Water detector

D

DS

Guest
A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan
 
DS wrote:
A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan
Click to expand...
A construction project years ago used one of the "TV Clothespins" that
were used in TV shops to connect a TV antenna to your TV. They put an
aspirin between the jaws. If it got wet it dissolved, and the jaws
shorted out.
--


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3FAC4DC3.308BE6DF@earthlink.net...
DS wrote:

A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm
going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan

A construction project years ago used one of the "TV Clothespins" that
were used in TV shops to connect a TV antenna to your TV. They put an
aspirin between the jaws. If it got wet it dissolved, and the jaws
shorted out.
--
Click to expand...
Thanks for the idea.. it certainly is decidedly low-tech... the problem is
that would probably require quite a bit of water.. I'd want something that
even if the concrete got sufficiently damp would set off the alarm.

Thanks though :)
 
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3FAC4DC3.308BE6DF@earthlink.net...
DS wrote:

A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm
going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan

A construction project years ago used one of the "TV Clothespins" that
were used in TV shops to connect a TV antenna to your TV. They put an
aspirin between the jaws. If it got wet it dissolved, and the jaws
shorted out.
--
Click to expand...
That's nearly as low tech as looking to see if your socks are wet after you
have been in the cellar. Good solution though.
 
"DS" <nojunk.signups@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:VoYqb.49247$YN6.35985@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3FAC4DC3.308BE6DF@earthlink.net...
DS wrote:

A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has
a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm
going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan

A construction project years ago used one of the "TV Clothespins" that
were used in TV shops to connect a TV antenna to your TV. They put an
aspirin between the jaws. If it got wet it dissolved, and the jaws
shorted out.
--

Thanks for the idea.. it certainly is decidedly low-tech... the problem is
that would probably require quite a bit of water.. I'd want something that
even if the concrete got sufficiently damp would set off the alarm.
Click to expand...
Blotting paper permeated with NaCl sitting on floor with an electrode at
each end. Use the electrodes to trigger whatever.
 
"DS" <nojunk.signups@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:NJXqb.49072$YN6.29171@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm
going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan


I made a lawn sprinkler - rain detector some years ago. I still use it. I
Click to expand...
used a small circuit board (2"x2") with the copper removed about 1/8" down
the middle. A wire connected to both sides, created the sensor which I
attached to my fence outdoors. The sensor goes to a comparator (LM741) and
that output pulls a small relay whose contact interupts the 24 VAC to the
sprinkler valves. Works great, but I need to make new sensors every other
year, they tend to corrode. I was going to try two stainless steel screws,
mounted on some sort of insulator, but I never seem to fing the time! I can
post the schematic if you need it.
 
"scada" <scadaxxxxx@optonlinenospam.net> wrote in message
news:7q9rb.37137$Ex1.11861082@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
"DS" <nojunk.signups@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:NJXqb.49072$YN6.29171@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...
A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm
going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan


I made a lawn sprinkler - rain detector some years ago. I still use it. I
used a small circuit board (2"x2") with the copper removed about 1/8" down
the middle. A wire connected to both sides, created the sensor which I
attached to my fence outdoors. The sensor goes to a comparator (LM741) and
that output pulls a small relay whose contact interupts the 24 VAC to the
sprinkler valves. Works great, but I need to make new sensors every other
year, they tend to corrode. I was going to try two stainless steel screws,
mounted on some sort of insulator, but I never seem to fing the time! I
can
post the schematic if you need it.
Click to expand...

Hi Scada,
That would be greatly appreciated! How do you power the comparison circuit
itself? I guess I'll see in the schematic.

Cheers,
Dan

ps. If you can't post it on a website (since this is a non-binaries group),
you can email it to:
signups (a.t) rogers (d0t) com. Thanks!
 
On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 05:44:43 -0800, Baphomet wrote:

Blotting paper permeated with NaCl sitting on floor with an electrode at
each end. Use the electrodes to trigger whatever.
Click to expand...
Good idea, but isn't NaCl slightly hygroscopic and would either take up
atmospheric moisture or fail to fully dry out after rain?

How about something that's both ionic and efflorescent? - any chemists out
there?


