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JSimmons · 04-25-2003, 09:49 AM

I'm trying to build a water level sensor for lucite reservoirs. I have yet to see anything already available, so I thought I'd try to come up with something myself. So here goes:

My idea is to have (three or more, depending on desired granularity) IR receiver/emitter pairs aligned along the vertical axis of a reasonably tall reservoir. These IR pairs would each be responsible for altering the state of an associated status indicator depending on the water being low enough to trigger an electronic signal.

There are several concerns:

1) Is lucite transparent to IR? Don't laugh - some glass isn't, so I don't want to just assume that lucite is.

2) How much heat would be associated with three or more emitters (IR LED's) being on 24/7 (or at least while the computer itself is on)? Negligible amounts?

3) If the water cannot be made to block/diffuse IR light, I would have to consider visible light. This has it's own problems:

A) Ricers (my term for people that put lights in their case for no reason except that "it's pretty"), would not be able to make use of such a kit. The same goes for people with windows in their cases.

B) Lucite has an annoying (in this case) tendancy to edge light when a light source is place in close proximity.

C) Photocells are not exactly reliable as far as their light sensitivy values are concerned, so even in a dark case, one light illuminating the lucite AND the water could errantly activate an receiver that is not associated with the emitter in question.

Since the visible light concerns are enough to convince me to try IR first, the IR's spectrum needs to be able to exist in a dark case, a case with just a clear window, a case with enough lights in it to illuminate a small city, and a case that contains a black light.

However, before any of this can work, I need to make sure I can create a fluid environment that can effectively block/diffuse IR light.

Assumtion:

Most/all lucite reservoirs are sealed and the typical modder wants to just tape/screw/glue something on and see the resulting pretty indicator lights.

Status display:

There's a number of different indicator styles that could be used:
- Multiple single LEDS
- a bank of LED's (I've seen them arrange in straight and arched row packages)
- a LED character display
- a LCD character/graphics display
- a VFD

04-25-2003, 09:49 AM	#14
JSimmons Cooling Savant Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: 4-sided room with an exit going east, and an exit going south Posts: 392	I'm trying to build a water level sensor for lucite reservoirs. I have yet to see anything already available, so I thought I'd try to come up with something myself. So here goes: My idea is to have (three or more, depending on desired granularity) IR receiver/emitter pairs aligned along the vertical axis of a reasonably tall reservoir. These IR pairs would each be responsible for altering the state of an associated status indicator depending on the water being low enough to trigger an electronic signal. There are several concerns: 1) Is lucite transparent to IR? Don't laugh - some glass isn't, so I don't want to just assume that lucite is. 2) How much heat would be associated with three or more emitters (IR LED's) being on 24/7 (or at least while the computer itself is on)? Negligible amounts? 3) If the water cannot be made to block/diffuse IR light, I would have to consider visible light. This has it's own problems: A) Ricers (my term for people that put lights in their case for no reason except that "it's pretty"), would not be able to make use of such a kit. The same goes for people with windows in their cases. B) Lucite has an annoying (in this case) tendancy to edge light when a light source is place in close proximity. C) Photocells are not exactly reliable as far as their light sensitivy values are concerned, so even in a dark case, one light illuminating the lucite AND the water could errantly activate an receiver that is not associated with the emitter in question. Since the visible light concerns are enough to convince me to try IR first, the IR's spectrum needs to be able to exist in a dark case, a case with just a clear window, a case with enough lights in it to illuminate a small city, and a case that contains a black light. However, before any of this can work, I need to make sure I can create a fluid environment that can effectively block/diffuse IR light. Assumtion: Most/all lucite reservoirs are sealed and the typical modder wants to just tape/screw/glue something on and see the resulting pretty indicator lights. Status display: There's a number of different indicator styles that could be used: - Multiple single LEDS - a bank of LED's (I've seen them arrange in straight and arched row packages) - a LED character display - a LCD character/graphics display - a VFD Last edited by JSimmons; 04-25-2003 at 09:58 AM.