Water level tank

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bercioiu
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Water level tank

Post by bercioiu »

Hi all!
I need to build a simple sensor for water. The classic method with one transistor with the probe in it`s base is not viable, the probe is "vanish" in time because of the electrolysis phenomenon :D .
I did a sketch with an ADC input and one output. The problem is that I want to disable the ADC an re enable only for the time to measure level and in that way I can drastically reduce the probe corrosion.
My problem is:
How to disable and re enable the ADC?
This is my Flowchart

Thank you!
Puiu,
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WATER_LEVEL.fcfx
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jgu1
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Re: Water level tank

Post by jgu1 »

Hi Piui!

Maybe you can use this. :D

Best regard

Jorgen
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bercioiu
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Re: Water level tank

Post by bercioiu »

Nope, it`s not working... Like mine, your`s It does not measure anything...
If I disable macros RAW enable/disable it`does measuring good but still have tension on the probes...

kersing
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Re: Water level tank

Post by kersing »

If you use the 'ADC base component' or one of its children listed at the help page and use the GetByte or GetInt macro this will be done automatically. These macros enable ADC when called and disable it before returning the measurement. Do not use the macros with 'Raw' in the name as they leave ADC enabled for faster sampling.

ADC is an input, it is only measuring the signal level present on the pin. The load generated by ADC is 10-1000 micro Ampere (10 e-5 to 10 e-3 Ampere) so hardly any load at all.

What is the circuit you are using? Can you post circuit diagram?
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bercioiu
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Re: Water level tank

Post by bercioiu »

GetByte was the fist attempt...
I found mistake! After ADC, I have to put output in 1 (+5v), not in 0 (ground)...
In that way, after ADC measurement the 2 probe are on the same potential (no flow current between them).
Here are the schematic and the flowchart.
Thank you for the help!

Puiu
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medelec35
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Re: Water level tank

Post by medelec35 »

What I did with my level detector (probably over-kill but wanted to make sure) is one probe is connected to an output pin (E.g B0) instead of +5V, the other probe to a 1Meg pull-down resistor and ADC.
Every second:
Output B0 high
Delay 2ms
Read ADC (value determined by water level).
Output B0 low

2ms along with very low current should not be enough time to allow electrolysis to take place.
Martin

bercioiu
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Re: Water level tank

Post by bercioiu »

Brilliant idea!
I made the modification and it`s working like a charm.
Thank you!

Edit schematic:
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Steve001
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Re: Water level tank

Post by Steve001 »

Hi,
Have you thought of ultrasonic water level sensor ? when i was an apprentice the company i worked for made one, for detecting the level of sewage in a tank / weir.
This environment was too aggressive for probes and they used to melt in no time
If there is a risk of high water level reaching the sensor, you need to put a pipe with a perspex end cap or something similar so you still get a reading say 300mm
if the sensor is submerged you loose your echo, with the pipe over the heads you can still record a high level without a loss of echo .

Maybe a thought i know you wanted to keep it simple

Steve
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bercioiu
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Re: Water level tank

Post by bercioiu »

This water level sensor is used in a 45 feet fountain ..

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Steve001
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Re: Water level tank

Post by Steve001 »

found this whilst looking on internet for something else

http://www.analog.com/library/analogdia ... ONE_AL_MQL


Steve
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