I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify going
that far.
Fortunately the sun has got going on the gauge today to melt the overnight
accumulations. The question is, what if I was to sprinkle a little salt into
the gauge during periods of precipitation to prevent a build up in the first
place? Would it work? Would it potentially cause damage internally (Vantage
Pro)? Would the amount of salt required have an adverse effect on the
reading? Am I just being stupid?
--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify going
that far.
Fortunately the sun has got going on the gauge today to melt the overnight
accumulations. The question is, what if I was to sprinkle a little salt
into the gauge during periods of precipitation to prevent a build up in
the first place? Would it work? Would it potentially cause damage
internally (Vantage Pro)? Would the amount of salt required have an
adverse effect on the reading? Am I just being stupid?
--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.
I would not like to get salt anywhere near the electronics and sprinkling
salt into the gauge would lead to the tipping buckets accumulating salt
which would affect the accuracy. The switch electronics are jsut underneath
the tipping mechanism and would be vulnerable.

Alan

"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify
going
that far.

Hi, David,

My "heater" is quite a simple set-up. A 12 volt transformer plug in the
shed, wire running to the gauge and a 21W car light bulb (Halfords part
955) inside. Reasonably effective around 0C to -1C, and cheap.

You need mains power for my system, but I would have used an old 12V car
battery otherwise.

Snow tonight?

Best wishes,

--
Ken Cook, Copley (5miles north of Barnard Castle), County Durham.
830ft
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/copley
(MO climat. site updated before 10Z and 19Z daily)
kencookATcopleydurham.freeserve.co.uk
(All times GMT)

I wouldn't advise it David.
I would imagine the salt would just sprinkle down the funnel sit on the
balance anyway, unless it's path was blocked by ice or snow.

What I do in the event of snow is; measure the depth of snow and keep a note
of it. Remember 10cm of snow is roughly equivalent of 1cm (10mm) of rain.
If a further 3cm of snow should fall on top of this the next day then
that'll be another 3mm of precipitation roughly. All going well - the 13mm
of precipitation will pass through the rain gauge eventually. And then it's
just a case of editing the daily records and re-assigning the correct amount
to the relevant day.
This method really comes in handy if the snow inside your gauge is blown out
of it.

Some people adopt another method, and that's to collect all the snow inside
the rain gauge, take it indoors to thaw - and then pour the resultant water
slowly through the rain gauge. That just messes up the precipitation rate
IMO.

All the best,
Alex.



"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify going
that far.
Fortunately the sun has got going on the gauge today to melt the overnight
accumulations. The question is, what if I was to sprinkle a little salt
into the gauge during periods of precipitation to prevent a build up in
the first place? Would it work? Would it potentially cause damage
internally (Vantage Pro)? Would the amount of salt required have an
adverse effect on the reading? Am I just being stupid?
--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

"Ken Cook" wrote in message
...
"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify
going
that far.

Hi, David,

My "heater" is quite a simple set-up. A 12 volt transformer plug in the
shed, wire running to the gauge and a 21W car light bulb (Halfords part
955) inside. Reasonably effective around 0C to -1C, and cheap.

You need mains power for my system, but I would have used an old 12V car
battery otherwise.

Snow tonight?

Best wishes,

--
Ken Cook, Copley (5miles north of Barnard Castle), County Durham.
830ft
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/copley
(MO climat. site updated before 10Z and 19Z daily)
kencookATcopleydurham.freeserve.co.uk
(All times GMT)


What an excellent soloution Ken!
I'm going to follow your example.
Many thanks for the idea.
Alex.

Some people adopt another method, and that's to collect all the snow
inside
the rain gauge, take it indoors to thaw - and then pour the resultant
water slowly through the rain gauge. That just messes up the precipitation
rate IMO.

All the best,
Alex.

Snip.
Thanks for the repiles, I knew it was a stupid idea. I used to follow your
example Alex, so maybe should revert to that, I can still do that as well
with my old copper gauge.
Ken, I like that idea, maybe I'll try something.
Yes it looks like there'll be some snow tonight. Yesterday evening/last
nights amounted to 1.0mm by the way. The cover here was predominantly from
soft hail, though with snow as well. Temps were always above 0c and up to
1.4c and didn't fall below 0c until 0420, consequently there was a slight
thawing which resulted in everything just turning into a sheet of ice by
this morning. Local roads were awful and has hardly melted much today.
--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Measuring solid precipitation is a problem even for professionals.
Heater causes evaporation problems, and also wind induced errors are
more serious than for liquid rain. Indeed, some stations use antifreeze
(but I think it is not salt, adn I would not do it without the
manufacturer recommendation)

So I would advice the Alex Stephens' method. Put a lid to your gauge and
measure snow depth instead. The British snow being most of the time same
density, you'll probably get as accurate results as with any geuge
realistically available for home use. (I suppose there is not much
drifting snow in your areas).

