Just wondering if anybody has automated there water softener sistem and what are the advantages if any?
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Originally posted by Rupp View PostWhat part do you want to automate? I've seen reports where users automated the salt level monitoring but I'm not sure how much more there is to automated.Hector
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Win.2003 OS, HS3
BLDSC,BLstat,BLRadar,BLRamdom,BLOccupied
BLups,BLrain8,HSTouch,Ultrajones Weatherbug,
MyTrigger,ACRF2,W800,Zwave
AP800,Honeywell Stat
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I just added an ultrasonic sensor to the lid of my water softener a couple of weeks ago that tells me when the salt level gets low. So far it's working well.HS Pro 3.0 | Linux Ubuntu 16.04 x64 virtualized under Proxmox (KVM)
Hardware: Z-NET - W800 Serial - Digi PortServer TS/8 and TS/16 serial to Ethernet - Insteon PLM - RFXCOM - X10 Wireless
Plugins: HSTouch iOS and Android, RFXCOM, BlueIris, BLLock, BLDSC, BLRF, Insteon PLM (MNSandler), Device History, Ecobee, BLRing, Kodi, UltraWeatherWU3
Second home: Zee S2 with Z-Wave, CT101 Z-Wave Thermostat, Aeotec Z-Wave microswitches, HSM200 occupancy sensor, Ecolink Z-Wave door sensors, STI Driveway Monitor interfaced to Zee S2 GPIO pins.
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Originally posted by reidfo View PostI just added an ultrasonic sensor to the lid of my water softener a couple of weeks ago that tells me when the salt level gets low. So far it's working well.Hector
____________________________________
Win.2003 OS, HS3
BLDSC,BLstat,BLRadar,BLRamdom,BLOccupied
BLups,BLrain8,HSTouch,Ultrajones Weatherbug,
MyTrigger,ACRF2,W800,Zwave
AP800,Honeywell Stat
Comment
-
Originally posted by reidfo View PostI just added an ultrasonic sensor to the lid of my water softener a couple of weeks ago that tells me when the salt level gets low. So far it's working well.
Is there a writeup someplace for the hardware and HS interface you are using for the ultrasonic salt level sensor and HS device?
I found a post on cocoontech from around 2006 that described an ultrasonic sensor and example code for HS 1.7.
I imagine this is a lot easier than that now. I'd be really interested in hearing about your setup._______________________________________________
HS3 : HSpro (3.0.0.460) on Win2012 (vm on ESXi)
Plugins: HSTouch, UPBSpud, Kinect, Nest, IFTTT, DirecTV, EasyTrigger, Imperihome, Zwave, RFXcom, UltraMon3, UltraWeatherBug3, UltraGCIR3, UltraLog3, UltraPioneer, PHLocation, Pushover, Pushalot, MCSSPrinklers S, JowiHue
Jon00 Plugins: Bluetooth Proximity, Performance Monitor, DB Chart, Links
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Hey guys, sorry I missed your replies. I'm using the same sensor that was described in the Cocoontech post, with my own scripts. Overall it's working well, though I haven't been through a complete full to empty cycle yet. It started out reporting 80% (which by my eye was about right), and it's been toggling between 70 and 73% for about a month now. I haven't opened it up to look lately, but from past experience it seems somewhat close. I am not looking for great accuracy here, but rather an indication that it's time to buy more salt. When the level reaches I think 25% it sends me an email to remind me to buy salt and refill.
Here's what I bought on Amazon:
MB1010 LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 Range Finder
Sold by MaxBotix Inc., (MaxBotix Inc)
$24.95
It has serial output, so I just ran a Cat5 cable outside to my water softener and wrote some custom scripts to monitor it, triggered by an event. I coated the entire board except for the sensor itself in hot glue to protect it was moist salty air. I also wired the sensor to a female RJ45 jack inside the lid so that I could easily remove it (and possibly replace it) as needed. The sensor needs power too, so I ran 5V DC on one of the Cat5 pairs from a power brick located inside by the HomeSeer system.
This is the main script called periodically from an event.
Code:Sub Main(parm as object) dim e as string e=hs.OpenComPortex(7,"9600,n,8,1",1,"sonic2.vb","sonic", chr(13), 1) if e<> "" then hs.WriteLog("Error","Error opening COM7 (Sonic Sensor): " & e) End Sub
Code:sub sonic(data) dim sdigits as string dim full as integer = 2 dim empty as integer = 32 dim percent as integer dim relative as integer if left(data,1) = "R" and len(data) = 4 then sDigits = mid(data,2) if isNumeric(sDigits) then hs.WriteLog("Salt Level","Water softener reservoir depth = " & cstr(cint(sdigits)) & " inches") relative = empty - cint(sDigits) - full percent = (relative / (empty-full)) * 100 hs.setdevicestring ("z10", cstr(percent) & "%") hs.setdevicevalue ("z10", clng(percent)) hs.WriteLog("Salt Level","Water softener salt level = " & cstr(percent) & "%") end if end if hs.closecomport(7) end sub
http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/4...ater-softener/HS Pro 3.0 | Linux Ubuntu 16.04 x64 virtualized under Proxmox (KVM)
Hardware: Z-NET - W800 Serial - Digi PortServer TS/8 and TS/16 serial to Ethernet - Insteon PLM - RFXCOM - X10 Wireless
Plugins: HSTouch iOS and Android, RFXCOM, BlueIris, BLLock, BLDSC, BLRF, Insteon PLM (MNSandler), Device History, Ecobee, BLRing, Kodi, UltraWeatherWU3
Second home: Zee S2 with Z-Wave, CT101 Z-Wave Thermostat, Aeotec Z-Wave microswitches, HSM200 occupancy sensor, Ecolink Z-Wave door sensors, STI Driveway Monitor interfaced to Zee S2 GPIO pins.
