Cumulus Support

I know a lot of people have had problems with spiders in the rain gauge (myself included) and there are solutions to this but
has anybody had the same problem with the anemometer being stopped by spiders webs
I know that as the wind picks up it will break the web but during wind free times they seem able to get a web built that is capable of withstanding up to 2 mph
sort of ruins your readings on relatively calm days
I cant think of a way to stop them & maintain proper wind readings anybody got any bright ideas ?
Neil

Neil,

So once the wind exceeds 2mph does the anemometer work okay? If so, I really wouldn't worry. I've had my anemometer up on the chimney stack for 2.5 years and never seen any effect of insects making it their home.

I'm guessing your anemometer is low down enabling you to examine it easily. Put it higher up and 1) You won't be able to look in it easily and 2) The higher wind speeds will always keep it moving.

The lowest maximum daily gust I've recorded was 3mph and only have about 12 days where the gust was only in single figures.

Hello Ray
The things actually mounted about 6 metres above the ground fixed to the side of a tall shed with a flat roof (about 2.5 metres above the roof line)
Hence being able to work out what the problem was just thought I would mention it in the forum because it was a little unusual
its only happened twice that i know of & its not normal for us to have wind free days as we are located in a very windy location (probably why they keep sticking wind farms off our coast)
I may try just putting a little grease round the mounting pole and see if that stops them getting to the top
Neil

They're determined little buggers if they're climbing up a 6 meter pole. Won't the arrival of cold weather put an end to their outdoor activities? If I was one I'd be bedding down for the winter somewhere cosy - not on the end of a flippin' great pole!

Good luck!

one of benefits of living on the isle of thanet is we dont get many frosts we have above average sunshine but also get bloody great spiders damn them all
think i will stick to the idea of grease on the pole or i could take pot shots at them with my air rifle
neil

neil wrote:one of benefits of living on the isle of thanet is we dont get many frosts we have above average sunshine but also get bloody great spiders damn them all
think i will stick to the idea of grease on the pole or i could take pot shots at them with my air rifle
neil

Flippin' 'eck Neil. It sounds more like "The Lost World" than the Isle of Thanet if you need to shoot spiders! Good luck!

Hi Neil, have suffered the same as you with spiders so what I have done is fixed a "Grease Band" around my pole, you have more than likely seen these bands in the garden centres, they are normally used for wrapping around the trunks of fruit trees, you would be surprised what you catch on them, but you get no more spiders and critters up your pole

Thanks Geoff
Didnt think I could be the only person this has happened to
I will look out for the grease bands probably cheaper than wasting air gun pellets on them
I think the neighbours would prefer that solution as well
Neil

Okay you have me chuckling on an otherwise mundane day. I now have mental pics of a new 'shoot em up' game for spiders up the wind vane.

I had a more irritating problem last winter (which I assume will return) in that the Fine Offset wind direction vane has an all too small gap for its rotation. Last year on several occasions when the air was still and there was a frost, or fog and frost, it basically froze up die to frozen condensation around the gap. Now.... that's where the air gun could come in very useful. Take pot shots at the rear end of the vane to 'break the ice'

New sport? lol

Hello Nick glad your finding the topic interesting
must be honest my dad had that problem with his station he thought i was joking when i said he would have to get up the ladder with a hair dryer
your comments got me thinking
instead of trying to get rid of the spiders should i encourage them
my reasoning goes some thing like - if arachnids are warm blooded and i can get them to form a nice little colony around the fixed part of the anemometer will their body heat stop it from freezing up ? any spider trainers out there ?
Neil

Hi Neil.

you need a long arm or better still a lightweight 'window cleaning' pole as sold on most markets.

Stick a feather duster on the end and Bobs ur uncle.

I stopped the spiders getting into my rain gauge with fine plastic mesh glued underneath. (As sold in garden centres) Lets the water out but not spiders or insects in.

Main problem with spiders is is our CCTV cameras. They build webs across the front which reflect the IR light at night and block the view. The spiders themselves and their prey block the view in the daytime as well. I'll have to try the grease band idea Thanks for the suggestion