Automatic Water Level Controller for "Dr Fluffy Bottoms Quack House"

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Yep, pretty much it, though on principle its better to switch power to the solenoid rather than ground.
Don't forget the flywheel diode on that as well!

As Diver300 says, the reed switches are rather sensitive to spikes etc., sometimes even just from the wiring capacitance being suddenly discharged through the contact as they close, which is why it's a good idea to add the resistors near the switches to limit that current.

If you used a 24V relay, everything could run on the same supply?
 
rjenkinsgb said:
Yep, pretty much it, though on principle its better to switch power to the solenoid rather than ground.
Don't forget the flywheel diode on that as well!
Click to expand...
Ok the diode is in place and Ive re-arranged the solenoid to switch on the positive side
 
This is nice. Price is great too. As i took a look at the dimensions i see they are too big for the ducks. their water bowl can be only so tall. Say about 5" And if it is too wide they will try to get in it. So the sensors need to be as small as possible.
for their water project I used a 30" length of 4" PVC. I notched it as you can see here. To monitor the level of water in the pipe i have a second hidden vessel connected to the larger pipe with a tube. All the sensors are in here and not in the larger pipe because these guys will eat anything.

Note to self. Clean up workshop.

Monitor with a snap switch. Replaced it with the upper and lower sensors
 
I suggest that you make the diode in parallel with the solenoid something bigger than a 1N4148. That is a signal diode, and while it may be able to take the peak current of the solenoid valve, a 1N4001 (or any in that series) would be more suitable, and not significantly larger or more expensive. You could use the same for the one on parallel with the relay coil as well.
 
That's no good, it doesn't list ducks in the supported animals

Nice find.
 
I've got some 1N4007's
 
Fellas. I overlooked something. My curiosity kicked in and i looked up the amp draw on the solenoid and found the transformer driving it is NOT DC but AC. So I will need a slight rework. I can provide a separate ground for the circuit but id like to know two things.
1-do i still need the diode across the terminals for the 24V AC solenoid?
2-Can a single LED run on 24V AC?
 
Instead of D2 being in series with the LED (it already has D1) connect it in reverse parallel with the LED.
The resistor will be dissipating around a third of a watt.
 
rjenkinsgb said:
Instead of D2 being in series with the LED (it already has D1) connect it in reverse parallel with the LED.
The resistor will be dissipating around a third of a watt.
Click to expand...
This is the extent of my 350.00 phone.
1/3 watt.
Should I use a 1/2 watt resistor too?
 
Don't put a diode in parallel with an AC solenoid.

To suppress inductive spikes on AC either put a resistor in parallel with the coil. The resistor should take around 1/10th of the current that the coil takes.
 
... Or, a resistor somewhere similar to the coil resistance, eg. 22 - 47 Ohm, with a plastic film cap in series, 0.22 - 0.47uF.

That makes an RC "snubber" as used in industrial controls to suppress AC coils. The power dissipation is rather lower than just a resistor & they reduce the spike voltage more.

Or you can buy ready made ones to suit different voltage / power systems:

 
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