Measure Propane, CO2, Salt, and so much more with this DIY MQTT Weight Sensor using Tasmota
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- Build a WiFi weight sensor for under $15 that you can use to measure the amount of propane in your bbq, CO2 in your kegerator, or even salt in your water softener. No coding required. This video is sponsored by HolidayCoro (www.holidaycoro...) check out their huge supply of holiday light show products using my link to help support The Hook Up.
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Good video and another good use of those load cells! This is like a mini version of my bed occupancy sensor version haha! Thanks for putting this together, cool to see Tasmota working here too!
Could the load sensors be adapted for bed sensors?
The super cool thing I'd add to that is measure and save the difference after each use. With enough data you can convert grams or % which don't really tell you to avg. number of uses. So instead of 85% full, or 6500g available, you'd have something in the lines of 17 BBQs to empty
I’m in the process of doing something similar. Going to run the bbq on high for 10 minutes and record the data, then have it estimate the number of minutes of bbq time left.
@@TheHookUp That calls for a potentiometer or a rotary encoder on the BBQ knob. (ignoring a BBQ should be rue on charcoal ; )
I like your idea a lot. I wouldn't want the Blackstone Griddle to run out of propane while cooking breakfast, or anything else on for that matter. Good excuse to break out Excel and get a spreadsheet going. :)
Why must Americans always use a ridiculous measurement on everything? 🤣
17 BBQs of gas 😂
@@TheHookUp Should be possible to just run it thru a statistics sensor computing over say 5 minute interval and pull out the change per second (gonna need a LOT of places past decimal point for accuracy) and then convert that to hours/minutes. That way you can have real time data depending if you are running it on low/med/high burners. I do something like that to compute rainfall in inches-per-hour over a few minute interval. This way as long as you let it run for ~5 minutes you'd have an accurate estimate of remaining cook time at the currently selected burner output and it would dynamically scale if you're running it on high today and low tomorrow to cook different stuff.
"Screw it and build my own". Yep, I have this feeling a lot of the time.
i could probably make some cheap weight sesnor for my bee hives and know the weight over time during the season, add humidity sensors etc..
Great video ☺️
This is the exact use case why I watched this video. Did you actually do it?
@@seafurymike I’m about to attempt it! Did either of you do it?
Most regular old bathroom scales have 4 load cells like this in it too, so it might be possible to either salvage, or if your feeling particularly lazy, just use the scales for this project, so you don't need to build any structure type thing.
You'll still need to amplifier if you go down this route though
And it's good for a couple hundred pounds. Though as Rob says, the cells could take a set over time. Hey Rob, are piezo sensors an option? Do the suffer from fatigue like metal ones can?
Great tutorial! I did this about 2 years ago with my bed so I can tell when the bed is occupied. After living with it for this long it's become an essential part of my home. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to having to manually turn off the lights when I go to bed again.
This is a great idea! Since me, my girl, and my pup all weigh far different amounts, it can even tell exactly who’s in bed. Could even be a cheater defeater ha ha.
For anyone that is curious - ESPHome has support for this sensor too :)
Nope, not curious. Tasmota has been more stable for me. After trying for months to get a consistent connection with ESPHome and some esp 32 cameras, it got totally removed from my HA setup. I don't plan on going back to it unless I absolutely have to for something.
@@mrphyslaw good for you. Different people have different experiences.
This was one of the best descriptions of how to setup the load sensors. Thanks for putting this together! I had tried and failed to make an occupancy with them before, and this inspires me (and hopefully gives me the info that I need) to try again!
One of the only vids I can play at regular speed. I'm so used to running at 1.5! Thanks for including so much info
I've had a load cell and an HX711 on the shelf for a few months with the intention to build a gauge for the gas bottle on my MIG welder (and probably another for the TIG as well, but mainly the MIG bottle as it is much smaller being on a cart and empties at the worst time). Did not know until now that Tasmota supports this sensor and have been putting it off because I thought I'd have to write the code. Good to know it will be easy! Best part is the MIG already has a 5V power supply inside so it should all be self contained within the welder/cart.
