feel better that I am not alone.   Too bad, I was really looking forward to those wind readings.   Best advice I saw was related to my tongue!!   

Except I found out the hard way when I was young!  LOL   


Thanks again!!

[vreihen]

FWIW, mine has finally shed the snow and is spinning normally again.....

[Bruinzfan]

Yup mine freed itself shortly after the responses.   The wind seemed to loosen the guy wires... Hmmm wonder how that happened?   Lol  That said it wasn't quite level up there either.   Probably didn't help the situation.   But all well now.   Thanks again!
Keith

[Rhino]

Yeah- that's the bad part about our beloved snow- stacks up sometimes and stops up all the anemometers! I actually waxed my 5n1 housing with some NuFinish (the old standby in the orange bottle!) and it seems to help snow and ice "sluff off"  a bit sooner, if not preventing it from sticking too well in the first place.

Fortunately, the temperature and humidity chamber is fairly well ventilated for an all-in-one design, so it will not be affected by the snow cap in most instances.