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Circuit diagram:
Parts:
R1________________470R 1/4W Resistor
R2,R5______________10K 1/4W Resistors
R3,R6_____________220K 1/4W Resistors
R4__________________5K 1/2W Trimmer Cermet
R7________________680R 1/4W Resistor
R8__________________2K2 1/4W Resistor
R9,R10,R11,R12,R13__1K 1/4W Resistors
Device purpose:
This circuit was designed to detect the approximate percentage of salt contained in a
liquid. After careful setting it can be useful to persons needing a quick, rough indication
of the salt content in liquid foods for diet purposes etc.
Circuit operation:
IC1A op-amp is wired as a DC differential amplifier and its output voltage increases as
the DC resistance measured across the probes decreases. In fact, fresh water has a
relatively high DC resistance value that will decrease proportionally as an increasing
amount of salt is added.
IC1B, IC1C and IC1D are wired as comparators and drive D5, D4 and D3 in turn, as the
voltage at their inverting inputs increases. Therefore, no LED will be on when the salt
content of the liquid under test is very low, yellow LED D5 will illuminate when the salt
content is low, green LED D4 will illuminate if the salt content is normal and red LED
D3 will illuminate if the salt content is high.
D1 and D2 are always on, as their purpose is to provide two reference voltages, thus
improving circuit precision. At D2 anode a stable 3.2V supply feeds the non-inverting
inputs of the comparators by means of the reference resistor chain R8, R9 and R10. The
1.6V reference voltage available at D1 anode feeds the probes and the set-up trimmer R4.
One of these two red LEDs may be used as a pilot light to show when the device is on.
Probes:
It was found by experiment that a good and cheap probe can be made using a 6.3mm.
mono jack plug. The two plug leads are connected to the circuit input by means of a two-
wire cable (a piece of screened cable works fine).
The metal body of the jack is formed by two parts of different length, separated by a
black plastic ring. You should try to cover the longest part with insulating tape in order to
obtain an exposed metal surface of the same length of the tip part, i.e. about 8 to 10mm.
starting from the black plastic ring.
In the prototype, three tablespoons of liquid were poured into a cylindrical plastic cap of
55mm. height and 27mm. diameter, then the metal part of the jack probe was immersed
in the liquid.
Notes: