Best Liquid Level Sensors
Note: because the current that the switch can carry is much little(0.5A), you must use a relay or contactor when it is connected by a load, relay or contactor are not included here. Max Switching Voltage : 220V DC/AC;Max Switching Current : 1.5A;Max Breakdown Voltage : 300V DC/AC;Max Carry Current : 3A.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The nice thing is, I can siphon 2 gallons of water out of the aquarium every day or two in like 2 minutes and it automatically refills to the correct level without ever carrying water to the tank."
"Arrived exactly as one would expect from the description."
"Worked great for my hydroponic tanks."
"Nice and cheep the way I like it."
"Tank full moves float to threaded end, opening switch for open circuit."
"The floats worked."
This mounting bracket is designed for 1/4" NPT, 3/8" NPT and 1/2" NPT piggybacks and regulators and can be securely mounted to surface through holes on L shaped bracket.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Makes the Milton regulator/filter combo much easier to mount."
"Good quality, works well."
"Works good, fast shipping."
"It is what it is, it should be half the cost but it saved me the time of trying to fab something."
Gems Polypropylene float single point level switch with type 3 internal mounting. Switch operation: Depending on the mounting position, the float on these switches can rise or lower with the liquid level. By rotating the switch 180 degree, the switch operation can be Normally Open or Normally Closed.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I attempted to use this for a small 10W water pump and it immediately failed."
"It's a gem!"
Best Linear Sensors
The device is a low cost, compact and easy to use encoder based cable-extension transducer. Linear guide system, the direct determination of the guide element, such as: the length limit, gantry cranes, level measurement. Hydraulic system, with the piston-oriented systems or hydraulic cylinder, the displacement sensor deflection of these devices to collect data. Scalable systems, such as presses, lifts, bending machine, bending machine. Chains, cranes and cable winch to adjust, such as forklifts, stage equipment, lifts and cranes device. Calibration function: Set 9 calibration points, in order to achieve linear differential fill feature. Ratio can be set, determines the ratio between input signal and displayed value.
Find Best Price at AmazonBest Optical Sensors
CEILING OCCUPANCY SENSOR uses passive infrared technology, PIR motion sensor to automatically turn ON/OFF lights. This motion sensor features a bright LED indicator when the sensor senses motion.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"VACANCY DISABLED: The sensor detects motion > lights turns on > new motion reset timer, timer runs out > lights turns off; while lights are on, the momentary switch will turn lights off and on as many times as you want until timer runs out."
"I brought this to replace the Leviton's ODC0S-I1W (turns into a piece of junk, turn on when there is no motion only after 3 months of use)."
"My sensor is at the 8 ft level from the ground, and above the parked car in the garage."
"Also includes tape pieces to mask from detecting unnecessary movment."
"I'm happy with motion sensor coverage and speed of lighting when the control is tripped."
"This ceiling mounted infrared motion sensor works as described and is well made."
"purchased 3 dozen for my warehouse project."
"I have to literally reach up and touch the unit before the light will come on; and then it stays on constantly unless I reach up and cover up the sensor (it's in 15 second/"test" mode)."
Best Tilt Sensors
Mini Pan and Tilt Kit with 2 Servos The kit includes brackets, two miniature servos and all the nuts, bolts etc.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I had to purchase another servo to replace it. Assemble the bottom (horizontal) servo first and then work on the top (vertical) servo."
"A little flimsy but ok for the money."
"The Assembly was easy, except 3 screw heads twisted off with very little torque (and they were a chore to remove), but after getting it assembled, I found that it was just too tall and rickety for my taste."
"The screws break with a very little torque, there must be a better screws for this."
"The screws break when putting this together.."
Best Current Sensors
Specification: • DC Voltage Range and Accuracy: 6V/60V/600V ±(0.5%+3). • AC Voltage Range and Accuracy: 6V/60V/600V ±(0.8%+5). • AC Current Range and Accuracy: 6A/60A/600A ±(2.5%+8), 400A-600A ±(3.0%+10). • Resistance Range and Accuracy: 6K/60K/600K/6M/60M ±(0.8%+3). • Capacitance Range and Accuracy: 600uf/6000uf ±(4.0%+3). • Temperature Range and Accuracy: -20~1000℃（-4~1832℉) ±(1.0%+2). • Max Display Value: 5999 digits. • Sampling Rate: approximately 3 times per second. • Automatic Shut-down Time: 10 minutes. ▲CONTINUITY TEST & OVER LOAD PROTECTION - Use the PTC protection circuit for Resistance, continuity sensor confirms that the circuit conducts electricity, and frequency measurement. ▲TRMS 6000 COUNTS MEASURING - Auto Ranging accurate measures AC current to 600 A, AC and DC voltage to 600V, and resistance to 6000Ω, Temperature, Continuity and Capacitance.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's main feature is the current measurements possible, without having to disconnect wires/connectors to measure current. You really should buy a "wire separator" thing, to use with your measurements."