Gonna build this for a hydroponic grow system to monitor the water reservoir level.
Awesome idea! I really appreciate the end-to-end description of how to get it working. The pacing was quick, but good. I think I could replicate this myself, with some pausing and rewinding.
Few notes on those tanks - the weight varies by brand, but will be marked on the tank. Look at the handle, the empty tank weight is the Tare Weight marked "TW". And full would be the rated capacity, so a 20lb tank when filled to 80% by volume should hold 20lb of propane fuel.
If you want to compute the max safe fill of gas for a given tank, look for the "WC" mark which is "Water Capacity". Then you can convert that to weight and take 80% of that value.
Example:
One of my 20lb tanks is marked WC 47.6 and TW 17.7
Water is 8.34lb per gallon, so the volume of liquid is 47.6 / 8.34 = 5.71 gallons volume filled to 100%
Safe max-fill is 80% of the volume so 5.71 * 0.8 = 4.57 gallons
Propane weight is 4.11lb per gallon, so 4.11 * 4.57 = 18.78 lb propane when full to allowed limit
Adding the empty container weight, 17.7 + 18.78 = 36.48 lb total weight when filled to the max allowed limit
Note: If you are getting your tank filled (not swap) at a reputable station they should bill you by volume and tell you how many gallons you are paying for. Most places I've gone to round a "totally empty" tank capacity to 4.6 gallons of propane, which is probably close enough being 3 hundredths of a gallon over, and giving you a hair shy of 19lb in a 20lb tank.
If you go to a tank-swap, you often actually get more like 14lb because they often round down and then take 80% of the 80% value...shorting you nearly a quarter tank of fuel that is pure profit.
I have build bed occupancy sensor with this. Goal was to get all lights, AC, TV etc. to turn off when I get in bed
Would this work with a "divan" style bed? (Bed with a kind of solid but slightly soft base, not wooden slats)?
did you add a timer to that to prevent all those thing from turning off if you sat on the bed for a min?
@@MatSmithLondon I think if you put the load sensor under the feet or casters you'll be right.
Was just thinking the same myself. Here is a tidy thingyverse design to print out to mount the sensors - www.thingiverse.com/thing:4213002
@@MatSmithLondon I think it would. You can put sensors under the bed posts or, what I did in my case, under mattress support
Was thinking of building something like this to monitor stock levels in a business I worked in. I ripped apart a digital kitchen scales and saw most of the ingredients you used, but was working with arduino at the time and hit a wall with my abilities. I think I might give it another go now.
Looks like an awesome project! I can't wait to make my own for my Grill. Any recommendations for power for a portable grill?
I bought the loadcells 2 weeks back to use with the esp32 and home assistant. You just made it extremely easy for me, thanks for that! I am planning to use the loadcells to detect if someone is in bed or not. My idea is that i can do a lot off automations by knowing if everybody is in bed or not.
Another great video Rob! I can see this working great on the feet of my beer fridge!
Thanks a million for this great idea! I got a pizza oven for Christmas and have been worried about running out of propane. It took a while to get everything together, but after some dupont connector challenges I finally got it all working.
I'd love if you could put together a tutorial on how to make a battery powered version for those who don't have easy access to power outside.
Thanks for video!
Thanks for the video, even though its over a year old now, it was still great inspiration! I used this method to put a scale under my dedicated beer fridge. I used ESPhome instead of Tasmota, and with a template sensor in home assistant am able to get a reasonably accurate count of 12oz beers in my fridge.
I'm starting growing hydroponic peppers soon, and something like this to monitor water reservoirs, calculate nutrition amount, etc., would be very cool.
Interesting video!
I have to you one, I hope interesting topic:
how about making air flow sensor? It will be perfect solution for ventilation control and balancing.
