Weather Station Hardware > Rainwise Weather Stations
Happy medium for heated rain gauge
WA7FWF:
So I added a heater to my rainwise rain gauge. I picked a temp switch that I thought would be low enough not to evaporate too much, and so far it is working well but it may be a little too cool as it can take hours after the snow stops to finally melt everything, on the plus side so far it looks like I'm losing very little to evaporation. The heater kicks on at around 34 and shuts off around 54 on the inside, the plastic funnel surface varies greatly depending on outside temp and wind speed but stays just above freezing by a few degrees. I'm thinking it's better to spread out the reporting vs quick but losing tons to evaporation. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
ValentineWeather:
That may be the key melt slowly. Problem I see is overflowing bucket with snow. My TE heater is pathetic with the dry snow 20:1 moisture ratio around 60% evaporation loss vs manual readings.
WA7FWF:
I have been watching it to see if it would overflow and so far it has not been a issue, it looks like it melts quicker the more snow it has in it and I'm thinking the snow acts like a blanket to keep the colder air out. When it is below freezing and windy with little snow inside is when it really slows down.
Your TE has a aluminum catcher doesn't it? how about attaching a thermistor to it and using a temp controller to keep it just a little above freezing? does the heater run on 120 Vac? maybe a variac and lower the voltage going to it might also help?
ValentineWeather:
--- Quote from: WA7FWF on January 01, 2018, 11:21:39 AM ---
Your TE has a aluminum catcher doesn't it? how about attaching a thermistor to it and using a temp controller to keep it just a little above freezing? does the heater run on 120 Vac? maybe a variac and lower the voltage going to it might also help?
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Yes it has a heated material that's wrapped around the funnel area it does cycle on and off problem I guess is it just gets to warm between cycles. I may do something with it next year.
ggsteve:
--- Quote from: WA7FWF on December 31, 2017, 01:41:06 PM ---So I added a heater to my rainwise rain gauge. I picked a temp switch that I thought would be low enough not to evaporate too much, and so far it is working well but it may be a little too cool as it can take hours after the snow stops to finally melt everything, on the plus side so far it looks like I'm losing very little to evaporation. The heater kicks on at around 34 and shuts off around 54 on the inside, the plastic funnel surface varies greatly depending on outside temp and wind speed but stays just above freezing by a few degrees. I'm thinking it's better to spread out the reporting vs quick but losing tons to evaporation. [ You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
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Very nice work! Can you provide some details on that heater? Was it off the shelf or DIY? I am very interested in heating my Rainwise tipper.
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