Author Topic: Surprises in Rain-X SDS information.  (Read 15943 times)

xairbusdriver

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Re: Surprises in Rain-X SDS information.
« Reply #15 on: January 17, 2017, 04:21:54 PM »
Quote
On a rain gauge collector cone the effect is to avoid water collecting in large beads on the cone and instead running down the cone to be counted by rain gauge buckets.  It might be worth an additional 0.01" of accuracy particularly when the rainfall is very light.

You might not find that very worthwhile or you might ... it all depends on how much time you have spent living in drought ...
Thanks for a simple explanation for my simple mind. ;)

Not withstanding the possibility of a drought, if the climate warming process continues, I think the 0.01 accuracy is not worth the possible damage to the rain cone plastic. I've already applied a Rain-X layer and it appears its removal might be worse than another application. It does help on windshield, probably as much in not even having to use the wipers rather than running them on glass that still may have dry areas! :o Once above ~40mph, it is only during moderate to heavy rain that the wipers are needed. Of course, wipers aren't much use if, like me, you close your eyes when being scared... even when driving! lol(1)

I'll probably continue to rely on that force that keeps my feet on the ground now more than in the past, Gravity, to get those droplets into the drip buckets.

In other, slightly related news, I watched a PBS show last week about the Giant Sequoias. A local lay-scientist had designed a 'rain-collector' that was completely covered by a 'roof'. He was not trying to measure "rain" falling from clouds as he was actually measuring the moisture in 'special' clouds. These clouds were 'special' in the sense that they were actually at ground level, what we call "fog", a three-letter curse of many a pilot. His whole exercise was to measure how much water was available to trees in general and Sequoias in particular, even in a drought and when rain never reached their roots.

This collector appeared to be a series of dozens of vertically aligned, closely spaced (fish line) strings between an upper and lower arm. Three of these "fog combs" were arrayed around a central point where the lower "arms" met at a collector for all the drops that formed on the strings. The whole array was covered by what was basically an umbrella to keep out any falling precipitation.

The fog passing through the array condensed on the strings, fell to the bottom and then into the central collector. Gravity provided the vertical force, pressure differences provide the horizontal force. No batteries included. No mention of Rain-X, Aquapel or any other chemicals or even wax! [lol] They did, however, state that most of these giant trees were many decades older than any known Station Wagon!
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And the United States = The Banana system


Weatheraardvark

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Re: Surprises in Rain-X SDS information.
« Reply #16 on: January 17, 2017, 07:00:12 PM »
Notice the picture,  the soil moisture station and all the water sitting on the frozen ground. It is frozen down to 2 feet right now, so we have puddles of frozen water everywhere making it difficult to go out to the station, much less into the yard to take the dog for a deturding. Hopefully Ed the Weather Guy is right and we get into the upper 40s this week and some of that ice will go.

Now, unless you have a rain barrel under your weather station to catch that 0.01 inches of water,  introducing a substance that could and will mess up the rain collection system is not worth it to me personally.   

Drought,  I would put more stock into what my soil moisture sensors tell me of what the conditions of the soil is right now than grease my rain cone. I have a fully populated soil moisture/temperature station with leaf wetness sensor (s).  I have only 1 out now and one on the shelf.


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idunn

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Re: Surprises in Rain-X SDS information.
« Reply #17 on: January 17, 2017, 09:59:19 PM »
Why not put that station wagon out in the rain and let its windshield act as the collector. Could try with and without RainX. Of course you would need to measure and account for the area exposed skyward. Might have to removal the aerial, which could deflect a few of those precious drops, or maybe attract lightning. Here now the water is in a solid state and coming in horizontally. Alas, no rain collecting for a couple of months.

elagache

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Slow day on the WeatherCat forum! (Re: Rain-X SDS)
« Reply #18 on: January 17, 2017, 11:27:15 PM »
Dear X-Air, Steve, Weatheraardvark, Irving, and WeatherCat forum visitors even on a "slow day." . . . . .

Especially in winter with the heater on. Any snow flake that melts but doesn't roll down into the collector will evaporate from the heat. I've had very light snow for hours with no tips of the bucket if I don't keep the cone slick.

I hadn't thought about the effect of evaporation.  So the error could be considerably greater than my 0.01"

BTW, the very best way that I've found to get windscreens absolutely spotless is to use 0000 steel wool.

I'm sure that works but that's really hard medicine!


Then I Rain-X the glass and wiper blades.

With all I've learned I won't use Rain-X on a windshield anymore.  I would like to learn more about these nanotechnology coatings, but for now I'll stick to Aquapel.  However, some guys on the 65GS.com forum also use Rain-X on the wipers.  At the moment I'm trying a dry Teflon lubricant, Rain-X clearly is a good silicone lubricant.  I just worry of depositing the stuff back on the glass.

I've already applied a Rain-X layer and it appears its removal might be worse than another application.

Yes, I'm feeling that concern as well.  I may stick to Rain-X on the collector cone because I can't imagine how a build up of Rain-X would do any harm.  If I could figure out a reasonably safe way to remove Rain-X, I would like to try Felix's suggestion of Snow-Jet Non-Stick Spray.

Why not put that station wagon out in the rain and let its windshield act as the collector.

In the voice of Colonel Klink (from the Hogan's Heroes TV series if you are old enough to remember that)

 . . . . Request Denied!!!!! . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]