Rain sensor stopped working

Owners
,
#1

I installed my new Tempest a few weeks ago - on a gable-mounted antenna mast, about 30 feet off the ground. No trees within 20 feet of it. The rain sensor was working just fine for a few weeks, and now it’s not - it seems anything less than a moderate rain won’t trigger a reading.

I opened a support ticket and got this surprising response:

Thanks for sharing the pictures and video, we appreciate it. The haptic rain sensor detects and quantifies rain from vibrations. If vibrations are felt for at least 5 seconds, a rain reading will trigger. Unfortunately one limitation/struggle of the haptic rain sensor is lighter rain. Sometimes the intensity of lighter rain is just too light to detect, similarly with snow. Alternatively, lighter rain can be sporadic enough that the 5 second counter keeps resetting. As a side note, we are developing some “traditional” style rain gauges which may be helpful for areas of frequent light rain. To confirm, your Tempest doesn’t appear to be defective. Just a limitation/struggle of the haptic rain sensor. If anything comes up please let us know, we’ll be happy to help!

Really? If I can sit next to the window and listen to the rain but the Tempest is not reporting that it’s raining, that seems pretty defective to me.

Anyone else experiencing this (the rain sensor issue and/or the bum rush from support)?

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#2

What is your Station ID? If you tap the pole or the Tempest it self for a while, does it register rain?

#3

I haven’t climbed up on the roof to tap the sensor…it’s been wet, and I’d like to avoid an emergency room visit, especially right now. :slight_smile:

https://tempestwx.com/station/21190/

1 Like
#4

The Sensor Status says OK. Can you get a stream of water from a hose to reach it? If so, try that.

#5

Yes, I have seen this before. In really light rain, which is clearly visible to the human eye and very wet to stand in, it can just be too fine to trigger the haptic sensor. This is often the case in ‘misting’ like rain. As support pointed out, this is just a known limitation of haptic sensor and unfortunately there is very little that can be done about it. All technology has its limits!

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#6

In really light rain, which is clearly visible to the human eye and very wet to stand in, it can just be too fine to trigger the haptic sensor. This is often the case in ‘misting’ like rain.

Understood. This is not that. This is steady, light rain that you can feel (and hear) - my Tempest isn’t detecting it. Anything less than a fairly moderate rain doesn’t seem to pick up at all.

#7

oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh - I am so in for one of those…

4 Likes
#8

I’m in for two or ten.

#9

One Sky and Two Tempests all reported rain at the same time. As you can see there is rain on the glass but none on the bricks. It was an extremely light rain.

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#10

Good. Mine used to do that. Now it doesn’t…but WeatherFlow support is telling me my Tempest is “not defective”.

#11

@sydtech no worries, we’re here to help. It’s possible your haptic rain sensor is not attached properly inside the head which could lead to reduced sensitivity. We’ll follow up on your ticket and make sure you’re taken care of. Thank you!

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