Low water flow indicator/tell tale

prusaprinters

<p>I hand drilled my own bore and works great but the flow rate is very low (6 litres per min at best). &nbsp;This accumulated into a large tank which then feeds the house, reticulation etc. &nbsp; Since the flow rate is very low and the consumption is sometimes similar, especially over a full day, &nbsp;its hard to know if the bore is working or not.</p><p>This is super simple visual indicator to show if its working. &nbsp;It is based on two 600ml PET containers (water and Coca Cola was what I tried). &nbsp; Everything is press fit together however you will need to silicon the seal between the two bottles if you need full water tight. &nbsp;Will also need a couple of M3 x 15mm screws for outer clamp (I tried a press fit outer but it was too hard to get alignment with inner core)</p><p>It relies on 25mm Black Poly pipe (dirt cheap for reticulation) fits perfectly inside almost any standard PET bottle. &nbsp;(Weird as the ID of a standard bottle is 21.6mm or so..it fits though…..)</p><p>History: I had built a different indicator with a horizontal axle but after a few weeks it seized up. &nbsp;It was hard to service.&nbsp;</p><p>This indicator is super cheap and visible plus easy to clean.</p><p>I've included 2 turbines, one for low flow and one for higher flow. &nbsp; The idea is to mount this vertically and the flow pushes the turbine upwards reducing friction. &nbsp;</p><p>Depending on your application you can add more turbines to reduce operating flow rate and or add 6mm washers to add more weight.</p><p>Normally you can get perfect seal without need for silicon, if you do have a leak, push the barb end towards bottle mouth and this almost always fixes any leak. &nbsp; However if still leaking, put a very thin coating of silicon on the poly pipe before inserting into bottle.</p><p>Short video of indicator in action with my bore&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://youtu.be/E9s1qqtAwk4"></oembed></figure><p>You can see how I drilled the bore to around 18m here&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://youtu.be/-GnhEbxc7sQ"></oembed></figure><p>and another 4m into the water sand here&nbsp;</p><figure class="media"><oembed url="https://youtu.be/UYcrv9wWuAo"></oembed></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>PS, Hopefully its obvious you need to print two axles but there is no need to glue together&nbsp;</p>