Author Topic: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?  (Read 1015 times)

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Offline cm

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Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« on: June 27, 2020, 07:48:10 PM »
I bought a VP2 6152 about 5 years ago and have noticed davis has made some upgrades so it left me to wonder if i can upgrade one piece at a time and eventually have a new VP2?

Would it cost more that way or should i just buy a new system all at once as my anemometer has quit working.

TY

Offline miraculon

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2020, 06:37:44 PM »
I have sort of done this.

Aerocone.
Tipping Spoon.
Replacement T/H sensor under warranty.
Sonic Anemometer (secondary wind set).

have been replaced on my 2011 vintage VP2.

It sort of reminds me of this:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/060A15ELz00[/youtube]

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Offline cm

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2020, 07:46:18 PM »
Love that song! When the wind blow lightly mine does not move.

My anemometer dose not even have that new metal part on the end of the wind direction thing. Not sure if it matters.

Offline wxthomson

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2020, 10:31:21 PM »
I bought a VP2 6152 about 5 years ago and have noticed davis has made some upgrades so it left me to wonder if i can upgrade one piece at a time and eventually have a new VP2?

Would it cost more that way or should i just buy a new system all at once as my anemometer has quit working.

TY

Mine is about 14 years old and I have made the upgrades listed above along with misc. repairs.
Now I'm replacing the ISS.

I would recommend replacing parts as they wear out.

If I would have replaced the whole unit every time a part wore out I would have spent a lot more money.

I don't know about every screw or bracket but all the main parts are available.

If you search you will find a lot of info on repairing the anemometer.

Good luck!


Online johnd

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2020, 04:11:53 AM »
It really depends on how old, weathered and (possibly) broken an old unit is.

Sometimes a user has eg 10-year old (or more) VP2 that's become pretty scruffy, maybe has been disused for a while and is generally in poor shape. Especially if the SIM board has started to become faulty (eg dodgy supercap) and there are other faults too then it's probably simpler and more cost-effective just to buy a new ISS and start afresh.

But with a younger ISS that's otherwise in decent shape then yes absolutely it makes sense to replace any faulty parts individually. If a VP2 is 5yo then it will be eg a 2015 model. So it will likely have the revised anemometer already. Then the only two items it might be worth replacing are the rain gauge cone and the tipper mechanism. But you might also be interested in eg:

https://www.davisinstruments.com/product/vantage-pro2-complete-tune-up-kit/

In general and unsurprisingly it's the bits outside that deteriorate more quickly. So console and logger can keep typically going for many years.

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Sorry, but I don't usually have time to help with individual issues by email unless you are a Prodata customer. Please post your issue in the relevant forum section here & I will comment there if I have anything useful to add.

Offline BrianLehan

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2020, 08:27:17 AM »
The Davis Vantage Pro units are amazingly durable living out in the elements year after year. This was a selling point for me when I invested in my unit.

To date I have replaced the original rain gauge with the new design "tipping spoon" when the see-saw tipping bucket failed. I also earlier replaced a cracked solar panel cover - damaged by tree branch in an ice storm. Other than that maintenance every year and replacement batteries, cleaning out the cone etc keep it running well.

Proactively I plan on replacing my UV sensor next season since it look a little cloudy but a little mineral oil on the lens clears it up. Reports close enough to my neighboring unit not to worry at this point.

So yeah I would say its more than okay to update/replace parts. Davis seems to be really good with making all parts available and designs new parts to fit older "shells" which I appreciate any company that does that.
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Offline mdtaylorlrim

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #7 on: September 29, 2020, 02:39:29 PM »
Brian, what is your connection between your VP2 and your computer/VWS?

I am seriously looking at the VP2 and I already have the internet version of VWS and would like to keep using it.

Thanks,
Mark



The Davis Vantage Pro units are amazingly durable living out in the elements year after year. This was a selling point for me when I invested in my unit.

To date I have replaced the original rain gauge with the new design "tipping spoon" when the see-saw tipping bucket failed. I also earlier replaced a cracked solar panel cover - damaged by tree branch in an ice storm. Other than that maintenance every year and replacement batteries, cleaning out the cone etc keep it running well.

Proactively I plan on replacing my UV sensor next season since it look a little cloudy but a little mineral oil on the lens clears it up. Reports close enough to my neighboring unit not to worry at this point.

So yeah I would say its more than okay to update/replace parts. Davis seems to be really good with making all parts available and designs new parts to fit older "shells" which I appreciate any company that does that.

Online davidmc36

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #8 on: September 29, 2020, 07:45:18 PM »
Thats actually quite a bit of gear for 145 in the tune up kit.

Offline Garth Bock

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #9 on: September 29, 2020, 08:48:22 PM »
I did an upgrade over several years. I started with a Pro2, then added solar, added an Envoy with serial logger, then years later the UV sensor. Then years later added the Daytime FARS and an Aerocone, and then found a used console on eBay. I then bought a WiFi logger.and an Anemometer transmitter. I plan on buying the refresh kit from SI so I can go to the single tipper.

Yeah I spent more over the long run but I did it as I could afford it.

Online davidmc36

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Re: Can you upgrade one piece at a time to get a new VP2?
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2020, 04:09:43 AM »
I 3xpect some incremental upgrades. Got the used ISS here on forum. Bought a wireless console for it. Once wireless is up and running I will be adding more to the wired array. I can do work on one while the other continues monitoring.