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Field Testing

A project log for Solar Solenoid Controller - WellWatch

Welcome to the most painfully niche thing I've created.

jesse-farrellJesse Farrell • 06/29/2026 at 19:35•0 Comments

It's been a month or so since deploying the first unit in the field. So far it's been relatively uneventful, save one issue that cropped up in the first week (described below).

I'm pleased to report that the well hasn't flooded, or run dry, once. The new valve (compared to the MVP) barely limits the flow, so it generally can keep up to the depletion rate of the water going to the various fields.

The one issue I did have was with the cheap SP11 connectors I used. These connectors immediately leaked and caused the float switch sense circuit to detect an invalid state (both logic high). I've added it as an errata item for the REV01 PCBA, I have some tricks to avoid this issue in the future, but really, I just shouldn't use such a cheap connector.

At the end of the growing season, I'll be bringing this unit back to the lab to see how bad the carnage is. For future growing seasons I'll likely conformally coat the PCBA.

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