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Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Sun 20 Jan 2013 7:38 pm
by lardconcepts
Tau Bootis wrote:I had to go around mine with a Stanley knife, but be very careful not to cut your finger off :o
Aha! That did the trick. So, I got in and here's what I saw...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/joh6t2oglwcvs ... 202013.jpg - click the image to see the full size version.

I think it's safe to assume that ingress then melt of tiny snow particles has cause a bit of water damage and probably shorting here?

Gutted - I was looking forward to logging this week of extreme weather.
darc wrote:Hi if you need new sensor's Maplins should have some in at the end of this month
Yes, I saw that - in fact, it says "stock due in 16 days". Having had a look at this thread about incompatible transmitters, I wonder if it might be worth asking a product question first. Or does anyone have any other suggestions for alternative in-stock supplies around the £15 mark?

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Sun 20 Jan 2013 7:59 pm
by Tau Bootis
Just try cleaning it up very carefully, mine looked similar to that when I opened it up.
You may get lucky :)

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Sun 20 Jan 2013 8:21 pm
by BCJKiwi
When you have finished cleaning it and it has thouroughly dried, make sure Its working OK then spray some "protective Circuit Board Lacquer' over the board to protect all the exposed parts of the circuit.
This stuff is great and can be soldered through if required.
Just make sure it does not go where it shouldn't!
The stuff I use is branded Servisol

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Sun 20 Jan 2013 9:09 pm
by lardconcepts
Tau Bootis wrote:Just try cleaning it up very carefully
Thanks! Well, I had some wicked stinky citrus-smelling stuff called "MYKAL de-solv-it Electrical Cleaner".

Got a couple of cotton buds and gave everything a really good clean, let it dry and tried again, but just got the LED on all the time.

I suppose if the water bridging two joints had been conductive enough, it might have carried enough juice to zap a logic-level pin on the poor little IC?

I guess it's onto the Maplin waiting list unless anyone has any other ideas of things I can prod or places I can buy from?
BCJKiwi wrote:When you have finished cleaning it and it has thouroughly dried, make sure Its working OK then spray some "protective Circuit Board Lacquer' over the board to protect all the exposed parts of the circuit.
This stuff is great and can be soldered through if required.
Just make sure it does not go where it shouldn't!
The stuff I use is branded Servisol
That's actually a top tip, and I can't think why it's not done at the factory. I dug a circuit board out of an old washing machine recently and that had been completely coated and sealed in a thick layer of some protective gunk!

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Sun 27 Jan 2013 4:25 pm
by Langers
Hi All,

I bought my Maplin WH1090 in November 2012 and starting using it a lttle before Christmas. Today I could see that the wind speed sensor wasn't working and that the bearing felt gritty and was sticking. I looked on this board and saw that others of you had that problem and that spares are available. I also saw that someone had problems with the wind direction sensor so I checked that and it's the same - the bearing is obviously failing. This can't be right!

I don't mind paying £2.50 for one sensor but not £10 for the other one and definitely not every few months! This is not acceptable, clearly these bearings and perhaps the weather station itself are not fit for purpose. Why would anyone want a weather station that can't be used in the winter? I can't see that the manual highlights a limitation so I will lodge a complaint with Maplins and request a refund. Has anyone else considered the same?

Langers

I would really like to have a reasonably priced reliable weather station and will look for an alternative - any recommendations?

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Thu 31 Jan 2013 12:39 pm
by lardconcepts
lardconcepts wrote:Yes, I saw that - in fact, it says "stock due in 16 days". Having had a look at this thread about incompatible transmitters, I wonder if it might be worth asking a product question first. Or does anyone have any other suggestions for alternative in-stock supplies around the £15 mark?
Well, in case anyone didn't put a stock alert in, it came back in stock about 2 hours ago, and I've ordered one - free delivery too at the moment.

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Fri 01 Feb 2013 1:31 pm
by darc
Hi my wind speed sensor has just arrived fitted already working just great, I have just
spoke to area manager of Maplins and he has told me that they are already running low,
the next delivery will not me in until the end of march.

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Mon 04 Feb 2013 6:46 pm
by lardconcepts
darc wrote:Hi my wind speed sensor has just arrived fitted already working just great
Mine arrived today and working well. Shame about the missing 3 weeks of data, especially as we had some fairly extreme weather as far as temperatures and wind go.

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Fri 08 Feb 2013 2:42 pm
by KetteringUK
Wind Speed detector replaced today - Got from Maplins (+ another spare) for £7.50 delivered

Cheers

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Fri 08 Feb 2013 3:05 pm
by KetteringUK
Oops - just realised I've not put the wind direction back in the same position - could someone confirm where the compass points are in relation to the fittings. I can rotate the entire pole but i'd rather not unclamp and bring down just to see markings. Given the direction sensor can only be clamped in one position I'd have thought someone would be able to answer

Thanks
Graham

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Fri 08 Feb 2013 3:23 pm
by steve
On mine (which is sitting on the floor next to me), the bar holding the anemometer and the wind vane runs E-W, and the side where the anemometer cable plugs into the wind vane faces N. Does that help?

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Fri 08 Feb 2013 3:37 pm
by KetteringUK
Perfect - so the wind speed is at the east end of the bar and the wind direction at the west end. North and South are obvious from this info.

Thanks
Graham

Re: N96GY Maplins Weather station

Posted: Fri 08 Feb 2013 3:53 pm
by steve
KetteringUK wrote:Perfect - so the wind speed is at the east end of the bar and the wind direction at the west end.
Yours may be, but my anemometer is at the west end of the bar.