Apex DOS DIY level switch?

[tiggs]

Also I think I have a way for you to enable fluid monitoring without the optical sensors too. So if you want to just enable the software feature but not have the low fluid sense switches its possible to do with just a resistor jumper between two pins to trick the DOS into thinking you have a DDR connected. Or a single optical sensor will do it too.

Did you ever get this working without the optical sensors? If so, I'd love to pay someone to make one of these for me. If not, I'll go the eBay cable route, although that would be a waste since I have zero use for optical sensors in my application and am only interested in getting the fluid monitoring tiles on Fusion. Thanks

 

[blazeby]

My approach (post #200) does this - very cheap and easy.

Did you ever get this working without the optical sensors? If so, I'd love to pay someone to make one of these for me. If not, I'll go the eBay cable route, although that would be a waste since I have zero use for optical sensors in my application and am only interested in getting the fluid monitoring tiles on Fusion. Thanks

 

[tiggs]

My approach (post #200) does this - very cheap and easy.

Perfect, thank you! So I just order this cable, cut it in half, tape up the exposed wires, and plug it in and I'll have the DDR tiles for fluid monitoring? If so, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Appreciate it.

 

[blazeby]

yes, exactly.

 

[rioreef]

That is that I did. Been working that way since last June keeping track of 40 gallon storage for day automatic water changes

Good luck Tiggs

 

[tiggs]

I ordered one earlier today, so I should have it on Tuesday. As much as I love Neptune products, as cool as the DDR looks, and as much money as I willingly drop into this hobby weekly, there's just no way I can justify spending $200 on a fancy container just to get fluid monitoring. This is great.

 

[tiggs]

yes, exactly.

My cable came in today, so I chopped it in half and used electrical tape on the closed ends. After plugging into my Dos, no DDR tiles appeared. Is it possible I'm missing a step here? I tried with both ends and have tried rebooting and updating the Dos as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[blazeby]

Did you restart the Fusion app? They won't appear until you do that.

 

[tiggs]

I restarted Fusion a few times and rebooted the entire Apex. I think I may have found the culprit though. I read through the post from the beginning again and must have skipped over the part about soldering wires 4 and 6 together. I literally just cut the cable in half, taped it up, then plugged it in. Splicing 4 and 6 together is a requirement, right? thanks

 

[blazeby]

Ah yes, sorry I forgot to mention that. I found you don't a resistor as mentioned earlier, just twist those wires together and restart Fusion.

 

[tiggs]

Ah yes, sorry I forgot to mention that. I found you don't a resistor as mentioned earlier, just twist those wires together and restart Fusion.

Annnnd we have liftoff! Thanks so much for the assistance. One last question in regards to safety. I don't have a soldering iron handy right now, so I just spliced the two wires together and wrapped them up well in electrical tape, then wrapped that bunch and the other exposed wires up in another layer of electrical tape. I'm assuming this is perfectly fine, but then again, electrical was never my strong point, so figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

Now that this is working, I'm thinking about getting the $13 Kamoer reservoirs that come with a level float switch and hooking them up through the breakout box to give me full DDR functionality for a whopping total of $40. Thanks again

 

[Brew12]

Annnnd we have liftoff! Thanks so much for the assistance. One last question in regards to safety. I don't have a soldering iron handy right now, so I just spliced the two wires together and wrapped them up well in electrical tape, then wrapped that bunch and the other exposed wires up in another layer of electrical tape. I'm assuming this is perfectly fine, but then again, electrical was never my strong point, so figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

Now that this is working, I'm thinking about getting the $13 Kamoer reservoirs that come with a level float switch and hooking them up through the breakout box to give me full DDR functionality for a whopping total of $40. Thanks again

Since it's just low voltage, that should be fine from a safety perspective. It may stop working intermittently until you get a more secure splice. Water proof wire nuts would be appropriate to use if you don't want to solder. Then tape over the nuts.

 

[Debacle]

IMHO, you would be better with some heat shrink wrapping.

 

[tiggs]

Sounds good, thanks. I'll grab some waterproof wire nuts and/or heat shrink wrapping and tidy things up a bit. I just wanted to make sure I'm not risking frying my DOS or burning down the house since I'm not using a resister. Thanks again

 

[markstubb]

Nah if you just twisted the wires together, wrapped in electrical tape, or heat shrink, and put a tie wrap on it, it’ll be fine. Just keep the twist from moving so it doesn’t untwist and don’t let it get wet. It won’t burn anything down.

 

[lazidog]

Nah if you just twisted the wires together, wrapped in electrical tape, or heat shrink, and put a tie wrap on it, it’ll be fine. Just keep the twist from moving so it doesn’t untwist and don’t let it get wet. It won’t burn anything down.

GREAT POST

 

[Jlentz]

The only issue I see with that is all the e tape. If you use e tape to bundle stuff it’s gonna most likely make a sticky mess when you try to take the tape off. Wire duct is best if it fits. Next best is Velcro. After that I’d go for wire ties.

 

[markstubb]

Sure, electrical tape leaves residue behind when you take it off, but we're talking about wire connections here. Just clip the ends and start over if you have to reconnect it.

We're also talking about low voltage, that can literally work underwater (see: cars that work when submerged). As long as you don't short the connections, it'll be fine.

The ultimate solution is just solder and waterproof heatshrink. Wire duct/velcro is only good for running/organizing the wires. we're talking about protecting the connections, not affixing the wire to something.

 

[lazidog]

This was a great thread, added new functionality to DOS for $10

 

[TheHarold]

I just ordered this cable and cut it in half and taped up the exposed wires. It's a Molex to Molex cable so one cable works for two DOS units...

https://www.arrow.com/en/products/2451320605/molex

I just wanted to check something- what you are actually doing is connecting wire 4 and 6 together to spoof a DDR- correct? The cable just provides an easy, non-permanent way to make that connection?