Sensor to measure amount of dripping water?

[3nibble]

My gas heater produces condensate. The ratio condensate per gas shows the efficiency of the combustion which is what I want to track.
Condensate drips from the heater, i. e. no pressure, just dripping water. Volume might range from zero to maybe 10 or 15 litres a day.

I am looking for a sensor I can hook onto an Arduino or even better a sensor which I can connect to my existing 1-wire network.

Thanks for hints.

3nibble

[electrik]

A simple solution would be to weigh the condensate, but I'm not sure whether this is possible (from a mechanical point of view)

[mfalkvidd]

Maybe a tipping bucket would work?

[3nibble]

Thanks,
A 3D-printed tipping bucket would certainly be an easy solution. I wonder whether there is a sensor, which is able to somehow directly "read" the volume. I understand, there is the difficulty of heavy fluctuations in volume, which the bucket avoids. But I could imagine there are for example medical applications which have to deal with similar requirements/difficulties.

[Jodaille]

Hello,

few years ago I was searching a technic to measure water level in a small tank.

I have read somewhere that some motorbike have a gaz tank that use a "capacitance level meter".

I have never succeeded but you may have a try.

I have just found an example to illustrate:

https://www.hackster.io/team-protocentral/non-contact-capacitive-liquid-level-sensing-using-fdc1004-9333c7

[OldSurferDude]

A small flow meter with a solenoid valve. Daily, open the valve and count the counts coming from the flow meter (400 counts/L).

A series of level sensors (~$2 ea) might work, too. Again, a solenoid valve.

I have to admit, a tipping bucket would be cost effective because it doesn't require a solenoid valve. but it wouldn't have the accuracy of the flow meter. The level sensors is kind of kludgy.

OSD

[NeverDie]

If it drips slow enough, maybe a simple photocell and led could be used to count each drip as it drops in-between. Use arduino analog input to look for a drop in the light intensity. i.e. a simple electric eye.

[NeverDie]

Some kind of through-beam sensor might work: https://www.amazon.com/Optical-Endstop-Photoelectric-Control-Printer/dp/B07MFT8NWJ/ref=asc_df_B07MFT8NWJ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241938907421&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9189408107204898573&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028292&hvtargid=pla-664653941028&th=1

I once was interested in the same sort of thing for monitoring the effluent from a reverse osmosis filter at the air-gap to confirm that it wasn't wasting a lot of water. In my case there turned out to be an easier way.

[JeeLet]

Yes, the toggle system is the best.
Tilt
but be careful, the condensate is very aggressive, their pH, an acidic liquid.
so no metal.
Ph

Here's an info: Why condensing boilers do not guarantee an efficient operation. : a link

the best of all worlds : a link link

[NeverDie]

I would think that it's the ambient air temperature that affects how much condensate you collect, together with how much fuel was burned. After the initial warm-up that gets you to steady state, wouldn't the efficiency be constant?

If the acidity is a problem, you can run the condensate over a bed of acid neutralizing rocks before it goes down your main drain. It's a thing.