Just stick your head out through the window, you can read a scale at
6ft easily.
Just stick your head out through the window, you can read a scale at
6ft easily.
I don't think a probe into the barrel is impossible. If the barrel has a bu ng on the head (rather than a bung on a bung stave) it's possible to use a vertical 'dipstick' attached to a bung, which can be withdrawn and replaced by a non-dipstick bung when wanted to transport the barrel.
If the dipstick-bung has a radio-sender head then that takes care of any wi res.
Measuring the level of liquid could be done by:
- a chain of encapsulated float-switches
- a chain of resistors which are progressively shorted by the water
- making a conventional chain, but out of conductive plastic
any excess chain would simply lie at the bottom of the barrel. The display could indicate how many links of the chain down from the top of the barrel the water level is, so if you have a big barrel (say 30 links high) you kno w a reading of 10 is that there is approx 2/3rds water left. If you put the unit in a small barrel (say 15 links high) then 10 would indicate 1/3rd wa ter left.
Another approach might be a sealed flexible probe containing air. The probe below the water level would be affected by the water pressure, causing the air pressure in the probe to vary and this could be sensed by a transducer .
Owain
Hang the barrel off a spring balance where it can easily be seen.
I don't underestand the need for a flow sensor, why not just a level sensor . Similar to the tyep in tolet cisterns and the like.
Look a bit harder, how about:
Theo
snipped-for-privacy@gowanhill.com formulated on Monday :
Have you seen the price of pressure transducers?
Buy yourself a pair of electronic scales and just extend the display?
So put the C electrodes onto the frame around the barrel. Or put em on the barrel & connect via fingers on the frame.
How about another approach... laser pointer plus water diffraction puts dot in differing place.
NT
No - I think it is a good idea. The one I made was loved by everyone - mostly because it did away with running out in the late eveing or early morning.
Having read all your design constraints, maybe just maybe this is a reasonable solution. Approach you local 6th form college and see if they will accept it a design and implementation project for A level electronics.
You hit it on the nose. That is exactly the unit I have on order, the flow sensor, just awaiting its delivery.
What do I need now? Arduino? Are there different varieties of Arduino?
LCD which one goes with it?
What do I do with the software listing, how do I program the Arduino?
Anyone volunteering to put this all together given that we now likely have the software listing?
Have you tried lifting 50L of water, to fiddle about hooking it onto a spring balance. There again, what do you hang the balance from in the middle of a field? Maybe make a tripod stand, more unnecessary weight and setting up.
The idea is to make life easier. Minimum user involvement, reasonably accurate was what I was looking for.
Look guys thanks for the ideas, but I have a perfect solution which involves no fiddling about with wires, weighing it, kicking it or etc. . That idea is my original one and I just asked for a bit of help to implement it. I just needed to know how to do the tricky bit, the software and recommendations for hardware. My eyes will simply not allow me to tackle anything as small as this now.
Quite - and if there is concern about running out of water unexpectedly simply have a smaller water carrier adjacent so its 'out of one into t'other' rather than running dry and having to go for a refill.
whisky-dave was thinking very hard :
The need is one of involving no extra setting up. The flow sensor interface and display can all be permanently installed in the caravan. The only user involvement is to power cycle, which I would have to do anyway, each time the barrel is refilled.
The sensor just fits between the water input socket and the pressure switch, inside the van, with the logic and display alongside it. Nice and simple to use, nice and simple to fit, nothing outside to suffer damage or be stolen.
A few years ago I went to considerable bother developing a gadget to get the caravan precisely level on arrival at site, or at least indicate what needed to be done to save me time setting it up. It works a treat using very low tech methods, but I get a nice glow of satisfaction, every time I use it, because it does work so very accurately and saves me a lot of time setting up.
Where low tech will hack it, I use it, in this case it needs something a bit more high tech to satisfy my need for simple use.
OK I'll bite: what is the flow sensor output?
What indication do you need?
Sounds like an arduino project...
The smallest cheapest one for this application.
One with a few IO ports direct driving LEDs would suffice unless you want an LCD display to be flash.
In C (usually) - I do not know specifically about the Arduino, but I've worked a fair bit with the Atmel AVR 1-chip cpu that one family or Arduino is based on (using the ARM version would be overkill).
It's not hugely difficult if you can code C. You are basically wanting to maintain a counter of pulses from your flow meter. Write this to non volatile storage to make it power cut proof.
Reset button causes the counter to be zeroed.
Use 7 IO pins direct to a seven segment display to display 9->0 depending on value of counter.
Wild guess - a few screens of C at worst. Probably possible in 1-2 screens worth.
I appreciate to a non programmer or someone not familiar with the Atmel AVR, it would seem daunting but it is a very easy problem.
Sadly it's something I could do, but I am so overcommitted it is not funny.
But you'll have no trouble finding someone with the skillset.
But I suspect you will not get it for nothing. Either be prepared to pay consultancy or find someone that will go for a % of sales. Either way make sure you get a copy of the source code.
In message , Harry Bloomfield writes
The agricultural version... two supply pipes to the pump. When water fails to be delivered on demand, divert supply to lower pipe. Next time no water delivered, arrange a re-fill:-)
>Tim Lamb explained :
One single submersible pump, located at the bottom. An extra pump would cost £60+.
anything from $0.04 to $15 on alibaba ...
Owain
its a bleeding caravan not a nuclear reactor
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