Overflowing water storage tanks are a common source of water waste. Though there are many ways to deal with it, such as installing ball valves that close off the water supply when the tank is full. You seem like the type who would prefer an electronic answer, what with all your interest in electronics.
Here is a quick and easy DIY water alarm project guide to help you build a circuit that will blink an LED when the water level in your storage tank reaches a certain point.
Hardware Required
- You will need an Integrated Circuit (IC) with the ULN2003 standard. These are miniature electronic circuits that have already been assembled and mounted on a silicon wafer.
- In addition, you’ll require three LEDs to show the current water level (low, medium, and high).
- When the water level is too high, only 1 buzzer will do.
- There must be a minimum of 5 sensing wires installed in order to get an accurate reading of the water level. Don’t worry about the length just yet; you’ll be trimming them down to size soon enough. If you need to extend the length of a sensing wire, you can solder two together.
- The water level indicator needs to be powered, so you’ll need a 9-volt battery and a battery connector.
- To get the IC ready for the LEDs, pliers will be required.
- Most electronic projects require a soldering iron and solder. In this way, the circuit can be put together.
- Wire cutters are also required for trimming the sensing wires to fit.
- In this application, the IC’s leads are angled downward so that they may pass through the board’s mounting holes.
- To facilitate soldering, gently raise and flatten the IC leads on both sides with the pliers.
- Cut the five sensing wires to the appropriate lengths. Exactly how long the sensing wires need to depend on how many different water levels you want to keep track of. The wire cutters allow you to make two cuts in a wire at precisely the same length.
- Each of the three remaining wires should be gradually shortened. One set of wires might be 8 inches (20 centimeters), another set might be 6 inches (15 centimetres), and yet another set might be 4 inches (10 centimeters) in length, with the two longest wires being 10 inches (25 centimeters) in length.
Water levels are measured more accurately by the shorter sensing wires, while the lowest level is detected by one of the longest wires. When the water level is highest, the longest wire goes to the buzzer.
Connecting the LEDs and the Buzzer
- Connect the negative ends of the LEDs to the IC’s pins 12, 14, and 16. While keeping the LED’s negative point against the pin, feed solder to the tip of the soldering iron. To link the other three LEDs to the IC, simply repeat the previous steps.
- For every LED, the shorter lead serves as the negative terminal and the longer one as the positive.
- Put the IC flat on a table so you can see the numbered pins. The integrated circuit has a notch at one end and 8 pins on both sides.
- Notch at the top, pin 1 next to it on the left, pin 8 at the bottom left. If you count from 9 to 16, with pin 16 closest to the notch on the right, you’ll notice that the order is backwards from the usual one.
- Join the LED’s positive terminal, located at pin 12, to the ground terminal, located at pin 9. Locate the LED whose negative terminal is connected to the 12th pin. Connect the LED’s positive terminal to the 9th terminal using the soldering iron. When using a soldering iron in a confined space, be very cautious not to burn your fingers.
- Buzzer’s positive terminal should be connected to pin 10, and the negative terminal should be connected to pin 12.
- Putting the buzzer into your circuit is the next step. Connect the positive end of the buzzer to the tenth pin with the soldering iron. Connect the negative end of the buzzer to the terminal’s pin 12.
- Given that an LED is already connected to pin #12, the negative end of the buzzer must be soldered to the LED’s negative wire. When the wires are connected in a circuit, the buzzer still works even though it isn’t attached directly onto pin #12.
- Unlike the positive point, the negative point on the buzzer has a shorter lead. Similar to the LEDs, right?
- Solder the plus ends of each LED together. Connect all of the LEDs in a circuit by soldering the positive leads together.
- The circuit is completed when the positive terminal of the buzzer is connected. With the circuit now complete, the water level indicator’s LEDs should all light up as intended.
- Connect the sensor wires to the first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth pins. Now is the time to start soldering wires to the other side of the IC.
- Connect the two longest wires to the first and ninth terminals by soldering. The next-to-longest wire should be soldered to contact 3, the next-to-shortest to contact 5, and the shortest to contact 7. The wire going to the IC’s pin #9 should be connected between the buzzer and the IC.
This means that when the water level is low, the LED connected to pin #16 will light up, while when the water level is moderate, the LED connected to pin #14 will light up, and when the water level is high, the LED connected to pin #12 will light up. When the water level is too high, the buzzer will sound as well.
Attaching the Battery and Testing the Circuit
- Join the positive wire of the battery connector to pin 9, and the negative wire to pin 8. Solder the wires to the corresponding pins on the IC, just as you would with any other component.
- As soon as you’ve connected the battery, set the connector to the side. To match the height of the buzzer, it will be placed atop the water level gauge.
- Plug the water gauge’s 9-volt battery into its housing. One of the battery’s terminals is negative (represented by a hexagon) and one is positive (represented by a circle). Connect the battery’s hexagonal terminal to the connector’s circular one, and vice versa. Examine the connection between the battery and the battery terminals and ensure a tight fit.
- If you have already connected the battery, your water level indicator should now be operational.
- Check the gauge for the water level. Simply submerge the water level indicator’s sensing wires into a liquid-filled glass, cup, or other suitable containers. Carefully add water to the cup or glass.
- See how the lowest water level is represented by the LED with the longest wire, and how the highest water level is represented by the LED with the shortest wire. Also, keep an ear out for the alarm that will go off when the water reaches its maximum level.
- Because overflowing and wasted water can be avoided if you know when the water level is at its highest, a buzzer is triggered when the water reaches its maximum capacity.
Conclusion
I hope all of you find this simple Water Level Indicator useful. We Superkitz will be back soon with more informative blogs.