Author Topic: Acurite vs Vantage Vue  (Read 18337 times)

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Offline txagwx

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #25 on: November 08, 2011, 07:41:45 PM »
Had some rain today...
Acurite .80
Vantage Vue .80
NWS 11 gauge .73  (don't know why this seems to under report).


Offline wxtech

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #26 on: November 09, 2011, 01:22:21 PM »
Do you have a picture of the sensors outside?  That is so cool that you are comparing it the MMTS
Attached is a picture of the Downtown Lexington wx sensors.
Al Washington, Lexington, Ga.,  NWS Coop station=LXTG1, Fischer Porter, SRG, MMTS. 
CoCoRaHS=GA-OG-1. CWOP=CW2074.  Davis VP2+ WLIP 5.9.2, VP(original) serial, VWS v15.00 p02. ImageSalsa, Win7 & Win8 all-in-one.

Offline txagwx

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #27 on: November 15, 2011, 04:05:22 PM »
rain today:
Accurite 1.33
Davis 1.23
NWS 4": 1.22
Accurite 4" gage:  1.25

So far I have been impressed with the accurite...especially for the price.

Offline Weather Display

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #28 on: November 15, 2011, 04:45:43 PM »
but that result shows the accurite overead by a significant amount
Brian
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Offline txagwx

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #29 on: November 15, 2011, 08:37:17 PM »
but that result shows the accurite overead by a significant amount

It was a classic hp supercell downpour.  I got all of that it in minutes, and my accurite is about 50 feet away.
My vue clocked 9"/hr rainfall rate!

I trust it.

« Last Edit: November 15, 2011, 08:39:16 PM by txagwx »

Offline Weather Display

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #30 on: November 15, 2011, 08:46:38 PM »
50 ft away from the other rain gauges?
if so then you are not going to be able to compare as well to the other gauges
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Offline txagwx

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #31 on: November 15, 2011, 09:26:24 PM »
50 ft away from the other rain gauges?
if so then you are not going to be able to compare as well to the other gauges

I had it right next to it last few times....seems very close to the Davis.  Believe me, I have 4-5 rain gauges in my backyard, and none of them read the same.  With heavy down pours in Houston, you can easily differences of .05 to .10.

Offline tim273

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #32 on: February 20, 2019, 03:48:30 PM »
I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd throw in my $.02.  I've had an Acurite 5-in-1 for about 8 months now and I just bought the Davis Vantage Vue about a month ago.  They are both mounted on the same pole, but the davis is about 3 feet higher than the Acurite.  I've noticed that sometimes they are exactly the same and others they times they are off by up to 5 degrees.  For example, right now we're are at the tail end of a snowstorm here in MN, so it's overcast the snow has ended and there's a light wind.

Davis Vantage Vue:
Temp: 28.2
Dew Point: 25.1

Acurite 5-in-1
Temp: 33
Dew Point: 30.1

There are 2 other Davis stations, another Vantage Vue and an Pro 2 near me that are reporting 27 to Weather Underground.

Both are in full sun and I upgraded the Acurite to have the Pro anemometer so it has the dual solar panel for more accurate temps.  The fan is starting to sound sick though, you can hear it making noise so I don't know how long it's going to last.  From what I've noticed so far, the Acurite seems to fluctuate in it's temps more than the Davis.  But they are pretty close most of the time.

What did it for me was when we had a week of record low temps here at the end of January and I look at my Acurite console and it said it was -6 (for the high temp for the day), whereas on Weather Underground most others in the area were reporting -15 so that was the last straw for me.  I'm also thinking of modding the Davis to add a fan aspirated radiation shield maybe when all this snow melts.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that in there.

Offline BeaverMeadow

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #33 on: February 20, 2019, 05:47:55 PM »
Pretty often other local wu sites near me read 10deg F above mine (typically at night when it is very cold and there is little or no wind). I put out a glass thermometer to verify the 5-1 and the 5-1 is always correct.

Your immediate micro-climate could have an effect on differences between your unit and the others in your area (but not your Vue). Which is correct your Vue or your 5-1?

