Does anyone know if the sensor can still be purchased ?
Yep, it’s Davis part number 7346.166 or the later 7346.166G and there’s one here: http://www.ambientweather.com/dadi7346166.html
Note: this is for the VP2!! More details here: http://vp-kb.wikispaces.com/Compatibility+Info
i will read the article, but it is to my understanding is that the VP2 sensor is not compatible with the original VP.
If you have a VP1 then you need part number 7346.029.
A quick Google of “Davis 7346.029” brought up the following:
http://www.davisnet.co.nz/6/replacement_parts/7346_029_temperature_humidity_se/
http://cgi.ebay.com/DAVIS-REPLACEMENT-TEMPERATURE-HUMIDITY-SENSOR-7346-029-/120528645618
http://www.archertradingpost.com/atp/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_9&products_id=39
I’m currently having huge problems sourcing a new temp/humidity sensor for my Vantage Pro 2. It’s a pre 2006 model and currently nigh on impossible to get a replacement sensor. The sensor for the 2006 VP2 will not work with my old board in the ISS so my option seems to be to buy a new ISS and new style temp/humidity sensor. In honesty I’ve been sick to the back teeth with my VP2 as it’s had more break downs than enough and cost a fortune in spares not to mention the downtime whilst it’s in bits.Think mine was built on a Friday night :? I do have the part number for the old style sensor but not to hand currently. No one in the UK seems to have one … according to Skyview, whom I originally bought it off. The lady there is being as helpful as she can be BTW. So I’m at a cross roads - I now have to spend half as much as a new VP2 to replace the temp/humidity sensor. Is it going to be any more reliable? Do I cut my losses and buy a Vantage Vue?
Can you not get one from the U.S?
http://www.archertradingpost.com/atp/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_9&products_id=39
What’s the problem? We’ve got them in stock.
You have? Great. Problem was I contacted McMurdo who thought there would be no prob supplying one though I’d have to get it through the original supplier (though not exclusively) I rang Skyview and after some discussion as to the correct part (I had the number) they would get me one but it would take 2 weeks - no surprise there, everything takes two weeks. Some 2 or 3 weeks later the lady from Skyview rang me today to say they were unable to get one and they were no longer being produced - none available anywhere. Their engineer thought the only solution was to buy a new ISS and the upgraded sensor which was looking like costing me thick end of
Well this was a situation that was threatening to happen - the .029 parts have been out of production for 5 years I believe and the previous stockpile of spare .029 sensors will have progressively run down over the years. It may be that the thin-film humidity-sensing element (which will obviously come from a third-party component supplier and not Davis) is no longer made and therefore Davis physically can’t manufacture any more - ie they’re not just being awkward. Certainly this has been the case for the equivalent 7859 T/H sensor for the WMII stations for some time now.
But I wasn’t aware that the problem had just become completely critical - I’ll check into this next week and ascertain the real situation. But yes we do definitely have a few units left here - give us a call next week if you’re interested.
There is another solution less costly than buying a new VP2 ISS if you have a standard VP2 (this obviously won’t work for a VP1 or a VP2 Plus or a VP2 fitted with a solar sensor), which is to buy a Vue ISS and use this - mounted at low level - as the source of the T/H/rain data. Then you could continue to use the anemometer connected to the existing VP2 ISS as if it were an anemometer transmitter and just receive this as data type ‘WIND’ on a different channel. This arrangement should work OK.
Alternatively, you could keep the original VP2 ISS configured as ISS and use the Vue ISS as a T/H Supplementary Station (ie the equivalent of a 6382 station, but cheaper). This would work for a VP2 Plus or solar-fitted station, but it has the downside that you would display the supplementary T data to a resolution of only 1degF and not 0.1degF - however I’m not sure this is too big a deal because the specified temp accuracy of the VP2 is only 1degF so nothing will have changed there. But it might be a nuisance with the data display and software-generated displays if the standard outside temp reading always had to be disregarded in favour of Temp #2.
