Still looking into this and it seems my VP2 is consistently recording about 50% of total rain. I've tried tipping the rain collecting mechanism each way and it registers 0.2mm in each direction. 

Any ideas?

My Davis tipping spoons record 0.5mm for every two tips. I forget how to set it up in weatherlink (though easily done) but when I had it set to the 0.2mm per tip as you have now, it severely under recorded rainfall amounts. My current tip setting seems a lot closer to the mark, though still comes in with very slightly lower totals than in my standard manual rain gauge at the end of each month.

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Finally got round to buying an analogue rain gauge  to enable a comparison. So the first results are in:

22/07/23 00:00 to 23/07/23 10:40
Vantage Pro 2, 12.5mm
Analogue: 17mm

The two rain collectors are positioned near to each other. I will do more testing as and when the weather allows, but the early signs are my VP2 is badly under reporting as I suspected. I've done some basic tests on it, e.g. tipping the cups each way to see whether a 0.2mm increment is recorded, cleaned it more frequently, and checked the reed switch. 
 

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Finally got round to buying an analogue rain gauge  to enable a comparison. So the first results are in:

22/07/23 00:00 to 23/07/23 10:40
Vantage Pro 2, 12.5mm
Analogue: 17mm

The two rain collectors are positioned near to each other. I will do more testing as and when the weather allows, but the early signs are my VP2 is badly under reporting as I suspected. I've done some basic tests on it, e.g. tipping the cups each way to see whether a 0.2mm increment is recorded, cleaned it more frequently, and checked the reed switch. 
 

A weather station that record every second for wind, temps and sunshine recorder would be great to pick up potential hottest, coldest and windiest values?  I had a W52500 was useless because it record every 1 minute so any highest, coldest and highest wind speed missed out.   I had a ice warner cabled probe I brought in Nicosia car shop that record every second and used that in August 2003 heatwave which pick up at 38.6C for a second or 2 and in Nicosia highest was 43.3C for a second.

Does your station record every second?   My other one that used to record the shed temps was every 30 seconds on outdoor sensor but every second for the console.

A weather station that record every second for wind, temps and sunshine recorder would be great to pick up potential hottest, coldest and windiest values?  I had a W52500 was useless because it record every 1 minute so any highest, coldest and highest wind speed missed out.   I had a ice warner cabled probe I brought in Nicosia car shop that record every second and used that in August 2003 heatwave which pick up at 38.6C for a second or 2 and in Nicosia highest was 43.3C for a second.

Does your station record every second?   My other one that used to record the shed temps was every 30 seconds on outdoor sensor but every second for the console.

No. The archive interval can be set to 1 min, 5min, 10min, 15min, 30 min, 1 hr or 2hr.

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Strangely, I've now seen that the rain values shown on the VP 2 console do not equal those which appear in WeatherLink. For example, WeatherLink (after fully downloading the data successfully) is showing a total of 9.2mm for 22/07/23, but the console is reporting 11.4mm for the same period,

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Strangely, I've now seen that the rain values shown on the VP 2 console do not equal those which appear in WeatherLink. For example, WeatherLink (after fully downloading the data successfully) is showing a total of 9.2mm for 22/07/23, but the console is reporting 11.4mm for the same period,

That does sound very strange Brian, no idea why, sorry. I have only ever used Cumulus from a software perspective.

Out of interest, as not sure if asked/confirmed previously... are you using the old style two-way tipping bucket or the newer spoon version?

I bought one of the ClimeMET manual gauges just out of interest from this thread, and my newer style spoon version is pretty much bang on the money.


Edit - the only reason I can think of for the discrepancy is a difference between midnight or 9am recording... perhaps.

 

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That does sound very strange Brian, no idea why, sorry. I have only ever used Cumulus from a software perspective.

Out of interest, as not sure if asked/confirmed previously... are you using the old style two-way tipping bucket or the newer spoon version?

I bought one of the ClimeMET manual gauges just out of interest from this thread, and my newer style spoon version is pretty much bang on the money.

 

It looks like this

https://www.davisinstruments.com/products/tipping-bucket-aluminum-plated 

So, I think that's the two-way tipping bucket.

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It looks like this

https://www.davisinstruments.com/products/tipping-bucket-aluminum-plated 

So, I think that's the two-way tipping bucket.

That is the old style that they changed a year or two ago. Not saying either is perfect but I do think the newer one records better...

Not sure if you would have seen my edit on the software discrepancy - the only reason I can think of for the discrepancy is a difference between midnight or 9am recording... perhaps.

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That is the old style that they changed a year or two ago. Not saying either is perfect but I do think the newer one records better...