Eight months for a 5-1 to start failing sounds premature. The 5-1 motor is pretty noisy but steady. Is yours making new and different sounds compared to when new?

Offline tim273

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #34 on: February 20, 2019, 05:58:45 PM »
Usually the Davis is more in line with the other ones around, but it varies.  Sometimes the direct sun on the radiation shield makes it warmer though. 

Overall for me it was worth it to upgrade, because of the 2.5 second updates and being able to use rapid fire on Weather Underground using WeeWx.  Also the Acurite console would often return bad data and I had to resort to using an SDR and different sensor to get pressure.  Haven't had any bad data issues with Davis, at least not yet.  From what I've read Acurite refuses to give any technical specs out so the WeeWx developers had to reverse engineer to get it to work.  Not so with Davis and because of that there is better support.

My plan is to eventually upgrade to a VP2, but that will be down the line.

Offline CW2274

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2019, 06:02:50 PM »
I'm also thinking of modding the Davis to add a fan aspirated radiation shield maybe when all this snow melts.
With a Vue, that'll be next to impossible without completely changing the physical structure of the ISS. The VP2 however, is easily modded.

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #36 on: February 20, 2019, 06:06:39 PM »
I found in the Winter months, the single solar panel aspirator worked better than the dual. I think the sun angle is worse and doesn't fire the fan up to full power.

Offline Jim_S

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #37 on: February 20, 2019, 07:48:16 PM »
I don't have a direct comparison but the two stations closest to me (less than .5 miles) are both Vantage Pro 2s and during the middle of the day, even if it's overcast, they have been reading 2 or 3 degrees below my 5 in 1. At night we match up pretty well. It could be that the 5 in 1's solar panel is covered in snow right now.

Offline WXman

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #38 on: February 27, 2019, 07:56:44 AM »
I've got two 5-n-1s and a Davis VP2 running on my property.  The Davis and one of the Acurite's are on the same mast, and the other Acurite is 500 feet away on a 4x4 post.

The Acurite stations ALWAYS read higher than the Davis station.  In clouds or hours of darkness, it's usually about 1°F.  In sunshine I've seen it as much as 5°F higher.  This summer when it's actually hot outside, I expect that the Acurite may go as much as 10°F too high.

For the money spent, the 5-n-1 does an excellent job.  But the housing and aspirating fan just can't keep up with sunshine.  That's where the Davis unit excels.
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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #39 on: February 27, 2019, 08:50:07 AM »
Wow.  This is an old thread.  Here's some history to avoid confusion.

The older section is from 2011 when the 5n1 used a two-chip setup (Sentrion?) for the temp-humidity module.

In 2012 the 5n1 design changed to use the Sensirion  (not Sentrion) SHT21.  About this time Acurite also replaced many 5n1 systems that had "stuck" humidity sensors.  I had one of those, and the new system sent to me had the SHT21 chip.

The physical layout of the temp/humidity module slowly changed over the years.  Originally it was a two-board arrangement that was quite bulky and made it easy for nesting insects to block things up.  Today the module is a slim, single board.

I've no idea what changes the Vantage Vue may have gone through during this period.

Offline WXman

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #40 on: October 28, 2019, 10:42:52 AM »
Nice late October afternoon.  Not even close.  Can't see why Acurite bothers to put a fan in these units.

During the hours of darkness it's fine.  As soon as the sun is up, cloudy or sunny, temp. readings go straight in the trash.

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Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #41 on: October 28, 2019, 10:53:06 AM »
Pull of the bottom of the pagoda and make sure the temp/humidity wasn't dislodged during shipping, blocking the fan.  No tools needed.

Never mind.  That's a 5n1 display.  Did you check to make sure the fan or wind tunnel isn't blocked by something like an insect nest?  Or possibly a defective fan?

Seriously, they do work.  Physics is physics.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2019, 10:58:03 AM by nincehelser »

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #42 on: October 28, 2019, 12:51:53 PM »
Are these stations both in the sunshine? If so, the fan on the 5n1 is not working right. There should not be that much difference... maybe one or 2 degrees, but not 6 F.

Offline WXman

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #43 on: October 28, 2019, 02:39:23 PM »
Are these stations both in the sunshine? If so, the fan on the 5n1 is not working right. There should not be that much difference... maybe one or 2 degrees, but not 6 F.

