Has anyone run across a z-wave micro float switch

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  • Last Post 23 June 2015
JDFtwrth posted this 31 March 2015

Hi,

Has anyone run across a z-wave micro float switch?

I would like to have the float switch trigger an event to turn a power outlet on when the float switch is activated and off when the float switch is deactivated.

I would appreciate anything that anyone has to say on this matter.

Thanks,

Jd

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Ryan-Scott posted this 31 March 2015

Hi,

Has anyone run across a z-wave micro float switch?

I would like to have the float switch trigger an event to turn a power outlet on when the float switch is activated and off when the float switch is deactivated.

I would appreciate anything that anyone has to say on this matter.

Thanks,

Jd


What's the application you are interested in automating?

JDFtwrth posted this 31 March 2015

Ryan,

I prototyping automating my hybrid hydroponics system.

What I am after right now is a way to:

step 1. detect when the water level in the individual containers drops below a specific level.
step 2. upon detecting a low water condition power on an outlet which will start a pump to add water to the
container
step 3. when the water level in the container rises to the point that the float switch state changes power off
the outlet that was powered on in step 2.

An enhancement to step 3. would be to turn the power outlet off (that was turned on in step 2) when the float switch state changed OR an specified number of minutes had elapsed (in case the float switch failed)and if the elapsed time trigger was true to send an email alerting that float switch xxx failed to change state within a specific elapsed time.

Thanks,

JD

Ryan-Scott posted this 31 March 2015

You might could use the Fibaro Flood Sensor. It has two types of water detection:

1) The sensor has a tilt sensor, so if it's on water and there is movement, it'll trigger an alert
2) The sensor has an optional wired piece that you can place at a given level in your container and be alerted when water reaches that point.

Neither option gives you a precise measurement unless you used a series of the sensors with option #2 and placed each of the wired nodes at different levels.

JDFtwrth posted this 01 April 2015

Ryan,

That determinately has some possibilities for the future.

What about a simple float switch that has nc/no capacities? Is there a z-wave device that I could hook this kind of float switch up to?

Thanks,

JD

Yokel posted this 24 April 2015

I wouldn't recommend using Zwave devices when dealing with aquatics or plants. Zwave commands can fail. Use a regular float valve or timer for your hydro. What sort of hybrid system is it?

If you really want to do it with zwave. You could do what i did with my doorbell. I attached a couple of rare earth magnets to the plunger of the doorbell. Above it is an aeonlabs door/window sensor. When the doorbell is pushed the plunger pulls back breaking the magnetic field & thus triggering an open command. the same could be one in your scenario by attaching the magnets to a float. Just be careful to keep the sensor dry.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxvymeixgobndey/doorbell.jpg?raw=0

DarkStar posted this 22 June 2015

It would be handy to know when one of my aquariums needs water. Can the state of the various zwave flood detectors be inverted to trigger when the sensor gets wet instead of dry?

J.

rscott posted this 22 June 2015

It would be handy to know when one of my aquariums needs water. Can the state of the various zwave flood detectors be inverted to trigger when the sensor gets wet instead of dry?

J.


They trigger and change to a value of 255 when wet; when dry, they change to a value of 0. You could build a trigger off the value of 0 and do something with it... ie., send a text message, etc.

I'm not sure if there's a way to invert it. I haven't personally looked for this, but you might be able to find that information in the pepper1 zwave library.

DarkStar posted this 23 June 2015

DERP!... =)

I should have thought that one over before asking.

"Gettin' old ain't for sissies!" - Bette Davis

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