Hi all,
Recently, I bought a Netduino MC and started to program it (I am a software programmer) to do stuff. I quickly realized that I needed to understand electronics if I was going to do cool stuff (other than blinking a LED) with my new toy.
I started reading and doing tutorials like a madman, but started to burn out with no practical applications. Until...
I have a situation where the overflow for my water filter brine tank has nowhere to drain. It has been fine for 11 years, and the other day the valve stuck and filled my living space with 1" of water while we were at work.
I purchased a 12v/2A marine water pump which I rigged into a sump tank with a 12 volt car battery. This pump cycles every 2.5 min to see if any water is present then shuts off (if water is present it pumps until dry). I don't really like this solution.
I designed a water sensor/pump relay that works great on the breadboard. I want to solder it to a PCB and put it to work, but I want someone to critique it first. Hopefully I have attached the photo successfully.
The sensors are simply wires connected at intervals on a plastic tube. I have tested it on our tap water, it works fine. My guess it will work even better in water filter brine.
Too many diodes? Have I created something that could be more simply with a chip?
Thanks for any feedback.
-N00b electronics guy
Recently, I bought a Netduino MC and started to program it (I am a software programmer) to do stuff. I quickly realized that I needed to understand electronics if I was going to do cool stuff (other than blinking a LED) with my new toy.
I started reading and doing tutorials like a madman, but started to burn out with no practical applications. Until...
I have a situation where the overflow for my water filter brine tank has nowhere to drain. It has been fine for 11 years, and the other day the valve stuck and filled my living space with 1" of water while we were at work.
I purchased a 12v/2A marine water pump which I rigged into a sump tank with a 12 volt car battery. This pump cycles every 2.5 min to see if any water is present then shuts off (if water is present it pumps until dry). I don't really like this solution.
I designed a water sensor/pump relay that works great on the breadboard. I want to solder it to a PCB and put it to work, but I want someone to critique it first. Hopefully I have attached the photo successfully.
The sensors are simply wires connected at intervals on a plastic tube. I have tested it on our tap water, it works fine. My guess it will work even better in water filter brine.
Too many diodes? Have I created something that could be more simply with a chip?
Thanks for any feedback.
-N00b electronics guy
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