Author Topic: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests  (Read 84956 times)

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Offline sam2004gp

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #75 on: January 27, 2009, 09:35:05 AM »
It looks like this thing may finally be working.  I have gotten 0.14" of precip. for our current "winter event" this morning.  If it continues to update "well" through the day, I can then finally call it a success.   :???:

« Last Edit: January 31, 2009, 09:12:12 AM by sam2004gp »
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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #76 on: January 27, 2009, 12:18:14 PM »
Same here Sam,
  I received .12 inches of precipitation. seems to be working great! I'm liking this heater thangy! :)

Jim

Offline Anthony

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #77 on: January 27, 2009, 01:37:32 PM »
Sure wish mine was isntalled. Recieved 0.04 before the guge froze up. Getting just rain here now. But I'm missing it because the guage is froze.



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Offline sam2004gp

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #78 on: January 27, 2009, 01:41:53 PM »
Quick go grab a hair dryer and long extension cord.    :-P
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Offline Anthony

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #79 on: January 27, 2009, 01:43:19 PM »
ZAP!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:



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Offline W Thomas

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #80 on: January 27, 2009, 04:19:53 PM »
ZAP!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:




Christy's hair dryer has a built in GFCI . Want me to send it over real quick :)


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Offline mackbig

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #81 on: January 27, 2009, 06:56:30 PM »
Congrats Jim, you waited a long time for this.  Sorry your xmas was not white, but at least you got some melt...

Andrew

Same here Sam,
  I received .12 inches of precipitation. seems to be working great! I'm liking this heater thangy! :)

Jim

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jwyman

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #82 on: January 27, 2009, 09:50:27 PM »
Thanks Andrew,

Yeah, it's nice to see something you built actually work and not fail!  =D>  =D>

Jim

Offline Anthony

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #83 on: January 28, 2009, 07:29:59 AM »
Well mine finally thawed out on it own. But who knows how much precip I missed. I guess I really need to have a manual rain guage also.



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Anthony
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jwyman

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #84 on: January 28, 2009, 07:54:46 AM »
Final tally - .32 inches of precip yesterday... Snow,mixed, and rain.....

Jim

Offline Anthony

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #85 on: January 28, 2009, 01:38:24 PM »
Yesterdays total ended up being 0.36" That includes what was measured before it froze, the frozen precip that was in the guage and what fell after it thawed.



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Anthony
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Offline sam2004gp

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #86 on: January 31, 2009, 09:16:05 AM »
Sorry guys, I had to duck out for a few days, but I am back but only part-time for awhile.  My 84 year old grandfather fell and broke a leg in all of our frozen mess.  He lives 40 miles south of me so I have been keeping the roads warm and the car salty.   

On topic.....

It looks like I got around .44 of precip for those two days.  So I will declare success as well.
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jwyman

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #87 on: January 31, 2009, 09:45:42 AM »
Sorry to hear that Sam. Hope all is well with your Grandfather....

Jim

Offline W Thomas

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #88 on: February 01, 2009, 12:05:42 AM »
Good to hear he didn't break his hip.. That's a tough deal at that age!
My grandmother went through that  a few years before her death and was having a rough go of it.

Hope you grandfather recovers quickly!


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Offline Anthony

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #89 on: February 01, 2009, 07:44:17 AM »
Wishing your grandfather a speedy recovery.



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Anthony
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Offline sam2004gp

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #90 on: September 16, 2009, 01:32:56 PM »
Considering that we are once again approaching the COLD time of year, I thought I would revive this thread with a few photos of my installation.

I went a little further with the "Reptile Heater Cord" method and ran the element around the "cone" of the collector too.  I get a GREAT melt rate by doing this, and no issues with temp changes on the VP2.  We have another VP2 .7 miles from my site that has the Davis VP2 heater installed.  My rain totals were right in line with that station during last year's snow storms, BUT my rain rate was much higher indicating that the Davis heater has a much slower melt rate than this $40.00 alternative!

The only problem I had with my original installation was that the duct tape I had used to secure the cord to the "cone" melted due to the heat of the summer sun.  This resulted in that entire coil coming loose and falling down on top of my tipping buckets!  To eliminate this from happening again, I removed  the tape and as much of the glue I could, and then reattached the element using 5 minute epoxy.  I also bought a second rain bucket from Davis, so that I don't have to leave the heated version up during the summer when it is not needed, and when the inside of the bucket can get VERY hot due to the summer sun.



Good job, on those ideas but this is the Oregon Scientific Hardware sub forum, you may want to post in this Davis Oriented thread.
http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=1468.0
 :grin:

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Offline WeatherGoose

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #91 on: September 16, 2009, 01:37:59 PM »
Oops!

I removed it.


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Offline sam2004gp

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #92 on: September 16, 2009, 01:38:52 PM »
Nice idea for the epoxy. :grin:
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Offline WeatherGoose

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #93 on: September 16, 2009, 03:36:49 PM »
Thanks!

After the glue on the duct tape melted, (not from the heater but from the summer heat) I decided that something stronger was in order!  :-)


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Offline sam2004gp

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #94 on: September 23, 2009, 01:41:21 PM »
Hey Mods or Ken, can we make this thread a sticky?
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Offline Anthony

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #95 on: September 24, 2009, 08:47:50 AM »
Thread is now sticky.



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Anthony
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Offline doublecheese

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #96 on: January 07, 2010, 09:57:34 AM »
Sorry for the ignorent question, but why would you need a heater for the Rain Collector ?

Is it because of the very cold temps where the rain collector might get frozen  ? Or is it for any other specific reason ?

The coldest we get over here is -2/-3C  (about 16F) and that's only a few days, generally we have 5-7C ( 41F) during winter , do I need a heater as well ?

Secondly is there a Gauge to measure snow and send this snow info wirelessly to WMR200 or the RFXCOM 433.92MHz receiver ?

Thanks
« Last Edit: January 07, 2010, 09:59:28 AM by doublecheese »

Offline WeatherGoose

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #97 on: January 07, 2010, 08:31:54 PM »
Sorry for the ignorent question, but why would you need a heater for the Rain Collector ?

Is it because of the very cold temps where the rain collector might get frozen  ? Or is it for any other specific reason ?

The coldest we get over here is -2/-3C  (about 16F) and that's only a few days, generally we have 5-7C ( 41F) during winter , do I need a heater as well ?

Secondly is there a Gauge to measure snow and send this snow info wirelessly to WMR200 or the RFXCOM 433.92MHz receiver ?

Thanks


In a word... "SNOW";)


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Offline doublecheese

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Re: 'Cheap' Rain Collector Heater - Ideas - Plans - Tests
« Reply #98 on: January 08, 2010, 04:02:43 AM »
Sorry for the ignorent question, but why would you need a heater for the Rain Collector ?

Is it because of the very cold temps where the rain collector might get frozen  ? Or is it for any other specific reason ?

The coldest we get over here is -2/-3C  (about 16F) and that's only a few days, generally we have 5-7C ( 41F) during winter , do I need a heater as well ?

Secondly is there a Gauge to measure snow and send this snow info wirelessly to WMR200 or the RFXCOM 433.92MHz receiver ?

Thanks


In a word... "SNOW".  ;)

Damn :)

I wish we had snow over here, normally we get snow maybe twice a year and that is only a few days, I guess I should not be worried about the heating process of my rain collector than :)