Sump Pump

[X10joe]

It's raining again in Illinois. My latest project has been to monitor how often the sump pump runs. Usually it never runs except when we have excess rains like now. Currently at 46 minutes between runs and have seen it as low as every 5 minutes. When it's lower than 10 minutes I have an area in the basement that gets some seepage and this tells me when to move things from that area.

This is a screen shot of the iPhone page I created to monitor the sump pump runs.

Joe

[TeleFragger]

well that is cool you showing us this..

but how bout the "HOW" your doing it!!!!

I have the floats in my sump that are from ebay. connected to ds10a's.. they trip and put a tick in a .mdb (rmasonjr)... then i also have an event where if the sump stays running for say 10 seconds.. to go check it as it maybe stuck.. i have had it where the pump got clogged with a rock or something.. they keep these stupid rocks in the crock which I have long taken out.. but other things fall in there..

as you can see here
http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=130784

looking forward to a howto!!!!

[X10joe]

This is how I am capturing this activity

well that is cool you showing us this..

but how bout the "HOW" your doing it!!!!

I have the floats in my sump that are from ebay. connected to ds10a's.. they trip and put a tick in a .mdb (rmasonjr)... then i also have an event where if the sump stays running for say 10 seconds.. to go check it as it maybe stuck.. i have had it where the pump got clogged with a rock or something.. they keep these stupid rocks in the crock which I have long taken out.. but other things fall in there..

as you can see here
http://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=130784

looking forward to a howto!!!!

I use a CR magnetic s coil around the "hot" wire on the sump pump with is connected to a Power Flash module. When the float triggers the motor to run the PF module is activated. Have a script that runs when the PF module is on and a script that runs when it's off. The scripts writes to an excel sheet. I use an ini file to get the last line number then increment it for the new entry. ON and OFF are both logged. Also the script write values to a virtual device. With a little math and magic I write the data from the virtual devices to an ASP page for viewing. I have the time it ran and the time between runs.

Attached image is a capture of the data collected.

I'm not a hardcore coder and I'm sure the code could be tweaked but it's working and has been for several years. http://board.homeseer.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Here is my code for the OFF cycle:

sub main(sVal)
Dim fso,f1
Const OpenFileForReading = 1
Const OpenFileForWriting = 2
Const OpenFileForAppending = 8
Dim lineval
Dim timebetween
Dim actualmins
Dim calcmins
Dim mins
'lineval = 1

       Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
       Set file = fso.OpenTextFile("C:\Program Files\HomeSeer HS2\html\SumpPump\sumppumpstatus.ini", 1)

       'Read file contents
        lineval = file.ReadLine()

       'Close file
       file.Close

        '*****Update sumppumpstatus.ini*****

        Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    Set file = fso.OpenTextFile("C:\Program Files\HomeSeer HS2\html\SumpPump\sumppumpstatus.ini", 2,True)
        file.WriteLine  (lineval + 1)
    file.Close

        '*****use new line # from ini to write new data to SumpPumpStatus.xls****

        Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
        objExcel.Visible = False        
        Set objWorkbook = objExcel.Workbooks.Open("C:\Program Files\HomeSeer HS2\html\SumpPump\SumpPumpStatus1.xls")
        '''objExcel.Workbooks.Add
        objExcel.DisplayAlerts = False
        objExcel.Cells(lineval, 1).Value = "Sump Pump"
        objExcel.Cells(lineval, 2).Value = "OFF"
        objExcel.Cells(lineval, 3).Value = time()
        objExcel.Cells(lineval, 3).NumberFormat = "hh:mm:ss"
        objExcel.Cells(lineval, 4).Value = date()
        objExcel.Cells(lineval, 2).Interior.ColorIndex = 44
    '******calculate time between runs*********
       timebetween = objExcel.Cells(lineval, 3) - objExcel.Cells((lineval-2), 3)
       objExcel.Cells(lineval, 5).Value = timebetween
       objExcel.Cells(lineval, 5).NumberFormat = "@"
       actualmins = objExcel.Cells(lineval, 5)
       calcmins = actualmins * 60 * 24
       mins = Left(calcmins, 5)
      hs.setdevicestring "z13",mins,true
      objExcel.Cells(lineval, 6).Value = timebetween
      objExcel.Cells(lineval, 6).NumberFormat = "hh:mm:ss"

    '********continue******
        objExcel.Columns.AutoFit
        objExcel.Workbooks(1).Save 
        objExcel.Workbooks(1).SaveAs "C:\Program Files\HomeSeer HS2\html\SumpPump\SumpPumpStatus1.htm", 44
        objExcel.Workbooks.Close
          objExcel.Quit

end sub 

[kdlklm]

This is a very interesting project, it's something I would like to do with my septic tank pump, I've had my float switch fail and burnout a few pumps. I would really like to be able to monitor and log when they are often on. Would you happen to have a photo of the setup that you have. I would love to see it in action.

[Rupp]

Here's an image I took with the CRMagnet connected to my washing machine. It's the same concept and you only run one of the two wires through the magnet. I connected this to a powerflash X10 module so it reports when the wash is complete.

[kdlklm]

Is there an insteon equivalent to the powerflash module.

Also what model is that CRMagnet

[X10joe]

Is there an insteon equivalent to the powerflash module.

Also what model is that CRMagnet

No answer the insteon. I use the powerflash modules.

You can find the CR magnetics at Digi-Key. This is what I am using.

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksea...=0&pageSize=25

[kdlklm]

Does the CR3110 have a little LED on it. It appears from some of the pictures there's a little green LED, but I'm not sure.

[langenet]

No... it's a passive device.

[spknapp]

No answer the insteon. I use the powerflash modules.

You can find the CR magnetics at Digi-Key. This is what I am using.

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksea...=0&pageSize=25

BTW - don't worry if it says out of stock. I have ordered several of these from DigiKey, and it may take a little while to come in and ship to you, but they always show up.

FWIW

[kdlklm]

BTW - don't worry if it says out of stock. I have ordered several of these from DigiKey, and it may take a little while to come in and ship to you, but they always show up.

FWIW

I ordered it from Digikey and received it In less than 24 hours, and That's shipping it to Canada. I was very impressed, considering I live in the country as well. Now I just need to find an insteon alternative to the powerflash module.

I haven't had a lot of luck with X 10 in my house. But my insteon works excellent.

[ameridan]

I ordered 3 couplers from DigiKey yesterday. Now I just need to find the best price for the Powerflash devices. I also rewrote scripts to bypass Excel spreadsheets and simply use an ini file (my Hometroller doesn't have Excel anyways).

[langenet]

Hey Dan... I like the way you display that. Want to share your scripts?

Robert

[ameridan]

Sure...

This version could eventually result in a large ini file, although you can prune it manually. I can very easily add code to limit the retained data to the most recent 10 or 100 events though [credit for some of the z23 script goes to whoever wrote the Last10callers script that is included as an extra in snevlCID package].

INSTALL...
create 3 devices and copy the led files into the html folder, and the vb files into the script folder.

[langenet]

Thanks Dan!

I take it the devices are just status types on the status page???

Rob