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Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Instromet - weather stations and monitoring specialists using analogue dials.
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Chapel
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon 30 Jul 2018 10:23 am
Weather Station: Instromet
Operating System: Raspbian
Location: Karby 7960

Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by Chapel »

I am in the Lincolnshire Wolds so normal UK conditions for this time of year.

am running a Pi3 B+ with an Instromet data logger and CuMX and recently experienced an initial error where the rain meter reported heavy rain when it was dry outside, the rain sensor is an Instromet solid state so I stripped it and cleaned the sensor faces and it seemed OK for a few hours then failed again so I sent it back to Instromet who tell me it is OK so I am awaiting its return so it can be fitted again.

So no rain meter at present and interestingly, no rain displayed so I am not sure what to expect when I fit it again.

This morning was cold, -5.0C however it soon warmed up, to 40.0C! I had been meaning to strip and rebuild the wet/dry temperature sensor pack so I dropped it off, fitted the new sensors, made some mechanical changes to make it easier to strip and change the wet bulb wick and connected back up and the temperature continued to rise. The Rpi and data logger had both been off for a couple of hours at this stage. Now an hour later it has topped out at 50.6C

I updated to the latest build of CuMX however that did not resolve the issue so I back on build 3049 and am running a -47.5C offset to bring things back to something near a sensible reading.

Thoughts anyone?

http://binbrook-weather.co.uk/pws_new/
/d

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mcrossley
Posts: 12694
Joined: Thu 07 Jan 2010 9:44 pm
Weather Station: Davis VP2/WLL
Operating System: Bullseye Lite rPi
Location: Wilmslow, Cheshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by mcrossley »

Switch on data and debug logging, let it run for a while, then zip up your MXdiags folder and post it here.
Chapel
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon 30 Jul 2018 10:23 am
Weather Station: Instromet
Operating System: Raspbian
Location: Karby 7960

Re: Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by Chapel »

MXdiags.zip
I will leave the diagnostics running.
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/d

Du lytter aldrig til de ord jeg siger. Du ser mig kun for det tøj jeg har paa ...
Chapel
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon 30 Jul 2018 10:23 am
Weather Station: Instromet
Operating System: Raspbian
Location: Karby 7960

Re: Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by Chapel »

MXdiags.zip
This is with the system running for 18 hours ish. I have an offset of -75C now which seems to work for a while however it eventually drifts off.
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/d

Du lytter aldrig til de ord jeg siger. Du ser mig kun for det tøj jeg har paa ...
Chapel
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon 30 Jul 2018 10:23 am
Weather Station: Instromet
Operating System: Raspbian
Location: Karby 7960

Re: Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by Chapel »

The issue looks to be resolved, I removed the external temperature sensors and added one locally to the data logger and the temperature was -70C ish so the error had to be outside. Eventually I found a short are that had been nibbled by mice I assume. I chopped the damaged lengths of cable out and terminated in a waterproof enclosure and it all came back up correctly. I will have to cable properly come the good weather and protect it with a hose or similar.

At least it is back up and running and I expect the sensor boards to arrive back tomorrow so the rain meter should be up as well. Only issue now is the wet bulb water container shattered in the cold so that will need to replaced ASAP.
/d

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brookr
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun 30 Jun 2013 7:41 am
Weather Station: Vanatge Pro2 plus
Operating System: Windows 10
Location: Farsley Near Leeds

Re: Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by brookr »

Hi
Just seen your post. I've been looking for someone who had the Instromet data-logger. I've had the sensor and control box for best part of 20 years and it's still working well, touch wood. Last December I bought the data logger and it's been nothing but trouble. The sensor and the control box/ display have given good results and shown to be very reliable. I also have an Old Davis Weather Monitor 2 display that is linked to the Instromet control box via a Instromet junction box and this has given good results.

Instromet have been insistent that it's the Control box or sensor that is giving me problems, but I argue that the link from Davis Weatherlink and their display give the same results and have been working perfectly. Their Access software that comes with their datalogger is a lot to be desired and I decided it wasn't for me. However, Instromet were kind enough to change to Excel output and worked well.

I am at a point where the Instromet display and data-logger is back with them for testing. After spending £220 on the logger I feel that my money has been wasted, but we shall see if they come up trumps after 3 months from the initial purchase.

What do you think of their logger? I've not been very adventurous wrt PI , but I bought a PI4 in the hope of setting up CumlusMX to run 24/7. Interfacing the sunshine data logger (when it's repaired).

Thanks
Rob :(
Chapel
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon 30 Jul 2018 10:23 am
Weather Station: Instromet
Operating System: Raspbian
Location: Karby 7960

Re: Rpi displayed rain and temperature runaway

Post by Chapel »

Rob,

I was not aware of the datalogger having software these days so that is interesting news.

Instromet are a bit of a Marmite company however the products are OK and the only issues I have had have been with a lack of understanding on my behalf and mice eating the cables! my datalogger feeds through to a Pi3 B+ running Raspbian OS as Win10 was a nightmare to secure and overcome the need for updates and restarts. I am running CumulusMX v3.0.0 build 3048 with what was Weather34 front end weather graphics.

The system was installed August 2018 and I run a sun time meter, rain meter, temperature including a wet bulb and a station pressure sensor sitting on the datalogger.

I have listed every single issue, bug and restart here: http://binbrook-weather.co.uk/index.php/news/ sand you can scroll to the bottom and start reading. There is also a description of the station on the site which sits on a WordPress template.

Shout if you need to know more and you are welcome to ring for a chat if needed as I am currently shut down to walk in customers, so things are fairly quiet!

Regards

David
/d

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