RainWise Rainew-W, Dual Display, Wireless Rain Gauge

After trying some of the cheaper alternatives, such as by Oregon Scientific, I wanted something more durable. I asked our local extension service what professional rain gauge they and area farmers relied on and was given the name of this RainWise instrument. While it is a lot of money, if you have crops, gardens, or landscaping where you really need an accurate measure of precipitation accumulated over any period, and you don't want to have to go outside to measure, service or dump water from the instrument, then I highly recommend this gauge. I have waited a year to write this review so I could report on its durability. It has never failed me yet and it is still operating on the batteries that were installed last year. The readout display unit is on the wall by our back door, and the gauge is out back on top of a 5 ft post about 200 feet away. The unit reads through 2 walls and a glass window. It reads the decimal accumulation - in tenths in one window and in hundredths in the other. Each readout has a cancel button to reset, so you can go any period between readings. You can also keep the tenths one going, and reset the hundredths one daily so you can determine rainfall each 24 hours (or whatever period you wish). I reset the tenths every week when I judge whether irrigation is necessary or not.You need to mount this unit out in an open area on a level surface. I set a post in concrete and put a plywood square on top, leveled with 4 shelf brackets and painted it so it wouldn't warp. You will occasionally need to clean the intake of the gauge of any leaves or bird poop that may collect in it. I guess I could put one of those owl decoys next to this to keep the birds from perching on it but it hasn't been a real problem. I am glad I purchased this unit, and am glad I no longer have to try to find rainfall from inferior gauges or local weather reporting stations that may not be applicable to my own specific property.UPDATE** This rain gauge lasted until March 2018 and was still working perfectly until we had a bad storm and a tree fell squarely on it. I promptly ordered another one.

Continues to be the standard other rain gauges are judged buy. One irritation- manufacturer recommends mounting at lease 3' off ground for radio reception. The round drum should not be mounted on a metal pole or flange. I had to custom construct a wood holder. It was very time consuming. If you have say a pilot rail fence . Mount it on top of one of the posts. Otherwise, get you saws ready. Maybe PVC piping with plastic flanges might also work. Make you swap out the outside batteries twice a year and I don't care what they say, use LITHIUM batteries in cold climates. WARNING- ICE FREEZING IN THE TOP OF THE BUCKET MAY CAUSE ITNTO FREEZE CUSING CRACKED DRUMS. IF THIS HAPPENS, TIME FOR A WHOLE NEW UNIT. Another issue is the LCD displays themselves use tiny watch batteries. Don't assume led panel out to be a defect. The inside display has been cheapened from previous versions. This gauge self empties itself. But remember, inspect for ice clogs over you will be sorry

For the cost associated with this gauge I would have expected it to be amazing however right out of the box it didn't perform as advertised. The seller on Amazon referred us to the company for all warranty issues. We talked with a nice tech who told us to ship it back in and they would check it out. Spent $30 sending it in, got a new one back with no explanation, just another shipment with another gauge. Then it worked great! We were happy until now, barely nine months after purchase. My husband is an engineer and did everything mechanical to get it to work...changed the batteries, checked the tipping cup, all seems to be fine but it doesn't register any rainfall. It's got to be in the circuit board. RainWise has a one year warranty, the Amazon seller has 90 days. Again called the tech at RainWise, he said that's sad, send it in and we will take a look. I purchased the gauge for $180, then sent it in the first time for $30; I'm into this at $210. Not throwing any more good money after bad, it's going in the trash. Don't buy this rain gauge!

Just purchased my second rain gauge like this for my summer home. Set it up in minutes. Just make sure bucket is level. As for my first purchase of this same model gauge I’m happy to say it still works like a champ after 11 years of harsh Florida weather. As a note, after several years you’ll notice the display numbers on the control module begin to fade and then disappear. It’s not broken! Remove the four screws on the case and open it up. You will see a button type battery on the back of each of the two displays. Simply slide them out and replace. Change the 3 AA batteries also. Will work like new once again. Picture is my 11 year old unit that I just changed batteries and then a nice cleaning due.

The rain gauge clogs all the time even with a window screen mesh cover and doesn't give a corrector any reading even when 3/4 to 1 inch rainfall occurred. Very disappointed in the product.

We finally found a rain gauge that works.Update. This unit reads low when it rains hard. I thin the little spoons are being overrun with water. 1" on our other manual gauge reads 3/4" on this one.

Easy setup. wireless works without a hitch. This replaced an old Heathkit digital, wired rain gauge I built years ago. It was no longer recording the amount of rain accurately.

Very expensive for something that doesn't work. Have only had this since January. We had trouble with it from the beginning. Rain water wouldn't empty at all and had to shake the water container to get it to work. We thought it was just new and would start to work, but had to shake it every time it rained. Nothing is blocking it. It's out in the open with no trees around. It just didn't work. Contacted the company they apologized and they said they were surprised and told us to call the tech department.