Topic: Is the Access corrupting my rainfall data?

[BeaverMeadow]

Another erroneous rainfall reading today.Was told by Acurite to be patient. Very irritating. I keep cvs data and have to manually edit out Acurite's errors. Now, reviewing back to when I initially set up the Access, I wonder whenever I see rainfall data of around 1" whether it is a false reading or not.

Do these types of sporadic erroneous readings occur with Ambient or Davis pws' too? Maybe this level of accuracy is the norm for home based weather stations and I should just accept it.  
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Galfert, actually the sensors in my 5 in 1 are working quite well. It is 2 years old. It is the Access part of the pws setup that appears to be the source of the bad rainfall data. My Acurite color display never shows the erroneous rainfall readings. Only WU and MyAcurite.

I sure hope I hear back from Tasha at Acurite customer support this coming week. So far I have received an email response from her that empathizes with my frustration and asks me to be patient.

...."We have determined it is not the Access that is the root cause of the issue you are experiencing which is why a new Access will not correct your issue. We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software so we may correct it......"

What software is she talking about? (or does she really mean firmware?) Maybe software that both WU and MyAcurite share at their respective server sites are generating these sporadic readings? Why would "a small handful of users experience this same issue" but not others?

I am starting to wonder just how often these erroneous data readings are actually occurring among Access owners. Acurite owners here at wxforum are only a small sampling of users throughout the country.

[galfert]

Galfert, actually the sensors in my 5 in 1 are working quite well. It is 2 years old. It is the Access part of the pws setup that appears to be the source of the bad rainfall data. My Acurite color display never shows the erroneous rainfall readings. Only WU and MyAcurite.

The Access is a console. If you have a display and an Access then you have 2 consoles.

I sure hope I hear back from Tasha at Acurite customer support this coming week. So far I have received an email response from her that empathizes with my frustration and asks me to be patient.

...."We have determined it is not the Access that is the root cause of the issue you are experiencing which is why a new Access will not correct your issue. We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software so we may correct it......"

What software is she talking about? (or does she really mean firmware?) Maybe software that both WU and MyAcurite share at their respective server sites are generating these sporadic readings? Why would "a small handful of users experience this same issue" but not others?

That response back from Tasha is confusing, but you are correct. The software being referred to is really firmware. Customer service (from many companies) often speak in simple terms because they assume we are all non-technical. Firmware is special software and they assume many people have never heard of firmware. The problem is firmware in the Access. But it could also be hardware driven issues (really a product design problem) that can sometimes be corrected in firmware by making the firmware filter out these anomalies. Which is why she says that at this point a different Access will not fix the issue.

But when she says that the Access is not the root cause that is really bad information. It is corporate damage control. They could be referring to the Access and the firmware it runs as two separate things. In my view the Access is both the hardware and the firmware it runs. It's symantics and games companies play.

[nincehelser]

"symantics"

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

No one calls an Access a "console".

[galfert]

"symantics"

No one calls an Access a "console".

The Access is a console without an attached display. The display for the Access is an app or web page.

Much like an Ecowitt GW1000 and an Ambient ObserverIP and a Davis WLL are all consoles.

An Xbox or a Playstation are consoles. They are game consoles. Similar type device to the console of a weather station where the controls are.

They all fit the definition you posted. "A panel or unit... [with] controls..."

The Access is doing exactly the same thing as a display console...which is making your data available online or on some app or display and it is the control center for calibration and other settings.

[nincehelser]

"symantics"

No one calls an Access a "console".

The Access is a console without an attached display. The display for the Access is an app or web page.

Much like an Ecowitt GW1000 and an Ambient ObserverIP and a Davis WLL are all consoles.

An Xbox or a Playstation are consoles. They are game consoles. Similar type device to the console of a weather station where the controls are.

They all fit the definition you posted. "A panel or unit... [with] controls..."

The Access is doing exactly the same thing as a display console...which is making your data available online or on some app or display and it is the control center for calibration and other settings.

Sorry, but no.  Nobody calls the Access a "console".  Data isn't shown on the Access, and there are no controls where you can adjust operation.

[BeaverMeadow]

I don't understand how it could be a firmware problem since some Access units operate trouble free while others will periodically send out bad data (specifically bad rainfall data). The firmware is the same in all Access units so the only difference would be the hardware.

[BeaverMeadow]

BTW, it happened again today. That's a new record of two days in a row.

7:19 AM   65F   64F   99%   NNE   0.0mph   0.0mph   29.94in   0.00in   0.00in
7:24 AM   65F   64F   99%   ESE   0.0mph   0.0mph   29.94in   0.98in   0.98in

[galfert]

"symantics"

No one calls an Access a "console".

