Vantage pro2 plus and solar radiation sensor

[brookr]

Hi

Thought I would join this forum to pick up anything on the VP2 pro plus.  I have had the kit for 4 years and up until now it's worked fine. I have a malfunction on my Solar readings which I suspect could be moisture/rain ingress. I just want to know if my problem sounds like water/moisture or is it the actual sensor which costs close on £200 over in England - I see it's closer to £75 or about $140 in the US. I don't think it's the ISS, or connections in here, but I do suspect water somewhere.

Symptoms - high readings of the order 1700WM, then dashed, or no readings, back down to as low as 20WM over a period of a few hours and values at night too, when if working correctly should give 0WM. After a few days the instrument settles down and gives normal solar reading for the time of year at my latitude.

Are these symptoms consistent with a failing sensor?

would you expect any reading at all if the sensor was at fault?

How long would you expect a sensor to give reliable service

would you get varying readings like this with sensor that was faulty?

 

[Cienega32]

Are these symptoms consistent with a failing sensor?

would you expect any reading at all if the sensor was at fault?
 

My solar is only a week or so old but when I had some moisture in the other sensor jacks a year or two ago, I was throwing odd-ball readings and dash-outs like the ones you mentioned and it slowly restored over time.

I can't comment on any failure other than a temp/hum sensor that showed extreme readings soon after my initial purchase. It was a bad batch that Davis knew about.

[tomcj2]

I replaced mine a few months ago, but as I remember I was getting only extremely high readings. It was about 2 years old. I had phoned Davis, and the technician analyzed the problem immediately.  In the USA they send out replacements for a fraction if the cost of the original one if you return the defective one within 30 days ( if you don't they charge your credit card with the difference)

[wxtech]

Welcome to the forum. 
Your problem sounds like a rain infiltration but probably into the ISS.  The board gets moisture in the area of the connections or on the components on the SIM board. 
I have a problem VP2+ (UV&Solar).  The last 3 months I've had rain entering the edges of the solar panels.  Rain can enter at the door gasket, the antenna seal, the cable port.  When a small amount of moisture gets on the SIM board or into the cable plugs, it causes the outside data to go high/low or dashed out.
Even though the SIM board is moisture protection coated, it still is affected by moisture on the components.
The Davis manual says the sensor is hermetically sealed.  However a leak there may cause problems I described but only for that sensor.
This is from the manual: "Due to the sensitivity of solar radiation sensors it is common practice for manufacturers to recommend recalibration after a period of time."
See Maintaining the Sensor on page 15 http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/manuals/solar_radiation_sensor.pdf
You should thoroughly check the ISS before you pay for an exchange sensor.
Bottom line; contact Davis techs for advice.

[Cienega32]

  Rain can enter at the door gasket, the antenna seal, the cable port. 
...
Bottom line; contact Davis techs for advice.

When I first put my station up, I didn't fully trust the door seal on mine. It seemed that the plastic was a bit warped in one small area for a good, tight seal and it always felt 'funky' when I slid the cover on. It took 3 days of Hurricane Dolly remnants to get to the jacks and I ended up just replacing the ISS and box mainly because I couldn't clear the problem. The replacement seemed to have a better fit to it and I put pool o-ring lube on the box seal. Of course, the old one cleared up the day the new one arrived!

When I put in my solar, the seal appeared to be tight all around with no dust/dirt breaching the seal and the cover always seemed to be a better fit on the new box.

Davis Tech is the best advice - they spend time with you and don't try to shove new parts down your throat if you don't need them. The replacement was more my idea than theirs and only because of the way the fit of the cover always felt odd.

[brookr]

Had exactly the same fault with my solar sensor about 2 year ago now. This was water ingress.
Try a hair dryer on any suspect connections. Go easy on the heat! 

On mine i had a connection close to the ground. I took everything apart and resealed with new connectors and the job was a good one. It's been OK since. You must make everything water tight!