Apex DOS DIY level switch?

[A_Blind_Reefer]

CuseReefer,
I know this is an old thread. I was not on r2r, but googled and this thread came up. I did this mod to both of my dos units. It works flawlessly. I just wanted to thank you for sharing this info. I only signed up to thank you, but I’ll look around here a bit out of curiosity.

 

[mal7887]

I ordered the boards and parts to do this MOD on my setup and it works great. Thanks again for sharing this and sharing the PCB files. Can't believe how cheap they are to get!

 

[puffy127]

FYI, based on information in this thread, I tested out the contactless liquid level sensors with the FMM and it works! Thanks to all those in this thread!

Optical Sensor Alternative for FMM - Contactless Liquid Level Sensor

I was looking into adding optical sensors to monitor my 2-part dosing container levels, but adding 2 OS-1Ms at $35 a pop wasn't appealing, especially since I just had to replace a OS-1 that died on me after just over 1 year of use. Ebay/amazon have identical looking optical sensors for much...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[puffy127]

I picked up the xkc-y25-npn sensors off of amazon. I did a quick test and they work pretty well. These are 4 wires but the "M" functionality is unknown make these effectively 3 wire. I suspect that "M" is sensitivity.
I'm still designing and printing out enclosures so I have not used them yet. Since I don't trust them I am going to mount 2 sensors for redundancy.
I decided to use 3.5mm audio jacks to make it easy to disconnect the sensor.
On the BoB board, I replaced the 390 resistors with a wire, should be a fuse. Theses sensors are open-drain and need a pullup so I installed the 6.8k resistors. I'm going to wire-OR the outputs from both sensors and use one switch input.

@AcanthurusRex, did you ever get these to work with the dos? I got them to work with a 3.5mm plug and the FMM, but couldn't get it to work with the dos. I can get the regular optical sensors to work with DOS, but not these.

 

[dewy]

Thanks for sharing this hack. Hopefully I won't let my dosing containers run dry again.

For some reason we have a bunch of these 6 pin connectors at work that we don't use so I made my own jumpers. Works like a champ.

 

[Cliff717]

Hi guys. Amazing what you guys are doing with these level sensors. I have a simpler problem I was hoping you can help me with. I have two ddr and the board on both of these pieces of crap have corrode to the point that she wires are falling off. I was going to just connect the wires with shrink tube butt connectors but I am unsure of which wires to connect. Can someone give me a wiring schematic?
thanks
Cliff

 

[dhof]

So, I read this entire thread, but I really only wanted the software DOS tracking that the DDR provides. I don't really care about the water level sensors, as I can just watch the dashboard items to monitor the actual levels. I have 4 DOS pumps for various things, and it's not practical to buy DDR for each one of them, just to get fluid monitoring. Although everything here is already mentioned at various points in this thread, I though I'd summarize how to make a DIY fluid monitoring connection for a DOS pump for those who don't want to read the entire thread.

1) I bought the following item from Amazon: Amazon product . If this link gets outdated, you can search amazon for the following part number: 245132-0605

2) upon cutting the wire in half, I used a continuity tester to verify that the green wire correlated to pin position #4, and the Orange wire correlated to PIN position 6 (as described earlier in this thread)

3) I soldered in a resister that is 150ohm, 1/4 watt, 5%. Here is the amazon link, but there are several various options: Amazon product

4) I then used electrical tape to seal the entire thing up nicely:

5) Then, you just plug the dongle in, and you get the Apex dashboard item for fluid monitoring, just as if you had a DDR connected.

Thanks to all the folks who figured this out earlier in this thread. The thread is really describing how to enable the optical sensors, but since all that I wanted was fluid monitoring, I thought I'd share how to do just that part cheaply and easily.....

 

[TheHarold]

So, I read this entire thread, but I really only wanted the software DOS tracking that the DDR provides. I don't really care about the water level sensors, as I can just watch the dashboard items to monitor the actual levels. I have 4 DOS pumps for various things, and it's not practical to buy DDR for each one of them, just to get fluid monitoring. Although everything here is already mentioned at various points in this thread, I though I'd summarize how to make a DIY fluid monitoring connection for a DOS pump for those who don't want to read the entire thread.

1) I bought the following item from Amazon: Amazon product . If this link gets outdated, you can search amazon for the following part number: 245132-0605

2) upon cutting the wire in half, I used a continuity tester to verify that the green wire correlated to pin position #4, and the Orange wire correlated to PIN position 6 (as described earlier in this thread)

3) I soldered in a resister that is 150ohm, 1/4 watt, 5%. Here is the amazon link, but there are several various options: Amazon product

4) I then used electrical tape to seal the entire thing up nicely:

5) Then, you just plug the dongle in, and you get the Apex dashboard item for fluid monitoring, just as if you had a DDR connected.

