JacobSpringsFarm:Managewater

The old system failed for a multitude of reasons.

1. The sensor connection on the water tank was broken as it was strung through the feed-through (the hole was too small for the RS9 connector, so the connector was jammed through, but it broke some of the connections). 2. The water tank sensor ran out of batteries. Something was wrong with the solar-battery charging setup. 3. The code on the pump controller may or may not have had a fail-safe for hearing from the water tanks (will need to check). 4. We were using the wrong type of controller for the power control of the pump. We were using a 10A relay, when in fact we need a 2 hp contactor. To use a relay, it should be rated for 50A of resistive load. Anything less, and you risk fusing the relay in the 'open' position, leaving the pump on. This happens because of the large influx of current during the pump startup, which overheats the relay. This may have happened to the relay that was out there.

I found this out by <a href="http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/196976/relay-ratings-at-120v-and-240v-can-i-use-a-20a-240v-relay-with-a-13a-120v-pump">asking the internet</a>.

The new system uses Particle Photon WIFI devices, but we still need a contactor to switch on and off the pump. The code for the water tanks and pump control is tested and works, although the battery on the tank sensors seems to be dropping:

so I upped the sleep time from 10 mins to 20 mins, and we'll see how it does.

Here's a contactor for $25: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/272008316055?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82

A new 50A SSR is about $50: http://www.newark.com/crydom/cwu2450p-10/ssr-panel-24-280vac-50a-screw/dp/72W3889.

Here's a live view of some of the data:

<iframe width="450" height="260" style="border: 1px solid #cccccc;" src="http://api.thingspeak.com/channels/62130/charts/5?width=450&height=260&results=1000&dynamic=true" ></iframe>

And the thingspeak channel with the data: https://thingspeak.com/channels/62130