Weather Station broken

[fan-of-fans]

I have one of those Acurite 3 in 1 weather stations. I got it last fall on eBay for about $30, and it's been a pretty good setup. I think I had to change the batteries in both units once but otherwise reliable. However the last few days the outside temp/humidity and windspeed were stuck. The signal bars were flashing so I figured it just needed new batteries in the sensor.

Today I took the sensor off the pole but I found carpenter ants were all in the mounting part and there were a ton of them in the sensor with larvae everywhere. I also found the bottom battery terminals were all rusted. Which is weird because last I changed the batteries they were fine. I shook out all the ants and larvae and tried to clean the terminals the best I could, but it still is not working. The batteries were not leaking, but there was dirt all over in the battery compartment. I wiped it out best I could. I took the louvers off and cleaned them but didn't open the sensor because I wasn't sure what was in there and didn't want to mess it up.

I checked eBay and online to see if I could get a replacement sensor unit (tornado siren louver shaped unit with spinner on top) but they seem to run about $70 just for a replacement unit. I could almost buy a whole new 3 in 1 setup for that much, maybe even a more basic 5 in 1 unit with rain sensor, etc.

Any ideas if I can get it going again? I'm guessing the ants must have caused acidic corrosion of the battery contacts. Otherwise it may have kept working, but I don't know if I should spend for a new setup if they last only a year.

In retrospect, I probably should have sprayed the post with something like Ortho Home Defense to repel the bugs when I installed the sensor, but it never entered my mind that they'd go that far up to build a nest. Maybe the rain drove them up there.

 

[gansky1]

I bought my son an Acurite weather station - no anemometer - but his sensor stopped working as well. I called their support phone number and for a small fee, they sent a new one that arrived within a few days. They were very nice and seemed eager to make it work again.

AcuRite Weather Monitoring | #1 Weather Station Brand in North America

Shop weather stations and weather technology for outdoor and indoor home monitoring systems. AcuRite’s weather tools include weather stations with touchscreen display and Alexa integration, thermometers, rain gauges, gardening gadgets and more.

www.acurite.com

 

[tomturbomatic]

Ants are attracted to outside electrical equipment. Friends in FL have had all kinds of trouble with them with things like hot tub controls. Find some cedar oil spray. It's usually with the closet stuff at hardware stores or at the Container Store where they sell the brand SLA. Don't spray inside the electrical box, just on the outside and the cables or poles leading to it. It prevents he ants from getting in and shorting out the works.

 

[dustin92]

We have an indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer and have had it for probably close to 10 years now. We did have to replace the outdoor sensor once but it's been fine for 7 or so years, and I can't remember the last time the batteries in either unit were replaced. I also have a wired unit in my room, and it's got to be 4-5 years old and has never had the batteries replaced. Those must be the long lasting batteries!

 

[washman]

don't know if this will help but

I secure one of these on ambient weather site. I mounted it on a 5 ft PVC  3/4 inch pipe from Lowes.  So far, no issues with insects or anything getting in the sensor.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Weather staton

Thanks for the info on Acurite. I'll call this weekend when I have time to. I got out the book for it and it has a year warranty so maybe they can do something without me having to buy a new unit. But I got it on eBay so who knows.

Mine has a solar shield like that you showed built into the unit. The linked sensor looks like what I have.

I do have another Acurite temperature only weather station, but I haven't put it outside and I did order a solar shield like that from Acurite last year for that one. If they won't replace my 3 in 1 unit I might just put that one outside so I at least have a temperature reading.

And I used to have some of those wired units that the sensor sticks outside the window, don't have them anymore though.

acurite 3 in 1 sensor - Google Search

 

[mattl]

Funny, I noticed my weather station with the same sending unit is acting up.  It reports 99% humidity all the time. The other day it said the real feel was 142 degrees....

 

[dartman]

Acurite has a web page, a Facebook page and there are a few user groups on Facebook and some weather geek web sites that cover just about any popular weather stations out there. As far as your display suddenly reads 99 percent humidity all the time the temp/humidity sensor has gone bad and if the unit is new enough they sell a replacement sensor that plugs right into the circuit board on the newer 5in1 weather sensors. I replaced the sensor in my older 5in1 by cutting off the plug and soldering it directly into the holes on the board because it still uses the same sensor packaging but they hadn't thought of using a plug to make it easy to replace. You can buy just a replacement full 3in1 or 5in1 sensor, most of the replacement parts like wind cups, wind vane, just the top with the solar panels, internal aspiration fan and like that. The things are modular so most of the parts are cheap and easy to replace if you don't want to buy a whole new weather pickup or the whole weather station again.

 

[mattl]

Thanks!  When I get a chance I'll check out my unit to see if it's  "plug and play"...

 

[dartman]

I was told by a very experienced user that stations made after early 2012 used the new sensor, and after 2013 they used the plug and play version. If you have a early one that still uses the sensor but not the plug and play version and you know how to solder you can do like I did and cut the plug and solder the wires in place after removing the old one. I have a really early 5in1 setup so I opened it and the sensor was there but obviously a different sensor package just by looking at it. One of the big weather sites listed the chip it used and where to buy just the chip but that was the older one they no longer use. I found out ordering it from acurite even including shipping it was maybe a bit cheaper. They are slowly getting ready to release a pro level station called the Atlas that will be quite a bit more expensive but will be built much better and have faster reading display times and I believe will have a 2 year warranty. They have been promising it a long time but there are real beta testors out there that have pre release stations and have posted comments and pictures of them.
Also their stations like yours come with a 1 year warranty so if it's still within a year they'll take care of it for you.

 

[fan-of-fans]

For the 3 in 1 the only parts they sell is the wind cups. I don't see where you can just buy the sensor itself that fits inside the rings.

The whole 3 in 1 sensor is about $80, which you can buy a whole new 3 in 1 station for including display. I only paid about $30 for my whole setup.

I'll try to call them sometime this week and see. I've had it less than a year, but I don't have any proof of purchase since I got it on eBay, but maybe they can offer a discount or something.

Otherwise I'll just do without as I'm not spending $80 on a new one not knowing the longevity of it. The 5 in 1 units do seem to last though, other than the fan which is available separately.

 

[dartman]

Watch for sales on weather stations at Costco as I bought my 2032 display and 5in1 from them about 14 for 80 bucks which was a good deal. I bet the 3in1 uses the same sensor but I haven't looked into it as I like all of the goodies the 5in1 comes with. Sometimes Acurite themselves have good sales on their web site and Amazon is always good to check as well.