C-1
Appendix C. CVF4 Ventilation Unit
C.1 General Information
Ventilation of radiometers improves the reliability and accuracy of the
measurement by reducing dust, raindrops and dew on the dome. With
thermopile-based instruments ventilation stabilizes the temperature of the
radiometer and suppresses thermal offsets. The integrated heater can be used to
disperse precipitation and melt frost, or even melt snow and ice in cold
climates.
CVF4 is a low power, low maintenance ventilation unit. The only part that
needs maintenance is the removable air inlet filter, which should be checked at
regular intervals and cleaned or replaced when necessary.
The flow that the CVF4 creates is unique. At the top of the pyranometer dome
the flow is high and it swirls to improve the air distribution over the dome. The
position of the heaters and the cover material ensure only half the heating
power is needed to melt frost and snow compared to older ventilation units.
CVF4 is designed to be used with Kipp & Zonen:
•
CMP / SMP pyranometers
•
CGR 4 pyrgeometer
•
CUV 5 total UV radiometer
CVF4 can be mounted on the 2AP and SOLYS 2 sun trackers.
CVF4 replaces the successful and widely used CVF3 ventilation unit.
The CVF4 is meant to run continuously. The heater can either be powered on
continuously for cold regions or be switched on by a Campbell Scientific data
logger to remove dew in the morning and be switched off afterwards. In that
case, the heater could operate for a period of time before and after sunrise. This
saves power in situations where power is limited, such as PV operated systems.
The CVF4 is manufactured by Kipp & Zonen and cabled by
Campbell Scientific. The wiring of a CVF4 purchased from
Campbell Scientific is different than the wiring of a CVF4
purchased directly from Kipp & Zonen.
C.2 CVF4 Components
and FIGURE
show the components of the CVF4. It is
shipped with a cover, power cable, eight washers, four screws, Allen wrench,
and five spare filters (FIGURE
).
NOTE