My Tempest seems to not be reporting rain at all. It has been heavily raining here for the past 15-20 minutes, but there app shows no active rain and no accumulation. All other sensors seem to be reporting updates. Is there something I am missing?
Looks like the battery voltage is near the threshold and set at Mode 3 where rain haptic sensor is disabled to conserve battery power. Once the Sun comes out to charge the battery, it will come out of Mode 3 where the rain haptic sensor is re-enabled.
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If this becomes a common situation where the Tempest goes into Mode 3 and the haptic sensor misses rain events, that’s disappointing and a major problem. I wish the Tempest would accept AA backup batteries to supplement the internal battery when there may be a scenario of multiple days of cloudy skies and rain. Just last week in my area, we had 4 straight days of rain and no sun.
An auxiliary power option is currently being worked on for situations were siting issues prevent the Tempest from getting enough sun for charging. I haven’t heard of an ETA yet, however.
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That’s promising news. Glad to hear it! 
Just had a closer look and I have a feeling your Tempest is not charging even when you have sunny periods … keep close look when you have sun on it and see if it finally wants to charge … it will take a few as the battery is really depleted but it should go up in voltage.
If it doesn’t, time to contact support.
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What should I be looking for to know whether it is getting charged? What is the target voltage?
simply look at your station’s details for battery
It is slowly charging. When you take solar radiation you see when the Tempest is catching sun. From what I see it is having several moments of shade during day time. In winter time this might become a problem, several cloudy days and short sunny periods will most probably deplete again the battery. Observe and see if you can find a better open spot
For now the battery is slowly charging and you have some reserve. Voltage around 2.5V is good and it can go up to 2.8 for some without problems.
@eric My replacement Tempest seems to be charging without issues. However, I’ve noticed it’s been “stuck” at 2.70v in direct sunlight. Is this an indication the battery is fully charged?
Per message from @dsj on or about the 22nd of May. . . " We are working on a “power booster”, similar to [the one Acurite offers ] (https://www.acurite.com/shop-all/weather-instruments/weather-sensors-and-parts/accessories/remote-battery-pack-for-5-in-1-weather-sensors.html), that will provide a backup power source for those Tempests in locations that simply don’t receive enough sunlight (regardless of where the start-charge voltage is set!)."
Latest as of about 2 days ago . . .
“Update: We’re close to a final design and hope to have prototypes by the first of July and, with luck, expect to start field testing by the end of July or early August.”
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Production models are going higher than our testing models (mostly), mine never ever went over 2.6 V and it holds easily a week with cloudy days
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Mine: Tempest Field Test (ST-7764) Battery: 2.42v to 2.47v “STATE” GOOD.
Backyard “Tempest° WeatherSystem” (ST-2827) Battery: 2.46v to 2.52v "STATE " GOOD
Yes, 2.7 is filled to the brim!
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It topped off at 2.75 this afternoon.
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