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Weather Station Hardware => Other Weather Station Hardware => Topic started by: TheBushPilot on June 30, 2017, 05:51:00 PM
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Hi all, I am new to the forums. Anyway, I had received an older vintage Texas Electronics heavy duty anemometer and wind vane, similar to that off of Texas Weather Instruments website. It was repainted a light and darker grey color. This also came with display for both wind speed and direction. The potentiometer in the wind vane went out and I have struggled to find similar makes or matches. I have yet to find when this equipment was made as there are no dates or records on anything I have. All I have to go on thus far is that the potentiometer is manufactured by Duncan Electronics. Hopefully the images will help figure something out.
Anything is appreciated. Thanks!
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Hi and welcome to the forum.
Is there anyway to open the pot and get inside it? It just may need cleaning.
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Hi and welcome to the forum.
Is there anyway to open the pot and get inside it? It just may need cleaning.
Yes, the first thing I did was open the thing and make sure it was clean. It turned out the little contacts from the slider piece and the solder bullets were broken.
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Can we see pictures of the broken parts?
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The little leads in the pot were disconnected, they were not connected to the ring thus no connection. I'm not sure what to do about that.
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I already know the ohm of the potentiometer, I have all of that information already, I just need to know if anyone knows of a similar part that I can find.
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I have an older one, too. Would like to put it up, just for museum type display, but the pot is shot in mine, also. I did contact the folks at Texas Electronics Instruments, and found that the replacement pot alone was something like $115 !!!
There has been one as a rebuild on eBay for monhts, and the buy it now price is something like $300, again a ! for impact.
I, like you, would love to find an equivalent that I could mount in the case, just to get it working without selling a couple cars and my dog.
If you ever do find one, at a reasonable price, could you please let us know on this thread as a resource? Good luck, I still try once in awhile, but haven't found enything yet.
Dale
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What is the Ohm value just in case I see something somewhere?
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Dan, I recall 10k but let me check tomorrow for sure.
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Thanks, I just checked on the Texas Weather Instruments website and that's the value they mention too (10K) for their wind vanes.
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this is a little weird, I went out to my shed where all the 'projects' live, and found the pot that I had taken out a year or so ago, and never found a replacement.
It says this is a Duncan electronics product, which is in agreement with what the previous requester had noted and Dan found had been incorporated into BEI.
The markings are:
2230-588-1 Of course a google search finds nothing, and while there is a range of potentiometers on the BEI site, this gets no hits.
The other thing which I find strange is that it says it is 500 ohms, NOT 10k which I must have imprinted from all the other potentiometer wind direction indicators that I've played with. And plus or minus 10%, which seems a wee bit odd.
Also when I was at the site that DanS had posted for BEI, they indicate that the range of rotation is usually in the 350 degree area, which if it is indicating a dead zone, OK, but these are continuously rotating, so that there is no stop at the high or low end, obviously. I don't know if ordinary pots can be had that way, or Texas Electronics had to operate on the ones they used to allow them to rotate without a stop.
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I've been finding "360 degree endless turn" pots on AliExpress (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Helipot-R257C-10K360-of-Promise-potentiometer/32374856190.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000013.2.0fzEza&traffic_analysisId=recommend_2088_1_82199_new&scm=1007.13339.82199.0&pvid=fe6307ac-5840-4497-8f34-3303c7417e1d&tpp=1). Most of them range in price between $80 to $250. not sure if this one is 360 degree then stop or not.
Alibaba (https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/similar-vishay-potentiometer-360-degree-endless_60116723596.html) shows 'em too but a different package. and here (https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/WDD35D-series-potentiometer-rotary-potentiometer_1567880576.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikehoz.1.atz5XC).
more possibilities (http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=208). cheaper (https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/WDJ22-single-turn-conductive-360-degree_60444817865.html?s=p)
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In 2010 Duncan Electronics was folded into the BEI conglomerate, this is the closest (?) info I found:
http://ecatalog.beisensors.com/viewitems/rotary-potentiometers/single-turn-rotary-potentiometer-1200-1800-series? (http://ecatalog.beisensors.com/viewitems/rotary-potentiometers/single-turn-rotary-potentiometer-1200-1800-series?)
If all else fails, try contacting BEI to see if they'll have a direct replacement item, albeit having a new/different BEI part number.
I had emailed them about a week ago and have yet to receive a response. Time will tell.
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I have an older one, too. Would like to put it up, just for museum type display, but the pot is shot in mine, also. I did contact the folks at Texas Electronics Instruments, and found that the replacement pot alone was something like $115 !!!
There has been one as a rebuild on eBay for monhts, and the buy it now price is something like $300, again a ! for impact.
I, like you, would love to find an equivalent that I could mount in the case, just to get it working without selling a couple cars and my dog.
If you ever do find one, at a reasonable price, could you please let us know on this thread as a resource? Good luck, I still try once in awhile, but haven't found enything yet.
Dale
Yep, I think it's a pain that things are hard to come by sometimes. If I do get a response and they do hopefully give me a helpful answer, I will most definitely give all of you some feed back. It stinks that Texas Electronics didn't have an answer.
