…A cautionary tale…
Unfortunately my temporary location for my sky sensor wasn’t the wisest choice.
We are having an unusually dry summer here in Ireland - along with a lot of Europe, of course when I was away for the weekend we had a break in the weather and torrential rain, which ponded on the surface around the sky. It registered some rainfall and then went offline.
I’ve taken the batteries out and left the unit indoors to dry out, I’ve had some water ingress at the base.
I’ll swap out the batteries and try powering it up again later.
the sky is supposed to be water tight… weird water was able to get in the battery compartment
a trick I learned from a person dealing with those kinda problem … fill it up with rice … rice is a humidity ‘eater’ (let me be clear, non boiled rice ) and let it at least 24 to 48 hours …
The water seal is an O-ring built into the mounting hardware. Since the Sky only ships with the pole mount and not the Air’s tripod/screw mounting plate, anyone who places it on a tabletop or deck railing is subjecting their Sky to water incursion. Ask me how I know!
For anyone else in this situation, WF has offered to ship the Air’s tripod/screw mounting plate if you request one through the customer support channel…
Before you ship it back, check the red wire that attaches to the metal plate on the battery door near the hinge. There have been a few folks here with wires that spontaneously detached from the door.
The electronics are supposedly pretty far up in the Sky, so sitting in a small puddle is not likely to cause serious damage. Fortunately, my experience had a happy ending, because I picked it up out of the puddle to move it and noticed the wet battery door before the water caused any damage…
One came with your Air. They are interchangeable with the Sky.
I would send you a picture of my spare, but it is so mangled up trying to use it as a template for adding a Sky solar panel that it is less confusing to just say go look at your Air…
So if I put my Air to my stevenson screen, I could use its mounting plate for the Sky? I’m sorry I can’t imagine : does this mean I could fit the Sky to my existing pole to the side (e.g. like Davis anemometer) ?
I would personally try to use the pole mount whenever possible, since the Sky is subject to false rain readings if it vibrates around too much. For portable use (like on a camera tripod at the racing circuit or beach), the Air’s mount is a good choice.
If you have a Davis VP2, here’s a picture of how I put the Sky on top of the mast and mounted the VP2 anemometer just below it. In real life, they are at an identical height:
For a permanent mount on a tabletop or deck railing, I strongly recommend using a plumbing floor flange and pipe nipple such as these with the factory pole mount:
Obviously they should be painted for weather protection against rust, and the flange screwed down to prevent the Sky from tipping over. You may want to check in the PVC pipe fittings aisle to see if there are plastic options for the pipe nipple that may be easier to work with. Just remember to paint the PVC as well, since some varieties degrade from UV exposure…
@coley.curtin As mentioned by other helpful users, the devices are sealed and waterproof by affixing the base mount. The base mount contains a rubber o-ring that seals the bottom of the SKY or AIR and prevents water incursion. If you don’t affix the base, it’s like going out in a rain storm without a jacket on and wondering why you got wet. Glad you were able to dry out and resuscitate.
I already have in place a 1” galvanized threaded base plate, and will probably use about a 10’x1” galvanized pipe on top of my 10ft treated 4X4 post. I used the galvanized fittings to keep from rusting. That should make for a sturdy mount.
even though I’ve had months of hassle free operation after installation of the water tight screw mounting plate, thanks WF, my SKY went offline suddenly a few days ago.
After a peek inside the red wire attached to the battery plate has broken - what metal is the plate? will it take solder?
I’ll give the tab closest to the hinge a good clean and connect here if it’ll work.
Solder wouldn’t take on contact side of battery plate.
Managed to solder wire to reverse of tab on same plate, I think that is where it was previously attached.
SKY up and running again, with the “recommended batteries” - kinda pricey - hope they last!!
) and let it at least 24 to 48 hours …
Glad you were able to dry out and resuscitate.