water reservoir level sensor

[trend]

WOW! i am getting tons of info.
I can program.. and will have to program anyways, so that would not scare me away...

 

[MoreGooder]

There's a company called George Risk Industries that might be able to help you with a reed switch resistor ladder that I've read about in the thread. Not sure if they still make them. I used to work for a reed switch manufacturer.

 

[trend]

oh yeah, and i like the idea of connecting to parrallel (so i can have multiple sensors)..
i think my mobo will have 2 or 3 coonnectors.. and in the future i will want to have as many as possible

 

[squeakygeek]

We still need an A/D converter.

No we don't. The reed switch array is essentially a digital signal that you are converting to analog with the relay ladder. There is no reason for the analog signal.

I remember seeing something VERY similar to this a long time ago, only with photo diodes. For the life of me I can't remember where I saw it though.

A standard ball mouse? I still think rotating parts are rediculous... stop thinking about them...

There's a company called George Risk Industries that might be able to help you with a reed switch resistor ladder that I've read about in the thread. Not sure if they still make them. I used to work for a reed switch manufacturer.

I don't think we would need any help from any company, a reed switch ladder would be pretty simple. I still say digital all the way is the way to go.

 

[squeakygeek]

oh yeah, and i like the idea of connecting to parrallel (so i can have multiple sensors)..
i think my mobo will have 2 or 3 coonnectors.. and in the future i will want to have as many as possible

Will you want up to 8, or more than 8?

 

[squeakygeek]

Or, if you want to go the analog route, you could interface with the game port...


I still say digital

 

[UberBlue]

There's a company called George Risk Industries that might be able to help you with a reed switch resistor ladder that I've read about in the thread. Not sure if they still make them. I used to work for a reed switch manufacturer.

Reed switches are cheap and widely available.

trend,

If you want to go the parralle port route, you're gonna need an A/D converter which is beyond me. I'll stick to the mechanical parts.

 

[UberBlue]

No we don't. The reed switch array is essentially a digital signal that you are converting to analog with the relay ladder. There is no reason for the analog signal.

How is a constant unchanging voltage a digital signal? There are no high/low states with a TLI. I've messed with them enough to know they are an analog device.

 

[trend]

any ideas how i will mount the switches to a pvc cylinder? vertically or horizontically.. how would i attach?
and what would be a good bobber for the magnet?

 

[schmide]

The simplest thing would be this

www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=91&prrfnbr=95506&cgrfnbr=501&ctgys=

Then hook it up to your RTS or DTS on your serial port.

Done...

Less than $10

 

[UberBlue]

any ideas how i will mount the switches to a pvc cylinder? vertically or horizontically.. how would i attach?
and what would be a good bobber for the magnet?

I'm working on a scale drawing for ya.

Now that the interface is outta my hair I can concentrate on it more. That is if squeakygeek wants to run with the interface.

All I need to know is range and units of the TLI output.

 

[UberBlue]

The simplest thing would be this

www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=91&prrfnbr=95506&cgrfnbr=501&ctgys=

Then hook it up to your RTS or DTS on your serial port.

Done...

Less than $10

Good idea, but four more positions are needed, not including full/empty.

WOOT! New page.

 

[Borisw37]

ok, me and Trend, talked on IM for a while. And came up with this:

3 simple switches shown, but can be up to 8.

using simple software found here
what do you think people?

 

[UberBlue]

ok, me and Trend, talked on IM for a while. And came up with this:

3 simple switches shown, but can be up to 8.

using simple software found here
what do you think people?

Exquisetly simple. I like.

Now I see how it's digital. Sorry squeakygeek.

So what does the input level need to be in volts?

 

[Borisw37]

the standard digital i/o is 0v to be 0, or +5 to be 1. In reality i think anything above 3.5v will be deteced as 1.

 

[trend]

will this fit in my needs:
http://www.directron.com/reed1.html

and is that a good place to order from?

thanks-Lee

 

[UberBlue]

will this fit in my needs:
http://www.directron.com/reed1.html

and is that a good place to order from?

thanks-Lee

Those are way too big.

Something like these.

 

[UberBlue]

the standard digital i/o is 0v to be 0, or +5 to be 1. In reality i think anything above 3.5v will be deteced as 1.

Any idea what value those resistors in your drawing need to be?

 

[UberBlue]

I've been mulling over the details of design for this thing:

• In normal TLI's, the reed switches are packed so close together that at least two switches are closed at any given time. With this one the switches will be spaced far enough apart that when the magnet is intermediary between two switches, the circuit will be open. This could be solved by adding more magnets, but that will nescesate a larger float. And since we are talking about mililiters here, the size of the float could displace alot of water making it a mother to align properly.
  
• The more I think about this, It would seem to be easier to mount the switches to the outside and have the magnet floating in the middle. I'm worried about the ring float binding up.

 

[schmide]

The object I linked to is a good design. You could gut it, modify it, design your own, put in about 4 sensors and get what you’re looking for. I have two in my system and they have yet to fail to float in 100+ operations.