Prodata. Thanks for the info. I’ll ring Monday and order a new temp sensor off you as will be the cheapest option for now? I’ll then look into options if/when the new sensor fails :?
As I said Skyview have been unable to source a replacement and no longer manufactured. They never said they’d not been built for 5 years though!
Prodata: How come Archer (link in Budgie’s post) can describe their sensor as working with ALL VP2’s?
Ah, IIRC the ‘digital’ T/H ISS SIMs (ie post Jan 2006) are compatible with either .029 ‘analogue’ or .166 ‘digital’ T/H sensor boards. There’s presumably some sort of autosensing built into the SIM circuitry that can tell which type is connected. But, again IIRC, the .166 type does have slightly better specs, on RH especially, and since the .029 boards were described from way back as in limited supply there’s never been any reason to encourage .166 users to swap back to the analogue type.
I note though that Archer are currently showing their .029 stock as zero.
Oh, I missed that they were suggesting using the “old” one in the “new” boards, makes sense now, thanks 
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Same feedback from the Australia Davis Distributer, the temp/hum sensor is not available for a rather expensvive weather station that is only 7 years old !
I must say this is very upsetting !!
I purchased the following off my Australian Dist. Vantage Pro ISS Retrofit Kit 6920.
Pulled out the temp.hum sensor and now it work$
I dropped lucky in that Prodata had one in stock. Not sure if there will be any more now. Installed and working again - many thanks Prodata. There are one or two options to get round the lack of available replacement temp/hum sensors but all costly … as is the original sensor for that matter 8O
I just thought I’d add to this topic, I have a pre-2006 vantage pro 2 and recently the humidity sensor died. Today I replaced it with a digital .166 sensor and it’s working perfectly without getting any new board
Its to my understanding that the digital does not work with the Vantage Pro , but does work with the Vantage Pro 2
That’s my understanding too, this would only be news if trogdor has an original VP :?
I suspect that there must be some other explanation because this is not the case in my experience and certainly doesn’t tie in with the official dealer guidance from Davis for replacement VP2 T/H sensors.
Just in case my memory was playing tricks, I’ve had a check back this morning with a couple of 2005 vintage VP2 SIM boards, one cabled and one wireless, and in each case they work fine with a .029 ‘analogue’ board, but just give a dashed-out T/H display with a .166 ‘digital’ board (a .166I version in fact, which I think is the same as is currently packaged in the 6930 T/H upgrade kit). This fits in completely with what we’ve been told by Davis about the pre/post-2006 differences.
I’d be interested to know the Mfg Code of your VP2 but what I suspect may have happened is as follows: the post-2006 SIM boards can use either .029 OR .166 T/H sensors. In other words, the .029 part (if only they were still readily available) is univerally usable with all VP2 stations, but the .166 is officially post 2006 only. Although 1st Jan 2006 was the official switchover date when the dual T/H capable SIM boards were introduced, it’s entirely possible that they started to be included in VP2 production runs before the end of 2005. So you might have been lucky enough to get a dual-capable SIM even though the Mfg Code may predate A60101…
(Of course there may be other explanations for your experience, such as your VP2 SIM already having been previously replaced or conceivably and inadvertently you’ve been supplied with one of the last remaining .029 boards or that there’s some trick that I’m unaware of to make the .166 sensors work with the original VP2 SIM boards.)
Overall, I’d still caution anyone with a VP2 whose Mfg Code starts with A4 or A5 and who is still using the original SIM board against thinking that a .166 T/H or 6930 kit will work with their existing VP2 SIM - the chances are that it won’t. But if anyone else has a similar story, ie an original A4 or A5 Mfg Code VP2 SIM board that they’ve found works with a .166 T/H sensor then I’d be more than interested to hear about it. (I suspect in practice that there aren’t too many original SIMs in use any more, with them having been replaced because of supercap problems, but I guess there are still some out there.)