Topic: Problem with Wind Vane

[CGL]

I have a Vantage Pro2 and recently the wind direction has defaulted to North. I have cleared the fault by either pressing 'done&-ve' and leaving it for a minute or two. But that has not worked every time! The second method was to unplug the wind connection in the ISS and give it a good wiggle around to make good contact!!
But the fault keeps reoccurring.

Colin, Maldon Essex UK

[miraculon]

Because it comes back for a while when you wiggle the connector, the problem seems to be in that area. It could be a broken/intermittent signal cable as well, I would check the entire length of the anemometer cable as well.

If that is OK, I would try some good contact cleaner. Here in the US I personally use CRC QD contact and have had good luck with it. A lot of my Amateur Radio friends use DeoxIT. I know that the CRC QD is safe on the Davis connectors from personal experience. DeoxIT claims that it is plastic safe. I have no experience with it, but have no reason to doubt this claim. My Ham friends swear by it.

Hopefully it is available in the UK or there is some local equivalent.

I would also get some di-electric grease to apply to the contacts after cleaning them. Remember to clean both the cable end and the ISS socket end.

If all else fails there is a test cable that Davis offers, but I don't know how readily available these cables are in the UK. Also wxtech has developed a tester of his own.

Greg H.

[CGL]

Thank you for that.
I will try some cleaner, my plugging and unplugging may not not have been enough!
I was wondering whether it was a connection in the anemometer, but it is on a 25ft mast, not easy to get at!
It is also a fairly new, 10 months old.

Colin

[miraculon]

Another possibility would be a bad crimp on the RJ-14 connector. The wires are crimped into what is called an insulation displacement connector. If the crimp was incomplete (defective), that is another possibility. This would mean a bad connection between the actual wires and the connector itself.

It is possible to re-crimp a new connector on, but you have to be sure that you get the wires right and have the proper crimp tool.

I would try the cleaners first, but since your system is only 10 months old, it could be something like a bad crimp. Maybe you can get it replaced under warranty, but I don't know how that all works over there on your side of the pond.

Greg H.