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Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

GW1000 WiFi gateway
Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
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Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

I looked at Rain X and they now do one for plastic, for motorcycle wind visors and helmet visors. The demos I have seen look as if they make an improvement but you still do tend to get "spots".

Part of the problem I feel is the design of the raingauge. The angle of the slope at the top is very shallow so with the slightest bit of friction, even on a high gloss plastic surface the rain doesnt have enough gravity to make it run off the funnel into the collection bucket.

I thought about material waterpfoofing spray as well but dont have any. I also thought I might give wax furniture polish a try. Need to do some more experimenting at the weekend. Fortunately no rain forecast this week.
Sadgit
Posts: 192
Joined: Sun 04 Jan 2009 5:56 pm
Weather Station: Vantage Vue
Operating System: Windows 7
Location: Middlesbrough, England

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Sadgit »

Good idea! I just took the collector down and this WD40 is supposed to repel dust etc.. well it was covered in the stuff stuck to it.
Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

May have a solution.

Have given up looking for teflon spray so here is my prototype made from a sheet of teflon oven tray liner, readily available at most good retailers and online. This is a "heavy duty" piece I had spare and quite thick so may look at buying something thinner. Got the idea when I was cleaning up after dinner as I use these all the time in my roasting tins, grill pans etc. to keep them clean and the sheet is very easy to clean, spills, drips and baked on bits just wipe off......as does water, well its Teflon. :lol:

Using this websitehttps://www.templatemaker.nl/en/cone/ and after a lot of trial and error as I dont have the engineering tools to make accurate measurements, I managed to create a template to cut around, fold and create the shape and its a very good fit. Its not as simple as cutting two holes in the sheet as you have to account for the slope angle of the funnel which decreases the outer size of the ring as you fold it. However this looks pretty good. Dont worry I will post the template and some instructions when I have put them together hopefully tonight. To fix it in place I think a very small bead of bathroom silicon sealant around the top edge should do the trick.

Next step is to make the lower half of the funnel which has a different slope angle as well as being smaller so will need to play around. Will also need to work out some method of joining the 2 together, probably with some small tabs so that it can be glued on the underside of the section made this evening. Needs to be underneath as to not create a blockage for the running water. A bit like overlaying shed felt on the shed roof. Another possible reason for needing thinner gauge teflon sheet.

More to come later. Apologies for the picture quality.
Cone.jpg
Funnel.jpg
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User avatar
beteljuice
Posts: 3292
Joined: Tue 09 Dec 2008 1:37 pm
Weather Station: None !
Operating System: W10 - Threadripper 16core, etc
Location: Dudley, West Midlands, UK

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by beteljuice »

Ingenious 8-)

Just a thought ...
What if you'd left some strands like a fringe on the 'center' section ... wouldn't the rain run down those into the lower aperture ?

You may have created a new home industry :geek:
Image
......................Imagine, what you will KNOW tomorrow !
Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

Nice idea, I will take a look in the morning. The problem is that the angles in the top section and bottom section are different otherwise I could have made a cone in one piece to cover the whole area. I will brainstorm in my sleep tonight :shock:

The rain even gets stuck on the lower slope, even though the angle is steeper so it somehow all needs to be covered. Dont know if you saw the image on the first page of this post.
Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

Attached are the template and some very basic instructions.

Give me a shout if I have something wrong or its not clear
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Sadgit
Posts: 192
Joined: Sun 04 Jan 2009 5:56 pm
Weather Station: Vantage Vue
Operating System: Windows 7
Location: Middlesbrough, England

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Sadgit »

This it truly genius. Off to amazon now to buy a sheet and will give this a blast.. Thanks
Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

Glad you like it. I would try it on paper first, but....

Hang fire for a while befor you start cutting. I need to adjust the template slightly as I noticed this morning that the centre hole isnt large enough and it overhangs a bit. Its not a problem in terms of raing running off but may need to be a bit more accurate for when it comes to attaching the lower section.

A question for the technical weather instruments experts out there. If you look at the design of the rain gauge, would it matter if the inner/lower part was smaller, apperture for rain into tipping bucket would be same. Would this affect the measurement or is this section purely to facilitate guiding the rain into the bucket.
Sadgit
Posts: 192
Joined: Sun 04 Jan 2009 5:56 pm
Weather Station: Vantage Vue
Operating System: Windows 7
Location: Middlesbrough, England

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Sadgit »

I can only find heavy duty liners so far.
water01
Posts: 3215
Joined: Sat 13 Aug 2011 9:33 am
Weather Station: Ecowitt HP2551
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Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by water01 »

My wife bought one for the oven in Aldi.
David
Image
freddie
Posts: 2434
Joined: Wed 08 Jun 2011 11:19 am
Weather Station: Davis Vantage Pro 2 + Ecowitt
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Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by freddie »

Big Daddy wrote: Wed 13 May 2020 8:04 amA question for the technical weather instruments experts out there. If you look at the design of the rain gauge, would it matter if the inner/lower part was smaller, apperture for rain into tipping bucket would be same. Would this affect the measurement or is this section purely to facilitate guiding the rain into the bucket.
Should be fine as long as you are not changing the surface area of the very top of the funnel, as that is what the buckets are calibrated against.
Freddie
Image
Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

Thanks freddie,
Let me have a play around at making a complete fitting. In the meantime I have attached a modified template for the top surface. This fits the inner opening better.
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Big Daddy
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue 10 Sep 2013 8:40 pm
Weather Station: Ecowitt GW1003 (GW1000)
Operating System: Raspbian 10 (Buster) / Mono 6.12
Location: Freiston, Lincolnshire, UK
Contact:

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Big Daddy »

Just checked my previous Amazon orders and the one I had spare was a BBQ grill mat. I have some off cuts of teflon mats which are a lot thinner. They may be classed as "heavy duty" as they are pretty indestructible. Sorry but it may be a case of trial and error or you can break lockdown and go see if you get get them in your local store. Must be classed as an "essential item" :lol:
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beteljuice
Posts: 3292
Joined: Tue 09 Dec 2008 1:37 pm
Weather Station: None !
Operating System: W10 - Threadripper 16core, etc
Location: Dudley, West Midlands, UK

Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by beteljuice »

Very rough mod showing 'fingers' to assist rain down lower section - unproven technology :D

Edit: attachment removed, Improved design by author :clap:
Last edited by beteljuice on Wed 13 May 2020 8:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image
......................Imagine, what you will KNOW tomorrow !
Mapantz
Posts: 1778
Joined: Sat 17 Dec 2011 11:55 am
Weather Station: Davis Vantage Pro2
Operating System: Windows 11 x64
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Re: Ecowitt GW1003 Weather Station

Post by Mapantz »

From a personal perspective, I think you may create more problems by having such an aggressive oleophobic-type coating. It's likely to create more bounce-outs, particularly in convective rainfall scenarios.

I sprayed some silicon spray in some time last year and have now left it. The gauge has broken in, so to speak, no issues other than the odd bird poop to contend with.
Image
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