• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Homemade Circuit Projects

Get free circuit help 24/7

Circuits for Beginners | Basic Circuits | LED Driver | Hobby Circuits | Transistor Circuits

New-Projects | Privacy Policy | About us | Contact | Disclaimer | Copyright

Home » Timer and Delay Relay » Customized Water Flow Controller with Timer Circuit

Customized Water Flow Controller with Timer Circuit

Last Updated on January 27, 2019 by Swagatam 10 Comments

The article discusses a customized water flow controller circuit with timer.he idea was requested by Mr. Daljeet Singh Sokhey.

Technical Specifications

Right now I am working on a different project and would like your help. There are 2 inputs and both must remain high for a period of 30 seconds for the one single output to go high (AND switch)

If either one fails, the timer should also stop and reset and then start again when both inputs are high again.This is basically to check for the availability of water flowing thru a pipe.

I am using a solenoid valve to control the switching on and off of the water and a flow switch to confirm that the water is flowing.

This switch AND the solenoid must remain continuously on for 30 seconds to confirm that the water is flowing properly. And if this condition is satisfied it should give a high output that can be used to trigger other operations.

You can name it whatever you like, something like Water Flow Confirmation Circuit or anything.The timer will keep only the solenoid ON.

The flow switch turning ON is dependent on the solenoid allowing the water to flow successfully.

That will result in the voltage going high from the flow switch. and this high voltage from flow switch must be sustained for as long as the solenoid is ON(30 seconds). if during that time period, the voltage from the flow switch drops to LOW, the timer should reset which would switch off the solenoid.

Maybe we can add here another timer circuit which will make it retry after, say, 3 minutes or so (adjustable).

And once the solenoid and the flow switch have remained on for 30 seconds, it should give a high output which can be coupled to a relay to switch on some other circuit.

The solenoid needs to be switched off afer 30 seconds. Solenoid and the switch are both 12 V dc

The Design

In the proposed water flow controller circuit, the IC 555 is configured as the 30 second timer through its monostable mode.

When power is switched ON, the 0.1uF capacitor at pin#2 of the IC provides a momentary logic zero to this pin triggering the IC output high, the IC starts counting as soon as this takes place.

The above high delivered at pin#3 of the IC actuates the transistor and the connected solenoid.

The solenoid opens the gate for the water to flow, which is detected by the flow switch and its switch ON too.

The above operations presumably happen too quickly and a relatively simultaneous positive triggers from the two devices reach the bases of the two NPN transistors which are arranged to form a "NAND" gate.

With both the transistors switched ON, we have a zero logic across the collector of the upper transistor, indicating the correct state of the circuit and both the devices functioning correctly.

In the meantime the IC counts for 30 seconds, after which its pin#3 reverts to a low switching OFF both the devices which obviously renders a high across the shown OUT terminal of the circuit providing the intended "30 second lapsed" signal to the following stage in the system.

In case any of the devices malfunction, the respective NAND transistor is deprived of its base trigger triggering a high at the output.

Under the above condition the upper transistor at the extreme left receives a base trigger from the OUT terminal of the circuit and it switches ON, however since the IC 555 is sill counting with its pin#3 high allows the voltage from pin#3 to pass via this transistor to the base of the lower transistor which after a certain delay resets and restarts the 555 IC operations by grounding its pin#2.

The operation then repeats.

The delay can be altered by tweaking the value of the 10uF capacitor.

Circuit Diagram

As per the corrective suggestions the above circuit is modified as shown below, please refer to the comments for the details:

You'll also like:

  • 1.  Timer Controlled Exhaust Fan Circuit
  • 2.  How to Make an Industrial Delay Timer Circuit
  • 3.  Simple Triac Timer Circuit
  • 4.  Timer Controlled Fitness Gym Application Circuit
  • 5.  Digital Clock Activated Water Level Controller Circuit
  • 6.  Simple Adjustable Industrial Timer Circuit

About Swagatam

I am an electronic engineer (dipIETE ), hobbyist, inventor, schematic/PCB designer, manufacturer. I am also the founder of the website: https://www.homemade-circuits.com/, where I love sharing my innovative circuit ideas and tutorials.
If you have any circuit related query, you may interact through comments, I'll be most happy to help!

Subscribe2


 

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Your Comments are too Valuable! But please see that they are related to the above article, and are not off-topic! Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. Daljeet Singh Sokhey says

    Hi Swagatam, Thanks for this post. A couple of concerns.
    1.The lower BC 547 Tr on the right hand side needs to be connected to the Emitter of TIP 122 before a 10K resistor. This will turn on the transistor when the current flows thru the coil of the solenoid.There is no electrical connection between the solenoid and the flow switch as indicated by the arrow in the drawing.
    2. The output cannot go high if any of the two malfunction. Basically there can be only one scenario and that is that the flow switch does not detect the flow of water and remains open after the solenoid has been switched on. In any other case, if the solenoid does not operate, the flow switch will NOT operate. However as per your description, if any of them fails, the output will go high. That would defeat the purpose of the whole circuit. This high output is going to trigger another circuit which it should not if the flow switch remains off OR goes off during the 30 second time period.
    Let me know what you think of that.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Swagatam says

      Hi Daljeet,

      Simply put, the output should go high only after the 30 seconds time has lapsed and the flow switch has functioned as expected from it during this period of time…..for any other malfunction may it be the solenoid not operating and/or the flow switch malfunctioning will result in a zero voltage at the output.