--
Then there's duct tape ...
(Garrison Keillor)
nofr@sbhevre.pbzchyvax.pb.hx
 
In article <3FAC4DC3.308BE6DF@earthlink.net>,
mike.terrell@earthlink.net mentioned...
DS wrote:

A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan

A construction project years ago used one of the "TV Clothespins" that
were used in TV shops to connect a TV antenna to your TV. They put an
aspirin between the jaws. If it got wet it dissolved, and the jaws
shorted out.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I remember the aspirin trick. But they must've bent the jaws
somehow, because they don't normally touch, just come close. I think
the one I made used two 4-40 panhead screws thru holes drilled thru
the end of the clothespin.

But in reality, what good is a clothespin going to do? It sets off an
alarm, and then what? You either have to start getting rid of the
water, like with a sump pump, or else start moving all the stuff to a
higher level or out of the basement. And there's a good chance that
you or someone won't be around when the alarm goes off. :-( So the
thing that makes the most sense to me is to use a pair of sump pumps,
on separate electrical circuits. At least one will work if the other
fails.

Reminds me of the time the plant mgr and I went up on the roof of the
4-story bldg to replace the sump pump. I walked thru the air
conditioning plenum door into the plenum, and stood on a metal grate
with a lotta air coming out of it. I looked down, and WHOO-HOO!! I
don't like it here!! This 1 inch thick grate was all that was between
us and a sheer 60+ foot drop straight down thru the middle of the
bldg! Whatever you do, do NOT drop your keys here! Or anything else
for that matter!

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
In article
<VoYqb.49247$YN6.35985@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>,
nojunk.signups@rogers.com mentioned...
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:3FAC4DC3.308BE6DF@earthlink.net...
DS wrote:

A bunch of years ago I bought a water detector type kit for a science
project... It has since disappeared and I was wondering if someone has a
schematic of how I could go about building such a thing. Now that I'm
going
to be moving to the basement I'd like a bit of advanced warning should
something spring a leak.

Thanks in advance!
-Dan

A construction project years ago used one of the "TV Clothespins" that
were used in TV shops to connect a TV antenna to your TV. They put an
aspirin between the jaws. If it got wet it dissolved, and the jaws
shorted out.
--

Thanks for the idea.. it certainly is decidedly low-tech... the problem is
that would probably require quite a bit of water.. I'd want something that
even if the concrete got sufficiently damp would set off the alarm.

Thanks though :)
Click to expand...
You could use a interdigitated pattern on a PC board, and connect it
to a couple transistors to boost the current. But it could have
reliability problems, like when a bug crawls over the pattern and
shorts out the fingers. Probably a better way is to sense a change in
capacitance caused by the liquid.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
You could use a interdigitated pattern on a PC board, and connect it
to a couple transistors to boost the current. But it could have
reliability problems, like when a bug crawls over the pattern and
shorts out the fingers. Probably a better way is to sense a change in
capacitance caused by the liquid.
Click to expand...
Thats actually a good idea. Are there any capacitance detecting circuits out
there that won't eat through a battery though?

Regards,
Dan
 
"Fred Abse" <excretatauris@cerebrumconfus.it> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.11.08.22.46.26.705803@cerebrumconfus.it...
On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 05:44:43 -0800, Baphomet wrote:

Blotting paper permeated with NaCl sitting on floor with an electrode at
each end. Use the electrodes to trigger whatever.

Good idea, but isn't NaCl slightly hygroscopic and would either take up
atmospheric moisture or fail to fully dry out after rain?
Click to expand...
Fred -

I was thinking that since the blotter paper was so inexpensive, it would be
a one use throw away. As to atmospheric moisture...hmmm...I didn't really
think about that :-( The only way I can weasel out of that one is that most
homes (at least in the US) have the central heater in the basement so
moisture in the air shouldn't be too much of a problem...I hope....I
hope....I hope.
 
On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 18:46:46 -0800, Watson A. Name - "Watt Sun, Dark
Remover" wrote:

Reminds me of the time the plant mgr and I went up on the roof of the
4-story bldg to replace the sump pump.
Click to expand...
Water runs uphill where you worked? Neat trick :)

--
Then there's duct tape ...
(Garrison Keillor)
nofr@sbhevre.pbzchyvax.pb.hx
 
In article
<c6orb.222487$3f.98101@twister01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>,
nojunk.signups@rogers.com mentioned...
You could use a interdigitated pattern on a PC board, and connect it
to a couple transistors to boost the current. But it could have
reliability problems, like when a bug crawls over the pattern and
shorts out the fingers. Probably a better way is to sense a change in
capacitance caused by the liquid.

