[Tutorials] [How-To] Measure Salt Level in Your Water Softener (OLD SCHOOL METHOD)

[BraveSirRobbin]

... I miss this type of home-brew stuff on CT (of course I'm to blame as much as anyone else as I haven't done anything in a while). It reminds me of your ultimate garage door sensor from a long time ago.

 
 
Hi Terry;
 
I do miss the old days very badly, as these home-brewed custom solutions seemed more abundant.  Now, the forums seem to concentrate to much on the home security aspect, or 'off the shelf' product functionality and integration.  Though these are an important aspect of home automation, it seems there is just to much whining about code this and installation not right that, etc...
 
It definitely drove away some old time creative members such as Guy Lavoie (my idol), Smee, Michael McSharry, just to name a few.  Oh well, perhaps we can get this creativity back one step at a time!

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Here is an update on how the unit is working, which was installed on July 7, 2014.
 
I created a script in HomeSeer that wrote the percent left of salt into a text file once a day (shown below).  The measurements tracked well.  I did notice that sometimes the weight would shift away from the 'straight down' position of the string.  This is because the salt is not always 'level' as it is being consumed.
 
Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with this first built unit.  I will have to align the wheel to the marks made during installation/testing when refilling, but that is really the only minor limitation (as described in the How-To).
 
Water Softener Salt Level Remaining (Percentage)
7/7/2014 12:05:12 AM   Softener Percent   67.6604
7/8/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   63.3554
7/9/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   63.6998
7/10/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   59.567
7/11/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   59.3948
7/12/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   54.9176
7/13/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   50.957
7/14/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   47.3408
7/15/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   43.208
7/16/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   37.3532
7/17/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   34.0814
7/18/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   33.9092
7/19/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   29.9486
7/20/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   25.2992
7/21/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   18.5834
7/22/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   14.9672
7/23/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   14.795
7/24/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   11.1788
7/25/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   11.351
7/26/2014 12:05:11 AM   Softener Percent   6.0128