i wanna set something up wired if possible no wireless from the water spouts so it knows when it went on and when it goes off. by when it goes on i mean an actual clock that would display in time from on till time it goes off. one clock starts at 0 ends at turn off and returns to 0. I know nothing about electronics so i dont know the names of stuff or devices id need. or maybe an overpriced product already exists?

Id like to finally sink my teeth into an electronics project with soldering i need to learn to solder tiny wires as i wanna get into drones too. would this be a good project to try and do for grandma as she leaves the water on all day sometimes if im not careful.

 

i understand negative and positive if wired up hps balasts cfl ballasts and microwave magnatrons before so im not afraid of electricity but i am afraid i still suck at soldering

 

Inline flow switch to start/stop electrical timer/recorder and indicator lamp if wanted is the simple answer.

 

from the water spouts so it knows when it went on and when it goes off.

What controls the on and off of the spout?

 

There are off-the-shelf units that may do what you are looking for. These include units that can alert you when flow starts and stops and be set to automatically shut off the flow if the total exceeds some amount.

When you say "spout" or you referring to an outdoor water spigot for a garden hose?

If so, look at something like:

YoLink YS4103 Smart Sprinkler Hose Timer with Flow Meter and Auto Shutoff

I don't know if it offers standalone operation. But if you search that at Amazon you will find lots of others that you can look at to see if any of them meet your needs.

If it does, the $50 is probably not a bad price as you will likely have a hard time beating that in parts alone, let alone the value of your time. Now, if you are willing to spend that much or more for parts and consider your time worthless but want to do it as a project for the sake of doing it, that's a different proposition (and one most of us here can readily relate to).

 

A water flow meter?

 

Certainly there are "event recorders" that will log start and stop times, but they are not cheap. There are also in-line flow sensor switches, but they need to be installed in the water line, and that is not a simple task at all. They are useful for monitoring fire-suppression sprinkler systems, to signal when water is flowing. Preventing water damage in an electronics bay can save thousands of dollars by preventing water damage.

 

Inline flow switch to start/stop electrical timer/recorder and indicator lamp if wanted is the simple answer.

Adding an in-line flow sensing switch to existing plumbing is by no means a small task. At least with most plumbing materials.

 

Didn't say it was easy (or cheap) to accomplish and probably a space problem as well... I can find a relatively inexpensive flow switch for <20USD on Amazon but that recorder isn't gonna be cheap even for a used wind-up mechanical clock round 7-day chart one. Digital even more expensive. Possibly some Arduino interface (or simpler switching) to a laptop chart recording application input...

 

To record the running time, an ordinary ELECTRIC, NOT electronic, day/date clock can log the on times. Oreven use a running time clock. Possibly an arduino with the right I/O to inteface with the flow sensor. One alternative to a water flow swnsor is a solenoid operated valve, then justmonitor the on time. Since you want control anyway, that would be the simplest.

 

Not a flow sensor, simply an electrical flow switch. N.O no flow, closed on flow. That's the cheap piece... We had hundreds of them on 7-day mechanical clock round chart recorders that got integrated into the DCS upgrades back in the day... A lot got converted into flow totalizers instead of having to read the times off the clock charts, add them up to totalize on time and then multiplying by a flow factor to manually totalize for production reporting on paper. Then the individual area DCSs sent the production data electronically to the plant's main computer to generate the electronic area and whole plant production reports sent by email or application data to the manager's desktop PC. Ain't automation great! And a lot of those old systems were pneumatic and not even electrical at all. Working at an old plant with ancient control systems and integrating DCSs was a hoot!

 

i wanna set something up wired if possible no wireless from the water spouts so it knows when it went on and when it goes off. by when it goes on i mean an actual clock that would display in time from on till time it goes off. one clock starts at 0 ends at turn off and returns to 0. I know nothing about electronics so i dont know the names of stuff or devices id need. or maybe an overpriced product already exists?

Id like to finally sink my teeth into an electronics project with soldering i need to learn to solder tiny wires as i wanna get into drones too. would this be a good project to try and do for grandma as she leaves the water on all day sometimes if im not careful.

For decades I relied on Gem Flow Switches. Merely an example in the link. Since you are not concerned with flow rate or flow totalizing all you need is a simple flow switch and a simple start/stop timer. Now did you want a totalize function so the total on time is recorded over hours, days or weeks?

As to soldering? Soldering is a skill and practice will result in developing good soldering skills. Find some old scrap printed circuit boards and practice removing and installing components.

Ron

 

Not a flow sensor, simply an electrical flow switch. N.O no flow, closed on flow. That's the cheap piece... We had hundreds of them on 7-day mechanical clock round chart recorders that got integrated into the DCS upgrades back in the day... A lot got converted into flow totalizers instead of having to read the times off the clock charts, add them up to totalize on time and then multiplying by a flow factor to manually totalize for production reporting on paper. Then the individual area DCSs sent the production data electronically to the plant's main computer to generate the electronic area and whole plant production reports sent by email or application data to the manager's desktop PC. Ain't automation great! And a lot of those old systems were pneumatic and not even electrical at all. Working at an old plant with ancient control systems and integrating DCSs was a hoot!