Yes, both are mounted to the same tower.  And I confirmed that the fans are working on both.  Acurite has been like that since day 1.  It just can't keep up with the sun light.

In the summer, it can sometimes be more than 6 degrees high.
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Davis Vantage Pro 2 wireless station
AcuRite 5-n-1 w/ WiFi reporting to WU

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #44 on: October 28, 2019, 02:44:34 PM »
Mine used to be too high on my previous 5n1, by 5 F sometimes, but the latest one I bought seems to be much better. I think it has to do with the actual sensor itself being improved from what it was in some earlier models. I put the old fan that has 2 solar cells on the new sensor, and it worked very well, so I know that in my case, the fan was not the issue.

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #45 on: October 28, 2019, 02:50:38 PM »
Are these stations both in the sunshine? If so, the fan on the 5n1 is not working right. There should not be that much difference... maybe one or 2 degrees, but not 6 F.

Yes, both are mounted to the same tower.  And I confirmed that the fans are working on both.  Acurite has been like that since day 1.  It just can't keep up with the sun light.

In the summer, it can sometimes be more than 6 degrees high.

Did you contact Acurite support?  Something is obviously wrong if it is reading 6F degrees high, especially from day 1.

Offline WXman

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #46 on: October 31, 2019, 01:45:42 PM »
Are these stations both in the sunshine? If so, the fan on the 5n1 is not working right. There should not be that much difference... maybe one or 2 degrees, but not 6 F.

Yes, both are mounted to the same tower.  And I confirmed that the fans are working on both.  Acurite has been like that since day 1.  It just can't keep up with the sun light.

In the summer, it can sometimes be more than 6 degrees high.

Did you contact Acurite support?  Something is obviously wrong if it is reading 6F degrees high, especially from day 1.

Yes, but the Acurite customer support process was worse than buying a house.  They wanted to know my blood type, what date my son was born on, my mother's maiden name, how many cats we owned, and what color the house was even after I explained the issue in detail and provided photos.  I finally got tired of the cat and mouse games and said screw it.

I don't know what could be "wrong" with the unit.  From sunset to sunrise it's spot-on.  The fan works.  The sensors are all working.  The case isn't cracked or damaged.  To me it simply has trouble keeping up with the effect of solar radiation.  It needed a higher volume fan and/or better shielding around the sensors.  Looking at it right now, it's 9 degrees higher than the Davis.
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Davis Vantage Pro 2 wireless station
AcuRite 5-n-1 w/ WiFi reporting to WU

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #47 on: October 31, 2019, 02:06:22 PM »
There must be something very unique about your situation.

That's likely why support was asking you so many questions.

Good luck.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2019, 02:41:42 PM by nincehelser »

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #48 on: October 31, 2019, 03:34:48 PM »
Sounds very much to me like a bad fan motor. Sometimes they will run, and other times not, or they will run slower than they should.

Offline WXman

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Re: Acurite vs Vantage Vue
« Reply #49 on: November 04, 2019, 01:50:53 PM »
There must be something very unique about your situation.

That's likely why support was asking you so many questions.

Good luck.

Possibly, but it's the most basic installation you could have.  One Rhon TV tower with the Acurite and Davis stations mounted to the same tower, just a couple feet apart.  Both with solar panels facing south.  Both display consoles in the same room of the house.  Nothing broken or damaged on either station.  Both stations about 1 year old.  And the fans work on both stations every single time I check them including when the sun is up and the Acurite is way off.  There is no hardware failure going on, only a poor design IMO.

As soon as I showed them photos of my Acuwrong station being so far out of whack, the questions should have ended there.  Most every other company I've ever dealt with would end the questions there.  But no, this company made it seem as if they were just trying to get out of doing a warranty replacement.   #-o

No biggie though...  now that Davis has finally moved into the 21st century and has the Weatherlink Live available, I will get one of those soon and never look back.
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38.01977N, 84.83486W
Davis Vantage Pro 2 wireless station
AcuRite 5-n-1 w/ WiFi reporting to WU

 

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