Topic: New Acurite Solar Power Pack for Atlas/Iris

[ctccbc]

I purchased one of these solar power pack for my Atlas and so far it works great.
https://www.acurite.com/shop-all/weather-instruments/weather-sensors-and-parts/sensors/solar-power-pack-for-acurite-irisr-and-acurite-atlasr-weather-stations.html

Has anyone else tried it?

Thanks
Chris

[daman]

How good would it work in cloudy conditions or in the winter. here in Michigan our winters we hardly see the sun.

[DoctorKnow]

I thought the Atlas already had solar panels to power the unit during the day? I did find that in order for it to not drain the batteries every 5 months that I had to site it in direct sunshine all day. If you can't site the sensor in the sun, then the solar panel might help, if you can place it far enough away from the Atlas to be in the sun.

[Mirwin275]

I got one for my Atlas and have had it connected for about 2 weeks with it working flawlessly. They say to not use the battery adapter for the Atlas. That is only meant for the Iris. I am glad I read that, because I thought I had to use it. I received it with 50% charge and they said it does not take much sun to charge the rechargeable lithium battery. They are right and it did not take much to recharge it. I can't imagine the rechargeable lithium depletes quickly either. It just needs some uv rays to charge. Below is my setup with my Atlas and Iris. Solar panel only connects to my Atlas. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[DoctorKnow]

Mirwin, very nice setup. The Atlas goes through batteries for me every 6 months, and the Iris can go like a year and 6 months, so installing this on an Atlas make so much sense. I have 3 stations going myself, one of which is a Tycon Power version of the Ambient weather all in one osprey. I have never changes batteries in it, and I've had it for 2 years. I don't think the anemometer is spinning right at high speeds on the Atlas for me. The osprey reads higher, as well as the Iris. I like to use meteobridge to connect the stations, and Atlas does not work there. Seems to be pros and cons to each of these stations, with the thermometer in the osprey being too high at night, and slow to rise in the day.

[daman]

Nice to know that's available, but I find my IRIS batteries (Duracell) last just around 2 years so that good enough me.

[ctccbc]

UPDATE: now that we have gotten into some very hot early July days, I've had my temperature readings spike at times, as it did when the aspirating fan was not working. I'm wondering if this Solar Panel does not produce enough power to turn the fan??? I unplugged the panel and put batteries back in the Atlas, and it returned to a correct temperature.

[DoctorKnow]

UPDATE: now that we have gotten into some very hot early July days, I've had my temperature readings spike at times, as it did when the aspirating fan was not working. I'm wondering if this Solar Panel does not produce enough power to turn the fan??? I unplugged the panel and put batteries back in the Atlas, and it returned to a correct temperature.

I am not positive, but I don't think this new solar panel would control the fan. It should be controlled by the 3 solar panels on the rain gauge. You might pop off the bottom screen of the radiation screen to check it when the new panel is attached, vs batteries to be sure everything is normal while using the new panel. You will also need to use the tabs and pull down the temperature sensor section.

[daman]

UPDATE: now that we have gotten into some very hot early July days, I've had my temperature readings spike at times, as it did when the aspirating fan was not working. I'm wondering if this Solar Panel does not produce enough power to turn the fan??? I unplugged the panel and put batteries back in the Atlas, and it returned to a correct temperature.

Liked mentioned the batteries do not power the aspirating fan the 3 panels on the unit does, if you have spiked temps check the operation of your fan. 

[radioman61]

I just purchased one but haven't been up un the roof to install it yet.  My only complaint so far is the long cord.  I'll have to figure out what to do with all that extra wire.

[radioman61]

Well never mind.  Shortening the cord was a 15 minute job.  Five screws on the bottom case assembly, didn't even remove the charge control board. 



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[radioman61]

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[DoctorKnow]

My Atlas is running low on batteries, so I figured this was the time to get a panel, and I needed a part for my Iris too, so it was basically free with a discount code and not paying for shipping at just over the minimum amount. Any more issues with the panel shorting out the fan? I'll let you know how mine does once I get it installed for a few days.

[tibadoe]

I just setup the Atlas this morning.  Definitely went with the Solar Power Pack.  Added this station along with the Vantage Pro2 Plus and Tempest.  Will see how it holds up and how accurate the data is.

[DoctorKnow]

Is it online? The data is pretty accurate, you may need to adjust the rain gauge a bit. There are adjustments inside the bucket. I had to turn all of mine in the positive direction a quarter of a turn.

[tibadoe]

Is it online?..........

No.  The other 2 stations are online but not the Altas.

[DoctorKnow]

The Atlas would update every few seconds, where the others only update every few minutes. That is the advantage. I don't know why in 2024 that there are stations still updating so infrequently.

[tibadoe]

The Atlas would update every few seconds, where the others only update every few minutes. That is the advantage. I don't know why in 2024 that there are stations still updating so infrequently.

I see the Davis updates specific data anywhere from 2.5 seconds to 1 min.  Atlas every 10 seconds.  Tempest every 1 minute.  With todays technology, they all should be within a few seconds.

[DoctorKnow]

Installed my solar panel. It's working good, and the fan is running too. I had to use a different pole though for the panel since the one I have the atlas on is to wide. They do give you a lot of cord, in case you need to find a spot with full sun well away from the sensor.

[Dartman]

I bought mine as soon as they were available to purchase. Get tired of going up on my admittedly easy roof to swap out the batteries about once a year.
It's been powering it flawlessly since I installed it early in the summer. I did mount it on my south facing wall down low so I can get to it easily if anything happens or I need to reset it or something.
I did manage to run into it and break the simple plastic mount while mowing the yard but some of the really thick super glue fixed it back up. Acurite said they don't sell a replacement mount and it wasn't going to fit on the oversized mounting water pipe I used to mount the sensor. I did suggest they should carry the mount in stock so folks don't have to buy a whole new solar panel just to get a replacement wall mount.
Pretty sure it's the same panel and mount setup they use with the solar battery kits for security cameras. The included battery appears to be a standard size too so might be serviceable down the road when they eventually fail.

[DoctorKnow]

My solar panel charged up in two days, and it has been fully charged each time I check it since then. We have had days where it was cloudy, and it didn't go down in charge according to the scale on the back when you press the button.

[blacksmithden]

I just ordered a new Iris. My original is 6 years old now, and the outside temperature is going squirrelly. I was only changing the lithium batteries in the original every year...then I left it and it worked fine for 2 years. LOL. Anyway, I was kicking around the idea of getting one of these panels. That said, the reason I didn't go with a different brand of station that's already solar powered is because I live in Edmonton Alberta Canada. We don't get snow super often. A couple of good storms per winter. We do get whore frost (thick fluffy frost, up to 2" thick, building up on absolutely everything. The reason I was thinking of this panel was only to save me going up on the roof every year (now two) to change the batteries. If I have to go up on the roof 3 times a winter to clear off a panel, what's the point, right. I'm really hoping someone from my area buys one of these and reports back in next spring with their opinion on it's functionality in our climate.

[Dartman]

Just mount it on a south facing wall or whatever that you can easily reach on the ground and you can brush it off and check the battery level easily. Just don't bump it with your lawn mower like I did. Pretty sure the cable is 30 feet long and you could always make or buy another extension cable if you need it.