Measuring rainfall [Solved] [For now!]

My remote says misol. I think it is the main unit from china.

My other is accurite
They read close to each other.

One reed switch so one signal per tip

dave-in-nj:
mine , you can see the reed switch, the magnet is on the bucket.

The mechanism looks identical to mine, but in my sensor the pcb is simpler, just the reed switch, no RF components. A cable with an rj11 plug comes out of the bottom of the case.

Looking at the photo from post #38, there may be space on the PCB to add two more reed switches. The purpose of these will be to detect not the transient condition when the bucket is swinging, but the stable condition at each extreme of travel.
Thus the condition can be verified through your oled display, and the program can be modified to automatically detect malfunctions of the mechanism or reed switches. Perhaps someone on here will help you with the coding mods.... :grin:

dave-in-nj:
mine , you can see the reed switch, the magnet is on the bucket.
not sure how to reduce the size on the new forum

If you can still check it, can you measure if the reed-switch is ON on one position of the bucket and OFF in the other?
OR
If the reed-switch just momentarily turns ON as the bucket tips in either direction?
I think those units are pretty generic/clones, I don't have one now but the insides of that look like my last unit.
Tom... :slight_smile:

If you can still check it, can you measure if the reed-switch is ON on one position of the bucket and OFF in the other?
OR
If the reed-switch just momentarily turns ON as the bucket tips in either direction?

What would be useful for me would be an oscilloscope trace of it switching naturally, by which I mean as a result of water tipping it in normal operation.

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mine is on a long length of cat5 so at the esp8266 end there is the usual 10k/ 0.1uF debounce , pulled high , a 390uH rfc in the lead in . i use falling edge interrupts for that and the anemometer (i know but its easy) , never misses a beat
esp acts as web server , all works a treat.
i have had two of those rain gauges the org fine offset code called each tip 0.3mm (i upped it to 0.33)
neither exhibited any switch issues . the harsh aussie sun makes them a bit brittle

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OK, it's cold and dry in the UK at the moment so I got my ladder out and did some tests.

The rain gauge isn't gummed up, it seems to tip freely and reliably.

1 pulse lasts 96ms, which is way longer than I might have guessed.

With plenty of water in it so it can go as fast as possible the interval between pulses is about 0.5 seconds, so about 2 pulses per second. If 1 pulse represents 0.2794mm of rain then that's about 0.5588mm per second or 33mm per minute. I think if the rain comes down that hard I'll have more serious things to worry about.

The aperture as best I could measure it is 50mm x 110mm, so an area 5500mm^2

I poured in 100ml of water, which registered 44 pulses, indicating 12.2936mm of rainfall.

100ml is 100000 cubic mm.
100000mm^3 / 5500mm^2 = 18.1818mm

So the gauge registered 12.2936 mm when it should have registered 18.18mm. I've only done the test once, there are bound to be errors in my testing so I don't suppose my figures are that accurate, but even so I think the inaccuracy is way more than it should be and justifies my initial observation of it being roughly 50%.

If I use markd833's suggestion that the factor is 0.3537mm per tip (reply #22) then I get:

44 pulses x 0.3537mm = 15.5628mm, which is better but not right (or maybe it is right, as my testing won't be that accurate).

For now I am going to change my calculation factor to 0.3537mm, but I am still not happy.

Thanks for all your help so far :slight_smile:

Thinking about it I have this backwards.

If 100ml of water gives 44 tips then 1 tip is 2.2727ml or 2272.7mm^3

For an area of 5500mm^2
2272.7mm^3 / 5500mm^2 = 0.4132mm per tip.

I will use that factor until I can get a better one with more testing. I need a more accurate measuring jug to get an accurate amount of water to start with.

If there are any errors in my calculations please tell me!

I would use a (kitchen) scale to weigh the water. Simple and accurate.

It might not alter the overall outcome significantly, but although the count was 44 tips, it's possible that the amount of water is 44 tips + a residual amount not quite enough to get to 45 tips.

Going with 45 tips and 100ml, 1 tip would equate to 2.222ml (or 2222.2mm^3). 2222.2mm^3 / 5500mm^2 = 0.4040mm per tip.

That would make the factor somewhere between 0.4132mm and 0.4040mm. I'm not sure how significant that would be in the overall scheme of things.

Southern Water reckon we had 149.7mm of rain in Feb 2020. If my maths is correct, then that would have equated to between 362(.294) tips and 370(.544) tips in that month. A difference of 8 tips over the month. Or maybe I'm reading the data wrong and my maths isn't as good as it once was!

Mark,
That's why I want to do more testing. If I put 1l of water though it then a residual bit of water will be far less significant than for 100ml. I don't have anything I can think of that would accurately give me 1l, whether that is a measuring jug or a set of scales. I don't suppose a laboratory standard measuring beaker costs much...

A 1 liter beverage bottle should be accurate enough.

Or a pint glass.

I've ordered a 300ml laboratory flask.

If you have some kitchen scales, the 1L of water should weight 1kg at 4 degC.

EDIT: Sorry didn't see your comment re scales!

For it to be so far off from the documentation suggests to me that there's something mechanically wrong or defective. Or spiders. Since you have the ladder out, I'd be tempted to open it up and have a look.

Bill,

To look inside properly I'd have to take it down, however looking up through the water exit holes it looks clean and watching and listening to it while water flows through it seems to operate cleanly. It makes a very distinct clunk when it tips.

Update.
I have a laboratory flask with a 300ml marking. Tested against a kitchen jug and they are the same! So I guess they are both fairly accurate.

Rain last night; I got 19 pulses, which at the new conversion factor of 0.4132mm per pulse is 7.85mm. The cat food bowl I left out had 10mm of rain in it.

Probably do some more calibration at the weekend.

How does the unit respond to differing rates of rain fall?

Rain/Precipitation Measurement Technologies

Cons: The accuracy of the tipping bucket sensor is based on a specific rainfall rate. Higher rainfall rates tend to introduce more error in readings.

Hi,
Have you got a 300ml cylinder or a flask.
If a cylinder, leave it out in the rain.
However that will depend on the resolution of the graticule and the amount of rain you receive to get a viable result.

Tom.. :slight_smile: