Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Darlington phototransistor and twisted pair up to an LED+resistor indoors.
Duct tape in place. If visibility at the softener is required, specify
translucent or transparent duct tape. ;-)

Tim

--
Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk.
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

"Jim Thompson" wrote in
message ...
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:22:16 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson

Install a light operated wall switch into a box or fixture, and place
it in front of the LED. When it fires, the switch will as well. Then you
power whatever warning indicator you are happy with from that. An IR
switch might work as well.

"Jim Thompson" wrote
in message ...
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson


Flexible Light pipe?
http://www.mouser.com/vccflx/

Cheers

Jim Thompson wrote:

Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson
Get a pair of those cheap FRS units and use a PD into a switch
circuit to key the radio. You can put the other radio on standby
else where in the house.

It's just about the cheapest ready made method I can think of,
especially when many of those units have courtesy beeps in them, along
with several channels.


Jamie

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:49:39 -0400, "Martin Riddle"
wrote:


"Jim Thompson" wrote
in message ...
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson


Flexible Light pipe?
http://www.mouser.com/vccflx/

Cheers



Super! That'll work perfectly. The closet backs up to the hallway
where I set the alarm every evening. So I'll just drill thru.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, CTO | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On 4/17/2012 8:22 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson

LED triggers ultrasonic transducer connected to water pipe, triggers
ultrasonic receiver connected to convenient water faucet in house. No
need to use RF or run wires.

If you want to get fancy, and it gets hot in the garage, you could use
an energy-harvesting IC to charge the transducer's supply from the
pipe-to-ambient thermal gradient.

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message
...

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:49:39 -0400, "Martin Riddle"
wrote:

Flexible Light pipe?
http://www.mouser.com/vccflx/

Super! That'll work perfectly. The closet backs up to the
hallway where I set the alarm every evening. So I'll just drill thru.

If you need something longer than 12", try some Lucite rods. About $2 for
1/4" diameter and 6 feet long. Quite flexible, too.
http://www.mcmaster.com/#acrylic-rods/=h5igw8

Paul

Jim Thompson wrote:
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Ya need one of them refrigerator alarms that
speaks when the light goes on.

'Course that disembodied voice at oh dark thirty
in the morning intoning "Refill the Water Softener!"
might be a little creepy.

--Winston -- Mr. Helpful

On 4/17/2012 5:22 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson

I can remember a day, back before I had time on my hands, that I'd just
put a reminder on the calendar to go check on stuff that used
consumables. but I do love my gadgets...

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:22:16 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson

Small mouse cage located against side of softener, mouse is
conditioned to look for food when light blinks and runs into a pipe
into the house, reaches the end of the pipe launches into space and
lands on a lever with fulcrum that sends a small steel ball up to ring
a bell.

No need to get all Rube Goldberg about it... Keep it simple.

default wrote:

Small mouse cage located against side of softener, mouse is
conditioned to look for food when light blinks and runs into a pipe
into the house, reaches the end of the pipe launches into space and
lands on a lever with fulcrum that sends a small steel ball up to ring
a bell.

No need to get all Rube Goldberg about it... Keep it simple.


That would be at the 'Whyle Coyote' level.


--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.

default wrote:

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:22:16 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson

Small mouse cage located against side of softener, mouse is
conditioned to look for food when light blinks and runs into a pipe
into the house, reaches the end of the pipe launches into space and
lands on a lever with fulcrum that sends a small steel ball up to ring
a bell.

No need to get all Rube Goldberg about it... Keep it simple.

If a higher amplitude signal is needed, you could position an elephant near
the end of the mouse's pipe. When the elephant runs through your living
room, scared out of its wits, you'll know its time to perform the needed
maintenance.

There is the possibility of false signals as the November general elections
near and more elephants start running scared.

--
Paul Hovnanian
------------------------------------------------------------------
Just say 'No' to Windows.
-- Department of Defenestration.

Jim Thompson wrote:


Flexible Light pipe?
http://www.mouser.com/vccflx/

Cheers



Super! That'll work perfectly. The closet backs up to the hallway
where I set the alarm every evening. So I'll just drill thru.

...Jim Thompson
Well! Sometimes even a non-electronic solution will do the job!
How about that!

Jon

"Jim Thompson" wrote in
message ...
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.


Weather station desk clock with radio outside temperature sender.

Crack the sender open & replace the thermistor with LDR.

Optical fibre...?

Let's say your garage adjoins the house. Feed the fibre in to the
kitchen. The blinking light would not be visible in daylight, but when
you switch the kitchen light off at night you would see the blinking
glow from the fibre.

No batteries, software etc needed.

On 18/04/12 01:22, Jim Thompson wrote:
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson