Author Topic: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?  (Read 166660 times)

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Offline nov

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #375 on: September 21, 2017, 11:52:10 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 :)

Yes after buck goes direct to cr123 terminals
if you need any more help just ask .

my setup parts below
12v battery  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000W1V628/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
12v 5w solar panel  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DS3DPOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
12v solar charge controller  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N41L0GC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
buck converter set to 3v output  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00UN1JXMM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
« Last Edit: September 22, 2017, 12:04:17 AM by nov »

Offline websign83

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #376 on: September 22, 2017, 10:08:10 AM »
Yes after buck goes direct to cr123 terminals
if you need any more help just ask .

my setup parts below
12v battery  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000W1V628/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
12v 5w solar panel  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DS3DPOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
12v solar charge controller  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N41L0GC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
buck converter set to 3v output  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00UN1JXMM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you nov for your explanation.
I want to buy this buck converter https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B011HFSLGG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A50DZI580G3JX&psc=1 . This should be okay? is specific for 3v output...
Another question :) . I have to connect the buck converter on the load output (last two connections on the right side) of the charge regulator?

Thank you :-)

Regards from Sardinia

Bye bye :)

Offline nov

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #377 on: September 22, 2017, 04:55:50 PM »
Yes after buck goes direct to cr123 terminals
if you need any more help just ask .

my setup parts below
12v battery  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000W1V628/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
12v 5w solar panel  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DS3DPOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
12v solar charge controller  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N41L0GC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
buck converter set to 3v output  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00UN1JXMM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you nov for your explanation.
I want to buy this buck converter https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B011HFSLGG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A50DZI580G3JX&psc=1 . This should be okay? is specific for 3v output...
Another question :) . I have to connect the buck converter on the load output (last two connections on the right side) of the charge regulator?

Thank you :-)

Regards from Sardinia

Bye bye :)

Hi websign83

Yes the buck looks like it should do your job for 3 volts output.
Try make sure the buck has no led lights or one at most . you need a low power consumption buck or the buck could drain your battery faster.
 
Buck input connects to solar charge controller load output. YES.
Buck output to davis cr123 terminals.
Battery to solar charge controller.
Solar Panel to solar charge controller.


some pictures of my setup although i do not use this buck with large led lights anymore as it was to power hungry i use the small buck with one tiny led  . I have snipped the leds on the charge controller to save power also.

   

« Last Edit: September 24, 2017, 09:47:58 AM by nov »

Offline maccross

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #378 on: September 28, 2017, 11:12:19 PM »

I think it can be helpful to share my experience with the "Low Battery Transmiter 1" error.
I bought a Vantage Vue weather station in 2011.
Since 2012 I noticed The Low Battery error showing sometimes mainly for no apparent reason, (some 2 or 3 times per month).
Almost all the times the error went off by its own and no data was lost during the nigths just after the error shows.
That can be checked in outside temperature/humidity graphs.
If data is lost for some hours during the night that seems to be a confirmation of real ISS low battery.

But this year begining in March I got the Low Battery warning and lost data during the nights.
Then I replaced the old battery with a new one (May 16).
But the error keept showing and data was lost during the nights with the new battery.
Even without the Low Battery error during the day my weather station was missing data for some hours during the nights.

Because of that I started thinking of replacing the battery, the transmitter, the supercap or the complete ISS.

Then as last DIY fix I decided to replace the battery with a specialy prepaired one.
At the positive battery terminal I soldered a small pointed golden pin so the contact with the positive battery hold terminal would
have a very small surface contact with a higher pressure and so a better contact quality would be achieved. ( the replaced battery
 was showing a slight oxidation at the positive terminal).
Besides that I used a very fine used sandpaper, isopropyl alcohol, and a cotton swab to clean the ISS battery holder contacts.

It has been more than two months now since that fix. The weather station has been running flawlessly since.