Very timely video, thanks! I have HA automating some humidifiers in the house, but don't want to run them dry. Been planning to set up a weight measurement system to tell when they are empty and shut them off.
For anyone using the Tasmota web installer, be sure to pick the Tasmota Sensors option from the dropdown menu (the default is Tasmota (english)).
I love watching your videos. I want to put a couple of these under my cat's food and water dishes. So when I did a search for connecting these and found your video I was super excited. Thank you for doing this video.
I have absolutely no need for this..... but I'll come up with one eventually! Better order those parts now!
I have the Tank Check sensors for my camper. When they work, they are great. The rest of the time I'm mad I spent money on them.
They also don't list long. They seem to break after about two years.
I'm measuring the weight of my bed for bed presence! Works really well.
Thanks for sharing that Daniel. Are you using the sensors in the video? I was wanting to do that too.
Great idea, I may put that together this weekend.
I used the same sensors as the ones in the video for bed presence and noticed the values drifted a fair bit over time and maybe temperature. Although my bed is on carpet, probably isn't the best surface to use load cells on. I wanted to use to it see if I could see if either my wife or I are in bed (or both) as triggers/ conditions, but had limited luck. I would be interested to see if Rob can get it to work!
Teleperiod in tasmota is limited to only 10s so if you want immediate reaction when the bed gets occupied how would you do it in tasmota ? I know esphome offers update intervals that can be set to a second or even less..
@@shawnmaker6974 not sure if I am allowed to send a link here in the comments, but there is a car seat occupancy sensor on Aliexpress that would be probably better for bed use. www.aliexpress.com/item/4000148923476.html
For use in a shared space I'd add some kind of stopper to prevent the load modules from bending past a certain point. Like someone stacking something else on top.
A couple of questions: 1) can this be done with D1Mini? 2)How did you power the NodeMCU? Did you provide constant power or battery? I do not have the option of constant power, so I am thinking about using battery power with a switch to turn on/off whenever I need to check the level. Would love to know if you have a solution for a battery-powered option.
20 Lb. Propane tanks that are exchanged at convenience stores. Walmart etc.. only have 15 lbs. Of propane.They usually say so on the label. The weight of the empty tank is stamped into the top ring / handle.
Should the 4 load cells be connected as a Wheatstone bridge in this application? I don't think so but I could be wrong. My understanding is that each foot /loadcell should be adding the load it sees to calculate the total load, not comparing the difference each foot sees with other feet. You may find it still works after calibration because of imbalances between each foot and the gain of the load cells being different, but I think it would be better to add all the loads together rather than look for differences between them.
I would think about measuring an oil tank for heating oil, but at 300 gallons, I think I need a different sort of sensor. Interesting idea anyway. Thank you for this!
The principle would be the same, but this going to have to buy much beefier load cells. More expensive, of course. I know that the thrust of jet engines in test stands are measured with the same type of load cell, but just much, much thicker. You'd need to get as decent estimate of the weight range, empty to full.
Wouldn't a float or even a distance sensor( to the top of the fuel oil) work better than trying to weigh an oil tank?
I have a commercial ultrasonic sensor that measures depth. It sends 433mhz data to a plug gauge. However I use a SDR dongle and rtl_433 on an rpi to decode the pulses and then monitor the oil level in my HA setup
@@RationalReading likely, I am not sure if the tank would work with a float, but that might be the best direction to start with. Good idea.
@@RationalReading yeah, probably. The one @freeyourinnertube describes sounds interesting
Going to have to try this on a bee hive or 10. I'm a new bee keeper and find that weight measurement can help detect honey flows without invasive hive inspections. However, all the commercial solutions are hundreds of $'s each. This project would allow me to chain across more than a single hive and build directly into the bottom boards. See several hives increase weight, honey flow started. See hives hold weight no nectar avail. Thanks for the model and sharing.
Let us know how it works out!
Did you give this a go?
Thanks for the video, Rob. I have everything I need to build a scale (since last year!). This video should work great for me. I have a Blackstone Griddle and a stand alone propane heater for the patio...and a burner for frying fish or turkeys.
