I want to use this level sensor to turn a small pump on and off. When the level is detected the pump shuts off when no liquid is detected the pump goes on. I don’t think I really need the extra board that gives me sensitivity control and it seems like the best option would be to use the output from the sensor itself to either power the pump directly or throw a relay to power the pump. My question is what would this circuit look like? I have tried it on a breadboard using an LED to simulate the pump and set it up as follows: Yellow wire (sensor signal output) - resistor - LED - Ground and the LED does not turn on when the sensor detects liquid. There is a black wire (goes to the adjusting switch on the board) that I don’t know what to do with.
Although there are many options, one approach would include:
]Non-contact liquid level sensor/:m] ]Microcontroller (if you’re new to programming, consider something Arduino-based)/:m] ]Simple relay to turn the pump on and off./:m]
You would need to program the microcontroller to read the sensor’s output and if it reaches a certain value, activate the relay, which activates the pump.
Thanks Coleman. I was hoping for something even more simple. I notice there is an LED that goes on when it detects water then off when it does not. If I could even just tap into that circuit so that when the LED comes on the relay trips then I could do away with all the boards completely (I think anyway). Is there a way to do that? Is there a schematic of the inner workings of the sensor (not the board) I could access?
That’s certainly an interesting idea. There’s no LED in the schematic of the electronics, so you mean on the module itself There’s a chance you might be able to use the breakout board as a digital On/Off to trip a relay, but that would need to be tested.
The sensor used is XKC-Y25-T12V. The only info available from our supplier is:
Left_1 VCC : InVCC (range: +5V~+24V)
Left_2 OUT : Liquid level sensor signal output
Left_3 GND : GND
Left_4 ADJ : Sensor sensitivity adjusting switch (Adjust the sensor sensitivity, 4 modes in all. Click the SET button on the adapter to set the sensor sensitivity.)
If you look up the code online, there are other specs available, but it is up to you if you trust the info provided. Be sure your relay’s input voltage is the same used for this circuit.