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this is a little weird, I went out to my shed where all the 'projects' live, and found the pot that I had taken out a year or so ago, and never found a replacement.
It says this is a Duncan electronics product, which is in agreement with what the previous requester had noted and Dan found had been incorporated into BEI.
The markings are:
2230-588-1 Of course a google search finds nothing, and while there is a range of potentiometers on the BEI site, this gets no hits.
The other thing which I find strange is that it says it is 500 ohms, NOT 10k which I must have imprinted from all the other potentiometer wind direction indicators that I've played with. And plus or minus 10%, which seems a wee bit odd.
Also when I was at the site that DanS had posted for BEI, they indicate that the range of rotation is usually in the 350 degree area, which if it is indicating a dead zone, OK, but these are continuously rotating, so that there is no stop at the high or low end, obviously. I don't know if ordinary pots can be had that way, or Texas Electronics had to operate on the ones they used to allow them to rotate without a stop.
I also did everything you listed and had no luck. I figured it was a 10K pot but looking closer, like you said, it was 500ohm and I couldn't find anything remotely close to that make/model.
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Also, I had gotten a "junction box" with displays that I could not find anywhere on the internet. It was not necessarily a junction box, just a custom made mount with the instrument panels that tuned the input for analog display.
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If you just want to repair it so it is usable again, then maybe this will be an option. There are others available but this had two on one page. Look at the 6120 and HSM22.
http://www.potentiometers.com/select_hall.cfm (http://www.potentiometers.com/select_hall.cfm)
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http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=continuous+turn+pot
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My heavens. I have looked with google scans and not found the choices you have uncovered, and thankfully have shared here.
Yes, whether it is 500 or 10k ohms it really doesn't make a difference with the system I'd feed it to. No standardized analog gauges and all, just a percentage of whatever voltage is fed to it.
I'll see if one of these will fit the casing and the mount, with relatively standard measurements for the listed ones and the shaft diameter. I know that one time I called TE and got some enormous amount quoted for just the part, not even return for service, something around or over $100, so the device remains apart and unfixed.
I think that these are the systems that almost every cable TV company used for the scan back and forth camera to show weather conditions before NWS and others served up the info for them to be plugged into their character generators. There must be hundred if not a thousand out there, but most weren't salvaged when they pulled them down. A friend who worked for a cable company that was taking over little mom and pop town businesses had three or four tipping bucket rain gauges because he thought they were cute and had trashed the rest of the setup. Made me nauseous to think of all those usable pieces were just scrapped.
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I love Mouser. They are very reliable and a great resource.
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These guys (http://www.potentiometers.com/pdf/SP22G.pdf) say they have 500 ohm CT pots.
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That might be a potential option, though I have access to a 3D printer to make the sleeve that fits into the shaft. Hopefully that is close enough to what I need. If not, I guess I'll keep looking. :P
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My heavens. I have looked with google scans and not found the choices you have uncovered, and thankfully have shared here.
Yes, whether it is 500 or 10k ohms it really doesn't make a difference with the system I'd feed it to. No standardized analog gauges and all, just a percentage of whatever voltage is fed to it.
I'll see if one of these will fit the casing and the mount, with relatively standard measurements for the listed ones and the shaft diameter. I know that one time I called TE and got some enormous amount quoted for just the part, not even return for service, something around or over $100, so the device remains apart and unfixed.
I think that these are the systems that almost every cable TV company used for the scan back and forth camera to show weather conditions before NWS and others served up the info for them to be plugged into their character generators. There must be hundred if not a thousand out there, but most weren't salvaged when they pulled them down. A friend who worked for a cable company that was taking over little mom and pop town businesses had three or four tipping bucket rain gauges because he thought they were cute and had trashed the rest of the setup. Made me nauseous to think of all those usable pieces were just scrapped.
Right, that's what kills me about this stuff, is people don't know the significance of this equipment until it's too late. I got my hands on this stuff from an uncle who had it for a good while with no real use. He told me he went to a news station or where ever and just happened to run into whom ever was removing the usable equipment in mint condition.
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Lol, if we do sort this out, and find a worthy replacement, I'm going to order many replacements.
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New quote: "He who dies with the most spares...bought too many" (wink,wink).
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Heh, I'd rather be that guy than the one with no parts. I think I'm going to try to get my hands on one of the mentioned pots previously in this discussion and let you all know how it works out.
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Alright so update:
I never found a suitable replacement for the stock TE setup I had with the vintage signal conditioning boards. I suppose 700 ohms is too obscure for anything and thus no manufacturer bothered making them past that point.
If I end up reviving the instrumentation I will probably retrofit them with updated inner components from TE so they will be able to be configured with data loggers. A shame there isn't an easy alternative.
Cheers,
Quinton
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That project is still sitting on the corner of my bench in the workshop.
I too wish I could bring that system back to working status, but the cost of a true replacement from the company is just too steep right now.
