20+ Year Old VP2 ISS - Intermittent Low Battery Warnings Despite Good Performance
Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2026 2:34 pm
I'm looking for feedback from other long-time Vantage Pro2 owners, especially those running older wireless ISS units with Meteobridge.
My station is a wireless VP2 (Model 6152) that is over 20 years old. The original ISS supercapacitor eventually suffered the well-known leakage issue found in some early VP2 units. About three years after purchase, I replaced the original supercap with a Maxwell 10F 2.7V unit. In late 2025 I began receiving intermittent "LOW BATTERY ON STATION 1" warnings.
Since then I have performed the following:
Installed a new CR123 battery
Replaced the supercap with two new Maxwell 10F 2.7V capacitors in parallel
Replaced the console power supply and cable
Cleaned the ISS battery contacts with a pencil eraser
Verified the solar panel output (approximately 2.3V in direct sun)
Diagnostics:
99% good packets
RF error count typically 0-1
Signal strength around 42
No sensor dropouts
No communication issues
Meteobridge receives data normally
One interesting test I performed was removing the CR123 battery entirely for approximately 24 hours. The ISS continued operating and transmitting normally throughout the test.
Recent voltage measurements:
Fully charged capacitors: approximately 2.56V
During an active LOW BATTERY warning: capacitors approximately 1.55V
CR123 battery during active warning: 3.21V
The warning often appears in the early morning, particularly after several cloudy or rainy days. However, the station continues operating normally, packet quality remains excellent, and communication with the console is unaffected.
At this point I'm wondering if I am simply reaching the low-voltage threshold of an aging ISS power system after poor charging conditions, rather than experiencing an actual battery failure.
Questions for other VP2 owners:
Has anyone seen LOW BATTERY warnings with otherwise excellent RF performance and normal operation?
Does anyone know approximately what capacitor voltage triggers the VP2 low battery warning?
Have you seen similar behavior on older ISS boards after 15-20+ years of service?
Did replacing the solar panel, ISS board, or other components solve the issue?
I'm mainly interested in hearing from users who have kept older VP2 systems running long-term and may have encountered similar behavior.
Thanks in advance.
My station is a wireless VP2 (Model 6152) that is over 20 years old. The original ISS supercapacitor eventually suffered the well-known leakage issue found in some early VP2 units. About three years after purchase, I replaced the original supercap with a Maxwell 10F 2.7V unit. In late 2025 I began receiving intermittent "LOW BATTERY ON STATION 1" warnings.
Since then I have performed the following:
Installed a new CR123 battery
Replaced the supercap with two new Maxwell 10F 2.7V capacitors in parallel
Replaced the console power supply and cable
Cleaned the ISS battery contacts with a pencil eraser
Verified the solar panel output (approximately 2.3V in direct sun)
Diagnostics:
99% good packets
RF error count typically 0-1
Signal strength around 42
No sensor dropouts
No communication issues
Meteobridge receives data normally
One interesting test I performed was removing the CR123 battery entirely for approximately 24 hours. The ISS continued operating and transmitting normally throughout the test.
Recent voltage measurements:
Fully charged capacitors: approximately 2.56V
During an active LOW BATTERY warning: capacitors approximately 1.55V
CR123 battery during active warning: 3.21V
The warning often appears in the early morning, particularly after several cloudy or rainy days. However, the station continues operating normally, packet quality remains excellent, and communication with the console is unaffected.
At this point I'm wondering if I am simply reaching the low-voltage threshold of an aging ISS power system after poor charging conditions, rather than experiencing an actual battery failure.
Questions for other VP2 owners:
Has anyone seen LOW BATTERY warnings with otherwise excellent RF performance and normal operation?
Does anyone know approximately what capacitor voltage triggers the VP2 low battery warning?
Have you seen similar behavior on older ISS boards after 15-20+ years of service?
Did replacing the solar panel, ISS board, or other components solve the issue?
I'm mainly interested in hearing from users who have kept older VP2 systems running long-term and may have encountered similar behavior.
Thanks in advance.