"Nice compact, home use meter!"
"This was a five star product till it started freezing in the 'ON' position and will only reset by removing and replacing the batteries."
"In this case I needed a device to check mill-volts (mv) being produce to my pool heater pilot-light (yes it's an old heater)."
"So I replaced them with silicone jacketed test lead wires and it is purfect."
"I’m not a professional electrician, I just wanted something I could use for small DIY projects at home."
"it looks good."
"NCV is completely inaccurate and cant even pick up single phase without touching and positioning just so, defeating the purpose."
Best Flow Sensors
It is ideal for corridors, workshops, basements, indoor garages, stairwells, doorways, closets, and other dark places in your home and shed. Specifications: - Sensitivity: 3 meter Distance. - Sensor Range: 100 degrees. - Light color: Pure White. - LED life: 50,000 hours or more. - Size: 5.9" x 4.3" (L x W). - Material: Aluminum + ABS. - Light weight: 205g/7.0oz. EASY INSTALLATION: The led wall light can be mounted to any wall, simple installation, you can install it with the adhesive tape or mounting screws,no wire required.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is the best little light. The motion sensor picks up any movement from as far away as 4 feet and the light it nice and bright."
"I've placed them in hallways and closets to provide light where none is available or where the light switch is inconveniently placed."
"It works for me as a closet light."
"I bought this for my Father who is in 70's and sometimes wanders in the night when he sleeps or has problems navigating around to find the light. In an effort to avoid any accidents I thought this motion sensor light would do the trick and WOW am I impressed. Overall I would easily recommend this product especially for elders so they can navigate better in the night or to avoid them getting disorientated searching for a light. Notes: Worth The Money: Yes (I may end up buying a few more of these to light up the hallway and stairwell). Would I Recommend It: Yes (easily)."
"My first one I had ordered malfunctioned but the seller informed me that this issue was a very rare occurrence, they sent me a replacement free of charge and the new one seems to be working excellent."
"If its really dark and a large hallway or far away from where you want light, you may want a second one. Pros. - Sharp looking. - Inexpensive. - Well reviewed on Amazon. - No set up and come with the sticky parts ( but I bought command strips at the door for extra stick to the wall). I do not have any cons for this product."
"Bought two, want more. PROS: Great for when you don't need a constant/regular light on."
"My hallway is rather long with a light switch at only one end, so I needed something that would give me light enough to make it to the bedroom after turning off the house lights."
Best Proximity Sensors
Energy Efficiency: The motion sensor light switch automatically turns ON/OFF based on room occupancy, avoiding the waste of energy from leaving the lights/motors on when nobody is in the room, including bathroom, closet, hallway, and office. Operating modes: • Occupancy Mode: Light switch sensor will automatically turn on the lights when you enter a room and automatically turn off after the room is vacant, making it especially convenient when entering a room with your hands full. • Vacancy Mode: Requires manually turning the light on and automatically turns the light off when the room is vacant. NEUTRAL WIRE REQUIRED, 1,200 square feet coverage, 180 Degree View; 120VAC, 500W Incandescent, Halogen, Fluorescent, LED, CFL, Works with all bulb types.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Here are some results: Aeon Labs micro switch: 13 mA. Aeon Labs plug adapter: 15 mA. GE Smart Switch: 16 mA. GE Smart Dimmer: 19 mA. TopGreeener TDOS5 (this switch): 37 mA. (hmm... it would seem I've outed myself as slightly OCD at this point). Now, instead of converting everything to power/energy and talking about the estimated cost to power the idle switch, I'll just make a few comparisons based solely on current draw (all devices share the same voltage and $/kWh, so this will be apples to apples). that means installing this switch will become the equivalent of leaving the light ON 12 hours a day, every day! This is worth restating; even if you NEVER turn the lights on, this switch will consume just as much power as if you left the light ON for half of every day, or 4,380 hours per year. So, if you would have only used the light for a few hours per month, installing this switch will drastically increase that circuits energy consumption. So, in a 24 hour period, this switch will consume about 30% more energy than the fan would if it were left ON for an hour."