My conclusion is: the most fragile elements in the Vantage Vue weather station are the contacts between parts and or cables not soldered.
It seems dust, moisture, grease, polution or whatever gets in between the metalic parts and spoil the conductivity need for the proper circuit perfomance.

( I had a similar malfunction with Low Console Batteries warning: the console printed circuit golden tabs were green because of oxidation,
 the solution was wire soldering )

Offline Andrew MPs

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #379 on: April 07, 2020, 01:36:58 AM »
I'm not convinced it is a 'real' low battery issue so much as a problem with monitoring the condition of it.
Some reports suggest fitting a new battery does not stop the warning appearing.

First thing to try seems to be reset the console by going into the set-up sequence and press+hold 'done'.
Next maybe ensure CR123 battery is making good contact both ends, and the battery door is fully latched shut.

Thanks you 4wd - ten years after your post your suggestion has solved a problem that has been annoying me for days. Thanks from downunder!

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #380 on: July 02, 2020, 04:18:56 AM »
Hi everyone...been a while since my last post but I think this will add worthy information to the Vantage Vue knowledge base.

For a brief update:
My Vantage Vue ISS suffered the inevitable fate of supercap failure and I got around repeatedly replacing the backup battery by exteriorising and modularising the entire contraption with a separate solar panel that charged a 12V battery which I then dropped to 3.3V and fed into the backup battery terminals (see previous posts). Worked well for 4 years now...until the ISS built-in solar panel failed a month ago.

So the system relied on the little solar panel to power the ISS during daylight, and the external battery to power it at night (no supercap power is available). Daylight also charged this external battery.

Problem: the external battery cannot be charging and discharging concurrently (it cannot feed the ISS while it is charging itself).

I had to find a replacement for the ISS solar panel power to allow the external battery to charge during the day and power the ISS at night.

Solution: 5V lithium power bank charged by a low voltage solar panel!

So I threw out the old solar panel (17V open circuit voltage to charge the 12V lead acid battery through a solar regulator) and installed a similar sized 6.2 V solar panel...perfect for charging a 5V lithium -ion power bank.
Since the new solar panel has so much more capacity than is needed to charge the li-ion power bank, I split the solar output to feed the ISS as well. I simply unscrewed the terminals off the ISS little solar panels and diverted the leads to receive solar power.

Well those are the basic principles of its operation; it needs a few details filled in.

1. The solar panel output varies, and goes up to about 6.8V in bright sunlight. I used a 3.3V voltage regulator to give the ISS a voltage it can safely work with.
2. I attached a 1000uF capacitor across the voltage regulator output to smooth the fluctuations in solar supply.
3. The power bank receives the solar panel power directly for charging. It has protective circuitry that allows it to accept a good range of input voltages.
4. The output from the power bank is 5V. Once again, I dropped this down to 3.3V with a voltage regulator and fed it into the CR123 battery terminals. A new CR123 battery coincidentally happens to be 3.3V
5. The ISS is designed to only use the backup battery when there is no solar power so the li-ion battery only kicks in at sunset.
6. I found that the best powerbank is the one that has no button to manually turn on; it needs to kick in automatically when the solar panel isn't feeding the ISS. Most power banks are designed to turn off when there is minimal draw from them and the ISS uses precious little power which is not enough to keep the USB output active. This is a problem esp around dawn and dusk when there is a "handover" of sorts from one source to the next; it is not a binary state of either this or that source of power so both need to be available for the ISS to choose from.
7. The system works well in the "bench test" phase of my experimentation. I'm mulling over whether I should install a supercap across the solar panel outputs to smooth AND supply the Li-ion battery as well as the ISS. Not necessary right now because it works well without this modification.
8. The voltage regulators I used are LM3940IT-3.3 in a TO220 package. These things are not very energy efficient, but since the draw through them is so low, and the voltage drop is so minimal (5V to 3,3V for one and 6.8V to 3.3V for the other) they don't dissipate any heat whatsoever.

Hope it helps!