The Access is a console without an attached display. The display for the Access is an app or web page.

Much like an Ecowitt GW1000 and an Ambient ObserverIP and a Davis WLL are all consoles.

An Xbox or a Playstation are consoles. They are game consoles. Similar type device to the console of a weather station where the controls are.

They all fit the definition you posted. "A panel or unit... [with] controls..."

The Access is doing exactly the same thing as a display console...which is making your data available online or on some app or display and it is the control center for calibration and other settings.

Sorry, but no.  Nobody calls the Access a "console".  Data isn't shown on the Access, and there are no controls where you can adjust operation.

If it isn't rain rate it is Linux and now it is consoles. I'll respectfully agree to disagree with you.

[nincehelser]

"symantics"

No one calls an Access a "console".

The Access is a console without an attached display. The display for the Access is an app or web page.

Much like an Ecowitt GW1000 and an Ambient ObserverIP and a Davis WLL are all consoles.

An Xbox or a Playstation are consoles. They are game consoles. Similar type device to the console of a weather station where the controls are.

They all fit the definition you posted. "A panel or unit... [with] controls..."

The Access is doing exactly the same thing as a display console...which is making your data available online or on some app or display and it is the control center for calibration and other settings.

Sorry, but no.  Nobody calls the Access a "console".  Data isn't shown on the Access, and there are no controls where you can adjust operation.

If it isn't rain rate it is Linux and now it is consoles. I'll respectfully agree to disagree with you.

I'd love to agree with you on those subjects, but there's  no point in both of us being wrong.

[galfert]

I don't understand how it could be a firmware problem since some Access units operate trouble free while others will periodically send out bad data (specifically bad rainfall data). The firmware is the same in all Access units so the only difference would be the hardware.

Same thing happened when the Atlas had false lighting issues that some people experienced and others didn't till that mystery was solved. For whatever reason there are circumstances that affect some people and not others. It is impossible to know of all the environmental or circumstantial differences, maybe even manufacturing tolerance differences. If you want a controlled environment then you take a working Access that has never had any issues and you move it to a location where a different Access experienced problems. Maybe even using the other Access power supply. But even that does not account for the manufacturing tolerance differences between one component or device and a different one. You can also do the same thing in reverse where you take a problem device and you put in where a different device had not experienced issues. There are many external factors that affect things. Maybe the Access for example does not like your particular brand of microwave oven every time you use it. Maybe the Access doesn't like your power company and quality of the power it delivers. I'm not an electrical engineer so any of these idea may actually be ridiculous but that isn't the point, the point is that there are always external factors or possibly design issues that the designers or developers did not foresee. Companies sometimes need time to find and provide solutions to these issues.

[galfert]

"symantics"

No one calls an Access a "console".

The Access is a console without an attached display. The display for the Access is an app or web page.

Much like an Ecowitt GW1000 and an Ambient ObserverIP and a Davis WLL are all consoles.

An Xbox or a Playstation are consoles. They are game consoles. Similar type device to the console of a weather station where the controls are.

They all fit the definition you posted. "A panel or unit... [with] controls..."

The Access is doing exactly the same thing as a display console...which is making your data available online or on some app or display and it is the control center for calibration and other settings.

Sorry, but no.  Nobody calls the Access a "console".  Data isn't shown on the Access, and there are no controls where you can adjust operation.

If it isn't rain rate it is Linux and now it is consoles. I'll respectfully agree to disagree with you.

I'd love to agree with you on those subjects, but there's  no point in both of us being wrong.

I don't expect you do agree with anything I say. I don't need any one person being the judge of what I say. You say what you say and I say what I say. I let the audience decide.  I read many sources of information, books, articles, news outlets, documentation, white papers, blogs, reviews...etc. I'm free to judge any source. I don't like to use any one source alone. It is good to find consensus. Likewise I let other judge whatever I spew without judgement. I don't feel the need to educate or change 100% of my audience. The overall feedback I receive is indicative enough of the quality of my information.

I do see your point (shame you never see my point...yeah I know...I'm wrong, you are right). I get that perhaps Acurite doesn't want to call the Access a console....they call it a hub. If you take the words console and hub out of the discussion and you focus what the devices actually do then an Access is providing the same basic functionality that an Ambient ObserverIP console is doing, or a Daivs WLL or an Ecowitt GW1000.

This is like debating Motor vs Engine, or battery vs cell, or modem vs media access device which is a transceiver, bridge or adapter (no modulation/demodulation).

[BeaverMeadow]

It's been six days since I received an erroneous rainfall reading. I hope the problem is resolved.

