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battery type for WH1080 Solar

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jnstllng
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun 15 Jan 2017 10:10 pm
Weather Station: WH1080
Operating System: Raspian, Windows 7, Windows 10

battery type for WH1080 Solar

Post by jnstllng »

I am running my Fine Offset WH1080 SE (WS1080) station now for 5.5 months and after some modifications it really gives good values. I'm owning the one with a little solar panel on the transmission unit. I know that the rechargable batteries must be different from the ones normally used, but I did not find any good reference which ones to buy when the old ones fail in the future.

Normal rechargable type AA normally have 1.2 V, but the voltage of the rechargable batteries in the transimission unit must be 1.5 V. Does anyone have a recommendation for me which one where to get?
Frank G
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed 25 Sep 2013 5:03 pm
Weather Station: WH1080 SE
Operating System: 5.4.79.7, Raspbian GNU/Linux
Location: Germany

Re: battery type for WH1080 Solar

Post by Frank G »

You can't use "normal" rechargable batteries (NiMh), it must be NiZn-rechargable-batteries.
I bought some from amazon:https://www.amazon.de/ANSMANN-Mignon-Ni ... ku+ansmann.

Frank
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Weather at Buchenau/Germany: https://wetter.buchenau-net.de
AllyCat
Posts: 1124
Joined: Sat 26 Feb 2011 1:58 pm
Weather Station: Fine Offset 1080/1 & 3080
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
Location: SE London

Re: battery type for WH1080 Solar

Post by AllyCat »

Hi,

Good Rechargeable batteries shouldn't need to be replaced ! ;)

However, the "Rechargeabe Alkaline" cells used by FO are basically a "rubbish" technology and probably will fail in due course. Certainly don't try to find replacement Rechargeable Alkalines, the simple solution is to use normal (non-rechargeable) Alkaline cells which are virtually identical. No modifications are required, but you could disconnect the solar panel if paranoid. :)

The selection of "proper" rechargeables is quite difficult, but normal NiMH may be satisfactory. Their nominal voltage is only 1.2 volts per cell (about the same as a 75% discharged Alkaline), so the "Low Battery" icon (on the Console screen) may come on and the wireless range be slightly reduced. But fully-charged cells are close to 1.5 volts, like Alkalines.

Theoretically, either two x NiZn, or one LiFePO4 plus a "Placeholder" (short-circuit) cell, give a nominal 3.2 volts, or one NiZn + one NiMH would give 3.0 volts. Mixing cell technologies is generally not recommended, but shouldn't be a problem provided that you watch out for the "Low Battery" icon.

But, I don't know about the Solar Powered (only) pods, but the Solar Data Pods (i.e. 308x) have an internal regulator which appears to deliver only 3.0 volts. Arguably, that's not enough even for the Alkalines and certainly not sufficient for NiZn or LiFePO4 types, which makes NiMH the only simple option. I have been looking at increasing the voltage from the regulator, but it's not an easy modification.

Cheers, Alan.
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Super-T
Posts: 890
Joined: Tue 09 Sep 2008 3:37 am
Weather Station: wh-1081
Operating System: Weather Laptop - Windows 10 Pro
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Re: battery type for WH1080 Solar

Post by Super-T »

Quality standard Alkaline works for me. Last about 18 months. Disable the solar panel though. Less trouble overall unless you have your transmitter on a hard to get to place.
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