Monthly Archives: March 2015

Changing the AgroMET Battery

The battery powering your weather station is good for 3 to 7 years, is easily monitored, and replaced. The Battery Installation instructions for checking the voltage and replacing the battery can be found on the NEWA website, under About Weather Stations. If your AgroMET (Rainwise) weather station isn’t transmitting data, the problem could be the battery. Instructions included in the Troubleshooting Guide cover battery check and replacement in the section Station not Transmitting. Updates were made to the Troubleshooting Guide to include safety procedures when handling sensitive parts of the weather station. There’s a YouTube video on how to change the battery, too!

Check the battery voltage on your RainwiseNet dashboard

Download the station data from the RainwiseNet webpage. (You must be logged into your account.) Click on Download.

Enter a date range and make sure the date range includes the time the system last communicated. Click Export.

Click on the Rainwise Weather csv file button to open the downloaded, exported file. The file will open in an Excel spreadsheet.

The “Station Voltage” column is the last column on the right. Look for the last recorded battery voltage which will be at the bottom of the Excel sheet. Because the battery is solar powered, the voltage should rise during the day and fall during the night. Voltage will be lowest when the solar panel receives little sunlight, on cloudy days, during winter, and at night.

Battery voltage that drops below 5.9 volts is insufficient and indicates the battery needs to be replaced.

The replacement 6 volt battery is a Werker WKA6-5F. These batteries can lose charge if they are left sitting on the shelf; install it soon after purchase. It is also best to charge them before installation, or to install them on a sunny day to ensure maximum performance.

Install the new battery

Turn off the weather station power switch.

Remove the solar panel from the sensor assembly. This is done by loosening the four screws located in the corners of the solar panel. Once the solar panel and cover are free from the housing, disconnect the solar panel connection and TAKE NOTE of the way the connectors clip together so you can reconnect them.

Remove the battery from the compartment and disconnect the two leads from the battery.

Install the new battery by connecting the leads on the battery and placing it back into the compartment.

Reassemble the weather station. Switch the power on.

NEWA Partners

NEWA is a partnership of land grant universities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. A yearly subscription fee of $1750 from each member state supports the partnership. Individual farmers can connect to NEWA in non-member states with a yearly fee of $290. Let your friends and colleagues know about NEWA so they, too, can benefit from the IPM and crop production tools available. Want to know more about NEWA in your state? Contact us! Use our contact information in the table below. Learn more about NEWA from You’re NEWA or from NEWA’s website. Juliet Carroll, Cornell University, is the Leader of NEWA.

In Connecticut In Massachusetts In New Jersey
Mary Concklin
Fruit Production & IPM
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269
860-486-6449
mary.concklin@uconn.edu
Jon Clements
UMass Extension
University of Massachusetts
Belchertown, MA 01007
413-478-7219
clements@umext.umass.edu
Peter Oudemans
PE Marucci Center
Rutgers, The State University
Chatsworth, NJ 08019
609-726-1590
oudemans@AESOP.Rutgers.edu
In New York In Pennsylvania In Vermont
Juliet Carroll
NYS IPM Program
Cornell University
Geneva, NY 14456
315-787-2430
jec3@cornell.edu
Robert Crassweller
Dept of Horticulture
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-6163
rmc7@psu.edu
Terence Bradshaw
UVM Apple Team
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
802-922-2591
tbradsha@uvm.edu