Not sure if you would have seen my edit on the software discrepancy - the only reason I can think of for the discrepancy is a difference between midnight or 9am recording... perhaps.

Good suggestion, but it isn't the issue in my case. 

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Thanks for pointing out rain tipper upgrade, just purchased from Weather Spares, on offer at the moment at £79

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Thanks for pointing out rain tipper upgrade, just purchased from Weather Spares, on offer at the moment at £79

I may also go down this route. Can you give an update on how it is easy to replace the existing bucket once you've done it?

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I shall indeed. But looking at the video on the site it appears to be just unclipping the original and clipping in the new one.

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I may also go down this route. Can you give an update on how it is easy to replace the existing bucket once you've done it?

Took me about 2 minutes with a flat head screwdriver, simply pried at one end and the old one comes out...

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Have been experimenting with another thermometer since January. The 'Govee Wi-Fi Thermo-Hygrometer', which, while advertised as an indoor thermo, works just as well outside. I placed this thermo inside of the Davis V2 stevenson screen to see how well it works against the actual Davis thermo and I am very well pleased with the results. 

A sample of recent readings from this Govee thermo, as taken inside of the V2 screen, and as viewed from my phone:

Temp and humidity:



and lower down in the screen, Dewpoint and VPD (great for measuring the 'drying' potential of the air).



What I have observed with using this particular wifi thermo:

1. it is much more 'sensitive' to tiny changes in air temp / hum than the V2 thermo. 

2. it is much quicker to react to sudden changes also. The V2 temp/hydro I have observed for years now, takes ages to react to a sudden drop/rise in temp.  

3. Far better at reading actual humidity, with full 100% readings when the air is truly saturated. Of all the different V2 thermos/hydros I've owned, not one of them ever read the actual humidity of the air right. My current one never goes beyond 92%, even if there is dense fog/drizzle out. The one before that never broke 95%, and the one before, 94%!! This new Govee one also more sensitive to lower humidity readings also, which once again, the V2 edition struggles with.


For a while now, I've been becoming increasingly annoyed with my Davis V2, as it has become a cumbersome, and at times, expensive machine to maintain. I think once this next V2 thermo/hydro goes bust (as they always do after a year or two), I'll be sticking solely with this new Govee gadget. This connects readily with your wifi so you can always get the latest reading on the dedicated app no matter where you are. Plus, you can view hourly, daily and monthly trends in a flash via line graphs etc, plus to option to export data into a CSV file. No fuss at all which is exactly what I want. 

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I shall indeed. But looking at the video on the site it appears to be just unclipping the original and clipping in the new one.

Thanks. 👍

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For a while now, I've been becoming increasingly annoyed with my Davis V2, as it has become a cumbersome, and at times, expensive machine to maintain. I think once this next V2 thermo/hydro goes bust (as they always do after a year or two), I'll be sticking solely with this new Govee gadget. This connects readily with your wifi so you can always get the latest reading on the dedicated app no matter where you are. Plus, you can view hourly, daily and monthly trends in a flash via line graphs etc, plus to option to export data into a CSV file. No fuss at all which is exactly what I want. 

I've been having the same thoughts with my VP2 and may start to consider alternatives.

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Last night's rain was a good test. 

VP 2: 10.2mm
Analogue rain gauge: 15mm

That's conclusive for me. Last throw of the dice with my VP2 is to upgrade the rain tipping bucket / switch. If that doesn't produce more consistent results I'll start looking at alternative weather stations.

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OK so got the new tipping bucket for VP2. Very simple to take out the old one and fit the new, just a flat head screwdriver to pop out the old, and a good firm push to insert the new one.
Most difficult part is of course getting the cable into the tiny hole for the connection. It hasn't rained yet, so haven't tested it.

I think one issue with the VP and rain is the leaf catcher in the bucket, there is also a new version of this, but the original which I have looks very deep before any rain can actually get into the bucket. I may be talking rubbish, but am now praying for rain to test it out.

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I've also just installed the new style VP 2 rain tipping spoon. Agree, installation is easy, although the cable is finicky. Waiting for rain too. 

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Then on days when nothing was recorded there was irritating drizzle or light showers that weren't enough to cause a tip 🤮
 

One of Richard's posts borrowed from another thread, but it highlights another issue I have with the DV2 perfectly: the tipping frequency. All too often I have noticed even short lived heavy showers not being picked up on by the Davis due to its low resolution tipping measurement. Showers that can drench in seconds not being 'logged' until the next shower comes along or not at all until the next rain event that could be days onto the future. I really don't understand why the tip measurement was set at 0.3mm per tip and not 0.1mm or less which would prove to be far more accurate and useful. 

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