Thanks to all the folks who figured this out earlier in this thread. The thread is really describing how to enable the optical sensors, but since all that I wanted was fluid monitoring, I thought I'd share how to do just that part cheaply and easily.....

You are fancy! I just used a generic 1mm header, some heat shrink, and shoved it in LOL.

 

[Mirkus]

What does the resistor do?

 

[TheHarold]

What does the resistor do?

You don’t want to connect it directly to ground- you just need a little power to be flowing in order to mimic the DOS. Would probably damage something if you didn’t use a resistor.

 

[Mirkus]

You don’t want to connect it directly to ground- you just need a little power to be flowing in order to mimic the DOS. Would probably damage something if you didn’t use a resistor.

Got it. I was inpatient and just soldered wires together without resistor. It’s been setup for about a month.

 

[TheHarold]

Got it. I was inpatient and just soldered wires together without resistor. It’s been setup for about a month.

And it worked? Nice; didn’t expect that

 

[emvanburen]

I used a resistor too. Mines been working for about 2 years. Love them!

 

[homer1475]

No resistor needed, Just cut the wire, bug them together, wrap in shrink wrap/electrical tape, plug it in, and call it done.

MY DOS has had this plug in it for about a year now with 0 issues. While I do have float valves in my dosing containers hooked up to a BOB on an alert to notify me when they get low, and to shut off the doser when empty, I like the fluid monitoring the apex provides on the fusion dashboard. I often find now I notice the low level on the fusion dashboard before the float valve triggers the alarm.

 

[androidx1]

I purchased one of Cusereefs wonderful BOB boards a while back and i am just now getting my apex running......the boards work great but i wanted the flexibility to use the non-contact level sensors so i got my brother on it who is an electronics Eng.....and he figured out a relatively simple mod which included removing a couple of the resistors and shorti g those connections and then a simple wire harness to repin......of course the channels that this mod is done to cant run the optical sensor anymore but the mechanical sensor can still be used. If anyo e is interested email me and i will try and post the details......it does work.....i just tested it the other day

 

[androidx1]

By the way that is not my setup or my sensors...i just used tbat pic to show people what type of sensor i was talking about when i said non contact

 

[Raptor72]

Hi guys. Amazing what you guys are doing with these level sensors. I have a simpler problem I was hoping you can help me with. I have two ddr and the board on both of these pieces of crap have corrode to the point that she wires are falling off. I was going to just connect the wires with shrink tube butt connectors but I am unsure of which wires to connect. Can someone give me a wiring schematic?
thanks
Cliff

Did you ever get an answer to this? I bought a used one that wasn't in quite as bad shape. I put it back together but haven't plugged it in yet.

 

[androidx1]

OK someone sent me an email with interest on how to get the non contact sensors to work with the Cusereef BOB's.
Here is what you need to do:

1. see Below pic of the Cusereef BoB. It is modified for channel one only. The two resistors (R6, and R1) were removed, and a jumper was put in place of R1. Thats the only mod needed to the board.

2. See below Pic of the required noncontact sensor. They all look the same but have some differences electronically. You need to use (XKC-Y25-V).

3. You need to make a female to male wire harness like shown below (Male end plugs into Cusereef BOB. The pinout is as follows:
On the Sensor the wire colors in order left to right (see pic of sensor) are Brown,Yellow, Blue, Black.
The male end of the harness should have a pinout as follows: Yellow, Brown, Black, Blue

And that is all thats needed. Was a pretty simple Mod. I have tested and it works.....

 

[JeffB418]

If I ever get free time I could cut a new version that supports a mix of optical and non contact sensors. I still have the layout files somewhere. The org design is up on oshpark free to everyone as well if you didn’t know that.

OK someone sent me an email with interest on how to get the non contact sensors to work with the Cusereef BOB's.
Here is what you need to do:

1. see Below pic of the Cusereef BoB. It is modified for channel one only. The two resistors (R6, and R1) were removed, and a jumper was put in place of R1. Thats the only mod needed to the board.

2. See below Pic of the required noncontact sensor. They all look the same but have some differences electronically. You need to use (XKC-Y25-V).

3. You need to make a female to male wire harness like shown below (Male end plugs into Cusereef BOB. The pinout is as follows:
On the Sensor the wire colors in order left to right (see pic of sensor) are Brown,Yellow, Blue, Black.
The male end of the harness should have a pinout as follows: Yellow, Brown, Black, Blue

And that is all thats needed. Was a pretty simple Mod. I have tested and it works.....

 

[androidx1]

Thanks Jeff!!! Im guessing there would definitely be some interest with the non contact switches. I like to have a couple different backup level sensors. My ATO has a mechanical and a optical as a backup. so i can add an external non contact as my final emergency backup. I like the idea because its out of the water. My brother has been using these types of sensors for a DIY water changing system for about a year now, and they have been working very well.......