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Fine Offset temperature sensor glitch

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Ned
Posts: 258
Joined: Mon 19 Jul 2010 11:15 am
Weather Station: WS2083 (aspirated)
Operating System: Win 10
Location: Auckland NZ

Fine Offset temperature sensor glitch

Post by Ned »

I installed my first FO weather station in 2010, but due to the poor performance of the outside humidity sensor recently I decided to replace it, going for a complete new station as a wireless protocol change necessitates both transmitter and receiver be upgraded. Spare rain and wind sensors are a bonus, as age takes toll.

The first station (WS 2083) had a glitch with the internal temp sensor at around 20°C and would consistently leap 0.8° between increasing or decreasing readings instead of changing in 0.1° steps. Similarly the outdoor sensor misbehaved at around 13° with leaps of 0.5°.

A replacement station from a different supplier had no issues with internal temps but the external sensor also jumps by 0.5° at around 15°.

Next I requested a replacement transmitter only, but that too is misbehaving in the same manner.

Not a big problem if temperatures are changing quickly enough, but when the conditions hover around 15° I can get long periods of flatlining temp graphs or a 0.5° sawtooth effect, which is unacceptable.

I'd be interested to hear if any other users have noticed this in recent units (mine had inspection dates from Nov 2016 to March 2017) and suspect it may be a common fault.
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: Fine Offset temperature sensor glitch

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,

Yes I do vaguely recall somebody (also in Australasia) reporting a similar defect with two WH-3083 stations, perhaps a year ago. I do remember contributing to the thread, but that doesn't help me find it again now. :(

The "old" Fine Offset stations used (analogue) thermistors to measure the temperatures, but now I believe it is read (digitally) from the Humidity sensor(s). I don't know which humidity module is actually used, it's possibly manufactured by "Hope RF" (who appear to be linked with Fine Offset in some way) but they don't supply "spare parts" on the open market anyway.

IMHO, the early FO stations were quite well designed (within the obvious price constraints) but the manufacturing (assembly) quality was terrible. Now the manufacturing quality is quite good, but various "bugs" have crept into the system software. So sorry, I don't have any "solution" to offer.

Cheers, Alan.
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Super-T
Posts: 890
Joined: Tue 09 Sep 2008 3:37 am
Weather Station: wh-1081
Operating System: Weather Laptop - Windows 10 Pro
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Fine Offset temperature sensor glitch

Post by Super-T »

I've been using a 1081 in Auckland for around 10 years and started to have problems at various times. Lots of repairs to bad manufacturing but in general the system worked OK. I decided to replace with a 1093 as the outside units were getting a bit weather-worn. Tried 2 of the 1093's and they were just crap as they constantly lost wireless contact. Bought new weather vanes and repaired the faulty wireless transmitter by stealing parts from a spare inside display unit and all runs well now, still on the 1081. I occasionally get the lost signal but this only shows up on the outside temperature and not the humidity and wind sensors.....a bit strange. Also get temperature spikes, both plus & minus but just delete that line of data as the easiest way to correct.
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