dht11 sensor only retuning unexpected number of pulse often - micropython

Question

I am trying to make a simple water pump controller using a dth11 to make the pump turn on more frequently when the temperature is higher. i have it working but every 4th or 5th time i call measure on the dht11 sensor i get an error saying "InvalidPulseCount: Expected 82 but got 0 pulses" or "InvalidPulseCount: Got more than 82 pulses". I have added try block that is stopping the program from crashing but would really like to figure out why it is happening. I also had to edit the dht.py lib to have 82 instead of 84 as the default expected pulses because that was what was commonly returned.
here is my main.py file
from machine import Pin
from time import sleep_ms
import dht
import I2C_LCD_driver
sensor = dht.DHT11(Pin(28))
lcd = I2C_LCD_driver.lcd()
pump = Pin(7, machine.Pin.OUT)
counter = 0
pumpTime = 30
normalTime = 60
hotTime = 30
lowTemp = 19
# sensor variables only updated every 3 loops
lastMesure = 1
temp = 0
humid = 0
first = True
while True:
# sensor.messure can only be called ever 3 seconds
# start at 1 and set to zero in the first loop for our first messurement
lastMesure += -1
if lastMesure <= 0:
try:
sensor.measure()
lastMesure = 3
temp = round((sensor.temperature), 0)
humid = sensor.humidity
except:
print("something went wrong")
print("Counter: {:.0f} pumpping:{:0.f}".format(counter, pump.value()))
print("Temp: {:.0f}℃ HUMIDITY: {:.0F}% ".format(temp, humid))
# if the pump is running
if pump.value() == 1:
if counter >= pumpTime: # if it has been the set pump run time
pump.value(0) # turn off pump
counter = 0 # reset counter
else:
counter += 1
else:
# check current temp
# if warmer then {lowTemp} check for {hotTime} else check for {normalTime}
if (temp > lowTemp and counter >= hotTime) or counter >= normalTime:
pump.value(1) # turn on pump
counter = 0 # reset counter
else:
counter += 1
# print current data to the screen
lcd.lcd_clear()
lcd.lcd_display_string("T: {:.0f}C H:{:.0f}%".format(temp, humid), 1)
if pump.value() == 1:
status = f'Pumping {pumpTime - counter}s'
lcd.lcd_display_string(status, 2);
else:
lcd.lcd_display_string("Pump off ", 2)
sleep_ms(1000)
here is a picture of my breadboard set up. I have run it both with and without a 1k pull up resistor on the data pin