Davis Vantage Vue battery life
Sunday, November 13. 2022
Over three years ago I had to get a new weather station. See my blog post about it.
Yesterday a storm hit and I wanted to see the measured wind and gust speeds. They were zero. As in no wind at all!
This measurement of nothingness vastly differed what my eyeballs and ears could measure. Wind was strong enough to rip shingles of my roof. Any storm effects were also very audible indoors. --->
To troubleshooting the issue.
My indoors console of Davis Vantage Vue reported: Low battery in sensor 1. Darn!
VeeWX web UI confirmed the fact. Signal quality was flaky:
Notice how signal quality would plummet on dark bars (no sunlight) and recover on light bars (sun started shining into the panel). The battery had gotten its share of -30° C winters and +38° C summers. Sustaining Finnish weather isn't easy for man made objects.
I dug up pictures from my 2019 blog post:
It all came back to me vividly. Indeed, in the bottom of the outdoors unit there is a lithium CR-123 battery. Integrated Sensor Suite (or ISS) has a plastic cover which can be easily removed by opening the plastic screw. As the unit is well designed, the battery pack is well protected from rain, sleet and snow.
Next, getting a replacement. Maybe this battery is one of those hard-to-get and possibly expensive ones? To my surprise a lithium CR-123 is easily available:
Pack of two costs 9,90€ on my local hardware store. Not even expensive!
Yet another well-designed feature of a Vantage Vue.
Unfortunately the second battery has its expiry date before 2025 which is the due time of next change. Generally speaking I'd rather power the unit from a cable. That way I wouldn't have to climb to my garage roof at all. Doing the climbing every three years in a reasonably good weather isn't too bad.
Ben on :
Ben on :