La Crosse WS2355 in cold weather

[mikeh]

Hi,
This is my first post on any forum, so forgive any solecisms. I have a Lacrosse WS 2357, and intend to use Cumulus when I have sorted out various little difficulties.

In particular, my setup exhibits exactly the same symptoms as Hovgaard's: failure of the base station receiver unit below 15degC, although the internal sensors carry on OK. I have tried all the usual stuff such as changing batteries &c, and have eliminated the outside sensor as the problem. The system is OK when communication is wired. I wonder what on earth electronic fault could produce such a bizarre outcom: a dry joint? Surely not.

regards
Mike

[Pat]

Expierencing same problem. Nothing to do with Cumulus.
Display unit has started not to display outodoor temp and wind.
Have always used lithium - changed to new batteries -makes no difference

[mikeh]

Hi Pat,

I'm convinced that it is the base station which is at fault: as the outside temperature drops, so does the inside, if the heating in the house is off [like at night]. To convince myself, I moved the thermo-hygro sensor indoors [at about 17degC], and placed the base station outside at around zero. Sure enough, the communication failed when the outside base station was reading about 15deg, and falling. Comms resumed when I brought the base station back into the warm. Tonight, which is exceptionally cold for Somerset at -12deg, the system is still working because the indoor sensor is at 16deg.

I'm still trying to get some sense from LaCrosse and the retailer.

Mike

[Pat]

thnaks - will keep an eye on indoor temp

[Paulu]

Hi all,
It's possible that the temp extremes are affecting the Transmit side of the external sensor. I.E. all transmitters drift when subject to temp vartiations, thus its possible that

(a) the transmitter is actually failing to send any data at all ... or
(b) the external unit is still sending data but due to drift it's outside of the recievers bandwidth

If the problem is affecting lots of the LaCrosse units, its the sort of problem they will NOT want to know about.

I may be worth trying to "Listen" to the outside Unit with a Handheld radio scanner, I can hear both my LaCrosse 3600 and WH 6081 squawking away on 433.900 Mhz.

An interesting experiment would be to test the external unit by monitoring it, whilst cooling inside a fridge or freezer...... OR if you want to get really cute buy a can of spray freezer at an electronics suppliers, take your unit apart and spray the internal parts component by component until the fault occurs....

Regards Paul... Happy Xmas and a good New Year

[Gina]

OR if you want to get really cute buy a can of spray freezer at an electronics suppliers, take your unit apart and spray the internal parts component by component until the fault occurs....

Yes, that's a very good way of checking for dry joints and faulty components.

[beteljuice]

It's also a good way to destroy your hygrometer

[mikeh]

Happy New Year!

Paul, thanks for that, but I'm convinced that the problem is in the base station: I brought the outdoor sensor indoors [20degC], and put the indoor base station outside [approx 0degC], and sure enough, the transmission failed when the base station cooled down to about 14degC. Transmission restarted when I brought it indoors and the temperature came back up above 15deg. No probs when the experiment was repeated with a wired connection.

However, if I can't get satisfaction under the guarantee, I shall take up your suggestion of a freezer can on the electronics on the base station - avoiding the hygrometer!

Problem with trying wireless experiments using a fridge, of course, is that it makes a nice Faraday cage - can you get plastic fridges?

Mike

[Ned]

Problem with trying wireless experiments using a fridge, of course, is that it makes a nice Faraday cage - can you get plastic fridges?

Sort of - we call them 'chilly bins'. Need to add ice

[mikeh]

Doh-
Didn't think of that!

[jlfutari]

Hi All,
Back on the 1st page of this thread, it was suggested that I Lithium, battery's to fix my cold weather problem. LAst sroing I did indeed try a set, but for some reason, the battery's failed after 1 hour. So i decided to leave it until this winter.
So Winter is rapidly approaching in my part of the globe and so I purchased a new set of Lithium battery's, pop them into the external sensor and all was well for about a hour and then they stopped working (evidenced by the blank internal station readings for the outside).
I'm a little confused, is it possible I have purchased another dud set of lithium battery's?
Can the LA Crosse not handle lithium battery's?
Its chilly outside... are the lithium battery's failing because of the cool temps?


James

[AllyCat]

Hi James,

I don't have any practical experience of the La Crosse (nor AA Lithium cells for that matter) but all the data suggests that Lithium cells are the best to use for this application. Particularly for low temperatures (below -20 degrees C), see a typical data sheet here.

However, the situation with "Lithium" cells is quite complicated because they are available in both primary (disposable) and rechargeable forms and with one of three different "nominal" voltages. Probably the most familiar are the rechargeable Lithium ION (or Lithium Polymer) which deliver 3.7 volts for mobile phones, etc.. These are also available in the standard AA format, but should NOT be used as a substitute for 1.5 volt cells ). Then there are the (generally) non-rechargeable 3.0 volt cells, usually in "coin" format for example used for the clock/BIOS backup in PCs (e.g. CR2032 where the pairs of digits refer to the diameter and thickness in mms).

But, for the weather stations you want 1.5 volt Lithium IRON cells as in the data sheet above. It may be worth noting that when "new" they actually deliver about 1.8 volts, so it's just possible that this is too much for your La Crosse (I wouldn't expect this to be the case, but we're clutching at straws here ). Another possibility is that your La Crosse hardware doesn't like the cold.

Cheers, Alan.

[jlfutari]

Hi AllyCat,
The 2 sets of Lithium battery's that I have don't actually indicate if I they are Lithium IRON cells or not. Although the image on that data sheet(via the link) of the Energizer Ultimate lithium battery's, are exactly the same type Of Energizer lithium as I have.

It may be worth noting that when "new" they actually deliver about 1.8 volts, so it's just possible that this is too much for your La Crosse

I wonder if that is my problem..... My La Crosse external sensor can't handle 1.8 volts?

cheers

James

[Gina]

The Lithium batteries you want come in standard AA size and are clearly marked 1.5v.

These are what I get http://www.amazon.co.uk/Energizer-Ultim ... 625&sr=1-1

[jlfutari]

Hi Gina,
Those battery's are exactly what I have tried to use. Initially after putting them in the outdoor sensor works fine out. After approx 1 hour, the indoor receiving station stops receiving a signal ( I assume that means the out door sensor is not working). When I replace the lithium battery's with the old alkaline, the outdoor sensor works as per normal.
Confused......
?

James