Sorry about that GDI. I thought you were referring to paddles driven via the system's air flow. Yes, this concept is viable but I would guess quite expensive, especially since there are no prices listed. On the up side, a scaled down home brew version looks very doable.


If I were building this I would make every attempt to mount it on the cyclone/bin coupling and extend the paddle shaft down near the top of the bin. This would eliminate having the motor, mechanicals, and electronics connected to the bin, which must be removed for emptying.

Hey, has anyone noticed that the OP is AWOL?

Chris

No problem. I only mention the capacitive and paddle switches because I've seen there reliability in the field. Yes, industrial costs. I can buy an Allen Bradley timer for $100, or I could cobble a 555 with output driver to do the same thing. There are trade offs though, as my labour to build would quickly surpass the costs, and my clients need the assurance that if I'm not available (I'll retire some day), that they can call an electrician in who could troubleshoot without reverse engineering some homebuilt circuit. That's where hobbisits come in though. Taking known concepts and making it work on a budget.

 

Ha, that brings us full circle to the OP's first post. Yes, I don't think it would be a big deal to design the circuitry to ignore the snow while it's filling the bin but I'm still concerned about the optics getting totally obscured by the nasty environment in there. The optics could be wiped each time the bin is emptied but I'm still concerned about green wood.
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Yes I saw the OP post #1 but we was talking about the failure using a 110v photoelectric sensor, these use a low power light source and would be a problem with the swirling dust.

But a 1mW laser is a different type of light source, and I think it could be done with or without modulating the laser. Basically if the laser hits low density airborne particles there will be lots of light scattered around in the top cavity so the laser is still detected.

But if the particles become stationary and "full" completely covering the laser by the time it gets an inch or two deep there will be no laser light getting into the top cavity at all.

I agree that sticky green wood or even dry dust will probably need a wipe around when emptying, but then I think even a capacitive sensor will need a wipe around as wood buildup will affect it too.