Thank you Rob! I've just completed my water softener brine tank scale project for Home Assistant. I ended up using ESPHome but same result.
@Rossmatt06, would you mind sharing your template for the softener? I am starting on this as well and have an idea of where to start but no reason to reinvent the wheel.
@@CommittotheIndian Sure thing. What's the easiest way to share it with you?
I'm setting this up on our kegerator.
Let me know when you need to zero it out. I'll gladly help. :D
For a while now, I’ve thought about using something like this on our bed, living room furniture and office chairs in the hopes of getting room-to-room presence detection working. This plus actionable Alexa notifications would allow me to create some amazing automations (if we’re both detected on the loveseat in the evening, Alexa could ask if we want to watch TV). It could replace several less-than-optimal triggers and do many things automatically without requiring me to tell Alexa to do them. With 3 dogs, it’s problematic triggering automations based on motion detection, but none of them weigh nearly as much as my wife or I, so this would be great!
Loads cells are probably overkill for this purpose. These are designed to be pretty precise, and they need the amp and such. something like a membrane pressure sensor would be much easier for a simple "is somebody sitting here? yes or no." and since their resistance is in the megaohms I think you could wire them directly into an esp device and just read the analog resistance.
Great idea, I've built a similar sensor with Arduino based to measure my kegs. It's was very accurate but unfortunately the measurements drifted considerable with time. Ended up using flow meters
Load cell drift is a PITA. We have to build tare events smartly into our control systems for production, and they're calibrated with huge weights often.
Followed your video and it works a treat. I use openhab and have the weight and percentage working. Now I know when to send the wife in for a shower before me when the gas is low and she gets the cold shower.😆 Thanks for really good concise video.
Now to figure out how to make one that's outdoor rated.
This is excellent. Exactly what I need for the propane tank on my generator. Thanks!
Absolutely amazing project as always Rob. Thanks for sharing
Monitoring the litterbox.
100% one on my list. But I don't think in can run power to my letterbox. Would you want to know what the weight is in the letterbox or just you have mail?
@@robertpoynton9923 not the letterbox, but the litterbox of the cats. ;) To measure their weight and usage.
Your video might just give me the motivation to do something similar to weigh my bee hive through the season!
A few people have mentioned bee hives, sounds awesome.
How did you go? I’m going to have to weather proof this for the bee hives
to hookup Thank you so much, after fighting with combiner boards, ripped them off, and finally get it working
If you have time and you want, please think about a temp/humidity sensor that send RF433 at about 150 Mt (maybe using RFM69)
and also with a little e-Ink display.
Sleep thinks, low power etc... using 2 X 1.5 V battery.
Thanks a lot
As always, excellent video, explained clearly and simply. Thank you again Rob.
Thanks for the great video, Using this video i was able to successfully use Amazon dash smart shelf with replaced NodeMCU and HX711load amplifier, It works perfectly.
Great Video!
Please do video on dc power monitering
(Solar or battery 12-24v with 1kw-4kw
Diy power monitering with Home assistant,tasmota)
For weight sensor calibration you should have more than one calibration weight.
Like 1kg 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10kg
Or at least 1, 5 and 10 kg
Since it isn't always a linear number to the weight.
And you can make calibration weight with soda bottles filled and measured on a kitchen scale to get it within 1 gram. "Everyone" has soda bottles and a kitchen scale
This was an awesome application for a weighing scale!
I'm looking forward to create a toilet paper reserve measurement to automatically add it to the shopping list if supply is reduced. This should respect if the next day is a sunday and the stores are closed because under those circumstances I need to gather new supplies earlier ;)
Amazon just released that product this week :)
@@TheHookUp do you by chance know what I have to enter in the amazon search to find it? I was unable to find it on my own.
