07-ENR-RANJAN TARAFDAR

WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER USING 555 TIMER IC

Ranjan Tarafdar, B-Tech, 3rd year student, Guru Nanak Institute of Technology, Sodepur, Kolkata-
700114
Madhulina Sur, B-Tech, 3rd year student, Guru Nanak Institute of Technology
Dibyendu Sur, Life Member FOSET, Member IEEE, Assistant Professor, Guru Nanak Institute of
Technology

Abstract

Automatic water level controller circuit is a simple engineering project. It can

automatically switch ON and OFF the domestic water pump set depending on the tank water
level. You can implement this motor driver circuit at your home or college using less costly
components. The approximated cost of the project is very less. The main advantage of this
water level controller circuit is that it automatically controls the water pump without any user
interaction.
The heart pump controller circuit is a NE 555 IC; here we have manipulated the
flip flop inside the 555 timer IC. Our project consists of three water level sensors, one fixed
at the top and other at the bottom. Working of this circuit is almost similar to a Bi stable
mutlivibrator. Simulation of this circuit is also given below.

Introduction

People generally switch on the pump when their taps go dry and switch off the pump
when the overhead tank starts overflowing. This results in the unnecessary wastage and
sometimes non-availability of water in the case of emergency.

The circuit that we are using makes this system automatic, i.e. it switches on the pump
when the water level in the overhead tank goes low and switches it off as soon as the water
level reaches a pre-determined level. It also prevents ‘dry run’ of the pump in case the level
in the tank goes below the suction level.

Water Level Controller employs a simple mechanism to detect and maintain the water level
in a tank or any other container by switching it on/off the motor automatically when needed.
The level sensing is done by three sensors which are placed at different levels on the tank
walls.
The three sensors are placed as following:
Sensor C- At the bottom of the tank.
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Sensor B- A little above of sensor 1.

Sensor A-At the top of the tank.

The three sensors are maintaining the water level in the tank by triggering & retriggering the
timer IC. Here the timer IC is acting in monostable mode or one-shot mode. Sensor C carries
the +Vcc supply thus when the water level falls below sensor B the timer IC is triggered &
the pump is energized through a relay & transistor. Now when the water reaches the topmost
level & touches sensor A it retriggers the timer IC once again & and the pump is switched off
automatically.

Hence this water level controller is one of the cheapest & simplest devices which prevents
wastage of both electricity & water.

Components Required
1. Power supply (12v)
2. NE 555 timer IC

3. Resistors (100Ωx2, 10kΩ,1kΩ)

4. Relay (12V, 30A)

5. SL 100 transistor

6. 1N4007 Diode

Power Supply For This circuit

Fig .1 : Power Supply For The Circuit

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A classic 12V regulated DC supply based on 7812 is shown. This circuit works on
12 V DC supply, we need a step down transformer of 12 V 300mA.It converts input 230 AC
voltage to 12V AC as an output. Then this AC voltage is rectified using a rectification circuit
with 4 diodes connected in a bridge form. The output after the diode is 12V DC which is
rectified using rectifier 7812. This rectified output of 12V DC is used in the circuit.

Pin Configuration of 555 timer IC

Fig. 2 : Pin Configuration of 555 Timer IC

The 555 timer IC is an integrated

circuit (chip) used in a variety of timer,
pulse generation,
and oscillator applications. The 555 can be used to provide time delays, as an oscillator, and
as a flip-flop element. The NE555 parts were commercial temperature range, 0 °C to +70 °C,
and the SE555 part number designated the military temperature range, −55 °C to +125 °C.
These were available in both high-reliability metal can (T package) and inexpensive epoxy
plastic (V package) packages. Thus the full part numbers were NE555V, NE555T, SE555V,
and SE555T.

Monostable mode of 555 Timer IC

In our level controller timer IC works on monostable mode. In this mode, the 555
functions as a "one-shot" pulse generator.
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Fig. 3 : Response in Monostable mode Fig. 4: Internal circuit 555 Timer

The pulse begins when the 555 timer receives a signal at the trigger input that falls below a
third of the voltage supply. The width of the output pulse is determined by the time constant
of an RC network, which consists of a capacitor (C) and a resistor(R). The output pulse ends
when the voltage on the capacitor equals 2/3 of the supply voltage. The output pulse width
can be lengthened or shortened to the need of the specific application by adjusting the values
of R and C.

The output pulse width of time t, which is the time it takes to charge C to 2/3 of the supply
voltage, is given by

where t is in seconds, R is in ohms and C is in farads.

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Fig.5: Circuit Diagram

Working of Automatic water tank level controller

• We know the property of 555 timer IC, i.e. its output goes HIGH when voltage at the
second pin(trigger pin) is less than 1/3 Vcc.

• Also we can reset back the IC by applying a LOW voltage at the 4th pin (Reset pin).

• In this project 3 wires are dipped in water tank. Let us define two water levels-
Bottom (L) level and Top (H)
level. One of the wire or probe is
from Vcc, which can be called as
middle level (M).

Fig.6: Position of three sensors in timer

555

• The probe from bottom level is connected to the trigger (2nd) pin of 555 IC. So the
voltage at 2nd pin is Vcc when it is covered by water.
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• When water level goes down, the 2nd pin gets disconnected(untouched) from water
i.e. voltage at the trigger pin becomes less than Vcc. Then the output of 555 becomes
high.

• The output of 555 is fed to a SL 100 transistor, it energizes the relay coil and the
water pump set is turned ON.

Fig.7: SL 100 transistor

• While the water level rises, the top level probe is

covered by water and the transistor becomes ON. Its
collector voltage goes to Vce(sat) =0.2V.

• The low voltage at the 4th pin resets the IC. So the output of 555 becomes 0V. Hence
the motor will turn OFF automatically.

• For practical implementation, you must use a relay. Rating of relay is chosen
according to the load (Motor). 32 Ampere relay is best suited for domestic
applications.

Probe/Sensor arrangement diagram

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Fig.8: Probe/Sensor arrangement diagram

The probes can be arranged as shown in the diagram above. Insulated

Aluminium wires can be used as the probes. The probes can be binded on a plastic rod and
should be erected vertically inside the tank. The length of the probes wires and the supporting
plastic rod must be chosen according to the depth of the tank. Since DC is used in the level
sensing section electrolysis will occur in the probes and so the probes require small
maintenances in 6 or 7 month intervals.

Conclusion

Thus by using this simple arrangement we can save wastage of water and
electricity. It is very important for us to control the use of natural source of energy. By
using this circuit we can solve our purpose very easily.

Reference

www.ebookbrowse.com
www.electronicsforyou.com
www.digitek.in
www.sridigitek.com