Here is some further reading

http://www.webmet.com/met_monitoring/25.html
http://www.mountwashington.org/research/snowgauge.html
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/techpapers/arp20/20-12.html

Br, Elena
(30 cm snow in my area, and more falling)


David Mitchell wrote:
I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify going
that far.
Fortunately the sun has got going on the gauge today to melt the overnight
accumulations. The question is, what if I was to sprinkle a little salt into
the gauge during periods of precipitation to prevent a build up in the first
place? Would it work? Would it potentially cause damage internally (Vantage
Pro)? Would the amount of salt required have an adverse effect on the
reading? Am I just being stupid?

"Alex Stephens Jr" wrote in message My
"heater" is quite a simple set-up. A 12 volt transformer plug in the
shed, wire running to the gauge and a 21W car light bulb (Halfords
part
955) inside. Reasonably effective around 0C to -1C, and cheap.

You need mains power for my system, but I would have used an old 12V
car
battery otherwise.

Snow tonight?

What an excellent soloution Ken!
I'm going to follow your example.
Many thanks for the idea.
Alex.

Alex,

I forgot to mention that I use part of a B&Q garden lighting system to
house the bulb and make the connection, but I'm sure there'll be other
methods. I've put a pic on the website, recent pictures page. The bulb
has reflective foil under it.

It's not foolproof and can take some time to melt heavy falls, often
melting one side first, but it's better than nothing. I'm sure it could
be improved upon, by using two bulbs for example, or greater wattage.

HTH

--
Ken Cook, Copley (5miles north of Barnard Castle), County Durham.
830ft
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/copley
(MO climat. site updated before 10Z and 19Z daily)
kencookATcopleydurham.freeserve.co.uk
(All times GMT)

Alex Stephens Jr" wrote in message
...
I wouldn't advise it David.
I would imagine the salt would just sprinkle down the funnel sit on the
balance anyway, unless it's path was blocked by ice or snow.

What I do in the event of snow is; measure the depth of snow and keep a
note of it. Remember 10cm of snow is roughly equivalent of 1cm (10mm) of
rain.
If a further 3cm of snow should fall on top of this the next day then
that'll be another 3mm of precipitation roughly. All going well - the 13mm
of precipitation will pass through the rain gauge eventually. And then
it's just a case of editing the daily records and re-assigning the correct
amount to the relevant day.
This method really comes in handy if the snow inside your gauge is blown
out of it.

Some people adopt another method, and that's to collect all the snow
inside the rain gauge, take it indoors to thaw - and then pour the
resultant water slowly through the rain gauge. That just messes up the
precipitation rate IMO.

All the best,
Alex.



"David Mitchell" wrote in message
...
I note that Ken has a rain gauge heater, but I can't really justify going
that far.
Fortunately the sun has got going on the gauge today to melt the
overnight accumulations. The question is, what if I was to sprinkle a
little salt into the gauge during periods of precipitation to prevent a
build up in the first place? Would it work? Would it potentially cause
damage internally (Vantage Pro)? Would the amount of salt required have
an adverse effect on the reading? Am I just being stupid?
--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.

--
David Mitchell, 70m amsl, Langtoft, East Riding of Yorkshire.




You can buy small reptile heater mats that will do the job very well, (£10)
or less, some can be powered by 12v. You can wrap them round the inside of
the bucket. Then cover with silver foil to direct the heat to the bucket.
A car light bulb as suggested before, works very well but will not work as
well at low temps as the heat is not directed as well.
Telescope dew heaters work quite well, I make all my dew heaters using
resistors rather than buying ready made ones. Maplin have some good
solutions.
Steve

The UK SpeedTrap Guide" @ www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk
The UK Weather Guide" @ www.ukstorms.com

"Ken Cook" wrote in message
....

Alex,

I forgot to mention that I use part of a B&Q garden lighting system to
house the bulb and make the connection, but I'm sure there'll be other
methods. I've put a pic on the website, recent pictures page. The bulb
has reflective foil under it.

It's not foolproof and can take some time to melt heavy falls, often
melting one side first, but it's better than nothing. I'm sure it could
be improved upon, by using two bulbs for example, or greater wattage.

HTH

--
Ken Cook, Copley (5miles north of Barnard Castle), County Durham.
830ft
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/copley
(MO climat. site updated before 10Z and 19Z daily)
kencookATcopleydurham.freeserve.co.uk
(All times GMT)



It certainly has helped Ken.
My father manages a garden centre - so getting hold of the bulb fitting etc
shan't be a problem.
I might even go for two, I'll just check out that's it's safe to do so
first - ie the heat from the 2nd bulb wouldn't interfere with the
Davis cable.
Many thanks again
Alex.