Today I received the spring that was missing from the hardware package that came with the sensor. I’m behind on making the mounting platform that I’m going to mount next to the anemometer but have a question.
What size is the large hole in the mount? Is it just large enough for the nut to fit through and the sensor sits on the mount? Or is it large enough that the sensor ‘floats’ on the springs and does not touch the mount at all?
–Dave
Option2, the hole clears the body of the sensor.
large hole is for the wires from the sensor to pass through the mount and continue to the ISS
Kind of like the hole in the toilet seat… ah … you do have one don’t you??? (My ancestors put the hole in them)
Is that kinda like an outhouse we used to have in Missouri? I hear now days they actually have something like that inside your house. How disgusting! And I see advertisements for some kind of paper?? All we had was three corn cobs; two red and one white.
–Dave
8O 8O 8O 8O 8O
Stuart
which explains a lot about the state to the south, but back to the original question. the springs and thin screws are used to level the solar and uv sensors and the large hole * 8O* is used for the wires that come off the bottom of the sensor to thread down through the mounting shelf and then to the ISS
which explains a lot about the state to the south
The outhouse and corn cob comment was intended for you Mr. Vark based on past comments you’ve made about the great state of Missouri. 
Thanks for the input. I was questioning the size of the large hole as to whether it had to be just large enough for the nut or large enough to allow the body to be supended by the springs. I understand now that the hole must allow the sensor body to float on the springs. I have a plastic shelf and am intending to tap the screw holes and then epoxy a nut to the bottom of the shelf to be prevent tearing out the threads. Pictures to follow.
One other observation. Seems that the sensor should extend above the opening in the outer housing. Won’t it be ‘shadowed’ at low angles?
–Dave
The lower edge of the white plastic “pill” should be at least level with the edge of the outer housing.
I’ll have to look closer to see if I have it aligned correctly. I’m sure the top of the white cover is below the housing. Also it only fits one way due to the spacing of the three ears I believe.
–Dave
Dave,
You might find the following docs helpful:
http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/manuals/Shelf_Installation_rev_B.pdf
http://www.davisnet.com/product_documents/weather/manuals/Solar_UV_Rad_Sensor.pdf
The sensor is supposed to float on the three mounting screws with springs underneath the sensor on the screws to provide the tension. The hole in the middle should be large enough to clear the sensor body and cable.
Best regards,
Ken
Why didn’t I ask that a few days ago #-o
The second doc came with the sensor but I hadn’t seen the first one because ordered the solar sensor w/o the shelf.
Thanks for the input.
The pics show the sensor from the side and then from the top at an angle. I would have though the white plastic lens would be above the housing when viewing from the side.
–Dave
one real important thing … don’t touch the plastic white"button" . oil from your skin affects that. Now if you did… you need to clean it with ethanol alcohol… Rubbing alcohol won’t work.
Either get some Ethanol ( Ethyl alcohol) at the druggist or some 100% alcohol.
The sensor is supposed to be perpendicular with the zenith, but it can aimed. That aiming gives the parabolic curve appearance of the reading.
I haven’t touched it on purpose but may have accidentally touched it. I’ll get some alcohol and make sure to clean it. I’ll have to look hard for 100% alcohol. I think my son tried finding some for an alcohol stove he made and couldn’t find any. Thanks.
–Dave
Everclear that rot gut I think is 100% ethanol. Or the drug store could sell you about 6 ounces. Just make sure it is ethanol.
Everclear… When I was in college , guys would go to Missouri and bring it back. When I was in chemistry we figured out that we could unscrew the back of the alcohol storage cabinet and remove the ethanol for medicinal research. Then we’d fill it back with water. We were never caught, but there was talk that it had evaporated mysteriously…
Propanol or Iso-Propyl-alcohol would do as well (sometimes used as whiteboard cleaner) and I think Aardvarks know the stuff… Counting down hmmm, four weeks is it?
Yes, I have fun coming sometime in the future with a solar cell (no rush Dave - its cloudy wet winter here so I have to wait till at least September before i could get a full solar reading (well they do come but fior 20 mins at a time 
)
Davis specifically say Ethanol, I think it may be some denaturing item added to the isopropanol. Now denatured alcohol is ethanol with a bit of Methanol to make it toxic. hmmmm
4 weeks, no, no …less than that. Ah 2 weeks for aardvark… ok… If you don’t count workshops on the 7,8,9 and 17… then it is now…
arghhhhhhh
I called Davis today about the height of the diffuser compared to the housing. Unfortunately I didn’t get much info. I had to wait on hold for a few minutes and when they got to me I was rushed to get off the line.
I asked about the height of the diffuser and was told that was the way it was designed and that it would read the sun just fine. Any other questions? No. Thanks for calling, good bye. So I guess that’s the way it is.
Hopefully I’ll get the mount completed this weekend. Won’t be putting it on the roof for a few days at least. Temps are supposed to be in the high 90s with dew points in the upper 70s. Also too easy to damage asphalt shingles in those temps.
–Dave
at least you can go up on the roof… I have metal shingles now, looks great,but the installer said it gets slick quick up there … I looked at my solar/uv sensors and it appears that the diffuser is above the housing… I recall vaguely when I was having issues with the UV sensor reading 0.7 at night with the vp1, (davis sent new sensors), I mounted it and the diffuser fit just fine above the housing…
Well the top of the diffuser is just below the top of the housing but there is a step about 1/8" (3mm) below the outside edge. You can see it in one of pics I posted earlier. The bottom of the diffuser is even with that step. Davis has sold thousands of these so I guess the design is sound.
Just finished my mounting shelf. I made the hole in the shelf just under a 1 1/2" but now that I’ve got it finished I find the hole could have been about an inch in diameter. I was assuming that the housing would sit on the shelf but the sensor would have to clear it. But… the whole thing floats on the springs so the hole only has to be large enough to clear the compression nut and allow some room for adjustment.
If I were going to make another I’d make the large hole diameter just a little larger than the top of the sensor. That way you could turn the sensor over, the ears will then sit directly on the mount, and using a centering drill bit you could get the location of the mounting screws very accurately. This is what I actually did but due to the size of the center hole the screw holes are closer to the edge of the hole than I would like. May make another tomorrow.
BTW… as someone else asked. Now what model of Davis do I have? Not a VP2+ because I don’t have a UV sensor. VP2- VP2\ VP2> ?? I’m leaning toward VP2* 
–Dave