 

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #381 on: July 17, 2020, 08:35:59 AM »
I don't have a Vue but that is a good project write-up you did!  Someone is going to appreciate the information that you've included.   Some of it may be transportable over to VP2s, too.  Good job!

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Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #382 on: July 17, 2020, 12:29:58 PM »
Thanks...finalised things on the circuit board and installed it on the pole today...works just fine.
The power bank needs to be of a "power pass through" type (allows for charging while it feeds power to the CR123 battery terminals so we get rid of the "low battery transmitter" error)[/img].
As a side idea...cut out a 50mm hole at the bottom of 2 plant pots and slid them down the mounting pole before installing the Vue, solar panel and circuit box...now instead of a very utilitarian looking pole, I have a garden plant feature as well!
Heres some pics.

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #383 on: July 17, 2020, 12:30:59 PM »
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Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #384 on: July 17, 2020, 12:31:56 PM »
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Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #385 on: October 13, 2020, 02:31:40 PM »
3 months down the line...

Works flawlessly!
Complete removal of the Davis power system to my extrinsic supply...all 3 components - CR123 battery, solar panel and supercap.
And looks quite nice in the spring!
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Offline davidmc36

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #386 on: October 13, 2020, 03:06:56 PM »
Do you have a link to the Power Bank? I could use a couple of those.

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #387 on: October 14, 2020, 03:04:23 PM »
Hi...I have a Romoss but you can just google "pass through power bank" and choose from a million hits. I suggest a small capacity one (probably with a single 2600mAh 18650 cell) so it charges quickly to full capacity.

Offline davidmc36

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #388 on: October 14, 2020, 04:19:41 PM »
Thanks for the tips. Will search that out.

Offline lesterb

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #389 on: December 19, 2020, 09:25:30 PM »
Thanks Durman for your suggestions. I found your first post when gooling for Vantage Pro 2 battery problems and thought I could base mine on an 18650 battery rather than a 12v cell and then I found your later posts suggesting just that.
I currently have a 6v solar panel keeping a pair of 18650s charged and feeding a NodeMCU module which remotely monitors the temperature of my outdoor spa. I'm going to replicate that but use an adjustable step down buck converter to give 3v out and I'll probably only need 1 x 18650. It won't be long before it I break even on cost because I was having to replace CR123A's regularly.
 

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #390 on: December 20, 2020, 04:40:10 AM »
Glad you found the write-up helpful, Lester...have you considered a voltage regulator instead of a buck converter? 4.2 - 3.7V from an 18650 down to 3.3V for the ISS sounds perfect! Either solution will be fine though, IMHO.

Offline lesterb

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #391 on: December 20, 2020, 02:47:53 PM »
Is it OK to apply more than 3v to the ISS? If so, what is the maximum?
If it will take a higher voltage an alternative is to replace the CR123A with an RCR123A (rechargeable) but then charging voltage and fully charged would be 4.2V.

Offline johnd

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #392 on: December 20, 2020, 03:55:17 PM »
Davis specifically advise against using rechargeable CR123 batteries - the discharge characteristic is different and you'll be changing the battery more often.
Prodata Weather Systems
Prodata's FAQ/support site for Davis stations
Includes many details on 6313 Weatherlink console.
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Cambridge UK

Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.

Offline Durman

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Re: Battery failures on Vantage Vue?
« Reply #393 on: December 21, 2020, 08:31:41 AM »
A new CR123 is 3.3V and goes down to about 2.8V before the "low battery transmitter 1" message appears. A rechargeable CR123 is a Li-ion 1S 3.7V cell that charges up to around 4.2V and deep discharges to 3.4V.
So completely different voltage characteristics despite the same form factor.

In summary, if you use a li-ion power source (rechargeable CR123 or power bank with li-ion cells, or even 18650 cells) you have to reduce the voltage to a max 3.3V.

The nice thing about a power bank is the 5V output that allows for the voltage drop which is inevitable with a DC-DC buck or a voltage regulator.