Keep me posted as to your efforts, especially if you can come up with a workable fix. Thanks again. Dale
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Did you try "continuous rotation" potentiometer ( this for example https://etisystems.com/product/sp22g-conductive-plasticprecision-single-turn-potentiometer/ electric angle is only 340°, so you should have a 20° 'dead zone', life 10 million turns, mouser has several of these, I have never used )?
Another option is to restore the broken one, in the photo you posted it seems in a good shape, but I can't understand how it works, if you have two of these you could try opening the second one, documenting the opening phase
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Hi Guys,
Has anyone looked at the pot on a Young 05103, it is also 10k and looks something similar albeit at a hefty price ($180 approx)
Young Part #05134 POTENTIOMETER 10K, 1/4% LIN, CONDUCTIVE PLASTIC
Clarkey
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Clarkey,
I know that the Young potentiometer is a 5 degree dead zone, and I have several in a box out in the shed (-3 right now) which I got new with a bunch of other Young stuff on eBay a few years ago.
I have the little Texas Electronics weather vane potentiometer on a shelf in a little box so it will be 'easy' enough to compare size and get an idea about fit.
I cannot recall how the pots were afixed to the base, if it was just tight nuts on a bracket, or if there were screws, which would present a mounting challenge, but nothing that a small dab of hot glue or the super flexible silicone seal would suffice. It isn't going to the LaGrange point after initial launch. (Which, by the way, I was amazed at the initial jolt that the Ariane booster took when the solids lit and it jumped off the pad).
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Hi Guys,
Has anyone looked at the pot on a Young 05103, it is also 10k and looks something similar albeit at a hefty price ($180 approx)
Young Part #05134 POTENTIOMETER 10K, 1/4% LIN, CONDUCTIVE PLASTIC
Clarkey
Texas Electronics is not much better as their replacement 10K pot (https://texaselectronics.com/product/10k-sealed-pot-assembly/) is $185.70. Not sure what else would be needed to make it work with other loggers or displays but they also sell a 4-20 mA signal conditioner (https://texaselectronics.com/product/td-104-5d-wind-direction-4-20-ma-assembly/). I'll probably eventually look into everything required for my purposes and share my findings here in due time.
Clarkey,
I know that the Young potentiometer is a 5 degree dead zone, and I have several in a box out in the shed (-3 right now) which I got new with a bunch of other Young stuff on eBay a few years ago.
I have the little Texas Electronics weather vane potentiometer on a shelf in a little box so it will be 'easy' enough to compare size and get an idea about fit.
I cannot recall how the pots were afixed to the base, if it was just tight nuts on a bracket, or if there were screws, which would present a mounting challenge, but nothing that a small dab of hot glue or the super flexible silicone seal would suffice. It isn't going to the LaGrange point after initial launch. (Which, by the way, I was amazed at the initial jolt that the Ariane booster took when the solids lit and it jumped off the pad).
The potentiometer is panel mounted. I'm sure if worse came to worse you could drill out the mounting hole on the plate within the sensor housing and squeeze it in there. Only problem is figuring out how to couple the pot and vane shaft together. At least with the one I have, there is a coupling that goes onto the pot shaft and allows the bar on the vane shaft to recess within so its not physically attached but "pushed around." I'll attach a drawing of what I mean below because explaining that mechanical situation is not easy.
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
There's a set screw in the coupling thing too but I believe it is on the opposite side of the cut in.
Again, if you were to put a new pot in there, either a size change or complete redesign of the coupling apparatus would be needed.
Edit: Clarky, the R. M. Young potentiometer might work but you'd have to fenagle a mounting situation because the casing is not panel fixed. I'm not sure what the dimensions of the brass coupling are but depending on shaft thickness it may fit or only require minor resizing. Like Dale said something along the lines of glue would probably suffice because I'd doubt there are major vibrations in that thing if any at all.
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After giving it some thought I figured I'd give my 2 cents, and put the chronicles of missing arbitrary 700 ohm TE potentiometer to rest.
Unrelated but relevant I'll unfortunately most likely put the retro displays into storage until I figure out a way to work out a digital to analog converter. Maybe an Arduino middle man or something? That'll be TBD. Perhaps a serial to analog converter as I don't believe the CSI data loggers can output analog. Where what one could do is have the data logger record the readings from the wind set and save to final storage and output data to the internal displays simultaneously. (Will look more into that however.) As far as the instrumentation itself, the anemometer will be pretty straight forward. Going to replace the old AC generator in it with a new one and call it a day. For the wind vane, I am going to assume the dimensions are the same if not very similar for each potentiometer. Since the pot TE sells is panel mountable, I anticipate little modification needed with the actual instrument internally. I'd like to believe the adaptation will be as simple as a 3D printed collar that press fits onto the shaft with a correctly sized slit for accommodating the extension from the bolt above.
At this point I'm not so concerned with price as I just want it to work. Next time I post in this thread will be with the set refurbished and fully functional. I will also post the plans for whatever collar adapter I end up coming up with if anyone else wants to go the route I did. 'Till next time.
Cheers
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We await your next posting with unbridled enthusiasm. Invent and innovate away. Dale
PS, I do like the sharing that goes on and collective experience.