DIY Conductivity Probe/Meter

C

cyrusthevirus

New member
So I have a circuit to connect a probe to, but I can not determine which probe to purchase. From what I can read the EC of saltwater is 54,000uS/cm.

I have read on several threads that people are using the conductivity electrode SDL-1 from http://www.nengshi.com/en/new_lab.asp?id=254.

However from what I can tell, it would not read high enough. Anyone else using one of these probes or have a different source for probes?
 
Unless you are an electrical engineer, I do not see conductivity as a DIY.

If you are, there are many probes available from places like Cole Parmer, and they do show the appropriate range in their catalog. For seawater, you'd want up to at least 60 mS/cm (60,000 uS/cm). Some probes have 2 and many of the best ones have 4 electrodes. They all typically also incorporate a temperature sensor since the value must be temperature compensated.

I discuss the method and complexities a bit here:


Using Conductivity to Measure Salinity
http://web.archive.org/web/20040604...iumfish.com/aquariumfish/detail.aspx?aid=1804

and this one has more on conductivity:

What is TDS?
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-04/rhf/feature/index.php
 
From what I understand the difficult part of conductivity is the need for an AC circuit. There are a couple posted online and once I test mine I will share it. As for the temperature, we all run our at between 78-80 degrees so there is not much need for compensation for temp as this can be handled in the software.

The probes listed on Marine Depot and Cole Parmer and much more expensive than on the site I listed.

Anyone use these less expensive probes?
 
OK, I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were getting into and what you'd have when you were done. Without temperature compensation, you'll have to warm up any calibration standards you use as well. I personally wouldn't want to use a conductivity meter that wasn't temperature compensated. Even 2 deg F is enough to change the readings a fair amount.

I didn't see any prices on the site you linked. As you note, the SLD-1 is not suitably high in range.
 
Randy Holmes-Farley said:
OK, I just wanted to be sure you knew what you were getting into and what you'd have when you were done. Without temperature compensation, you'll have to warm up any calibration standards you use as well. I personally wouldn't want to use a conductivity meter that wasn't temperature compensated. Even 2 deg F is enough to change the readings a fair amount.
Click to expand...

Good point, I will need to remember that.

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I didn't see any prices on the site you linked. As you note, the SLD-1 is not suitably high in range.
Click to expand...
$15, but you have to wire the money so unless you are buying several, the costs do not make sense.

Anyone know what probe they are using in these builds:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180805

http://sites.google.com/site/richardorme1979/home
 
I do not know what, if anything, was ever implemented in the first one, but the second link talks about using a DC circuit (quoted below), so he is not informed about how to measure conductivity properly and I wouldn't use whatever he used (if, in fact, he ever made it).

"To do this digitally is a little more complex and is accomplished by passing a small DC current through the water sample."
 
Randy Holmes-Farley said:
"To do this digitally is a little more complex and is accomplished by passing a small DC current through the water sample."
Click to expand...

If I understand everything I have read, this would produce three things, a poor reading, hydrogen and oxygen.

I reached out to my contact at nengshi.com and the specs are wrong on the site. The probe is capable of measuring from 1-100mS/cm. I am ordering several other probes so for $15 I added in a couple of these. If they work, great. If not, maybe someday I will have a freshwater aquarium or as you say, "measure the concentration of limewater."
 
This is a repeat of my other post, but just incase someone is looking just for salinity here it is:

pH/Salinity and ORP circuit boards have been soldered. They are below. Now I am just waiting on the probes, They should ship next week.

Salinity before soldering:
IMG_3197.jpg

Salinity after soldering:

IMG_3254.jpg
 
can you share some information about your circuit? I have bread boarded a few but have not been happy with the results so far... too quirky or too much drift.
 
Sorry for the delay, I was out of town. Here is the diagram for my circuit. It should work. I have had it reviewed by a lot of people. PM me if you are interested, I have some extra PCBs of it.

EC_Circuit.png


On another note I received all of my probes. I need to setup my standardized solutions so I can begin testing.
 
I may take a PCB or two off your hands. Did you design the circuit or modify one you found? I understand the oscillator section (U1A) and the probe amp (U1B), but am not wraping my head around the bridge amplifier (I assume we are converting AC sinewave into DC but I am going to need to get the op-amp book out to figure out what else is happening.

Do you have a scope?
 
I worked with the one located here, http://www.octiva.net/projects/ppm/ but it was hard to understand. I tried to reach out to the person, but never heard back from them. I also wanted to include the - 12 VAC conversion in the board so I only needed to suppy 12 VAC instead of + and - 12 VAC.

Unfortunately I do not have a scope.

The probes I purchased from China. The range should work for saltwater, but I will not know until I get a working prototype.

PM me on the PCB if you are interested. I think I have 6 or so extra ones.
 
I have been focused on my lighting, pH and ORP, so I have not had a chance to play with this. I am happy to report the other probes I ordered from China are working out just fine.
 
I am curious if the circuit is stable. I am placing an order with digikay today (for a pressure transducer for my RO/DI automation project) and was going to toss the parts for the design in the cart.

I want am looking for a stable conductivity circuit so I can run (3) TDS probes on the RO/DI project. The code for the flow sensors, pressure and temp is pretty much done. I just have to find a TDS circuit and interface it so I can write the code.
 
Yeah I am just not sure yet. If you want one of the boards to play with I have extras. The board cost me $11 each. If you want one, let me know. The parts for it are listed above. Although I may have an excel file with all of the parts and Mouser part numbers. I would be glad to have someone test with me.
 
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