Water Level Indicator Circuit Diagram http://www.electronicecircuits.com/electronic-circuits/water-level-indi...

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Water Level Indicator

Circuit Diagram
— 6 Comments ↓

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Two steel rods of appropriate length

Its purpose was to remotely monitor the water-level in a metal tank

located in the attic by means of a very simple control unit placed in
the kitchen, some floors below.
Mains requirements were:

* No separate supply for the remote circuit

* Main and remote units connected by a thin two-wire cable
* Simple LED display for the main unit
* Battery operation to avoid problems related to mains supply and
water proximity
* As the circuit was battery operated a low current consumption
was obviously welcomed

The very small remote unit is placed near the tank and measures
the water level in three ranges by means of two steel rods. Each
range will cover one third of the tank capacity:

* Almost empty – signaled by means of a red LED (D3) in the

control unit display
* About half-level – signaled by means of a yellow LED (D2) in the
control unit display
* Almost full – signaled by means of a green LED (D1) in the
control unit display

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4012 NAND gate IC LM393 Comparator IC BC547 NPN Transistor

Circuit operation:
When the water-level is below the steel rods, no contact is
occurring from the metal can and the rods, which are supported by
a small insulated (wooden) board. The small circuit built around
IC1 draws no current and therefore no voltage drop is generated
across R5. IC2A, IC2B and Q1 are wired as a window comparator
and, as there is zero voltage at input pins #2 and #5, D3 will
illuminate.
When the water comes in contact with the first rod, pin #13 of IC1
will go high, as its input pins #9 to #12 were shorted to negative by
means of the water contact. Therefore, R4 will be connected
across the full supply voltage and the remote circuit will draw a
current of about 9mA. This current will cause a voltage drop of
about 0.9V across R5 and the window comparator will detect this
voltage and will change its state, switching off D3 and illuminating
D2.
When the water will reach the second rod, also pin #1 of IC1 will
go high for the same reason explained above. Now either R3 and
R4 will be connected across the full supply voltage and the total
current drawing of the remote circuit will be about 18mA. The
voltage drop across R5 will be now about 1.8V and the window
comparator will switch off D2 and will drive D1.
The battery will last very long because the circuit will be mostly in
the off state. Current is needed only for a few seconds when P1 is
pushed to check the water-level and one of the LEDs illuminates.

Notes:
* The two steel rods must be supported by a small insulated
(wooden) board
* IC1 and R1-R4 are mounted on a small board placed near or on
the steel rods support
* The two-wire cable connecting the remote circuit board to the
main control board, i.e. J1 to J2, can be of any size and type
(preferably thin for obvious reasons). It can be very long, if
necessary.

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* The circuit can be used also with non-metal tanks, provided a

third steel rod having the height of the tank will be added and
connected to pin #7 of IC1, R3, R4 and J1.
* The 4012 chip was chosen because it contains two gates and
was at hand, but you can use two of the gates contained into 4001,
4011, 4093, 4049, 4069 etc. chips, provided all inputs of each gate
are tied together and all inputs of unused gates are connected to
the positive rail, leaving output pins open.

Please send your ideas, which are very important for our
success…

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Tags: Control Circuits, Indicators

6 comments on “Water Level Indicator Circuit Diagram”

Mike Reiche says:

October 3, 2013 at 12:09 am

Great job and everything – but the Velleman water detector kit
MK108 is $6.99 at Frys and uses two resistors and a BC517
transistor. Get three of those. Or make them yourself from the
available pdf.

Reply

darshan says:
January 3, 2013 at 3:40 pm

good

Reply

uitm says:

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Water Level Indicator Circuit Diagram http://www.electronicecircuits.com/electronic-circuits/water-level-indi...

September 10, 2011 at 6:14 pm

why the simulation of this circuit cannot run?

Reply

prakash ray says:

August 29, 2011 at 7:22 pm

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Reply

stephen chukwu says:

August 17, 2011 at 4:16 pm

circuit analysis of the above circuit diagram

Reply

stephen chukwu says:

July 21, 2011 at 1:38 pm

I want know how to calcurate the values of the components

used in circiut diagram of water level indicator using lm393
comparator.

Reply

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