Rain Guage

[mrc-core]

Hi.
i'm having some trouble whit my rain gauge...

My rain gauge is a Aercus KW9015, using the code provided i'm getting rain count every hour whit no rain at all.
I don't know what to do to fix this.

Over the rain gauge i have 4 connections.
1 - GND
2 - TX1 --- Temperature sensor
3 - TX2 --- Rain sensor
4 - VCC

Why i'm i getting reads of rain ever 1h when there is no rain ?
Can anyone help me whit this problem ?

[petewill]

@mrc-core
Are you actually getting a rain value or is it just sending 0? The code is designed to send an update to your gateway every hour with the total rain for the day whether there is rain or not.

[mrc-core]

Some times i do get value 0 but other times i get rain value a big rain value for example values above 10mm of rain.
The update is made every hour. Yesterday the rain value was 148mm when there was no rain at all. It doesn't rain for the last month.

Ill try today reassembling the arduino, clear cd rom and flash again the rain gauge code.

But i don't understand why i get this values.
I even beleaved that the sensor was sendind data because off the wind... but it's not the problem.

[BulldogLowell]

@mrc-core

how is it connected electronically?

[mrc-core]

At the rain gauge i have an arduino nano conneting PIN "d3" to TX2 over the rain gauge circuit, the arduino is powered at pins VIN and GND.
The rain gauge gets its power from the 3.3V over the arduino.

im posting two images from the rain gauge circuit:

Starting to believe i had connect someting rong like for example had switched TX1 and TX2 at the rain gauge

[mrc-core]

Looking over the IMG_2 should i connect arduino pin d3 to T1 just above the reed switch?
Or i'm i correct using the TX2 connection.

[BulldogLowell]

@mrc-core

No PULLUP or PULLDOWN resistor?

[mrc-core]

no i cant find any pullup or pulldown resistor.
You can see the images from de interior of the rain gauge hi have.

[mrc-core]

Which resistor do i pu between the 5v and the D3 pin ???

[BulldogLowell]

@mrc-core

if you don't pull up/down the signal, you may get floating voltages and spurious interrupts occurring.

try to use the internal pullup

pinMode(yourInterruptPin, INPUT_PULLUP);

if that does not work try an external 10kOhm resistor to pull it up/down for your switch.

[mrc-core]

Going to put the 10kOhm resistor. the internall pullup did not work.
One question. the resistor i put it between de 5v and the D3 pin

[BulldogLowell]

@mrc-core

to PULL UP, yes.

[mrc-core]

Thanks going to try it now. And today is a good day since its raining.

No luck... now i'm getting only "0"

What i have done until now:
Put a resistor 10kOhm between the GND and D3 Pin from arduino and connect it to TX2 over rthe rain gauge.
And connected the 5V from arduino to the VCC over the rain gauge.

But i'm only getting 0 ...

send: 4-4-0-0 s=3,c=1,t=28,pt=7,l=5,sg=0,st=fail:-0.2
read: 5-5-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
send: 4-4-0-0 s=4,c=1,t=16,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,st=ok:0
New Sensor State... Sensor: Not Tripped
read: 3-3-0 s=0,c=1,t=38,pt=7,l=5,sg=0:4.748
read: 0-0-4 s=4,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=1,sg=0:1
read: 5-5-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
read: 5-5-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:

[BulldogLowell]

@mrc-core

I guess I'd need to see a schematic or a good photo.

can you generate a simple interrupt with a pushbutton and a resistor?

[mrc-core]

Hi. yesterday i disassembled the rain gauge circuit removed from it the reed switch and created a new circuit.
I have connnected the reed switch to GND and PIN3 whit 10kOhm resistor.
I'll post an image tonight.

Up until now the values i'me getting from this new circuit is:

Values i'm getting from serial port:
Rain last 24 hours:
1.80
Rain last 48 hours:
12481.94
Rain last 72 hours:
28210.34
Rain last 96 hours:
43938.74
Rain last 120 hours:
59667.14
read and drop: 6-6-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
read and drop: 6-6-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
read and drop: 5-5-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
read and drop: 6-6-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:

Seeing the graphic and this values it seems the problem i was having is fixed...
But tonight i'm going do spread some water over the bucket to see if i get any values and not just 0

[Ivan Z]

MI-SOL Rain Guage has CALIBRATE_FACTOR = 36

[Ivan Z]

Sensor manufacturer has sent information about the sensor. 0.3 mm to 1 tick

[petewill]

@Ivan-Z :thumbsup: Thanks for the info.

[Theekshana]

Hey guys,
Sorry if this is a stupid question but how does the Arduino interact with the tipping bucket to detect rain?
Thanks!

[petewill]

@Theekshana There is a magnet on the tipping bucket and a reed switch that detects the magnet each time it passes by. So each time the bucket tips it will trigger to the Arduino and it can count from there.