Thats actually a good idea. Are there any capacitance detecting circuits out
there that won't eat through a battery though?
Click to expand...
What do you expect the output of the detector to do? If you want it
to hold in a relay, then the batteries wouldn't last very long. After
all, you want it to be failsafe, so if it fails, it sets the alarm
off.

But there are many low power circuits out there that would do the
trick, and run off a battery for a year or so. The device can be off
for a minute or so, and once every minute for a few milliseconds or
seconds, test to see of there's any moisture. Or else just use really
low current until the moisture is detected.

Regards,
Dan
Click to expand...

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
In article <pan.2003.11.09.13.51.01.367223@cerebrumconfus.it>,
excretatauris@cerebrumconfus.it mentioned...
On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 18:46:46 -0800, Watson A. Name - "Watt Sun, Dark
Remover" wrote:

Reminds me of the time the plant mgr and I went up on the roof of the
4-story bldg to replace the sump pump.

Water runs uphill where you worked? Neat trick :)
Click to expand...
No, not really. Like most A/Cs, the cooling coils sweat, and the
runoff has to be kept out of the ducts. So there's a big galvanized
pan under the air handling unit, and a small sump pump pumps the water
out of the pan and out into one of the roof drains. If he sump pump
doesn't work, the pan will gather water, and I think there was an
alarm float to tell when the level rises to overflow.

Really, all the basement should need is a float in the sump to tell if
there's any water gathering there.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
What do you expect the output of the detector to do? If you want it
to hold in a relay, then the batteries wouldn't last very long. After
all, you want it to be failsafe, so if it fails, it sets the alarm
off.

But there are many low power circuits out there that would do the
trick, and run off a battery for a year or so. The device can be off
for a minute or so, and once every minute for a few milliseconds or
seconds, test to see of there's any moisture. Or else just use really
low current until the moisture is detected.
Click to expand...
It'll just get hooked up to a piezo buzzer or something similar.. or heck, I
could probably even tie it into the master home alarm-- so definately low
draw. A sump pump isn't really an option unless its a torrential flood which
is unlikely. My main concern is the dang humidifer leaking as it has done
many times in the past (the float switch on those things are really
tempremental), as well as if anything else should go awry. It should give me
enough time to prop the furniture onto plastic blocks or something should
the need arise.

So about that capacitence circuit, any ideas about one that would run on a
9v battery or something similar for a few months/years? :)

Thanks,
Dan
 
In article
<B4Grb.66073$YN6.58081@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>,
nojunk.signups@rogers.com mentioned...
What do you expect the output of the detector to do? If you want it
to hold in a relay, then the batteries wouldn't last very long. After
all, you want it to be failsafe, so if it fails, it sets the alarm
off.

But there are many low power circuits out there that would do the
trick, and run off a battery for a year or so. The device can be off
for a minute or so, and once every minute for a few milliseconds or
seconds, test to see of there's any moisture. Or else just use really
low current until the moisture is detected.

It'll just get hooked up to a piezo buzzer or something similar.. or heck, I
could probably even tie it into the master home alarm-- so definately low
draw. A sump pump isn't really an option unless its a torrential flood which
is unlikely. My main concern is the dang humidifer leaking as it has done
many times in the past (the float switch on those things are really
tempremental), as well as if anything else should go awry. It should give me
enough time to prop the furniture onto plastic blocks or something should
the need arise.
Click to expand...
If you're not there, then who's going to hear the alarm and take
action? One thing you might consider is putting a needle valve inline
with the humidifier feedline. Then you can restrict the flow to a
trickle just in case the float valve doesn't work. At least it'll buy
you some time.

Some URLs of low power circuits you might be able to adapt to this
problem.
http://members.tripod.com/wsimister/

His water alarm seems to be unsafe. Running it directly off the AC
line is _not_ a very safe way!
http://members.tripod.com/wsimister/wateralm.htm
Low Power Proximity Alarm
http://members.tripod.com/wsimister/prox0699.htm
Another proximity alarm
http://www.geocities.com/IECMaster/circuits_alarm/cir_alarm005.html
Another prox det from Gary who posts here occasionally.
http://www3.telus.net/chemelec/Projects/Proximity.htm

So about that capacitence circuit, any ideas about one that would run on a
9v battery or something similar for a few months/years? :)

Thanks,
Dan
Click to expand...

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
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