DIY_PAUL
New Member
I have been working an a custom ATO unit and just about have it finished up for full testing. The brain of the system is a ESP8266 mini board that receives data from a 4 point optical level sensor to know the water volume. with this sensor being a 5V sensor and the ESP needing a 3.3V signal i do have it level shifted down using a ic. I also use another IC to shift the outputs to 5V so i can use more standard mosfets to run the pump. There are a few extra outputs wired to another connector so i can add a few redundant float switches later on. The code currently has some fail safes where it only lets the pump run ones per hour, it has a max run time of 5 minutes, it will automatically shut off if a high level or a low level is triggered and has an audible alarm. I can monitor all this from my phone and get alerts if needed. I also intend on switching out the pump but the way this is set up any 12v pump can easily be swapped or I can use the 12v to fire a solid state relay and use a ac pump. I hope to begin testing this during the week to see how well it holds up on my small 10 gallon planted aquarium before moving to anything bigger. Has anyone else built a similar style ATO that goes beyond a simple relay and switches?
