water detector

AR1234

I'm new to the forum, and will much appreciate your advice.
Looking to build a cheap water detector, that will not change the chemistry of the water.
It should simply indicate if water is touching it (if water reach a certain level in a tank made of plastic).
Many thanks
Al

Danger

Hi, AR.
Although I don't know the scale of your project, a simple float switch should suffice. As long as there is no turbulence in the water, you can pre-tune it to the point that a mm or so of additional water will trigger it.

AR1234

Any reference or direction for a "simple float switch"?
My limited experience with floats was that they sometimes remain stuck; any insight will help.
Many thanks,
Al

Danger

Well, I'm no expert on this by any means. Something like a ping-pong ball glued to the end of a mini-lever switch (waterproofed with latex or silicon) would work quite well.

edit: The waterproofing isn't necessary if you can be sure that the switch will remain dry.

Bobbywhy

In some experimental submersible sonar units we used two metal strips glued very close together in paralell on a non-conductive surface. Each was connected by a wire to a detector circuit. To one we applied +5 Volts and the other became the input to a comparator. If water intruded (leaked in) it conducted enough of that +5 Volts to switch the comparator to "true= leak".

Similar Threads for: water detector
Thread	Forum	Replies
Cooling hot water by adding in cool water and draining out the hot water - Formulae	General Physics	5
Re: Building a hydrodynamics water tunnel for surface water wheel testing.	General Engineering	4
Heat power needed to partially evaporate water from a water container	Introductory Physics Homework	1
Basic question regarding triple point of water and physical properties of water	Introductory Physics Homework	9

AR1234	water detector Tweet I'm new to the forum, and will much appreciate your advice. Looking to build a cheap water detector, that will not change the chemistry of the water. It should simply indicate if water is touching it (if water reach a certain level in a tank made of plastic). Many thanks Al

Danger Recognitions: Gold Member	Hi, AR. Although I don't know the scale of your project, a simple float switch should suffice. As long as there is no turbulence in the water, you can pre-tune it to the point that a mm or so of additional water will trigger it.

Danger Recognitions: Gold Member	water detector Well, I'm no expert on this by any means. Something like a ping-pong ball glued to the end of a mini-lever switch (waterproofed with latex or silicon) would work quite well. edit: The waterproofing isn't necessary if you can be sure that the switch will remain dry.

Bobbywhy Recognitions: Gold Member	In some experimental submersible sonar units we used two metal strips glued very close together in paralell on a non-conductive surface. Each was connected by a wire to a detector circuit. To one we applied +5 Volts and the other became the input to a comparator. If water intruded (leaked in) it conducted enough of that +5 Volts to switch the comparator to "true= leak".