Re: Oil level monitors

["armagh_elect" <armagh@xxxxxxx>]

Have a look at Dennis Shepards site ,he did tank monitoring (water)
project.He also has some other neat PIC Projects.
http://home.att.net/~dennis.shepard/
Frank Mc


--- In ukha_d@y..., "Roger" <roger@r...> wrote:
> Measuring the pressure at the base of the tank will allow you to
measure
> exactly how much oil is in the tank ~ 1Bar will be equal to
12meters or so
> of oil level... so for your tank I guess you will have a range of 0-
0.1Bar
> depending on the oil level. 4-20ma pressure transducers are
available
> allowing a reliable long cable run, and it is easy to connect these
to an
> analogue IP of any controller. Any sudden decrease in level can
trigger an
> alarm for tank failure, or theft, etc
>
> Roger Shingler
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: Chris Langridge [mailto:chrisl@xxxxxxx...]
>   Sent: 01 March 2002 00:12
>   To: 'ukha_d@y...'
>   Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Oil level monitors
>
>
>   Joking appart, I was thinking of installing a night vision
enabled red
> webcam on the inside of my existing tank which is about 30 years
old and
> made of steel. It's very rusty, and I'm sure that it will leak
soon. I
> figured if I could monitor the level of the oil, and take a single
snap shot
> of the tank each time it was nearly empty, then I could compare
photos (at x
> month intervals) at come up with an algorithm to determine the rate
of
> oxidation of the steel. With a bit more math, I'm sure I could link
this
> into HV so that my favourite Freddy Mercury track plays at full
blast just
> before the oil tank bursts and pollutes the entire Norfolk
countryside.
>
>   (But I am serious about getting a reading off the LED - then we
could
> stick the Oil Watchman in a cupboard where it belongs)
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: Keith Doxey [mailto:lists.diyha@xxxxxxx...]
>     Sent: 28 February 2002 23:35
>     To: ukha_d@y...
>     Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Oil level monitors
>
>
>     Hi Chris,
>
>     Dont forget that here in the UK we are extremely limited in
what is
> available or affordable for Home Automation.
>
>     Collectively the members of UKHA have devised many ways of
achieving
> what they desire either by building/writing from the ground up, or
adapting
> other technologies to suit a different purpose. There are many self
> contained devices such as temperature sensors etc that function
well as
> stand alone systems but we seek to integrate them with other
systems.
>
>     The ultimate aim is to achieve systems that offer the same type
of
> functionality as the high end systems available in the States but
without
> breaking the bank too much in the process.
>
>     Dont forget there is another side to continuous monitoring,
that of leak
> detection. You know your tank last for x months but a slow leak
underground
> may not be noticed until you run out of oil 4 weeks early whereas
your HA
> system would monitor the falling level and know you werent using
any because
> the heating hadnt been on therefore it can raise the alarm.
>
>     It could also do that if someone was stealing the oil whilst
you were
> away from home. An SMS alert (and possible security webcam
confirmation of
> oil level dropping at faster than normal useage rates) means you
could call
> the police and have the villians possibly caught in the act.
>
>     Keith
>
>
>       -----Original Message-----
>       From: Chris Langridge [mailto:chrisl@xxxxxxx...]
>       Sent: 28 February 2002 23:29
>       To: 'ukha_d@y...'
>       Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Oil level monitors
>
>
>       You're right Keith -
>
>       And I expect you to come up with a diagram to grab the the
output from
> the led and sent it HV.
>
>       (I just visited their site - and I publicly retract
everything I said
> in my first mail - it is pretty cool - espeicially if like us
you're about
> to buy a new tank anyway)
>         -----Original Message-----
>         From: Keith Doxey [mailto:lists.diyha@xxxxxxx...]
>         Sent: 28 February 2002 23:05
>         To: ukha_d@y...
>         Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Oil level monitors
>
>
>         Enter into the spirit of things Chris....
>
>         It has to be done because it is a challenge....
>
>         not necessarily because it OUGHT  or NEEDS to be done :-)
>
>         The constant reading can then be integrated with a real
time feed
> from the stock exchange to calculate the optimum time to buy the
oil and get
> the lowest price thereby leaving more money for toys. OK, so maybe
that is
> taking it to extremes!
>
>         This HA lark is all about playing with as many toys as
possible.
>
>         Keith
>
>           -----Original Message-----
>           From: Chris Langridge [mailto:chrisl@xxxxxxx...]
>           Sent: 28 February 2002 23:09
>           To: 'ukha_d@y...'
>           Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Oil level monitors
>
>
>           We thought about this last week and figured that this was
an
> example of HA
>           going too far.
>
>           Our oil tank needs filling aproximately 2 times a year.
>
>           y thousand litres of oil last about x months.
>
>           So the easiest way to automate things is to set an alarm
on your
> calendar to
>           pop up every x months. Then you go and look at the oil
tank to see
> if it is
>           time to order. I figured that if I had a sensor in the
tank, I
> would still
>           go and do a visual check anyway before ordering so why
waste the
> effort to
>           automate such a rare event....
>
>
>
>           >-----Original Message-----
>           >From: K. C. Li [mailto:li@xxxxxxx...]
>           >Sent: 28 February 2002 22:46
>           >To: ukha_d@y...
>           >Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Re: Oil level monitors
>           >
>           >
>           >On Thu, 28 Feb 2002, steveddickson wrote:
>           >
>           >> trying to canabalise one to interface with comfort,
I
think Li
> was
>           >> going to add it to hi project list. The
manufacturers
wern't
>           >> interested.
>           >
>           >Yes. I have discussed the subject of adding an
electronic feed of
> the
>           >fluid level to HomeVision, Comfort and other systems
with the
> Technical
>           >Manager of Sensory Systems. I have a distinct feeling
that he
>           >didn't like
>           >the idea at all. He kept saying that there already is an
>           >option to add an
>           >automatic dial-out module to the device when the level
is low.
>           >However, it
>           >dials out to a preprogrammed telephone number that the
user
>           >cannot change.
>           >
>           >I suspect cosy arrangements exist between Sensory
Systems and the
>           >designated oil suppliers for the automatic dial-out
facility.
> Hence the
>           >company wasn't keen to allow other add-ons to break that
> arrangement.
>           >
>           >Regards,
>           >
>           >Kwong Li
>           >li@l...
>           >Laser Business Systems Ltd.
>           >http://www.laser.com
>           >
>           >
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