Author Topic: Rainew Rain Gauge Filter Screens  (Read 2237 times)

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Offline aweatherguy

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Rainew Rain Gauge Filter Screens
« on: February 11, 2015, 09:18:11 PM »
I recently purchased a RAINEW 111 gauge. I've been wanting to do some experimenting and this item fit the bill at a decent price.

Overall I think this is a decent unit. There are a couple of things I did change however and it was quite a bit out of adjustment when I received it.

I did not really like the large hole sizes in the plastic grate at the bottom of the collection funnel. It was pretty obvious that this would allow a certain amount of debris either into the buckets or to clog up the funnel exit. I removed the grate and cotter pin and cut a piece of aluminum window screen to fit the recess where the grate was. By cutting the screen just a little bit too big, it can be wedged into place and will stay there but is still easily removed for cleaning. Then I cut a piece of thin cotton cloth from an old T-shirt and placed that over the window screen. Screen was also added in the drain holes to keep bugs out. I've also made a little tripod out of 10-gauge copper wire that sits on the cloth to keep it in place, although I'm not sure that's really necessary.

On receipt, I ran some tests and discovered the tipping times were far from equal. This is after leveling the unit by placing a level on top of the funnel opening. I had to adjust one of the tipping stop screws quite a bit to get tipping times equal. Not a huge deal (nothing was broken) but it would be nice if the gauge were better adjusted to start with.

I've had the gauge through one 6-inch rain event now and it checks out to within +-0.02 inches of my Stratus rain gauge. Pretty good for a sub-$100 rain gauge.

Now for the fun part. I've removed the exterior wire that came with the gauge and installed a custom-built wireless transmitter. It uses a 32kHz tuning fork crystal to count time and sends a message with the time count every time the bucket tips.  Time resolution is 1/4-millisecond; way more than is really needed. I can use this now to experiment and learn about figuring rain rate and compare with other commercial gauges (e.g. OS PCR800). I'm already beginning to understand some puzzling aspects of the PCR800.

Offline CSB

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Re: Rainew Rain Gauge Filter Screens
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2015, 08:47:12 AM »
They sell this Strainer @ Home Depot here in Wi.. Some of the Davis VP 2 owners use them in their collectors.

Keep your drain flowing freely with the DANCO 2-1/2 in. Stainless-Steel Mesh Strainer. It works well in a bathroom or kitchen setting because it catches hair, soap, small toys and bottle caps before they travel down the drain. It is made of a durable stainless steel.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DANCO-2-1-2-in-Stainless-Steel-Mesh-Strainer-88820/100164331

Offline aweatherguy

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Re: Rainew Rain Gauge Filter Screens
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2015, 04:50:56 PM »
Thanks for the tip...looks like a good idea!


Offline aweatherguy

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Re: Rainew Rain Gauge Filter Screens
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2015, 04:54:32 PM »
I forgot to mention -- in one of the photos you can see there is some water kind of "stuck" to the bucket on each side. Rainwise says the bucket material repels water but not apparently perfectly. I tried putting some car wax (paste Carnuba wax) on the bucket and that fixed it right up -- all the water runs out now. I don't know how long the wax will last and will have to monitor it.

Has anyone else tried treating the bucket with any compound like wax?

 

anything