Author Topic: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain  (Read 1838 times)

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Offline kirklabs

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VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« on: July 05, 2016, 11:43:59 PM »
I'll try not to make this too long - After noticing my Vue under reporting rainfall I decided I need to clean out spiderwebs or something. Unfortunately what I found was the funnel was half full of bird poop from where they had been roosting on the ISS. After a disgusting cleanout, I took out the spoon assembly to make sure the inside of it was clean. After re-assembling it I noticed it still wasn't reporting correctly. I can physically move the spoon in its tipping motion and hear the click of the magnet. It just was not detecting and counting. All other sensors work fine. After bringing it inside I disassembled the whole thing, thinking maybe spiderwebs were blocking the magnetic field where the circuit board detects the magnet. With the white cover off, when I moved the spoon, it stated counting the spoon tips again. It counted probably twenty tips in a row so I called it fixed and put it back together and put it back outside. I sprayed some water into it to verify that it was still counting and... nothing. Anyone got any ideas? Is it feasible to think the part that detects the magnets is weakening? Could the chemical makeup of the bird poop have damaged something? The unit is about 6 years old. Can I get a replacement of just that one part?

Offline miraculon

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2016, 08:11:39 AM »
I don't have a VUE ISS, but I believe that the tipping spoon has a restoring spring that returns the spoon after it empties.
From what you describe, I wonder it the spoon is moving enough to empty but not enough to register the count. When you had it apart, maybe you moved it farther than it actually does with rain.

Maybe the bird guano corroded the spring or changed it's tension? (it got into the spring)

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Offline kirklabs

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2016, 11:07:38 AM »
Thanks miraculon!

The VantageVue does not have a spring. It tips when the weight of the rainwater is heavier than the magnet which counterbalances it. After the water empties, the weight of the magnet returns the bucket to it's normal position and activates the reed switch.

I am starting to suspect that either the reed switch is stuck (open or closed), or the magnet is no longer strong enough to activate it. Does anyone have any insight into what I need to do? Can I just call Davis and have them send a replacement tipping bucket assembly or the PCB?

Does anyone have any insight/experience with this particular issue?

Offline nincehelser

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2016, 02:19:02 PM »
I've no experience with this particular model, but here's what I've experienced in general.

Usually the most common problem I run into is an alignment problem between the magnet and the reed switch. 

Next most common issue is a stuck reed switch.  Some people can hear them open and close.  I can't.

I've never had a magnet give out on me short of physical damage.  Some magnets can corrode in a high humidity if they've lost their protective coating, though.  I've seen some that look bad with a lot of flaking material, but they still work.

You mentioned spider webs... they would have no influence on the magnetism, but I've found it doesn't take much spider silk to gum-up the pivot point. 

Offline camattin

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2016, 03:34:23 PM »
Thanks miraculon!

The VantageVue does not have a spring. It tips when the weight of the rainwater is heavier than the magnet which counterbalances it. After the water empties, the weight of the magnet returns the bucket to it's normal position and activates the reed switch.

I am starting to suspect that either the reed switch is stuck (open or closed), or the magnet is no longer strong enough to activate it. Does anyone have any insight into what I need to do? Can I just call Davis and have them send a replacement tipping bucket assembly or the PCB?

Does anyone have any insight/experience with this particular issue?

I've recently had a similar experience. Ants had massively invaded my ISS - it was under-reported rainfall that made me go out and check on it.

After taking the ISS apart, air-hosing all of the ants off (it is surprising how many nooks and crannies there are inside!) andputting it all back together, the rain gauge is still not reporting right. It might record .01" after some point.

For those of us in the US, you can order a new rain spoon assembly for $20. I'm thinking about going this route, but wanted to ask, what are the odds that the ants damaged something on the circuit board that could be causing this problem? Or are the odds much higher that it's in the bucket assembly itself?

Offline nixxon

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2016, 07:07:00 PM »
Try removing all console power for a few minutes to reset it. This procedure has twice fixed similar problems with my Vue from 2013. (Once no wind direction and once no wind speed)

Offline camattin

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2016, 07:33:26 PM »
I've gone ahead and replaced rain module and all is well. (Never removed power from the ISS nor the console.)

I am still confused, though. I thought on the Vue ISS, the magnet on the module tripped a counter on the board, in which case this shouldn't have worked? I don't see anything wrong with the old bucket, it tips just fine. Very strange... but a less than $20 fix and I have rain measurements again, so confused but happy.

Offline jayartibee

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Re: VantageVue - spoon tips but does not detect rain
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2021, 10:38:08 AM »
I'm kicking this thread because I have an interesting problem (Vantage Mk 1) - it's not really registering bucket tips - but if i bring a more powerful neodymium magnet near to the reed switch it will register. Has the magnet on the bucket gone weak?