- Intro
- NEWS
- Instructions for use
- Calibration sensors
- Specifications
- Probe Features
- Application
- FAQ
- Known Issues
- Community
- Firmware
- Resource
- Store
Intro
One of the many great suggestions we received after WS1 was to support multiple levels of probing, which became kind of a nagging issue for us, as connecting multiple probes to a single controller can dramatically reduce costs, as well as reduce redundant controllers, and also allow signals to be processed at once, which has a lot of benefits. Even in terms of power energy is more economical.
We've been testing and designing for a long time, we've been testing our prototype for probably over three weeks as of now at the time of release, and we're on a humidifier, over and over again, to make sure that everything's working okay.
Yes, it's working okay.
Now we've received feedback from the first users of the WS1, and they're getting good work out of it in faraway lands.
So we are now sharing with you our latest water level sensor, the WS2, which has some new features:
- Supports up to four probes, (not compatible with WS1 probes now because of the change in wire sequence.)
- Same great non-contact probing capability of up to 15mm as WS1, (still does not penetrate metal).
NEWS
Name | Created time |
|---|---|
Mar 9, 2024 3:54 PM | |
Feb 21, 2024 12:13 AM |
Instructions for use
Although manufacturers advertise sensors as very powerful and seemingly omnipotent. But in our idea and application, we applied it to a humidifier with no water level detection and it worked quite well. Also a thickness like 10mm seemed to respond well in our basic tests.
I guess the fascinating thing about this sensor is that it doesn't have to touch the liquid to detect it, which enables some interesting uses.
As with all SCRREK sensors, it's just a few simple steps to access the Home Assistant.
- Plug in the USB power (Type-C powered) and let it boot up.
- Wait for about 10 seconds or so and a hotspot will appear, "Waster-Sensor WS1", connect to this hotspot, select your network, enter your password and click confirm.
- Now Home Assistant on the same network will automatically discover the device.
From now on, you will be able to know all the time whether the water level sensor detects the water level or not and use this information for some interesting automation.
Calibration sensors
Sensors are based on the principle of capacitive detection and suffer from the problem of sometimes being too sensitive or not sensitive enough.
From the sensor documentation:
If the non-contact level sensor does not detect or the detected level deviates from the sensor distance, the Setting method. Use small objects (such as pens, toothpicks) to click the sensitivity button, the LED indicator begins to flash, the sensor begins to automatically adjust the sensitivity. 3-5 seconds, the flashing stops, the LED indicator lights up, the automatic adjustment is complete, to achieve the most suitable sensitivity required by the current position. Note: The position to be detected must have liquid, not empty, otherwise the setting is invalid.
Specifications
- Size: Control(
44mm x 28mm x 11mm), Single Probe(about34mm x 24mm) - Max Probes:
4 - Power supply:
Type-C power supply, 5V 1A. - Response Time:
500ms - Sensor Thickness (sensitivity) Range:
0-15mm - Control to Prober Wired Length:
30cm - Error value:
+/-1.5mm - HomeAssistant integration method:
ESPHome built-in firmware, no ESPHome Addon required. - Connection method:
Wi-Fi - Power consumption:
Average 8-ma, 5V - Installation:
Adhesion to the outer surface of containers
Probe Features
The main characteristics are derived from the sensor's introductory information.
Features
- Non-contact detection
- Easy installation
- Stable detection
- High sensitivity
- Strong anti-interference ability
- Support detect various liquids
Note
- It can't be in direct contact with liquid, it can't be placed inside liquid.
- It can't test metal containers.
- Avoid installation at the water inlet and outlet.
Application
- Water tower
- Sewage treatment
- Drone irrigation
- Medical equipment
- Aquarium
- Smart Appliances
FAQ
Can i use this for my pet auto refillable water bowl to detect when the water level is too low?Its something like this(evilplushie@reddit)
Looks like a great app, it's not metal and it shouldn't be more than 15mm thick, which is like great kind of scene.
Can I buy it on eBay in the uk?(Nigel Smith@FB)We are sorry to say that we offer worldwide shipping, but there will be a small inconvenience. Due to the limitations of eBay's multinational sites, it seems that if you are logged in on another country's site, you see a blank space in our store, in which case you can only find it by searching for keywords like SCREEK WS1.
