AcuRite Wireless Digital Rain Gauge with Self-Emptying Collector with Rainfall History, Alerts, and Current Date and Time (00899), 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.

Great rain gauge! It’s nice not having to empty it and the WiFi range is nice as well. Worth the money!

The Acu-Rite rain gauge is a pretty nifty piece of kit. However, it takes some effort to set it up.The first problem is that the outdoor unit is very light weight. If it is placed on the ground without being secured it is guaranteed to be toppled or blown away. It needs to be secured on a flat and, importantly, level surface. The manufacturer proposes that it be fastened to a surface like a deck railing or a fence post. Well, I don't have a suitable deck railing or post within the 100' range of the inside unit. Furthermore, contrary to the review by zlh5009, the gauge is clearly labeled that it "cannot be used in below-freezing temps". So it needs to be detached from whatever you fix it to in the winter if you live in areas where sub-freezing temps occur. However, the unit, as sold, is really not designed to be repeatedly mounted and removed. It comes with two very, very small wood screws that are hard to handle and too inconveniently placed for removing and replacing.My solution was to mount the outdoor unit to a piece of scrap Trex weatherproof composite decking and then mount that to a brick for weight and stability. This way I can pretty much place the unit anywhere I want, move it around, and take the whole assembly inside for the winter.The next issue is calibration. Calibration instructions are provided in the owner's manual. I punctured an 8oz cottage cheese container with some pinholes and let the water drip into the collection cover. Out of the box, the gauge read high by a considerable amount. So I adjusted it until the gauge read 1.68" as instructed.But on my first real-world use, the gauge read too low. After readjustment, I nailed it. See pic. The Acu-Rite gauge completely agreed with my sight gauge.I may have made a mistake by not testing the gauge in the real world first. Maybe it was accurate before I went ahead and "calibrated" it. Either way, you're going to need a low-tech sight gauge for your calibration standard if you want to have confidence in the readings.In the winter I'll move the two units to the garage and remove the batteries - 3 AAs in the outdoor unit and 2 AAs in the indoor unit.A note about using the gauge in freezing temps. Mechanically, the gauge mechanism is as simple as it is clever. I don't see where there is much that would harm it if left out in the winter. But I can see how the whole outdoor unit getting buried in a snowfall could result in damage if the collection cover gets impacted with snow. The cover is just plastic and could easily crack as the snow goes through freeze-thaw cycles without draining.

For years I've used all-in-one, some expensive, weather monitoring systems. My biggest gripe is the complicated layout on the monitor, placing the outdoor unit where it doesn't interfere with one of the functions, or one part of the system dies, which requires a new system.I decided to buy separate systems that are important to me… rain guage, temperature and wind speed, eliminating unnecessary information bloat on the monitor and to be able to clearly see what is important to me at a very reasonable cost.Anyhow, this rain guage works very well, seems accurate, can be placed anywhere in a clear area, making cleaning easy. The mechanism that actually measures the rain is two small cups. Each side pivots up to collect the rain draining from the cup and drops to empty, raising the other to do the same process. The number of times the cups "see-saw" is how it calculates the amount of rain. Genius!The monitor is clear, decent sized numbers, with options for daily, week or total rainfall. Both inside and outside units are battery powered. I would guess tbatteries will last a long time.

Helpful this wet spring.