"The switch was easy to install, and easy to adjust the timer settings."
"I put one in my infant sons room and even when I turned the sensitivity way down, every time he would stand up In his crib, the light would come on. I love them in the laundry room, office and closets as I usually have stuff in my hands when entering these rooms and it keeps me from having to flip a switch."
"I tried my kids bedroom, but uninstalled it due to it going off every time they moved at night."
"The lights go on when I walk in the room and turn back off automatically after I leave.I"m using the ones that require a ground wire, but my guess is the ones needing a neutral wire work just as well."
"Originally the light stayed on too long, and adjusted the other way and the light wasn't consistent coming on so I found a spot in the middle where it stays on 3-5 minutes after being tripped. Without this we would have to turn the light on and off manually."
"Light goes out while you are standing 3 feet away working."
"So what happens is if the door is left open and someone walks by the door, their movement is detected by the switch and turns the light on."
Best Hall Effect Sensors
Good Quality Chips Directly From Factory.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"They are reasonably robust with a wide input voltage range and current drive capability. The seller was punished for previous buyer's inability to find available technical information, select the correct parts, read the data sheet, understand the device operation, and build the correct test circuit."
"Used these with an arduino uno to build an RPM counter for a homemade bicycle computer."
"Wasn't sure this was going to work for our project but after using reed switches and finding them less than reliable I took a shot."
"These sensors stop working at a voltage level well above the level where I would otherwise need to replace my batteries."
"works great in my self built gauss meter."
"Work exactly as advertised."
"Received 2 sets of this item... both sets proved to be bad.. We were sent an item with the tag '177 7Jc', not the expected A3144."
Best Vibration Sensors
5x SW-520D Roller Ball Tilt Switch The Brass Case is sealed in Shrink Tubing to Avoid Short Circuits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"They work as intended."
"Works as intended."
"Two switches at 90 degrees from each other would be very sensitive to movement. The seem to work well with a little tilt of the case showing the inside balls making the contact to complete the circuit."
Best Acceleration Sensors
Features: Two selectable differential input channels. On-chip active low noise PGA with selectable gain of 3264 and 128. On-chip power supply regulator for load-cell and ADC analog power supply. On-chip oscillator requiring no external component with optional external crystal. On-chip power-on-reset. Simple digital control and serial interface: pin-driven controlsno programming needed. Selectable 10SPS or 80SPS output data rate. Simultaneous 50 and 60Hz supply rejection. Current consumption including on-chip analog power supply regulator: normal operation < 1.5mApower down < 1uA. Operation supply voltage range: 2.6 ~ 5.5V. Operating Temperature Range:-20 degree ~ +85 degree. HX711 Weighing Sensors AD Module for Arduino Microcontroller.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"All I had to do was connect a dummy gauge and it worked perfectly."
"Worked as advertised."
"Building a scale Love them."
"Worked great with Arduino Uno and four load sensors from an old bathroom scale."
"These modules help me with teaching."
"It worked well as expected."
"Neatly soldered, well packaged, does what it does."
"Hacked an Arduino and this board in and had some fun."
Best Photoelectric Sensors
The Westek Swivel Mount Light Control offers a measure of safety, security and convenience by automatically turning your light on at dusk and off at dawn. Operates incandescent, fluorescent, LED, metal halide, mercury vapor and sodium fixtures.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The original installation was done using permanent crimp style junctions rather than wire nuts so I decided that it would be wiser to clip the leads from the old photo controllers and then wire the new controllers in using butt style connectors. Since this is an outdoor application and I didn't want to have the connections get corroded, I decided to use high quality heat shrink butt connectors by Choice Marine Products (https://www.amazon.com/180pc-Premium-Marine-Shrink-Connectors/dp/B01INRLLLI) to make the connections. After just three crimps and a little heat to shrink the waterproof insulation, my lights were back to coming on only when the day gets dim."
"Consistently detects sunset/sunrise changeovers, with no errors on cloudy or overcast days. I spent about $2.50 to get a short piece of PVC electrical tubing, an elbow, and C-clamp. With the sensor being grey and tubular itself, it blends in nicely on the side of the building."