Dash smart shelf
@@TheHookUp Wow! So when we will see a video named "Add an Amazon Dash smart Shelf" to Home Assistant for FREE" ? :D
Haha, I did buy one.
wow. this is extremely detailed. thanks so much for showing every step of the way!
I might use this for my smart kettle, to check it is not empty before boiling the water
Rob this is excellent, thank you very much for the step by step process! I'm planning on trying this out over the weekend, I've got most of the parts already (albeit I've got an aluminum bar based load cell with strain gauges either side - so won't be following the Wheatstone bridge. Do you think I'll come across any issues (not only planning on light weights (>5kg - rating of the load cell)?? Thanks again for pulling this together, awesome that you follow the comments from the community to drive your video production!
could I make a bed sensor with the same idea?
For your next video, can you please look at building a diy led water vapor fire table?
Been wanting to make hive scales for quite some time. Have all the parts. I guess I should get to work
been waiting on this one.. thank you for all the excellent work.
i am so looking forward to making one of these... but disappointed i didn't make the cut when you linked the comments.... lol. j/k. great step by step video!
Great video! But for me it didn't work at first. My load cells have red, black, and yellow wires. I assumed the yellow was the same as the white. I followed the instructions and didn't work. I quickly guessed the issue had to do with the wires. While setting things up and testing I accidentally pulled the 3 wires from one of the load cells. I scraped off the white stuff and noticed there are 3 copper lines to solder on to.
I figured the color of the wires might change from manufacturer to manufacturer but doubt the order of the pins would change. If you pay close attention to this video, you will notice the cables order is black, red and white. On my load cells the order is red, black and yellow. Instead of looking at colors I looked at pins (1,2,3) and once connected in the right order things seem to be working now.
I would really like to see a similar video showing water flow sensors & a NodeMCU. The proposed project could be a little different and could use a Zabbix Agent and push data to a Zabbix Server.
great video, very helpfull. did you say that there was some 3d printable parts to hold the load cells??
whoops: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3287167
I dare someone to put this on their significant others side of the bed and then be brave enough to comment (or better yet have alexa comment) on their weight changes over time. :)
Like "Oh, get off me".
I can't talk as lock down restrictions makes it so much easier to nibble and add weight when working from home.
This could be a great DIY sub for Plaato Keg for beer keg measurement.
Do you think keeping it in the fridge should be a problem?
Just zero it at the fridge temp, should be fine.
@@jamess1787 I ment moisture-wise.
I am now working with a friend to model and 3D print an enclosure for it.
Thinking about adding a screen too. If you have any recommendations on that matter it'll be great, got a little lost reading too many different DIYs
@@YochaiMaytal moisture should be fine, you could always coat it with some type of galvanizing spray or clear coat... If any moisture builds up then it won't cause them to rust. Again, zero to compensate. I have never done home brew: so not sure my he-brew bro :D.
@@jamess1787 thats an interesting idea. Thanks!
Nice. Thanks for sharing Rob. 👍
Not sure how to contact you outside of here, just got the new Amazon Eero 6 with zigbee connectivity embedded. Any thoughts on how to make something cheapo similar to this but with zigbee instead of wifi? Keep up with the great content!
Thinking of using this for kegs in a keezer setup. What would be the best way to setup multiples of this setup in a small space? Would each keg/scale need its own ESP8266? Or could I connect multiple Load cell setups to one ESP8266 module, using different data ports?
Follow up: The wi fi modules run on their own right? independent of a computer or rpi? Just get their power from the micro usb?
I was wondering about the same; I have three LPG tanks and need to get the quantity in each one of them; do I need mutiple ESP8266 or is there some way they can all be hooked to the same module?
Rob seems to suggest that this is possible in response to @Adam Wood question below but does anybody have an idea HOW?
Great video, definitely going to build this project.
manual water filter, has a top and bottom tank, but if you fill the top while the bottom is full, it floods.
Great for measuring how much beer is left in my keg.
Great video.... Just roughly, what would be a safe maximum weight for these load cells to be measuring that won't damage them?
