Saturday, June 03, 2006

It's Not a Bomb...

It's not a bomb, but don't try to take it on an aeroplane. It's more like an "Improvised Pumping Device." This mess is the inside of the control system for the uphill pump. Until now I've had to manually plug in the water pump that pumps water from the 300 gallon holding tank to the 3000 gallon storage tanks. With this system the pump will wait until the holding tank is full, automatically pump, then stop until the tank refills.



The logic for this system is fiendishly simple, and involves no transistors. Nonetheless,
it was easier to buy the Levelite controller than run around getting all the relays and
associated parts. I don't live near a Fry's anymore.


There are two main advantages to this design. First, the pump doesn't start and stop pumping small amounts of water, but waits untill the tank is full. Second, the sensors operate at 12 volts DC, which is a lot safer and easier than running 120 volt outside and immersing it in water.



Front panel includes a power switch, mode setting, manual cycle start and operating instructions.