Topic: Trenton, we have a problem.

[ggsteve]

Do I not know what I'm doing, or do we have a problem?  I have had my brand-spankin' new Rainwise Mk III on the roof now for about 48 hours.  We are in the middle of a long duration Nor'Easter.  The wind is clearly coming from the Northwest.  All parameters and graphs look good except wind direction.  Since about 6:00am this morning about 2/3 of the wind direction readings say due South.  This is clearly wrong.  I have checked the wind vane numerous times and it is clearly pointing NW, N or NE, never from the South.  Right now my weather oracle is showing the wind out of the South.  Now it just bounced to NW.  Now it is back to S.  It keeps doing this.  The wind speed seems to be updating correctly.

Interestingly, this behavior began precisely when the first precipitation was registered.  My IP-100 is reporting the same thing.  Here is a link to my WU data for the last three days.  http://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KMATOWNS7#history/s20141020/e20141022/mcustom

I hope someone can read it and suggest a next step.  Did I get a lemon?  Should I be calling Rainwise?  This is quite disheartening as I paid real money for what I thought was a high quality American made product.  It certainly feels solid  and well crafted in your hands.

[Feelgood Ranch]

Compass rose orientation is based on a circle of miniature reed switches housed in the base assembly of the wind vane. My thought is that this "pointing" for correct orientation somehow got out of kilter or slipped. There is a screw to secure this assembly on the mast with proper orientation. Am I making myself clear?  FWIW. Good luck, probley  will need to go back up on roof mount to confirm it has not changed..it's really a pretty simple system.

[ggsteve]

Compass rose orientation is based on a circle of miniature reed switches housed in the base assembly of the wind vane. My thought is that this "pointing" for correct orientation somehow got out of kilter or slipped. There is a screw to secure this assembly on the mast with proper orientation. Am I making myself clear?  FWIW. Good luck, probley  will need to go back up on roof mount to confirm it has not changed..it's really a pretty simple system.

Thanks for the response.  If I understand, you think there is a chance that the apparatus that determines North/South, etc. may have had it's orientation changed.  I guess it's possible, but the symptom I'm seeing is that the wind rose shows NW, then switches to S, then back to NW, over and over.  I've been watching it closely for about two hours now and aside from one reading I saw for due East, that is all it does.  Back and forth.  How would a misalignment in the orientation of the reed switches account for that?

[Feelgood Ranch]

It wouldn't
Try a reset of console and at same time go into diagnostic mode and check battery voltage. In my experience, low voltage is a major source of of erratic issues. Once I had a defective solar panel.
If all else fails, call Lonnie White at RainWise.  He is a good man and helper. One of the company originals. I saw on Twitter feed he's in Vegas for trade show at present.

[ggsteve]

It wouldn't
Try a reset of console and at same time go into diagnostic mode and check battery voltage. In my experience, low voltage is a major source of of erratic issues. Once I had a defective solar panel.
If all else fails, call Lonnie White at RainWise.  He is a good man and helper. One of the company originals. I saw on Twitter feed he's in Vegas for trade show at present.

I'm thinking it's not the console because the IP-100 is reporting the same data.  Don't they get their information independently from the sensor array?  It's pretty consistent now.  The wind direction on the Oracle keeps flip-flopping from S to NW and back again.  I'm seeing the same thing on WU and rainwise.net. 

Lonnie was a great help when I was purchasing my station.  So far I'm not that impressed with Rainwise' support.  Their phone support message says they'll try to get back to me in 24 hrs, and the email responder says 48 hrs.

EDIT: Are you saying that from diagnostic mode I can check the battery voltage from the sensor array? I'll try that.

The voltage varies between 6.39 and 6.42.  Is that good?  The data packets show many good packets but a few bad packets too.  Software version is 18.60.  I don't know what the byte count does.

[VaJim]

Your voltage seems fine.  As long it remains above over 6 volts you're fine.  If it drops below 6 volts your display may lose connection and show dashes.

A couple of thoughts on your wind....you did point your solar panel south...correct?

With the amount of trees you have around you, you're going to get that swirl affect.  Sorta like being in a football stadium.  I get it here since my sensors are on a tripod on the ground.

The IP-100 receives the same data as your Oracle display.

Sounds like you're doing fine.

[ggsteve]

Your voltage seems fine.  As long it remains above over 6 volts you're fine.  If it drops below 6 volts your display may lose connection and show dashes.

A couple of thoughts on your wind....you did point your solar panel south...correct?

With the amount of trees you have around you, you're going to get that swirl affect.  Sorta like being in a football stadium.  I get it here since my sensors are on a tripod on the ground.

The IP-100 receives the same data as your Oracle display.

Sounds like you're doing fine.

Yes, the solar panel is aimed as close to due South as we could get it.  I don't think it's the swirl effect.  I've seen that.  This wind we're having is as steady as it gets.  The vane wavers a little, but there is something definitely not right.  The Oracle will show NW for a minute, then go right back to South, then back to NW, etc, etc. regardless of the position of the wind vane.  On WU it records two positions, some at 315* and most at 180*.  It just isn't right.

Other parameters seem fine.  I adjusted the barometer for altitude and I'm still watching to see if I need to adjust indoor temp.  The IP-100 is feeding the data to Rainwise.net and WU and the Oracle display is very nice.

[ValentineWeather]

Looking at your chart it looks like something is getting wet, it goes exactly 180 to 315 degrees after the rain started. If it was just twirling you would have other directions mixed in. Something doesn't look right.

[ggsteve]

Looking at your chart it looks like something is getting wet, it goes exactly 180 to 315 degrees after the rain started. If it was just twirling you would have other directions mixed in. Something doesn't look right.

Yes, that's what I think.  I'm not too happy about having to make more trips up on the roof.  We'll see what Rainwise says.

[ValentineWeather]

Looking at your chart it looks like something is getting wet, it goes exactly 180 to 315 degrees after the rain started. If it was just twirling you would have other directions mixed in. Something doesn't look right.

Yes, that's what I think.  I'm not too happy about having to make more trips up on the roof.  We'll see what Rainwise says.

Don't blame you, but your son may be more upset. 
I'll google the problem and see if anything pops up.

[ggsteve]

Well, Rainwise support was very quick to answer my email, before 8:00am the next morning.  Richie at Rainwise thinks the air vane is shorting out, so they are replacing the whole unit.  Unfortunately I called Rainwise back too late to get the replacement in the mail today.  If it shipped today I would have it tomorrow.  Now I won't get it until at least Monday.

[ggsteve]

My replacement Mk III hasn't been shipped yet, but the defective one is currently working great now that it has dried out!

[ValentineWeather]

Figured that would happen. If you knew where it was leaking you could seal it but I wouldn't now with the new unit coming.

[ggsteve]

My son and I replaced the air vane today with a new one sent to us by Richie at Rainwise.  The new one came slathered in waterproof coating.  I think this will do the trick, the original air vane that we removed doesn't appear to have any waterproofing on it at all.  The installation took under a minute even at the peak of the roof.  The hardest part was getting up there safely.

[ValentineWeather]

Odd with their reputation they didn't already have it down to a science what was needed for waterproofing, or somehow they shipped a unit out without the necessary waterproofing. Either way its not good for Rainwise shipping top end and brand new units that can't handle a little rain.