My Tempest is almost 4 years old. After years of flawless behavior, it’s starting to act up. Seems to be drastically underreporting lightning strikes and underestimating wind speeds. Are we reaching the lifespan of a advanced piece of technical equipment that’s out in all weather (lots of New Mexico UV) and it’s time to move on, or are these problems something to try to troubleshoot and repair?
Thanks!
yea they last from 6 months till abot 4 years. i must have had 10 replacements. Then back to davis
If anyone has a “dead” Tempest device that is of no further value and / or is planning to migrate back to the Davis system. . .contact me. I’m always on the Look Out for dead Tempest (ST) devices in order to perform “experiments” on them.
when it dies i will mail it to u. i didnt forget 
if that time comes…I’ll send you my mailing address. . .but hope your device lasts for a while yet.
My Tempest had it’s first problem at 3-1/2 years old. The temperature and humidy sensor failed. I was offered the 50% discount on a new unit. I am holding off to see what happens next. I did open the lower half of the unit. It had slight corrosion on the board and on the hole by the temperature sensor. The ribbon cables all looked good but one was folded,it could be an issue. I put back together and the temperature/humidity sensor started working again. That lasted about 7 days. On a very hot day the temperature sensor will start working again until it cools down. Three months later the barometric & UV sensor failed. I believe UV sensor is located in the top and I don’t know about the baro sensor. Just last night a storm pass thru with severe ,close lightning within 10 miles. The first part of the storm I could see the flash of lightning but it didn’t register. It said last lightning 8 days ago. An hour or two after that part 2 of the storm rolled thru and I received the lightning present. It does look like the sensitivity for the lightning has been effected. The wind still seems to work fine although I’ve had doubts on some of the gusts. The rain sensor I finally compared to a rain guage I just purchased. The sensor was off by 0.20, with NC on it was off by 0.05 which I would say is pretty good. I’m thinking the board under the dome might be the cause. I find it hard to believe all the sensors are failing. I don’t know how to remove the dome but that will be once she dead. Anyone know where all the sensors are located? I like the whole concept of the Tempest. Its the longevity of the unit that breaks my confidence.