Author Topic: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem  (Read 644 times)

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Offline Wafflebird

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Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« on: February 02, 2023, 09:07:01 PM »
I bought this system back in mid April 2020. It has been great all things considered. It (The outdoor station) recently however just stopped transmitting out of the blue, no low battery just quit. Then one day it was back on (Meaning I could see the outdoor weather data from the station on my display). I went out and changed the battery as on this day it was saying the battery was low. For anyone wondering even after you replace the battery the "Low battery warning" does not reset till the next day, just a FYI, ask me how I know.

Anyway even after verifying the battery I used to replace the old one is good on power with a multi meter, it appears it is only working on solar power now. Once the sun is up and on the station it reads data on the interior screen from the station. As soon as the sun goes down I am getting a "Low Battery Transmitter 1" error. Is it a known issue where the actual power supply that powers the station at night or low solar value has issues? I have read a few issues doing a search but when searching for “Low Battery” a ton of things come up to put it lightly. I see a few have found the actual connection from the battery to the board has become detached. I guess maybe this weekend I will take it down and check it. I am in central eastern Florida so we have heat and a lot of sun so that elevates wear on everything.

Your thoughts?

Offline Mattk

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2023, 10:03:23 PM »
Double check the CR123 battery voltage (~ 3.15v) and pull / clean contacts / re-seat the battery. Yes the warning reset occurs at mid-night and that tends to indicate the battery was being recognized?

Offline weatherdoc

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2023, 07:26:53 AM »
I had a Davis VP2 for 10 years when I lived in Florida on the Space Coast and I had to replace the battery about every 8 months. Now I live in Virginia and after 4 years I am still using the original battery. I assumed the Florida heat and salty air (I was 7 miles inland from the Atlantic) was rough on the weather station. If you used a fresh battery then maybe the contacts are dirty/corroded. How close are you to the ocean?

Offline Wafflebird

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2023, 08:02:56 AM »
I am a little less than 11 miles in a straight line. I think I will take the unit down and give it a through review to see if I can sort it out. I have one of the IP Gateways that lets me log the data and I am going to have a lot of "No data" time frames which bugs me.  ](*,)

Offline weatherdoc

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2023, 09:03:27 AM »
Yeah, I hate having "no data" periods as well. I added a daytime aspiration fan to my VP2 a few weeks ago and I had no data for about 90 minutes while I added the fan and cleaned the entire ISS. But even official ASOS and AWOS have "no data" periods when preventative or needed maintenance is performed. When I lived in Florida I worked at KSC and we had a network "weather towers" that needed routine maintenance and there were periods with no data. The salt really did a number on those sensors being right on the coast!

Offline Wafflebird

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2023, 01:56:26 PM »
Well as a reply I went back out to the station and took the battery out and measured it. It was only a .5 volts. Certain it was good when I installed it as I checked it with my Fluke multi-meter before I put it in. I installed another today after verifying it was above 3.5 volts. I will see what happens now, if this persists I will update you here.

Online Garth Bock

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2023, 02:46:18 PM »
Well as a reply I went back out to the station and took the battery out and measured it. It was only a .5 volts. Certain it was good when I installed it as I checked it with my Fluke multi-meter before I put it in. I installed another today after verifying it was above 3.5 volts. I will see what happens now, if this persists I will update you here.

There has been no mention of checking or replacing the Supercap. It might be slowly going bad. Have you checked it for leakage or swelling ? You mentioned initially that the problem is happening at night ? A bad Supercap can cause similar problems. They are not bad to change and you can get one from Scaled Instruments.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2023, 02:50:16 PM by Garth Bock »

Offline Mattk

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2023, 03:22:13 PM »
...There has been no mention of checking or replacing the Supercap. It might be slowly going bad. Have you checked it for leakage or swelling ? You mentioned initially that the problem is happening at night ? A bad Supercap can cause similar problems. They are not bad to change and you can get one from Scaled Instruments.

This is in a Vantage Vue, Super Cap replacement is a PIA 

Online Garth Bock

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Re: Vantage Vue 6250 Power Supply Problem
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2023, 03:37:43 PM »
...There has been no mention of checking or replacing the Supercap. It might be slowly going bad. Have you checked it for leakage or swelling ? You mentioned initially that the problem is happening at night ? A bad Supercap can cause similar problems. They are not bad to change and you can get one from Scaled Instruments.

This is in a Vantage Vue, Super Cap replacement is a PIA

Ahhh, missed that... need new glasses 🤓. However, the description does sound like a failing Supercap. Yes the Vue with it's potted in components is difficult to work on. The cap can still be changed but it's easier to get a replacement Xmtr board.

 

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