☔ DIY Zigbee rain gauge

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409

Im trying to erase the history data because of some fault data while setting up the sensor (done too much flips in a short time so the history has a peak of ~2000 ltrs/hour.

I tried the Service: Recorder: Purge Entities but with no effect:

service: recorder.purge_entities
data: {}
target:
  entity_id:
    - sensor.rain_month
    - sensor.rain_year
    - sensor.rain_week
    - sensor.rain_intensity
    - sensor.rainfall_today
    - sensor.rainsensor_flips
    - binary_sensor.aqara_door4_contact
    - binary_sensor.rainfall_trend

Did i forgot a sensor to erase? The Rain intensity graph still has the high value.

410

You can reset the Utility Meters with a service, see Utility Meter - Home Assistant

411

Have someone tested bigger funnel like this for better measurement of light rains?

412

Hello friends!

First, big kudos to @parrel for this lovely project idea! Thanks to the vibrant community for its help and recommendation around it!
I have just completed the same project for my own use, and should it be helpful for some other newbies, here are a few findings:

  • When removing the reed sensor from the Aqara, try to clip it instead of unsoldering it, I destroyed the track on a first sensor and could not get it fixed nor worked-around as the surrounding components are very small
  • Though I got the very same rain gauge from china, mine measures 4 flips per 10mL (over approx. 100mL measure), pay attention to measure yours carefully
  • HA YAML config was the toughest part to me. No matter what I tried and found on the internet, nothing worked… until I completely rebooted my host this morning. My sympptoms were that the sensor created as a history_stats was not showing up in HA, depsite YAML reloading, soft reboot of HA, waiting one day for the sensor to show up.

Hope this will help a future me one of these days.

Cheers!

1 Like
413

Just a couple of tips for the de-soldering as mentioned above.

Use flux when reflowing the solder joint to remove something. This will allow faster heat transfer which in turn will help prevent the track and pad from over heating, which can de bond the track or pad from the PCB.

Also be careful if clipping a component as described as the shock can also cause issues with tracks and pads…

When soldering always have some flux available. If the solder does not flow easily straight away use a little flux and chances are it will cure the problem. But always remember to clean the flux off after as it can be corrosive. I use IPA to clean flux.

2 Likes
414

I use this amazing rain gauge for a while in same configuration as @parrel described in his initial post. It works like a charm. But now I discovered a weird behaviour which I am not able to fix.

If I restart HA via the “conventional” way, everything is fine. If I use Quick Reload, the sensor always reports a flip. One solution is of course: “Don’t use reload” but it it is much faster in development mode for certain tasks.

Any hint?

415

I do not seem to have this issue, are you using ZHA or Z2M?

416

Totday I created and installed the rain gauge, but the sensor keeps reporting “open” (false), any suggestions how to fix? :slightly_frowning_face:

417

That’s correct, because it will only be closed if it flips. And if that does not work, verify if the reed sensor is working with a magnet.

418

So actually the reed sensor of the door contact should be connected? I desoldered it because the topic says: Normally there is a reed sensor there but I desoldered it for another project. I would suggest you desolder it, so it cannot interfere with the magnet of the rain gauge.

419

There is a reed sensor on the rain sensor as well :slight_smile:

That’s how it measures if it tips over.

If you keep the bucket balanced horizontally, is the status closed then?

420

hmm that doesn’t work either, only when I pressed the reset button it works for a few seconds.

421

Are you sure your Zigbee coverage is good?

422

Jup, I have 7 routers around within 0.5m

423

I would try another door sensor as it seems to be misbehaving

424

OMG. Typhoon Mawar did this. Still have a few hours until midnight.

2023-06-02_19-12-13

2 Likes
425

I have just got my system installed. I can see “switch.binary_sensorrainsensor_on_off_switch” changeing from on-off-on but “sensor.rainsensor_flips” stays on 0. Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong?

426

This is what I am getting…
Processing: Overview – Home Assistant - Google Chrome 2023-06-14 16-06-40.mp4…

427

Can’t see the video. But are you sure the history_stats sensor is configured with that entity id you mentioned?

428

Oh, looks like it wont let me post a video clip.
Found my error, mis-type. Thank you.