Davis Vantage Pro2 ISS Battery Life

Does the Davis VP really give a message to the console “station 1 low battery”??

Yes, it does.

Niko…where on the console so I can look out for this. I can’t find any mention in the console manual.

Along the bottom of the screen, same place it does “raining cats and dogs”.

There’s a WD status tag too:

%vpissstatus%…ISS battery status flag

Hello all

I wonder if I could have a word of advice from this panel.

I have a VP2 working OK since Apr 2005 and normally I have replaced the ISS battery once a year.

Recently I have been experiencing a new situation. During the day the transmission to the console works flawlessly but when night arrives no more data until next morning… :frowning:

I am not electronic savy but it looks like a battery situation…

The problem is that I have now replaced the battery, 3 times, for fresh new ones and the problem is still there… #-o

I saw mentioned earlier in this thread a

I had the problem last winter. I first suspected that the battery was bad… so I replaced it, then went in and reset the console to get rid of the message (just done and the down arrow or wait until midnight) and we are fine. I had thought maybe the solar panel was bad, as I also normally change the battery out. But it works fine.

What Davis suggested is that if the sunlight isn’t hitting the panel long enough, then the super cap doesn’t charge and it uses the battery more. We had not many bright days this last winter and I am guessing that is the problem. Anyway, I would take off the plastic cover over the ISS board and give it a look at the super cap with a magnifying glass to see if there is any corrosion or leaking. I live inland so there isn’t much unless you ask about road salt during the winter, and there is no spray so that wouldn’t be it for me.

If it cap is good then I would think it is either a bad series of batteries, or the solar panel isn;t doing its thing, or that the sun angle isn’t charging the cap. IF it looks bad, then it is time to contact Davis to send you a new ISS board. What I would try to do is get them to send you the replacement board and you return the bad one to them. They have on their web site a video on how to replace the board. That alone tells me that you are not alone with these going bad.

The early demise of the one I installed is down to the classic leaky supercap :roll:

I called Davis but the bums wouldn’t send me one :frowning: so I’ve had to order a couple.

Well, I just received my new leaking super cap, to replace my old leaking supercap :onfire:

Looks like shipping damage, anyone who thinks you can safely mail these parts cross country in a very thinly padded envelope needs to think again :roll:

Oh well, off to Mouser which is where I should have ordered in the first place :oops:

I just found my anemometer ISS flatline last night. Pulled the battery. Voltage was down to 2.5 volts. Put in one with 2.7 volts and nothing has kicked in. That’s 2 gone in 2 years. When replacing these in the Vantage Pro 2, is it good enough just to replace the battery or is there a way you’re supposed to reset?

Is it just me… :? :lol:

I try to replace the battery during the day (super cap well charged) and just pull the old one out & fit the new.
Two batteries in 2 years ain’t bad. On my main IIS I tend to change the battery around October as the shorter days are drawing in, just to be on the safe side through the winter. :wink:

all you have to do is just replace the battery. The console eventually resets itself at midnight, OR… you can put it into the setup mode, and take it back out and that will reset the console.

Flatline? you mean all dashes on the console for direction. I’d contact Davis. I am betting they have their units not built in the US and some bad parts. should last longer than that. Sorry to hear that it is giving you headaches especially since we are both getting into the interesting weather time.

I never got any low battery warnings on the console but I think I changed the battery for the first time after 3 years as I thought it was well overdue lol. The current one has been in for over 2 years. I always use Duracell.

By flatlining I mean on my WD window via the Davis Envoy. As soon as the sun started warming up the ISS solar panel, data tarted streaming again. I would assume this means a bad battery.

or a bad super cap

I installed a battery of a bit better voltage and, as I said, data started streaming. I then removed it to have it replaced (3 year warranty) and data continued streaming from the solar panel. I assume this points to a good Super Cap. Stuck a fresh battery in there. Seems like they’re going for a year.

I got a low ISS battery note last summer, so I put in a new battery and went on. Earlier this month I came home and saw the outside sensors dashed out. So I hoof out, take off the cover and flip the test switch up and no led light. I put in a new battery and it flashes like mad. So put everything back and figured it was a bad super cap. I didn’t have time to fiddle with replacing the cap so I ordered a new board from Archer Trading. They sent the board, antenna and case, all I had to do is go out, take off the ISS, fish the cables in and out of the abnormally small access area . I finished as the sun was setting, so I put back in the battery to run over night the next day, I went out and put in a fresh battery and we are done.

When the weather gets better go out and take off the solar panel, and unscrew (phillips head) the four screws under the plastic dome that hides the components and look at the supercap to see if it is leaking or not. If it is, then you could order a new supercap and have it ready to replace when you have the chance.

I am thinking that since Davis has a video on their support site on how to remove this unit and replace it, the death of the supercap is more prevalent than we suspect. In the instructions on replacing it , the warning that the leads must be bent away from the bottom of the supercap case and that looking at the picture attached it isn’t. Then Davis recommends putting in a spacer between the replacement supercap and the circuit board to take a strain off the base, indicates to me that they have a quality control problem when the boards are made.

In any case, now I have two ISS boards, ordered the supercap from Archer Trading post, it has been shipped and on their site they have the same recommendation to protect the supercap http://www.archertradingpost.com/atp/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_6_9&products_id=68


IMG_0608.JPG

I checked into my station at about 6:40am today to find the Number 2 station offline, needs battery, so I had a spare, thanks Santa, installed, corrected the dbase to fix the graphs and headed for Manzanillo, 86 and hazy? - but, I wanted to take pics, oh well. And, as I passed the volcano at Colima I couldn’t even see it for the haze and clouds, not what I was expecting in my stocking, thanks Santa?

I am glad that I am not the only one who saw that and loved it?

Unless the super cap is poaching I figure 2 to 3 years. If the summer has been too hot I sometimes just replace the battery in a year . But I buy the batteries in bulk, about 1.50 a battery…