Hi to all Davis VP2 owners.
Looking back, I see I started this same conversation back in September 2014. Thought I'd make it a new topic for this time round.

My Temp/Humidity sensor has started to fail once again 3 years and 2 months after the replacement unit was fitted.  At that time there were a number of respondents that noted the life of their sensors was around that 3 year mark. Is this still the case and are people on to their 3rd or 4th sensor?  The Temp still seems give plausible looking readings, just the Humidity sensor showing 3-4%.  The rest of the station seems to work without a problem after 6 years of duty. Shame Davis doesn't seem to get a handle on this particular problem or maybe it's a regular 3 year clip of the ticket!

Anyone found a bargain source for this exorbitantly priced bit of electronics?  Please PM me if you have.

cheers
TonyC

I'd say you've been quite fortunate Paul. Back in the 2014 post there were about 4 other members with a similar issue and it is quite well known that Davis has had a problem with this sensor. I was hoping that when I last replaced it, they may have improved it.  Whether the fact of my station being right on the sea coast  may be a contributing factor is also an unknown which was why I was inquiring if others were still having to replace theirs.

The sensor does have a limited lifespan which is reduced by exposure to a variety of substances. Dust, dirt and insects probably don't do much good either. So how often you have to replace it probably depends on where your weather station is located and what sources of pollution are nearby. This document covers handling instructions for the sensor IC itself including various things that can shorten its life:
https://www.sensirion.com/fileadmin/user_upload/customers/sensirion/Dokumente/2_Humidity_Sensors/Sensirion_Humidity_Sensors_Handling_Instructions_V4.pdf

I replaced the sensor in my Vue for the first time in April 2016. The weather station was installed in February 2013 so it lasted just over three years. Replacement part for the Vue is a bit expensive ($247) as the electronics are all nicely potted with no accessible connectors. So the sensor PCB can't be replaced on its own - you've got to replace *all* the electronics in the ISS. This means the replacement part can only be sourced from weatherdata as it includes the radio module. A bit of a design flaw in an otherwise quite nicely built unit.

with exceptions like Paul which skew the statisitics.

And agreed on impact of site conditions.  While we have fairly high and low temps and some blistering snow storms on occasion, we don't have any of the sea side and salt water issues, nor severe winds.  Our Great Lakes are fresh water and I am about 40 km away from the nearest.

I am happy, and feel lucky.

Enjoy,
Paul