Radio Linked Tank Float Switches?
mcnutt13579
Registered Users Posts: 107 ✭✭✭
Customer has 4000 gallon water tank on hill. Well is right next to house. System is pure gravity, no pressure tank at all.
Well pump runs whenever generator runs. Generator runs only when commanded by inverter. Water tank runs dry if there is too much sun, and overflows down the ditch if the generator runs a lot.
I would like to install some sort of tri-level float system in these tanks. One float near the bottom that starts the generator whenever the tank gets too low. Another float near the middle that stops the generator if the bottom float is the one that started it. One float at the top that lets the well pump run and fill the tanks completely whenever it was the inverter that commanded it on.
The catch is that there is no easy possibility of installing a wire to these tanks. They are very far away and the pipe without wire was installed many decades ago through some rough country. Automation was not thought of back then. I want to do it by some radio link but it has to be reliable. I realize I will need a small panel and battery at the tank. The radio path should be pretty much line of sight so at least that should be no problem.
Is there such an animal ready-made?
Well pump runs whenever generator runs. Generator runs only when commanded by inverter. Water tank runs dry if there is too much sun, and overflows down the ditch if the generator runs a lot.
I would like to install some sort of tri-level float system in these tanks. One float near the bottom that starts the generator whenever the tank gets too low. Another float near the middle that stops the generator if the bottom float is the one that started it. One float at the top that lets the well pump run and fill the tanks completely whenever it was the inverter that commanded it on.
The catch is that there is no easy possibility of installing a wire to these tanks. They are very far away and the pipe without wire was installed many decades ago through some rough country. Automation was not thought of back then. I want to do it by some radio link but it has to be reliable. I realize I will need a small panel and battery at the tank. The radio path should be pretty much line of sight so at least that should be no problem.
Is there such an animal ready-made?
Comments
How about this for a rather wild possibility: turn the pump and any usage off and then measure the pressure. If you can measure it accurately enough, you can determine the height in the tank.
I am available for custom hardware/firmware development
Its doable, I have built several RF Lora stations to wifi station to monitor tank levels, temp etc... They run on a small LiPo battery and a small solar 5.5V panel. Cost is minimal if you build it and write the code yourself. If you dont need constant data then you can put the boards to sleep for determined intervals then wake up and transmit to save power. I have some a mile away no issue. You can code them to talk to each other also like turn off pump or tank full, whatever is needed.
Off Grid Cabin, 24V 440ah 6V GC battery bank, Xantrex MPPT60-150 CC, Magnum MS4024 inverter-charger, >1200w Solar bank
That sounds really interesting. I could use something like that, reporting every 4 hours on tank levels
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
BB Bill posted the following, also a Lora devices, perhaps one of the four sets might be frequency-compatible with the target country:
https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/354272/raspberry-pi-packet-radio#latest
FWIW, we know nothing of the details. Vic
Most centrifugal pumps won't produce pressure greater than what the pipes can handle, so no need for a safety pressure relief.
I am available for custom hardware/firmware development