Frozen Station Problems

[Farmtalk]

I set up my station in the middle of a field and mounted it on some fence, but when there is any sort of precip from snow, rain whatever, it freezes my weather station, i thought about trying to cover it up, but that would make the temperature and precipitation inaccurate....Any suggestions?

Thanks

--Farmtalk--

[mmorris]

 :shock:What Station hardware was that I don't remember what weather station you were referring. Also what is freezing up?

[Farmtalk]

WS 1090- it is unresponsive right now, hopefully it will be ok, the anemometer and wind direction component is completely frozen, the solar panel shield has ice on top of it, and the precip gauge appears to have a thin layer of ice on it, i couldnt tell on the thermo sensor, i think the pressure gauge is ok but its also nonresponsive, hopefully it didnt mess up the wires or anything, i left a couple exposed, which is probably a no-no, but it said it could take temps down to -20F i believe; its been about 20mph with 20F

[WeatherHost]

Exposed wires won't matter since the connections are protected.

If the solar panel is covered with ice, it may not be getting enough light to charge the batteries and/or the ice over the transmitter may be blocking the radio signal.  How far is it from the house/base station?

One option that's been discussed here before is to set up a car windshield washer pump and hoses to spray anti-freeze onto the wind sensors.  Power it off a car battery.  Add another solar cell trickle charger to keep that battery charged.  If it's too far away to run some low voltage wiring, there are remote/wireless devices that can be used to activate the pump for a few seconds when needed.

[Farmtalk]

Exposed wires won't matter since the connections are protected.

If the solar panel is covered with ice, it may not be getting enough light to charge the batteries and/or the ice over the transmitter may be blocking the radio signal.  How far is it from the house/base station?

One option that's been discussed here before is to set up a car windshield washer pump and hoses to spray anti-freeze onto the wind sensors.  Power it off a car battery.  Add another solar cell trickle charger to keep that battery charged.  If it's too far away to run some low voltage wiring, there are remote/wireless devices that can be used to activate the pump for a few seconds when needed.

It's about 75 feet from the inside sensor, and i will see on doing that

[George Richardson]

JMO, leave it alone for the day to see if it self corrects. If not, run a 100' extension cord out to it and use a hair dryer to loosen it. You've had above average winds and below average temperatures for the past couple of days, and things happen. Don't use radical fixes unless you know you need them.

George

[4wd]

The pressure gauge is in the console, if that's 'frozen' too I suspect something else is amiss.

[Farmtalk]

Thanks everyone! There has been enough melting and warming to where the pressure gauge IS reporting, and the anemometer is moving now but nothing other than the pressure gauge is working

[SlowModem]

I was going to say that they've covered all the basics.  If the sensor assembly has battery backup, ensure you have fully charged batteries (lithium preferred).  A hairdryer is a good method to thaw the anemometer out, as it doesn't use a liquid or chemical.  If you're not getting temperature or humidity readings from outside, it might be a low battery.  Take the console outside with you.  That way you'll know it's not a range-related problem.

By the way, your signature really needs to be fixed.  The code you have now:

Code:

<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KWVPROCI2"><img border="0" src="http://banners.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/banner/ban/wxBanner?bannertype=wxstnsticker_both&weatherstationcount=KWVPROCI2" width="160" height="160"></a>

really needs to be changed to

Code:

[url=http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Procious,WV' title='Procious,WV Weather Forecast][img]http://weathersticker.wunderground.com/weathersticker/bigwx_cond/language/english/US/WV/Procious.gif[/img][/url]

It will look like this:



It may not be exactly what you want, but it's a start.  Put that code in the box for your signature on your profile information.

Also, on your WU weather history page for KWVPROCI2, it's all blank.  It doesn't seem to know where you are.  You probably need to go to your station page and edit your location.

Good luck.  This sounds like a good weekend project.  Stay warm when you're outside. 

[Farmtalk]

Thanks a ton! Im bust at the moment, but I will try to fix everything you told me 

[Farmtalk]

Although I cant do it now, at another time, I may need some help getting my station hooked up to wunderground, Im never very good at coding/internet things as im sure u all know

[mackbig]

As 4wd already said, the pressure gauge is in the Console.  So if that is the only thing that is working, you have lost comms with the station.  If pressure wasnt working before then you really have problems.

Andrew

Thanks everyone! There has been enough melting and warming to where the pressure gauge IS reporting, and the anemometer is moving now but nothing other than the pressure gauge is working

[Farmtalk]

Yeah I said something wrong when i said that pressure wasnt working, it worked the whole time...ill see what i can do, the batteries must have gotten zapped