I was wondering if Acurite has the capability of sending "software" fixes to my specific Access unit? If that is possible then perhaps that's what fixed my problem. If not, then maybe they made software mods at their and WU's servers.

[nincehelser]

It's been six days since I received an erroneous rainfall reading. I hope the problem is resolved.

I was wondering if Acurite has the capability of sending "software" fixes to my specific Access unit? If that is possible then perhaps that's what fixed my problem. If not, then maybe they made software mods at their and WU's servers.

They do have the ability to send minor changes to specific units.  Typically this is used for updating things like your wunderground credentials and elevation, but I imagine there are many other parameters they can tweak if necessary.

[BeaverMeadow]

It's been six days since I received an erroneous rainfall reading. I hope the problem is resolved.

I was wondering if Acurite has the capability of sending "software" fixes to my specific Access unit? If that is possible then perhaps that's what fixed my problem. If not, then maybe they made software mods at their and WU's servers.

They do have the ability to send minor changes to specific units.  Typically this is used for updating things like your wunderground credentials and elevation, but I imagine there are many other parameters they can tweak if necessary.

Customer service told me they would reach out to me when they have a solution. If  I don't hear from them and all continues to be aok I'll update them and see if I can extract any info regarding how the fix was applied.

[BeaverMeadow]

More bad news from Acurite this morning. I guess they haven't fixed the problem yet--

1:55 AM   50.9F   50.6F   99%   NNE   0.0mph   0.0mph   30.04in   0.00in   0.00in      w/mē
2:01 AM   50.9F   50.6F   99%   NNE   0.0mph   0.0mph   30.04in   0.00in   0.00in      w/mē
2:44 AM   48.9F   48.6F   99%   SSW   0.0mph   0.0mph   30.04in   2.44in   2.44in      w/mē
2:49 AM   48.8F   48.5F   99%   South   0.0mph   0.0mph   30.04in   2.44in   2.44in      w/mē

[HH2]

Yesterday WeatherUnderground and MyAcuRite app showed 1.95" and my AcuRite monitor showed .38" (.38 is the correct amount of rainfall).

Looking at the MyAcuRite rain gage chart, the 1.95" accumulated in 1 hr and 15 min.  During the first 5 minutes of this time frame, it shows 1.59".  So over the next 1 hr and 10 minutes, it shows .36" which I believe is a good number, so the problem occurred in the first few minutes of the rainfall.  The WeatherUndround app chart shows exactly the same inaccurate graph.

I wonder if some of the others reporting rainfall data problems is a somewhat similar issue to mine???  Just check the charts and please comment.

[pclaar]

Add me to the list of people experiencing this problem. It's happened four times over the past month.

The response from Acurite confirms this is a problem they have to fix:

Regrettably, there is a known issue with the Firmware in the Acurite access that can sometimes produce false rain.
We currently do not have a fix for the issue and it should be resolved with our next firmware update.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Pete

[HH2]

Please refer to my post (two posts above). Same thing happened early this morning with false rain amount during the first five minutes.  The total rain amount was not as much as last time, but the percentage of error during the first five minutes was very similar.  I have a second rain level gage and I check with neighbors to confirm right from wrong.  My AcuRite monitor showed the correct level but WeatherUnderground and MyAcurite app were both wrong, so it sure appears that the Access device is messing things up again.

[BeaverMeadow]

I haven't had a false rain reading in about a week but the last time I had a stretch of accurate rain data I started getting false readings again so I do not know if the problem is solved for me or not.

This was last communication I received from Acurite customer service:

Thank you for reaching back out to me. As previously discussed we are not sending a replacement Access as that has already been proven to not correct your issue. We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software (the access is the hardware) so we may correct it.

We will reach out to you when we have a solution. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding while we are looking to resolve this issue.

Not very reassuring but at least hopeful.

The enigma seems to be that this problem doesn't happen to every Access user even though the same "software" is installed in all the units (afaik). Maybe it can be resolved in the software end of their and WU's computers.

[galfert]

I agree, this doesn't seem to me like a software issue because not everyone is experiencing it. It may be that they find a way to filter and catch this issue with a software update of which is initially a hardware issue. The reason a replacement does not solve the problem could be because not everyone is exposed to the same interference that is then materialized in the faulty hardware design. Many issues in hardware can often be fixed with software. It's happened to Intel several times and to many other companies. I don't doubt though that in a few months a second revision of the Access I will be released quietly.

Anybody have a track record of Access firmware updates? If nobody has a precise log or releases and dates then an approximation of how many updates have been released since product launch would be also informative. It just seems to me like it takes them a long time to do anything.

[BeaverMeadow]

They're back-- useless bad Acurite data. Today is a sunny, dry, beautiful day in Massachusetts but Acurite Access data sent to WU and MyAcurite says there was torrential rain here to the tune of 2.33".

