Current sensor problem
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The basement of a house in a high water location is kept dry by a regular water
pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep well and I am trying to
come up with a convenient monitoring system which should measure how often that
drainage pump starts up every day/every hour/every week??
I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need to sense when
the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that pump in its rather
inaccessible location. My signal should be independent of the current drawn,
something like the voltage drop of a diode without the side effect of only
letting half the wave get to the pump.
I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a good idea.
And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump ran and when.
Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and send to a desktop on
demand.
To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
Uwe
pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep well and I am trying to
come up with a convenient monitoring system which should measure how often that
drainage pump starts up every day/every hour/every week??
I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need to sense when
the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that pump in its rather
inaccessible location. My signal should be independent of the current drawn,
something like the voltage drop of a diode without the side effect of only
letting half the wave get to the pump.
I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a good idea.
And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump ran and when.
Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and send to a desktop on
demand.
To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
Uwe
Comments
around the wire of a conductor. Very easy to use. Digikey sells them.
Jason
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "othello159" <othello159@h...>
wrote:
> The basement of a house in a high water location is kept dry by a
regular water pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep
well and I am trying to come up with a convenient monitoring system
which should measure how often that drainage pump starts up every
day/every hour/every week??
>
> I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need to
sense when the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that
pump in its rather inaccessible location. My signal should be
independent of the current drawn, something like the voltage drop of
a diode without the side effect of only letting half the wave get to
the pump.
>
> I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a
good idea.
>
> And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump ran
and when. Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and
send to a desktop on demand.
>
> To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
>
> Uwe
chip from www.maxim-ic.com, and a 32 Khz
'crystal'. Also, a 26L640 8Kx8 8-pin eeprom.
And a 9-volt battery, or a 9-volt DC
adapter.
These are VERY easy to interface (see Files
area under 1302).
The current sensor has been mentioned in
other posts.
You can 'sleep' the stamp, having it wake
every 2.4 seconds and sample the line, then
'sleep' again. If the line is active,
read the 1302 chip to find the time
(down to the second), log the start, and
'sleep' again. Keep doing this to log the
stop time also.
Store the results to the 8K EEPROM.
Also monitor the serial port, so you can
connect your MAC to it and download the
information.
All very practical with the Stamp.
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "othello159" <othello159@h...>
wrote:
> The basement of a house in a high water location is kept dry by a
regular water pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep
well and I am trying to come up with a convenient monitoring system
which should measure how often that drainage pump starts up every
day/every hour/every week??
>
> I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need to
sense when the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that
pump in its rather inaccessible location. My signal should be
independent of the current drawn, something like the voltage drop of
a diode without the side effect of only letting half the wave get to
the pump.
>
> I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a
good idea.
>
> And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump ran
and when. Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and
send to a desktop on demand.
>
> To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
>
> Uwe
nightlight across it. Then detect it using a CDS photocell. Voila! a
stone-age optoisolator! You may want to put it in a box of some kind so
that turning on the basement light doesn't trigger it.
--Stu
Original Message
From: "othello159" <othello159@h...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:39 PM
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Current sensor problem
> The basement of a house in a high water location is kept dry by a regular
water pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep well and I am
trying to come up with a convenient monitoring system which should measure
how often that drainage pump starts up every day/every hour/every week??
>
> I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need to sense
when the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that pump in its
rather inaccessible location. My signal should be independent of the current
drawn, something like the voltage drop of a diode without the side effect of
only letting half the wave get to the pump.
>
> I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a good
idea.
>
> And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump ran and
when. Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and send to a
desktop on demand.
>
> To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
>
> Uwe
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
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>
>
>
>
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Stu Wrenn" <swrenn@z...> wrote:
> Assuming it's a 115VAC motor, connect a small light bulb such as a
4w
> nightlight across it. Then detect it using a CDS photocell. Voila!
a
> stone-age optoisolator! You may want to put it in a box of some
kind so
> that turning on the basement light doesn't trigger it.
> --Stu
>
>
Original Message
> From: "othello159" <othello159@h...>
> To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:39 PM
> Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Current sensor problem
>
>
> > The basement of a house in a high water location is kept dry by
a regular
> water pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep well
and I am
> trying to come up with a convenient monitoring system which should
measure
> how often that drainage pump starts up every day/every hour/every
week??
> >
> > I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need
to sense
> when the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that pump
in its
> rather inaccessible location. My signal should be independent of
the current
> drawn, something like the voltage drop of a diode without the side
effect of
> only letting half the wave get to the pump.
> >
> > I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a
good
> idea.
> >
> > And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump
ran and
> when. Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and
send to a
> desktop on demand.
> >
> > To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
> >
> > Uwe
> >
> >
> > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> > from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the
Subject and
> Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >
> >
The location of the pump makes any attaqchments down there quite impractical.
Also pulling any additional wires would be a drag.
I like Allens info, even though it will take me a moment to digest it, I am not
that firm on all this new technology. In particular I have no idea how I would
interface with my iMac. One does not often see Macs in these applications,
everything is PC and Allen deals with this problem in one sentence. Maybe there
is something written up on this topic so I could read up on it.
