Davis Anemometer Issue

Davis Vantage Pro 2 about six years old.

I have been working with my weather station to make it more productive for me. One of the issues I have had for some time is the wind speed measurements are erratic. So, I went out yesterday to try and figure out the problem.

Wind direction works fine, however the windspeed cups don’t freely spin when they should. I thought maybe there was something I failed to do in initially insulation (maybe a locking tab or something and yes I know its been awhile but…). So, I pulled down on the cups and heard a click.

After that I got windspeed information for a few minutes and then it stopped. So I pushed up on the cups and got windspeed information. After a few minutes the cups stopped spinning. I played with them again and the moved freely for a few minutes and then sort of locked up again.

My question is, it would seem there is some binding going on in the bearings. Is it possible to lubricate the bearings with an external spray.

Are there other things I can do to free up the wind cup assembly?

Update: Well I just looked at the Davis Instruments web page and found this information which I should have looked for before.

Use the Allen wrench provided to tighten the set screw on the side of the wind cups. When you let go of the wind cups, they should drop slightly.

Spin the wind cups. If they do not spin freely, loosen the set screw and lower the cups slightly. Repeat until the wind cups spin freely.

NOTE: DO NOT attempt to lubricate the wind cup shaft and bearings or the wind vane shaft. Natural or synthetic lubricants affect the normal operation of the anemometer by reducing the components

I’ve changed the bearings on mine when it started sticking until the wind was stronger.
The set is/was available on ebay and fitting was not difficult.
( https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Davis-Weather-Station-Anemometer-Bearing-Service-Kit/172579873167?hash=item282e8fe18 )
The old bearings were definitely rusty even though the anemometer was replaced about three year before.
I don’t see you have much to lose by disassembling and lubricating.
You won’t get lubricant where needed without taking it apart.

4wd,

Thanks for the link and the information. I went out and tired to get an Allen wrench into the set screw just below the housing. I tired english and metric sizes and could not get one to actually fit. I looked in my book (I still have the original box which I was getting ready to recycle) and could not find one that I might have left in there.

The instructions say the wind cups should be as close to the base as possible. I don’t think I can get them any closer. I spun the cups multiple times trying to get some friction to may wear away any corrosion but I don’t think that will work.

If any one knows the Allen wrench size, I like that information.

Question, was disassembly hard to do?


It’s a .05" allen wrench, I think that info is in the ISS manual. I just measured one as 0.048 so 0.05 looks correct.

Wow, a metric Imperial Allen key? About 3/64" (0.047") in old money?

That’s how Davis specs it :dontknow: We like mils here, or thou as you Brits call them :wink:

I know, only kidding :slight_smile:

:lol:

niko,

Thanks for the info.

A 3/32 allen wrench is 0.047 inches and a 1.5 mm wrench is 0.059 inches so it must be close to a 3/32.

I tired the 3/32 but will try again.

3/64" is 0.047". Not kidding. . .

Yup!

3/32 is 0.09375 in old math :?

Thats why I don’t have one that fit. Math can be hard sometimes. :smiley:

Ain’t that the truth :lol:

old math is good math.

I was already confused by new math, but then came common core 8O

Just wanted to add an update and yes I know its been awhile. I was on the verge of purchasing a new wind speed/wind direction module from Davis but, given the price i decided to try one more time to get the wind speed operational.

I got on the ladder and moved the wind speed cups by hand and notice a “catch” that seemed to stop the cups from spinning after they spun for awhile (by hand). I removed the cups and sprayed some contact cleaner and then some spray lubricant on the shaft. Spun the shaft again, and the sprayed some more.

Re-attached the cups and spun them but the same thing happened. So, I gave up and was settling in on making the purchase but delayed it for a day. They are not cheap.

Got up the next morning and low and behold the cups were spinning in a very light wind. That was two days ago. the cups are still spinning in a light wind and appear to be registering an close to accurate wind speed.

So, I don’t really know what I did but, they are now working.

Just wanted to make a followup on what the outcome of my question was.

maybe just took a while to soak in? (into the bearings)

I have replaced mine twice in 11 years of service. I always wonder if there is a break in the wire somewhere or just a tad bit of condensation in the plug. Cost was around 70 dollars. i figured not so bad with the amount that it is used.

My Vue anemometer suddenly started having issues spinning…when I first noticed the problem it would take wind speed over 8mph to get it to move…now a couple weeks later and I saw a 24mph gust and it didn’t move. Since I bought the WeatherFlow station I haven’t had the ambition to climb up on the roof and bring the Vue down to attempt to repair. The humidity sensor failed in the Vue, again, so I am not motivated to climb up there #-o

Glad you got your’s working again…