This is starting to make an Acurite pws look like a poor choice for anyone hoping for reliable weather data. This is going on for far too long with no resolution.

Messages from Acurite admit that they are clueless to the cause or to solution.

[nincehelser]

They're back-- useless bad Acurite data. Today is a sunny, dry, beautiful day in Massachusetts but Acurite Access data sent to WU and MyAcurite says there was torrential rain here to the tune of 2.33".

This is starting to make an Acurite pws look like a poor choice for anyone hoping for reliable weather data. This is going on for far too long with no resolution.

Messages from Acurite admit that they are clueless to the cause or to solution.

I'd ask them to escalate or post a message on twitter or facebook. 

Frankly, it's not an issue that's popping up on the other forums.  I'm wondering if the support person correctly categorized the problem.

[Mirwin275]

Now my Access seems to be acting up now in this way. I had 0.64 inches reported from the Access and no rainfall on my display today. I know it did not rain today. This is the second time this month this happened. It seems more frequent is what I am saying. The Access I have is my original and I got it when Acurite offered the deal of $40 for it. So I have had it for a while. Is it on it's way out? I don't know, but it should last longer than this. Other than this, my Access works fine most of the time. The signal fluctuates every so often, but always stays online with the devices reporting to it. My Access is at least 3 feet away from any electronics.

[BeaverMeadow]

Now my Access seems to be acting up now in this way. I had 0.64 inches reported from the Access and no rainfall on my display today. I know it did not rain today. This is the second time this month this happened. It seems more frequent is what I am saying. The Access I have is my original and I got it when Acurite offered the deal of $40 for it. So I have had it for a while. Is it on it's way out? I don't know, but it should last longer than this. Other than this, my Access works fine most of the time. The signal fluctuates every so often, but always stays online with the devices reporting to it. My Access is at least 3 feet away from any electronics.

My sympathies. This is a pretty sad situation as far as having an expectation of reasonably accurate weather data being transmitted for online availability-- this being a key selling point for this product.

For reference, here is a log of my communications with customer support at Acurite:

Jul 8, 1:02 PM CDT
Thank you for contacting Acurite. We have had a small handful of users experience this same issue as you have described. We have provided your information to our development team for further investigation of the cause of this issue. We will update you when we have more information to provide at that time.

Jul 10, 12:23 PM CDT
I understand your frustration however, getting a new Access will not correct the rain reading issues for you. At this time we do not have an ETA for when a solution will be found. We do understand it is very frustrating. We are working to find a solution as soon as possible. We do appreciate your patience and understanding while we continue to search for the best solution.

Jul 12, 8:35 AM CDT
...We have determined it is not the Access that is the root cause of the issue you are experiencing which is why a new Access will not correct your issue. We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software so we may correct it. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding while we are looking to resolve this issue.

 Jul 17, 11:38 AM CDT
Thank you for reaching back out to me. At this time we do not have an answer as to what is causing your false rain on your My Acurite account. We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software so we may correct it.

We will reach out to you when we have a solution. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding while we are looking to resolve this issue.

07/22/2019
(03:47:09 PM) Melissa : Unfortunately, we are not replacing the Access for erroneous data being recorded, as it could be from the access, the sensor or an issue with the sire itself.
(03:52:51 PM) Melissa : We are not currently warranting the Access for this issue, If that changes a follow up will be done.
03:57:54 PM) Melissa: At this time we do not have an answer as to what is causing the false rain on your myAcurite account, We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software so we may correct it. We will reach out to you when we have a solution.
(03:59:02 PM) Paul: Do you have an estimate of how long until you figure out what is going on with the erroneous rainfall data and the intermittent signal strength?
(03:59:28 PM) Melissa : Paul, I, unfortunately, do not.
(04:01:05 PM) Paul: Melissa, Can you tell me how widespread this erroneous rainfall data is with the Access?
(04:01:59 PM) Melissa : I do not know the Specific Paul But I have had a few cases come in with the same issue, We have sent each case for review.
    
Jul 23, 12:50 PM CDT
Thank you for reaching back out to me. As previously discussed we are not sending a replacement Access as that has already been proven to not correct your issue. We are still researching the root cause for this to happen in the software (the access is the hardware) so we may correct it.

We will reach out to you when we have a solution. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding while we are looking to resolve this issue.

[Mirwin275]

BeaverMeadow, thank you for that info. Hopefully, they are right that it is not a hardware issue. I hope they figure out what is going on in the software. In these cases it definitely helps to have the display, which I have. It helps me pinpoint issues that come up with having the display when comparing to what the Access receives and reports online.