Howdy Stu and WeatherCat Davis station users,
I didn't think my solar sensor was particularly dirty, but for giggles I took a look at the Davis documentation for their maintenance recommendations. According to the
UV and Solar Radiation Sensors manual, they recommend cleaning with
ethyl alcohol (
not rubbing alcohol.) At least in the United States, most rubbing alcohols are Isopropyl alcohol which perhaps would damage the sensor. However, that leaves the problem of locating an alternative source for ethyl alcohol. Of course, Wikipedia notes that:
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a solvent, and as a fuel. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol or spirits.
So after you've gone too all this trouble to try to clean your pesky Solar Sensor, perhaps you'll need to bit of ethyl alcohol of this other variety - to calm your flustered nerves!!
Who'd have thought that owning a personal weather station could be
this complicated!!
Cheers, Edouard
P.S. After all this research, yes I did clean the sensor, but it looked reasonably clean before hand. No significant change in output.