VP-2 dieing

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1

I’ve had my VP2 for a long time, earlier this year I noticed that it was not working well. During very sunny days it was recording the sun and wind, etc. but if it was very cloudy or raining, I was getting almost constant readings of temp and no wind or rain data. When we finally got some nice weather I got out the ladder and headed up to the roof and changed the battery. I noted that the cover for the circuit board and the battery was very ‘chalky’ and the solar cell in the cover looked like the coating had deteriorated. After replacing the battery, things were working very well for about a month or so, but now the weather has been pretty cloudy for a week or so and it’s back to flat-lining.

I looked at the Davis web site and see there is a “cover with solar cell” replacement for $50, but there is no picture so I’m not sure if it is what I’m looking for. I tried sending them an email but apparently it ended up going to Davis in Chicago (I think), not in California. They gave me the right email address for Davis in California, and I have sent them an email, but have not heard back yet.

Has anyone here had to replace the cover and/or the solar cell? If so do you remember the part number?

TIA,

Mike

2

Is this what you need? Scaled Instruments

The solar panels on these will run when cloudy & cracked, so check the voltage coming from it before replacing. :wink:
You may also want to check the super cap on the ISS board to make sure it isn’t leaking or has a broken/rusted connection. You can buy these but they need to be soldered onto the board, but it’s cheaper than buy a new ISS.
The super cap stores the power from the solar panel and the board runs off this, it should only run off the battery when the super cap is low on power.
If yours is only running correctly is full Sun then there’s a good chance the super cap has gone. It will run fine on a fresh battery but the battery doesn’t last long as it’s running on that full time.

3

It sure sounds like a bad Super Cap. to me. Scaled Instruments offers it for a very reasonable price. They also have FREE detailed instructions on how to replace it.

4

Thanks!! I ordered both the cover and the super cap. GREAT site!!! It looks like they have almost everything to keep a station running for a loong time!