Before I can set up Allens fancy version of a sump pump monitor I will go with a
quick and dirty solution once I lay my hands on a current sensing transformer,
somewhat along the stone age approach somebody here suggested.
The recitified signal from the current sensing transformer will be use to power
a regular wall clock with its 1.5 V battery removed. This will not give me all
the info I could possibly want, but it will give me the accumulated time the
pump has been on, which I will jot down daily on a piece of paper.
I think that will prove to be quite useful and interesting for the beginning.
Uwe
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Allan Lane" <allan.lane@h...> wrote:
> Yes, a Stamp along with an 8-bin DS1302 RTC
> chip from www.maxim-ic.com, and a 32 Khz
> 'crystal'. Also, a 26L640 8Kx8 8-pin eeprom.
> And a 9-volt battery, or a 9-volt DC
> adapter.
>
> These are VERY easy to interface (see Files
> area under 1302).
>
> The current sensor has been mentioned in
> other posts.
>
> You can 'sleep' the stamp, having it wake
> every 2.4 seconds and sample the line, then
> 'sleep' again. If the line is active,
> read the 1302 chip to find the time
> (down to the second), log the start, and
> 'sleep' again. Keep doing this to log the
> stop time also.
>
> Store the results to the 8K EEPROM.
> Also monitor the serial port, so you can
> connect your MAC to it and download the
> information.
>
> All very practical with the Stamp.
>
>
> --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "othello159" <othello159@h...>
> wrote:
> > The basement of a house in a high water location is kept dry by a
> regular water pump with float switch. The pump is located in a deep
> well and I am trying to come up with a convenient monitoring system
> which should measure how often that drainage pump starts up every
> day/every hour/every week??
> >
> > I need to measure time over days and weeks and month and I need to
> sense when the pump switches on by sensing the current going to that
> pump in its rather inaccessible location. My signal should be
> independent of the current drawn, something like the voltage drop of
> a diode without the side effect of only letting half the wave get to
> the pump.
> >
> > I am mostly baffled by this current sensor, I have not yet had a
> good idea.
> >
> > And of course the inface to show to the world how long the pump ran
> and when. Maybe the signal could be temporarily stored in EEprom and
> send to a desktop on demand.
> >
> > To the USB port of an iMAc?? Is that possible with a stamp?
> >
> > Uwe
indicator model CR2550. Very cheap (about $10US), and it turns on at .75A
which should cover all but the wimpiest of pumps. Use a phototransistor and
a piece of shrink tubing to make a post-stone age, pre-Renaissance
optoisolator to get an output for the Stamp. This method does require having
access to the AC wiring, but it can be anywhere along the circuit (provided
there are no other loads downstream that might give false readings),
preferrably right at the receptacle the pump plugs into. Here's the link:
http://www.crmagnetics.com/newprod/ProductView.asp?ProdName=CR2550
Good Luck!
Tom
<Date: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 02:06:59 -0000
< From: "othello159" <othello159@h...>
<Subject: Re: Current sensor problem
<
<Thanks for all these suggestions.
<The location of the pump makes any attaqchments down there quite
impractical.
<Also pulling any additional wires would be a drag.
<
<I like Allens info, even though it will take me a moment to digest it, I am
not
<that firm on all this new technology. In particular I have no idea how I
would
<interface with my iMac. One does not often see Macs in these applications,
<everything is PC and Allen deals with this problem in one sentence. Maybe
there
<is something written up on this topic so I could read up on it.
<
<Before I can set up Allens fancy version of a sump pump monitor I will go
with a
<quick and dirty solution once I lay my hands on a current sensing
transformer,
<somewhat along the stone age approach somebody here suggested.
<The recitified signal from the current sensing transformer will be use to
power
<a regular wall clock with its 1.5 V battery removed. This will not give me
all
<the info I could possibly want, but it will give me the accumulated time
the
<pump has been on, which I will jot down daily on a piece of paper.
<I think that will prove to be quite useful and interesting for the
beginning.
<
<Uwe
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> I'm doing the same thing with my sump pump, using a CR Magnetics
current
> indicator model CR2550. Very cheap (about $10US), and it turns on
at .75A
> which should cover all but the wimpiest of pumps. Use a
phototransistor and
> a piece of shrink tubing to make a post-stone age, pre-Renaissance
> optoisolator to get an output for the Stamp. This method does
require having
> access to the AC wiring, but it can be anywhere along the circuit
(provided
> there are no other loads downstream that might give false
readings),
> preferrably right at the receptacle the pump plugs into. Here's the
link:
>
>
> http://www.crmagnetics.com/newprod/ProductView.asp?ProdName=CR2550
>
> Good Luck!
> Tom
Ah, and the output is current based so you can make your own
extention cord and slip this over the hot wire and then use it for
most any appliance.
also, for those low-low-low power things, you can loop the wire in
the CT, each time thry adds a full scale reading. Remember, this is
the basis of a transformer.
Dave