4 ms·

Nice project. Mine isn't quite so ambitious (yet). I just need to monitor water pumps. Does anyone have a suggestion for a water flow sensor? I need to detect i

by geomark 10y ago

Nice project. Mine isn't quite so ambitious (yet). I just need to monitor water pumps. Does anyone have a suggestion for a water flow sensor? I need to detect if there is water present at the pump input. So far the only thing I've been able to get my hands on is a water flow meter [1]. But it's overkill because I don't need to measure flow rate, only presence of water. [1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-G1-Inch-Water-Flow-Hall-Effect-Sensor-Switch-Flow-Meter-Counter-1-60L-min-Waterproof/32674346412.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-G1-Inch-Water-Flow-Hal...

Herodotus38 10y ago
Could you use something to measure resistance? Like two wires, so when immersed resistance drops?
- geomark 10y ago
  I'm sure that would work, at least initially. I'm concerned about reliability. My water has very high levels of calcium carbonate which quickly scales up everything. I think the electrodes wouldn't last long. A nonintrusive solution would be great. I've seen nonintrusive water flow sensors that use ultrasound to detect the flow of water. They are industrial devices and their price makes them unsuitable for my use.
  - JohnHenrySDM 10y ago
    There are cheaper optical water level sensors in the aquarium trade that might work for you. Check out the Tunze Osmolator as an example. It could easily be connected to a GPIO on the pi.
    - geomark 10y ago
      That's a very interesting idea. Thanks for the suggestion. It is still invasive since I have to cut the intake pipe and insert a section with the sensor installed in it. But it is more flexible since I can install it in any size pipe. And for my use case of a 1 inch input pipe it can be cheaper than my current solution. For example https://www.aliexpress.com/item/15mA-5V-Optical-Infrared-Water-Liquid-Level-Sensor-Liquid-Water-Level-Control-Switch-Favorable-Level-Sensors/32752456624.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/15mA-5V-Optical-Infrared-Wat... Although, I wonder if scaling (as in hard water scale) is still going to be an issue.
deepsy 10y ago
https://youtu.be/wh0OoLUTeM8 https://youtu.be/wh0OoLUTeM8
JshWright 10y ago
If you don't care about precision (and depending on what your pipes are made out of), you could make a DIY version of that sensor (that you could wrap around the pipe, rather than having to cut it to put it inline). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR0baWuB6v4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR0baWuB6v4

by geomark 10y ago

Herodotus38 10y ago

Could you use something to measure resistance? Like two wires, so when immersed resistance drops?

geomark 10y ago
I'm sure that would work, at least initially. I'm concerned about reliability. My water has very high levels of calcium carbonate which quickly scales up everything. I think the electrodes wouldn't last long. A nonintrusive solution would be great. I've seen nonintrusive water flow sensors that use ultrasound to detect the flow of water. They are industrial devices and their price makes them unsuitable for my use.
- JohnHenrySDM 10y ago
  There are cheaper optical water level sensors in the aquarium trade that might work for you. Check out the Tunze Osmolator as an example. It could easily be connected to a GPIO on the pi.
  - geomark 10y ago
    That's a very interesting idea. Thanks for the suggestion. It is still invasive since I have to cut the intake pipe and insert a section with the sensor installed in it. But it is more flexible since I can install it in any size pipe. And for my use case of a 1 inch input pipe it can be cheaper than my current solution. For example https://www.aliexpress.com/item/15mA-5V-Optical-Infrared-Water-Liquid-Level-Sensor-Liquid-Water-Level-Control-Switch-Favorable-Level-Sensors/32752456624.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/15mA-5V-Optical-Infrared-Wat... Although, I wonder if scaling (as in hard water scale) is still going to be an issue.

deepsy 10y ago

https://youtu.be/wh0OoLUTeM8 https://youtu.be/wh0OoLUTeM8

JshWright 10y ago

If you don't care about precision (and depending on what your pipes are made out of), you could make a DIY version of that sensor (that you could wrap around the pipe, rather than having to cut it to put it inline). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR0baWuB6v4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR0baWuB6v4