Connecting Davis Instruments Tipping Rain Bucket

Connecting Davis Instruments Tipping Rain Bucket

Davis Instruments Rain Collectors with pulse output can be used with Zenseio LSMP and CSMP telemetry.

image showing what Davis Instruments Tipping Rain Bucket looks like

Preparations

Davis Rain Collectors have a proprietary plug. To use them with Zenseio devices, the sensor 's cable should be modified as follows:
Warning
Note that this procedure is irreversible, may void Davis Instruments warranty, and is not covered by Zenseio's warranty. Continue at your own risk.
Notes
It appears that some models of Davis Rain Collectors come with wiring that differs from the color scheme shown below, in this case it is recommended that you test the wires with a multimeter or contact Zenseio before installing.

  1. Cut off the square connector at the end of the rain collector's cable
  2. Strip out the insulation at the end of the red, green, and yellow wires (about 0.3” length). Keep the black wire fully insulated
  3. For each wire, tightly twist together the uninsulated copper wire strands, forming a single wire thread. If possible, it's best to tin them with hot solder
  4. Take the yellow and green wires and twist both ends together to form a single wire thread (but keep red and black wires separate)
    image showing Davis Instruments Tipping Rain Bucket wires
  1. Cut off the plastic tie that holds the tipping spoon immobilized during shipping, as in the product preparation instructions (attached below). Also, when mounting, ensure the rain collector is level horizontally - there is a level air bubble inside the rain collector to help with this. 
    image showing Cut off the plastic tie that holds the tipping spoon immobilized during shipping

Hook up

Any one of the three GPI inputs can be used. Select an empty one. In the example below, we'll use GPI2
  1. Push in the GPI2 tab and insert combined yellow and green wires all the way into the hole and release the tab
  2. Push in the GND tab (next to GPI2) and insert red wire all the way into the hole and release the tab
  3. To test is the connection is done well, slightly pull the wires. If they don't come out, the connections are secure 
  4. Cut off or secure the black wire, so it does not touch anything inside Zenseio device as it can cause electrical shorts
  5. Make sure that uninsulated copper wire does not stick out too much out of the green connector as they can create electrical shorts when the wire moves due to wind
  6. Sometimes when the stripped copper wire is too short, it may the connector may grab the insulated part of the wire, preventing electrical connection. Slightly pulling up the wire after the tab is released should help the connector grab the copper part of the wire
image showing how to connect Davis Instruments Tipping Rain Bucket wires to Zenseio device GPI header

Configuration

In the ZenConfig mobile app, set:
  1. Set the corresponding GPI I/O mode to "Pulse Counter (debounce)"
    image showing how to configure GPI setting to Pulse Counter (debounce) mode via ZenConfig mobile app
  1. set "Sensor Alert Check Interval" to 5 or 10 minutes. This interval defines how often the sensor pulse count readings are updated on the user interface (for example when reading the Status with ZenConfig app). Note that the pulses are always counted as they come in, regardless of this interval setting - it's just how often they are updated for viewing
    image showing how to change Sensor Alert Check Interval via ZenConfig mobile app

Testing

Once everything is connected and configured, you can test that the tipping bucket pulses are being captured. 
  1. Toggle the tipping spoon up and down a few times (either by slowly pouring water into the rain bucket or manually moving it up and down)
  2. Press the button inside Zenseio device to initiate the data upload. After the device status lights stop blinking, check on ZenConfig status page, Zenseio Online Dashboard, or in your Cloud application that the cumulative pulse count on the corresponding GPI has increased.
    image showing how to check rain bucket working on GPI chart on Zenseio Online Dashboard
  3. If the cumulative pulse count is still not increasing, try this method to test that the rain bucket/collector itself is working correctly
    image showing how to test that the rain collector (bucket) is working correctly using Multimeter


To learn more, see the LSMP Device User Manual or the CSMP Device User Manual. 

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