      The circuit will consider the flow switch output malfunction and will keep resetting the IC until the flow switch becomes operative.

      Please confirm the above then I'll do the required corrections.

      Reply
  2. Daljeet Singh Sokhey says

    Hi Swagatam, Sorry for replying so late. In fact I did not get the email notifying me of your reply. But anyway, Yes what you have stated above is correct. The output should go high only and only if the flow switch has detected the flow of water for 30 seconds. Otherwise it should keep resetting with zero voltage at output. I am also trying to figure a way out and I will post it to you as well but lets hear from you first.

    Reply
    • Swagatam says

      OK I'll try to modify the diagram accordingly and post it soon.

      Reply
  3. Daljeet Singh Sokhey says

    Thanks, now waiting for the description of the circuit

    Reply
    • Swagatam says

      will try to update it soon.

      Reply
  4. Daljeet Singh Sokhey says

    Hi Swagatam, I need to know if ic 4040 can be cascaded. The first one will get the clock frequency from the ac line (60 Hz) and convert it into 1 pulse per minute (1 ppm) thru AND gate ic. This same pulse will be used to reset it. Can this same pulse be used to clock another 4040 to produce 1ppday and that connected to another one to produce 1pp7days. Is it feasible

    Reply
    • Swagatam says

      Hi Daljeet, yes 4040 ICs can be cascaded for getting very long delays, but i did not understand the role of the AND gate.

      Reply
    • Daljeet Singh Sokhey says

      The AND gate is used since I am using the first 4040 to divide the 60Hz signal by 3600 to get 1ppm. so at the count of 3600 its outputs5,10,11,12 will be high and by ANDing them together, I will get one pulse. This is the one that will be used to clock the next 4040 and also to reset the first one. and so forth for the next 4040. I was trying to upload the schematic on imageshack.com but I think you cant upload a pdf file there. Is there any other way I could email you the schematic to check it out. Thanks

      Reply
    • Swagatam says

      OK understood,
      You can send it to my email
      hitman2008@live.in

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • 3-Phase Power (15)
  • 324 IC Circuits (19)
  • 4017 IC Circuits (53)
  • 4060 IC Circuits (25)
  • 555 IC Circuits (98)
  • 741 IC Circuits (19)
  • Amplifiers (58)
  • Arduino Engineering Projects (82)
  • Audio Projects (94)
  • Battery Chargers (82)
  • Car and Motorcycle (94)
  • Datasheets (46)
  • Decorative Lighting (Diwali, Christmas) (33)
  • DIY LED Projects (89)
  • Electronic Components (97)
  • Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory (35)
  • Electronics Tutorial (109)
  • Fish Aquarium (5)
  • Free Energy (35)
  • Fun Projects (11)
  • GSM Projects (9)
  • Health Related (18)
  • Heater Controllers (28)
  • Home Electrical Circuits (101)
  • How to Articles (20)
  • Incubator Related (6)
  • Industrial Electronics (28)
  • Infrared (IR) (40)
  • Inverter Circuits (98)
  • Laser Projects (12)
  • LM317/LM338 (21)
  • LM3915 IC (25)
  • Meters and Testers (63)
  • Mini Projects (171)
  • Motor Controller (66)
  • MPPT (7)
  • Oscillator Circuits (24)
  • PIR (Passive Infrared) (8)
  • Power Electronics (33)
  • Power Supply Circuits (74)
  • Radio Circuits (9)
  • Remote Control (47)
  • Security and Alarm (61)
  • Sensors and Detectors (116)
  • SG3525 IC (5)
  • Simple Circuits (74)
  • SMPS (29)
  • Solar Controllers (61)
  • Timer and Delay Relay (54)
  • TL494 IC (5)
  • Transformerless Power Supply (8)
  • Transmitter Circuits (40)
  • Ultrasonic Projects (14)
  • Water Level Controller (45)

Circuit Calculators

  • AWG to Millimeter Converter
  • Battery Back up Time Calculator
  • Capacitance Reactance Calculator
  • IC 555 Astable Calculator
  • IC 555 Monostable Calculator
  • Inductance Calculator
  • LC Resonance Calculator
  • LM317, LM338, LM396 Calculator
  • Ohm’s Law Calculator
  • Phase Angle Phase Shift Calculator
  • Power Factor (PF) Calculator
  • Reactance Calculator
  • Small Signal Transistor(BJT) and Diode Quick Datasheet
  • Transistor Astable Calculator
  • Transistor base Resistor Calculator
  • Voltage Divider Calculator
  • Wire Current Calculator
  • Zener Diode Calculator

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
My Facebook-Page
Quora

© 2022 · Swagatam Innovations

We use cookies on our website to give you the best experience.
Cookie settingsAccept All
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Please visit the Privacy Policy Page for more info.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT