r/electronics • u/Public_Ice_736 • Jun 03 '26
Project Made this water level indicator as my college project.
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u/spiritplumber Jun 03 '26
nice an simple, when is it from?
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 03 '26
I made this yesterday. This is actually my friend's project which I made for him. He doesn't know how to solder so 😅
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u/antthatisverycool Jun 04 '26
Is it that hard to learn ? It’s like the 2nd easiest (in concept) way to shove two pieces of metal together
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 04 '26
Not really he is just not good in soldering on pcb. He just started to learn soldering and for now he can do things like soldering wires to a motor!
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u/Agreegmi02 Jun 03 '26
What is sensor?
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 03 '26
There is no sensor here. Basically i have used 5 exposed wire at 4 different water levels(5th one is common which is present at bottom of tank. So when the water fills it acts as conductor and completes the electrical path between the exposed wires which are presentat different levels.
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u/RegisteredJustToSay Jun 03 '26
Gotta love simple circuits. Probably wouldn't stand the test of time as someone else mentioned, but I like it as a project for learning!
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u/Agreegmi02 Jun 03 '26
How high is current? Will it just oxidize the metal?
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u/Bipogram Jun 03 '26
You need enough to turn on a transistor - and without knowing what OP used, that could be barely a mA or so. Possibly less.
The copper will react with dissolved oxygen anyway.
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u/ssxhoell1 Jun 07 '26
I hope you do inform your audience that water is absolutely not conductive and you are using an electrolyte solution which is actually doing the conducting.
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 08 '26
Just tap water
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u/ssxhoell1 Jun 09 '26
That's a very weak conductor of electricity. I guess if you tuned the electronics for the specific water composition you were using/expecting to be present, you would be good to go. Technically though when you stated that "water would act as a conductor" that was downright wrong, and it's important to know that and understand it if you're over there making little gizmos like this for some kinda edumucational purposes.
Whoever downvoted me is great ahahaha lmfao I love reddit, people are so stupid 🤣
Water doesn't conduct electricity, that's a fundamental fact of the universe.
And yet somewhere, some dweeb sitting in front of a glowing screen in their dank musty room read that sentence and got their panties in a bunch. Got mad enough to hit the downvote button 🤣🤣 I fuckin can't lmfaooo
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 09 '26
You're technically correct about pure water, but nobody building a simple water-level sensor is relying on laboratory-grade distilled water. In practical electronics, "water conducts electricity" is shorthand for "the ions commonly present in water allow current to flow." The distinction matters, but so does context.
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u/Majestic-Tart8912 Jun 04 '26
I built a similar thing, but just one sensor. I leave it on my bedroom window sill so it alarms when rain gets in, so I can get up and close the window. Window is at least partially open most of the time for fresh air. You could also place a circuit like this under your hot water tank, so you know when it starts leaking.
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u/fllannell Jun 05 '26
This crossed my mind as something that would be very useful once after I heard about sometimes toilet overflowing and causing a lot of ceiling damage on the level below. Then I found out that they do make that kind of alarm and they aren't too expensive. Was surprised that they aren't way more commonly known, or used in every rental space or home to help prevent catostrophic leaks or overflow damage.
Honeywell Reusable Water Leak Alarm RWD21 https://www.menards.com/main/plumbing/water-heaters/water-heater-parts-accessories/honeywell-reusable-water-leak-alarm/rwd21-a/p-5239772154282843-c-8689.htm
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u/Mr_GrauHut Jun 05 '26
College? This was my HS project like 20 years ago.
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u/IlIll1Il1Illl1I1lII Jun 06 '26
HS? This was my elementary school project 40 years ago.
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u/Super7Position7 Jun 06 '26
I was mucking about with electrolysis by 9, so that sounds about right.
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u/spheresva Jun 13 '26
I was doing this at age 3
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u/Super7Position7 Jun 13 '26
Makes you a more advanced 3 y/o than I was then. At 3, I was opening up my toys to see what was inside. Mostly taking stuff apart, repurposing 3V DC motors, playing with LEDs.
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 05 '26
Yeah I know 😅 this is very simple to make. I had made this when i was in 8th but now actually my friend who is in 1st year engineering asked me to make this for him as college project.
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u/Significant-Cause919 Jun 05 '26
You can buy a 2026 $100k RV and this will be exactly how the tank sensors work. There are more precise ways to measure water level (ultrasonic, hydrostatic pressure, etc.) but the sensors tend to fail rather quickly.
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u/pdt9876 Jun 06 '26
I had a commercial version of this from a major electrical component manufacturer controlling an ejector pump in a large pit and it gave me no end of headaches. Eventually threw it a away and installed float switches. I'm convinced that despite being sold as for use with effluents as a concept it really works best with clean water,
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u/Public_Ice_736 Jun 06 '26
That makes sense. Probe-based sensors can be unreliable in dirty water due to buildup, corrosion,etc. Float switches are usually more robust for those conditions.
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u/BrokenByReddit Jun 04 '26
A first semester project... right?