Cut a hole in the top of the current barrel with a hole saw and make some sort of simple float indicator which fits in it. Basically a tube going down to the bottom of the barrel, say a length of 32 mm waste pipe, then a light "stick" which fits inside the tube, say a length of pvc conduit with the bottom sealed off. When you change the barrel, drill a new hole and swap the sensor over.
No - knowing ph going up in the output of the ph corrector is enough notice, as the rest of the water in yr large tank is ph 7, one squirt of ph 3? whilst you get yr s*it together won't hurt that & may help get yr finger out?
Jim K
I meant knowing ph going *down*
Jim K
I meant knowing ph going *down*
Jim K
Yes - some sort of 'weight-triggered' system might work well - thanks
That's work - but it's not really 'remote' indication - though I suppose it could break a light-beam and provide an electrical circuit - but then you're back to a commercial float-switch..
You can make a very simple and reliable float switch for hostile environments by using a vertical piece of rigid plastic tubing in the tank and extending above it, In this fabricate a float a mm smaller than the tube with a vertical extension at the top of which is either an opaque section or a small magnet. Place the magnet such that when the level drops to the warning point it triggers the alarm. If you use a clear tube you can also use an optical switch. Use opto sensor/reed switch or Hall switch placed on the outside of the float tube as detector as you prefer. Putting the sensor outside the tube avoids it living in a hostile environment.
See-saw with sand bag counterweight and micro switch positioned where sand bag hits the ground?
In message , bert writes
Actually a pulley arrangement might be better - take up less room. You could make it fail safe by having parallel micro switches, one say underneath the tank and one triggered by movement of the pulley. If you use 12v (say car battery recharged by small solar panel) you could drive a car flasher unit obtained from a scrappie to drive a pair of indicator lights - 2 to load the flasher and also to cover bulb failure. On older cars e.g. Land Rovers the indicator lights were in separate holders not like today's complicated units. You could mount the lights at some convenient and visible point and 12v means you don't have to bother with armoured cable or wiring regs.
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