AcuRite 00899 Rain Gauge, Multicolor

I was a little skeptical at first when buying this rain gauge. My dad and I have been tracking rainfall for years with glass gauges (we farm) and I was drawn in by the “self-emptying” part, but also a little leery of how it emptied itself, whether it would freeze in the winter, and whether the design would hold up to years of abuse the way that our plain old tubes did.

So, the first thing I did when I got it was take it apart. I have to say, I was really impressed by the design of this thing. Its simple and brilliant, and I think that understanding how it works really helps put you at ease with it.

Setup:

Two tabs on the side of the white plastic cover allow you to unsnap the white part from the gray part. Inside, you find the measuring unit, which snaps into the gray base. When you unsnap the measuring unit from the bottom of the base, you see the place for the batteries in the bottom of the measuring unit. Once you put the batteries in and snap it back into the base, it covers the batteries to keep them out of the elements. It has two screw holes in the base that will allow you to screw it down so it won’t blow away, then you just snap the white part back into the base, and its ready to go. Batteries go into the indoor unit through a flap on the back, very standard. The unit connected right away when the batteries were installed in that order, and didn’t lose connection even though there is about 100 yards of space between where the rain gauge is located and where the display is located, indoors.

How it Works:

Now onto the fun part. The white part of the gauge funnels the water down to a drip point where it drips into the inside of the gauge. The measuring unit is underneath the drip point, and it consists of a see-saw made with two spoons and a magnet on the bottom. The dripper funnels water into the highest spoon until it gets heavy. When it has enough water, it falls, swinging the magnet past the sensor, raising the other spoon to catch water, and dumping its own water out the side of the rain gauge, all in one motion. Then it repeats with the other side. The sensor just measures how many times the magnet swings past. So, there is really only one moving part – the double spoon with a magnetic bottom, on an axis. Nothing complex or easily breakable. It basically measures the rain one tiny measuring cup at a time. And, since the spoon has an open top, holds only a few drops of water, and empties out the side of the base, there is nothing to freeze and crack, so I can leave this gauge outside – no more bringing the gauges in like I have to with the glass tubes.

Also, the accuracy of the rain gauge is completely adjustable. It has two set screws underneath the ends of the spoons that you adjust up and down to control how much rain it gathers in each spoon before tipping. So, you can run it next to your favorite rain gauge, and adjust the screws until the reading is dead-on accurate.

The inside unit is very similar to other accu-rite weather products. It has a clear display that includes the time and date, and a few buttons. The mode button cycles between running totals. It keeps a total for the latest rain event, the last 24 hours, the last week, and two separate running totals (A and B) that you can use to track whatever you want. ( I use A for the monthly total, and B for the yearly total.) To reset a total, you hold the clear button while you’re viewing it. History takes you back to previous readings. It has two alarm thresholds. You can set an alarm for rainfall if you want to be alerted when it starts to rain. You can set another alarm for a flood watch if you want to be alerted when high amounts of rain fall. The set and + butttons are just used to set up the unit.

The Bottom Line:

This rain gauge uses a simple, accurate, and adjustable method to measure rain. It won’t freeze and crack like tube rain gauges, so you don’t have to bring it in. It keeps 5 running totals so you can see how much rain you got without having to track it manually. Better yet, you don’t have to go outside to empty it after each rainfall. All in all, if you’re looking for a rain gauge, this one is a good one.

Like all Acurite products it was simple to install and worked perfectly out of the box. As it connects to Acurite Access we configured our Rachio watering system to read direct from it (via wunderground). Meaning that we are getting accurate water readings right at our location. It also shows up on the Accurite App as a seperate sensor. Plus the LCD display can be placed in a convenient location for quick information without having to open the App. The main benefit is we’ve found it to be far more accurate than our Acurite 5 in 1 rain gauge. Awesome product at a super cheap price.

An analog rain gauge is probably enough, but if you’re nerdy and like to read digital gauges, this is the gauge for you. It’s easy to set up, and there’s a way to calibrate the gauge for greater accuracy. I used the pin hole in cup method and discovered that my gauge was reading 20% high, so I turned the set screws a half turn clockwise, did it again and got a much more accurate reading. The water doesn’t completely drain from the test cup since the pinhole is so small. The user interface is straightforward. You’ll need 5 good AA batteries, two for the gauge and 3 for the indoor base station. Acurite does not recommend keeping the unit in freezing conditions. That’s a bit of a problem since the unit is screwed down. It would be nice if the base had slotted screw holes for easier removal.
Update: The gauge still works great after one rain season. Wasps took up residence inside! It’s such a tiny hole where water goes in, but they like that, I guess. I had to kick them out.

I have had two AcuRite Wireless Rain Gauges Model #00896 and had a problem with the rain collector intermittently not making connection to the remote display unit. Even when I placed the remote unit within a metre of the collector, I had problems, although you are supposed to get a connection up to 30 metres. The problem seemed to be that the signal wouldn’t penetrate double-paned window class and the house walls.

Model #00899 is superior to Model #00896 (which is still being sold) in every way, even though the price is about the same. I was able to move the remote unit from the rain collector to a distance of 5-10 metres, through double-paned glass and house walls, with no problem at all. The 00899 adds a very useful connection-strength indicator, like those used on cell phones, where the strength is indicated by 1-4 bars. Mine reads four bars (strongest) at 5-10 metres, through double-paned glass and the house walls.

The remote unit is much improved. The numbers are bigger (20 mm) and much easier to see contrasted against the 00899 remote unit’s gray background. The 00896 remote has many features that the 00896 does not. It now contains a digital clock (minor problem: no 24-hour setting available) and stores information by rainfall “event” (accumulation for an event is ended when there has been no rainfall for 8 hours) and by rainfall history for up to seven calendar periods (day, week, plus two accumulator totals that can be controlled by the user like a vehicle’s trip odometer).

The 00899 is easy to set, clear, and display by pushing clearly-marked buttons on the sides of the remote. Set-up is easy, consisting essentially of installing three AA batteries in the collector and two AA batteries (batteries not provided) in the remote unit. You will probably need to secure the collector to some fixed object, such as a fence, so that it doesn’t blow over in a moderate wind. Two screws and washers are provided for this purpose. You need only to provide a small Phillips screwdriver to screw them in.

Got it for my (farmer) husband as a Father’s Day gift and he loves it. It was easy to set up, has all the functions he wanted (event and weekly amounts) and seems to measure accurately.