They are rated to a maximum of 50kg each, so 200kg is the theoretical maximum. I'd personally limit that to around 100kg for sustained loads. If you want you can add more load cells to the wheatstone bridge and each one will add an additional 50kg of maximum weight.
I've got a set of 50kg load cells under my bed, with two persons and the bed the total is approx 250kg. I've had no accuracy issues or drift of weight. This setup has been running for approx 6mos with no problems!
Good to hear!
@@TheHookUp How you would add the wires to that? Say 1-5 or 1-6 load cells. (Great video by the way)
I guess if you put it on the bed you could figure out who is in it and how fat they are getting over time.
Hi Rob, thanks for all your helpful videos. I'm wondering if you can help me modify the code here for a specific purpose. My situation is I use a reverse osmosis filter to periodically fill a countertop water vessel. I have a solenoid connected to a tasmota that can cut off the water based on time elapsed, but would love to see it measure the container and fill it to the top, regardless of starting volume. The final mass will always be the same. Others might find this useful too. Many thanks in advance!
I would think salt in the water softener would also be a use if not already mentioned.
This is exactly what I want to use it for but have to figure out how to implement it.
@@TheAlexd51 or @fanofsteel, either of you figure out how to implement for a water softener? I have some ideas but haven't started yet so no reason to reinvent the wheel.
Great video! Opens up many posibilities. Thank you!
I think if you use a separate power supply for the hx711 would help reducing noise. Just by using a dc dc step down.
This is outstanding!!!
Compared to arduino, that tazmosmth seemed to me a bit cumbersome. One thing is that it is definitely more home assistant friendly.
Genius! Fantastic idea. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you again Rob. This is awesome!
I’ve had a lot of headaches over the years with Hx711s. Always very noise sensitive, and would randomly die requiring a hard power cycle. Probably just my environment.
ive been seeing things about propane delivery service. I wonder if you could have it automatically set up an order when your tank gets too low for too long. That would be pretty slick.
Most of those services offer a monitor for that exact reason, but they are pretty pricey.
Should check out 'wire wrapping' instead of crimping terminals.
How about a way to measure water levels in a farm tank, diesel in a level in a yacht, tide levels on an island. Using either a pressure or float?
Wow Rob, this is awesome, thank you 🙏
Awsome. Does tazmota have a deep sleep mode so I can run stuff an 18650 cell? I'd love to to this and moisture sensors for my place.
Great Video, i´d like to know if it is possible to run this project under a battery, sleeping and waking up from time to time to check the weight of the tank, saving battery, Thanks in advance
Thanks, great video, any possibility you could do one for a battery operated sensor?
That was amazing! Nice job!
Could be useful for a self-converted camper van fresh water or gray water tank.
I would like to see the 3dprinted options you were talking about.
Great video Rob!
Great video i have a question, How long the sensors last?
Is this setup suggested for heavier loads, like 30-60lbs? Need to track the dog food bin!
I plan on using this guide to build a scale for my beehives. This will be a great tool, just need to do some gram to lb conversion. Any tips on powering the NodeMCU in a remote location? I have not had luck with batteries and solar.
Yeah, batteries and solar have not been my friend either.
Not sure this helps but I have a little success with 18650 batteries. I can get about 3-4 days off a couple of them powering a d1 mini running tasmota with a temperature sensor(ds18b20).
Amazing video, thanks for sharing this!
Great Video. Would there be some way to see this weight over Bluetooth instead of Wifi? Or maybe better on a small screen. Was trying to come up with a way to do this an RV.
I found this type of setup has too much temperature drift to accurately measure anything long term. Not sure if the amplifier drift or it's the temperature drift that strain gauges experienced (although they should all thermally change the same so not so sure). Short term where it zeroes every use would have been fine.
I remember seeing a video about a bed pressure sensor, but I can't find it, is this a better approach to sense occupancy ? if you can share the link to the other video showing the bed sensor that would really help. thank you, great content