Comment
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Automating water softener?
Originally posted by reidfo View PostHey guys, sorry I missed your replies. I'm using the same sensor that was described in the Cocoontech post, with my own scripts. Overall it's working well, though I haven't been through a complete full to empty cycle yet. It started out reporting 80% (which by my eye was about right), and it's been toggling between 70 and 73% for about a month now. I haven't opened it up to look lately, but from past experience it seems somewhat close. I am not looking for great accuracy here, but rather an indication that it's time to buy more salt. When the level reaches I think 25% it sends me an email to remind me to buy salt and refill.
Here's what I bought on Amazon:
MB1010 LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 Range Finder
Sold by MaxBotix Inc., (MaxBotix Inc)
$24.95
It has serial output, so I just ran a Cat5 cable outside to my water softener and wrote some custom scripts to monitor it, triggered by an event. I coated the entire board except for the sensor itself in hot glue to protect it was moist salty air. I also wired the sensor to a female RJ45 jack inside the lid so that I could easily remove it (and possibly replace it) as needed. The sensor needs power too, so I ran 5V DC on one of the Cat5 pairs from a power brick located inside by the HomeSeer system.
This is the main script called periodically from an event.
Code:Sub Main(parm as object) dim e as string e=hs.OpenComPortex(7,"9600,n,8,1",1,"sonic2.vb","sonic", chr(13), 1) if e<> "" then hs.WriteLog("Error","Error opening COM7 (Sonic Sensor): " & e) End Sub
Code:sub sonic(data) dim sdigits as string dim full as integer = 2 dim empty as integer = 32 dim percent as integer dim relative as integer if left(data,1) = "R" and len(data) = 4 then sDigits = mid(data,2) if isNumeric(sDigits) then hs.WriteLog("Salt Level","Water softener reservoir depth = " & cstr(cint(sdigits)) & " inches") relative = empty - cint(sDigits) - full percent = (relative / (empty-full)) * 100 hs.setdevicestring ("z10", cstr(percent) & "%") hs.setdevicevalue ("z10", clng(percent)) hs.WriteLog("Salt Level","Water softener salt level = " & cstr(percent) & "%") end if end if hs.closecomport(7) end sub
http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/4...ater-softener/
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Thanks for the nice write-up. I'm assuming you run your script once a day or so? Can't imagine salt levels will change that rapidly.
Originally posted by reidfo View PostHey guys, sorry I missed your replies. I'm using the same sensor that was described in the Cocoontech post, with my own scripts. Overall it's working well, though I haven't been through a complete full to empty cycle yet. It started out reporting 80% (which by my eye was about right), and it's been toggling between 70 and 73% for about a month now. I haven't opened it up to look lately, but from past experience it seems somewhat close. I am not looking for great accuracy here, but rather an indication that it's time to buy more salt. When the level reaches I think 25% it sends me an email to remind me to buy salt and refill.
Here's what I bought on Amazon:
MB1010 LV-MaxSonar-EZ1 Range Finder
Sold by MaxBotix Inc., (MaxBotix Inc)
$24.95
It has serial output, so I just ran a Cat5 cable outside to my water softener and wrote some custom scripts to monitor it, triggered by an event. I coated the entire board except for the sensor itself in hot glue to protect it was moist salty air. I also wired the sensor to a female RJ45 jack inside the lid so that I could easily remove it (and possibly replace it) as needed. The sensor needs power too, so I ran 5V DC on one of the Cat5 pairs from a power brick located inside by the HomeSeer system.
This is the main script called periodically from an event.
Code:Sub Main(parm as object) dim e as string e=hs.OpenComPortex(7,"9600,n,8,1",1,"sonic2.vb","sonic", chr(13), 1) if e<> "" then hs.WriteLog("Error","Error opening COM7 (Sonic Sensor): " & e) End Sub
Code:sub sonic(data) dim sdigits as string dim full as integer = 2 dim empty as integer = 32 dim percent as integer dim relative as integer if left(data,1) = "R" and len(data) = 4 then sDigits = mid(data,2) if isNumeric(sDigits) then hs.WriteLog("Salt Level","Water softener reservoir depth = " & cstr(cint(sdigits)) & " inches") relative = empty - cint(sDigits) - full percent = (relative / (empty-full)) * 100 hs.setdevicestring ("z10", cstr(percent) & "%") hs.setdevicevalue ("z10", clng(percent)) hs.WriteLog("Salt Level","Water softener salt level = " & cstr(percent) & "%") end if end if hs.closecomport(7) end sub
http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/4...ater-softener/_______________________________________________
HS3 : HSpro (3.0.0.460) on Win2012 (vm on ESXi)
Plugins: HSTouch, UPBSpud, Kinect, Nest, IFTTT, DirecTV, EasyTrigger, Imperihome, Zwave, RFXcom, UltraMon3, UltraWeatherBug3, UltraGCIR3, UltraLog3, UltraPioneer, PHLocation, Pushover, Pushalot, MCSSPrinklers S, JowiHue
Jon00 Plugins: Bluetooth Proximity, Performance Monitor, DB Chart, Links
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I am using Whirlpool Water Softener and it eliminates mineral stains. My water softener came with a simple to program electronics.
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