"I installed it on my detatched garage to turn on the exterior lights on the driveway-facing side at dusk."
"I bought this because I did not want to replace the light or for that matter be 25' up and that close to live power lines. I installed this in the junction box at the base of the pole which is between two buildings, so not in direct sunlight most of the day."
"It barely penetrated the fixture's case so it was impossible to use the washer and nut to seal and align the unit. (Hint: by applying just the right amount of Teflon thread tape I was able to get a watertight fit with the photocell properly aligned.)."
"Sensor might provide "dusk to dawn" switching if used on planet Mercury, but for those who plan to use it on Earth, I'd advise selecting a different type (such as Woods 59413WD, which was not available when I purchased these devices). Note, I purchased two, and they behave the same, so the sensitivity issue isn't just a random defect."
Best Pressure Probes & Sensors
The angled tips shown have 4" insertion depth. A-305 is used where a very low actuation or sensing point is required on a pressure switch or gage or where response time is critical.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As advertised they will do the job!"
"Work like they're supposed too."
"Great for metal ductwork just wish the holes were little bit bigger."
"Works fine, Not sure what else can be expected."
"Product better than described."
Best Temperature Probes & Sensors
Cut down on wasteful spending with the help of the Thermal Leak Detector from Black and Decker .The TLD100 is an infrared sensor that finds these leaks along walls, molding, ductwork and more. The Black & Decker thermal leak detector helps you increase the efficiency of your home's insulation by finding leaky areas that can lead to higher heating and cooling bills. Easy-to-Read Color Coding and Screen The thermal leak detector makes it easy to monitor your home's energy efficiency by finding areas that let heat out and cold air in. Cut Energy Bills and Improve Your Home's Efficiency Sealing the leaks and improving insulation in your home can help you save as much as 20 percent on your heating and cooling bills. Sold with a 5-step guide to fixing basic energy leaks and comes with the thermal leak detector.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In fact, I am adding a photo from a $250 thermal camera that works with an iPhone 5 to show an example of insulation failure on a high wall in my house that I would have zero chance of finding with the Black and Decker."
"An affordable and very useful gadget."
"We live in our RV full-time and use this to detect where cold air is coming from."
"When I am actually making the ice cream I can use the device to see how much colder the ice cream base is getting while the mixer is turned on, you can't do that with a probe thermometer."
"I purchased this device to measure my central A/C input and output temperatures at the plenum and cooling vents around my house."
"The added color coded lights are nice for helping you quickly scan a room to find hot and cold spots."
"Myself dad and step dad has used to help insulate the basement floor boards."
"Taking a base reading such as an interior wall, and then scanning the outside walls and ceiling for temperature hot spots was very informative and interesting. The cool thing about this detector is that it changes from the base color of green, it shines at the target, to blue (cooler) to red (warmer) as the temperature changes from the set variance. Just try it around your outside interior wall outlets and switch plates."
Best Photomicrosensors
Specific parameters: Receive Range (NM) 400-1000. Current (MA) 15-20. Pin length: 25mm. Diameter: 5mm. Weight : 7g. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"You need to amplify and condition the signal from this device, but it is great for all kinds of optical sensors."
"Product as advertised and looking forward to using it in projects."
"They are photodiodes, and they have worked well."
"As described, and quick delivery. Thank you."
Best Motion Detectors
Set includes one sensor/one receiver. Sensor can detect motion up to 40 ft away. Tested through thick forestry, hail storms, gusty winds, heavy rains, scorching heat, and snow. REALISTIC RANGE- 1/4 mile long range has been tested in real world settings with trees, buildings, walls, and vehicles in order to make true and realistic wireless range claims (please note: extra heavy interference such as thick walls, metal siding, tall hills, and many trees will diminish the wireless range). We offer friendly and knowledgeable USA based tech support that will help you both before and after your purchase.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I was able to install this quickly and easily (95%of my time was spent on setting a post to mount it on, but even with the post digging and setting, the whole thing took less than 40 minutes). Install batteries, mount to a post or tree and you're done. I have no problems with reception, despite the distance from the house (several hundred feet) the fact that it is at the bottom of a steep hill and the signal has to pass through our garage to get to the house."
"As I write my review, my Guardline has been installed for two months now. Our house is another 400 feet past our gate."
"At the same distance at the Dakota, it was totally unreliable."