Another trick is to replace the com with co.uk inside the (https://www.ebay.com/itm/186042208549) on the US site. You can also apply these tricks for German sites, etc.
And how long is the cable as I’ll be using this outdoors and need to run the cable indoors (probably 2m)?(Nigel Smith@FB)A type-c cable that is 2m long or longer is no problem at all, all they do is power it. But the probe part is 30cm and it will come with a very mini very small controller to connect to the ha via wifi. we included a 1m long type-c cable.
I’ve ordered one for a test - probably will need at least a couple to check for full/empty. I’ll have to find some way of waterproofing this as it’ll be used outside. Any suggestions?(Nigel Smith@FB)As a rudimentary version, it can currently only detect one water point, and for the time being it may only be able to add one more set to detect another water point. We hope to make improvements and add another possible set of sensor probes after gaining some experience. There are also some new sensors that seem to be interesting, for example they can continuously detect changes in water level height of 17cm. But we hope that after proper if WS1 accumulates some experience, we will make some expansion upgrades to WS2, which can support the insertion of 2 sets of probes. Because the plug can be unplugged and re-plugged, so those WS1 users, you can just need a WS2 + a set of probes, add the original probe on the line. These are some very original ideas, and at this point, we want to work with you to verify that this sensor is reliable and can be adapted to operate in a variety of environments. Can connecting in Home Assistant bring convenience. This is the process of exploration that we often emphasize, in which we have the opportunity to improve and make it better. Or discover together what's wrong with it and decide it's not so great.
I wonder if this can be used to monitor liquid chlorine levels in a pool dispenser.(Aaron Morris@FB)I briefly checked the documentation and the description in there seems exciting in Product Overview, if it is a true description:
Does it detect the actual level (height) or just the existence of liquid in the container?(Nguyen Hoang Thang@FB)it can only detect just existence.
But this problem drove us to think farther ahead, and we found some sensors that were 17cm long at their shortest, had the i2c protocol (the ability to read a range), they were linearly responsive, and cost a lot of money, with the probes themselves approaching $15. Calibration is required for initial use, but we look forward to possibly looking into it in the future.
Would this work through a fibreglass bath tub to detect when bath is full? If so I would contact bath manufacturers who could make self filling bathtubs a lot easier.
For bathtubs, it depends on the thickness, and if it's less than 15mm thick, chances are it's achievable.
But we always wonder if the sensor's of the probe are more suitable in this case.
Because there is too much water in the bathroom and that could cause interference.
But this is certainly an interesting question, we know there are also water level sensors for contact surfaces and I feel they are more suitable for this.
But we don't have such test data, unfortunately.
My concerns about using it if it's just DIY are that it's going to be dragging around a rather long USB cable, and the fact that the controller isn't waterproof.
This can only tell if a liquid is present or not, not it’s height in a tank for example?(ttgone@reddit)Yes, there is only so much ws1 can do, and we hope to have access to different sensors capable of detecting level changes in the future. At the moment we are aware of some non-contact linear level sensors, they are as short as 17cm and are able to detect changes in the liquid inside, which looks interesting.But they are also very expensive.If ws1 goes well, we hope to use the funding from it to continue to expand the range. Providing a diverse range of water level detection needs. The desire to keep exploring appeals to us.
Sounds ace, just ordered to the UK. I have a cat drinking fountain and this will be perfect to alert us when it's low(nikotime@reddit)This sounds like a great fit for the app and look forward to your future feedback. We have a reddit feedback group, r/screekworkshop, so if you wish to share your suggestions in the future, feel free to crosspost to the screek group at the same time, so that you can easily use the wisdom of the group to continue improving these sensors.
Known Issues
- When the target vessel is a device like a humidifier, there is a period of time when the trigger jitter occurs when the water level disappears, that is, it turns on and then off again for a few seconds. This is normal behavior for the probe, but it draws a lot of stray data. We expect that in the future some data processing can be added to the firmware update, such as providing switches to filter data that is turned on for too short a period of time. This expects wisdom from everyone together.
Community
https://www.screek.io/contact/
Firmware
Restore Factory Firmware For WS2
Resource
Y23A Probe Documentation (online tool translation):
