The negative pin on the SSR is hooked to the left most pin on the transistor with the flat side facing away.

I will post pics in the morning. It is kind of a birds nest now that everything is soldered together.

 

K. It sounds like there might be a jump some where and 4 eyes are better than 2 sometimes.

 

If two of the eyes are mine, anything is better...

 

Have you found the problem yet?

I would suspect that it would be a resistor that is tied to ground and when the transistor turns on the said resistor gets shorted, but I can't thing of where in the circuit the issue would be with out seeing how you have the final product laid out.

Hope this helps some.

 

I am sorry I have been MIA on this. I have been working 3 jobs and 7 days a week. I usually leave before the sun comes up and get home just in time for bed. I will try to get the pictures tonight. I really appreciate you sticking with me.

 

I am not sure how helpful this picture will be but here it is.

I inspected the bottom of the board to make sure there was no errant solder trails and everything looks good there. If you need a more close up pic let me know.

 

The questions I have for you will be inicated by the box i drew around the respective area.

In the Blue box is that R3 or R4? Also if it is R3 where is R4, or vise versa? Also if it is R3 than it should be on the same side of the switch that the Cap is on.

In the Red box it only looks like 1 wire is hooked up, is it safe to assume that is for the SSR and not the LED?

In the Green Box, I would assume the black line you drew is you negative rale, if I am right than it looks like your input is tied to ground, can't see the conection from the middle pin to ground, and you may have made the conection under the board from the output to your positive rail.

Don't know if these items I noticed will help or not but lets start there.

 

Ok, I'll address these by the boxes.

Blue box. I don't know what R that is. It is tying the LED to ground.

Red box. The black wire going to the SSR is marked. There is also a red wire running parallel to it in the picture that is hooked to the same pin. That wire connects to the LED. They are hooked to the left most pin of the transistor with the flat side facing away.

Green box. I think I have the green box pretty clearly marked on the picture.

Hope that clears it up. Sorry for the picture, it is a complete wiring nightmare in there.

 

According to your post (#57) the only LED we ended up using should be tied to positive on one end and the transistor on the other. I have it hooked to the transistor on one end and the other end is NEGATIVE! That is certainly a problem, do you think it is THE problem?

 

It could be, because the led and resistor would be giving a path to ground.
Remember the LED\resistor and SSR are in parallel tied to positive and the transistor respectively.

Out of curiosity, since I don't see it, where is the resistor tying the push button cap to ground.

 

re-read your post and I believe you figured it out.

I also do not see the resistor going from Pin1 and the 2 diodes to ground.

 

Not sure how I made that error. In any event, I should have the time to correct it tomorrow. I will have to actually reverse the LED too since it does have a positive and negative side, right?

 

I will have to actually reverse the LED too since it does have a positive and negative side, right?

Yes, you are correct.

 

What do you know? Positive and negative are apparently not interchangeable anymore. I switched the resistor and LED and it works like a charm.

Now the only problem is that my project is too big to fit in the box I bought. I already drilled and ran wires through the holes. Soldered everything together. I should have used the terminal blocks because now it has to come partially apart to get transferred into the new box.

 

Glad to hear that the circuit is working fine.

Also I am sorry to hear that you have to take a good chunck apart to interchange boxes. Live and learn I've always been told.

 

I think the diodes with the lightning bolts are LED's.

 

I think the diodes with the lightning bolts are LED's.

I don't know where you are coming from, the identity of LED's were not in question here. The issue was the SSR was hooked to the transistor with the transistor as a switch and the LED/resistor was hooked to the transistor as a voltage follower, which was causing a closed circuit to the SSR when the transistor was off due to the resistor going to ground.

 

what i would sugest is a continuity based sensor mound to the stop level has 2 conductive surfaces and this trigeres a transistor to activate a locking relay this will turn off the pumps and hold it there. runing the sensor part off a 9v batery or a adaptor. or you may try a cds sell photo sensor the water should darken it trigering it to go off. or mount a cork witha magnet glued to it in a tube with holes in it and a reedswitch at the top mont to tank at desired level. or try a tilt switch in a cork and munt with somthig stiff to tank. no mater what at least 1 relay is needed. maybey 2 or a trancitor may also be needed. the picture may help decribe my sugestions.

 

Erich, thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times thank you! I got it moved over to the new enclosure and (after a few minor setbacks) it is working perfectly! I installed it this evening and tested everything. It is working exactly as it should and I can finally sleep without having to leave one ear open for an overflowing tank! You are the man.

I really appreciate your patience with me and sticking around to help me see this through to the end. Much thanks!

 

You are very welcome.