HOW does

For decades I relied on Gem Flow Switches. Merely an example in the link. Since you are not concerned with flow rate or flow totalizing all you need is a simple flow switch and a simple start/stop timer. Now did you want a totalize function so the total on time is recorded over hours, days or weeks?

As to soldering? Soldering is a skill and practice will result in developing good soldering skills. Find some old scrap printed circuit boards and practice removing and installing components.

Ron

HOW does "simply an electrical flow switch" sense water flow out of a faucet without a lot of plumbing effort?? OR, is it actually sensing the stream of water coming out?? THAT is what I am wondering. An actual flow switch that senses the flow inside a pipe is seldom simple to install in piping. In fact, that type of installation is beyond most folks capabilities.

 

HOW does "simply an electrical flow switch" sense water flow out of a faucet without a lot of plumbing effort?? OR, is it actually sensing the stream of water coming out?? THAT is what I am wondering. An actual flow switch that senses the flow inside a pipe is seldom simple to install in piping. In fact, that type of installation is beyond most folks capabilities.

One likely uses a simple clamp on flow switch. No plumbing involved. I used them 20 years ago, Google is your friend.

Overview:

Benefits

• • No plumbing work: Installs via brackets or straps without cutting or shutting down lines.
  • No pressure loss: Leaves the pipe interior completely clear, avoiding clogs or flow restriction.
  • No fluid contact: Eliminates contamination risks and wear from corrosive chemicals or pure liquids.
  • Easy retrofitting: Mounts easily onto existing metal or hard plastic pipes. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

How It Works

• • Ultrasonic transit-time: Sends sound waves through the pipe wall and fluid.
  • Speed calculation: Measures the time difference between signals traveling with and against the flow.
  • Switch output: Converts velocity data into a digital readout and triggers a relay switch when flow crosses a set threshold. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

The downside is they are not quite inexpensive. Then too I doubt grandma's spigot would be difficult to plumb. Pretty sure the thread starter will be back and hopefully with more information on the project.

Ron

 

I suspect that this is another example of the TS having a crude vision of what he thinks is needed to solve a problem and asking for help to implement his presumed solution, as opposed asking for help actually solving the underlying problem.

The problem appears to be that his grandma turns on the water (to an outdoor sprinkler?) and forgets to turn it off. How is what he is trying to do going to prevent that? How will knowing when the water turned on and when it turned off going to prevent her from leaving it on all day?

If the actual problem is what I'm inferring, there a any number of cheap watering timers on the market that you just screw onto the hose bib and then connect the water hose to it. Some are simple timers where you turn the water on and then set the timer and it turns the water off when the timer expires. Others can be programmed to turn the water on and off at specified times, created an inexpensive automatic sprinkler system.

Orbit 62034

This is purely mechanical, essentially an old-fashioned egg timer and allows runtimes for up to 2 hours. It has over 17000 reviews with 2/3 of them being 5-start. For just $9, it's worth a try.

If grandma remembers to turn the water on, then she can probably remember to turn the dial to the desired setting at the same time.

 

Oh you gotta plumb it which means have or make room for the plumbing changes. Some are paddle switches, some hall effect and I used a lot of flapper valve style as well. Ones I used were mostly mechanical paddle or flapper style with a set of external contacts. N.O. and N.C. so you could wire it either way depending on your wiring logic needs. Liquid flow puts pressure on the paddle or flapper and engages the contact mechanism. Contacts engage the "pen" on the chart on/off marking flow/no flow on the clocked chart or digital software graph. So, more sophisticated (and expensive) flow sensors could be used as well but KISS. For DCS purposes almost always used flow meters and not simple switches. Also used differential pressure across orifice plates as well (liquid or gas flow) but now we are really getting expensive and complex (usually reserved for actual flow measurement particularly gases/steam). Used Coriolis effect flow meters as well as a few "non-contact" gamma ray radiation types but they are a regulatory burden problem to get approval and certification for use. Actually, the radiation ones were sorta strap on and only ones that didn't require plumbing changes just a straight unobstructed pipe run to clamp on. Really expensive and a maintenance/regulatory nightmare so rarely used but necessary when nothing else fits the need. Yeah, used GEM brand models among others. We had a lot of 125PSI steam traced lines with molten hot resin flows that used Coriolis but can't remember the brand. I liked those meters a lot. Had one Coriolis meter in a design I made that was used to fill 5 gallon "fiber ice cream kegs" with hot molten resin by measuring the flow and driving a controlled ball valve to fast fill to the first set point, dribble fill to the second final set point, and shut off when the final set fill volume was reached. Also had to have it lock open to steam blow the line to clear it when finished filling kegs. Worked like a champ very reliably!