Garden irrigation system: Rain barrel, Solenoid valve, ESP8266 (Wemos D1 mini)

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The D1-mini receives the command via Node-RED and MQTT to open the magnetic valve. In addition, the microcontroller sends back the information at regular intervals which soil moisture the capacitive moisture sensor is currently reporting. The water hoses are the Gardena Micro-Drip system. However, I printed some of the end drippers myself with my 3D printer. You can find the 3D-files here: www.thingivers...
The water pressure is sufficient to make the rain barrel almost completely empty. However, this is only possible because I used a solenoid valve that works even at 0 bar.

[@paolozovic3869]

Hello. What is the type of the solenoid valve you are using?

[@MakerMeik]

I use the "U.S. Solid 3/4" G 12 V DC". That was available for about 35 EUR at the time. In the meantime, it seems to have become more expensive. By the way, it must not be activated for a couple of hours, because it could get hot. www.amazon.de/dp/B00DQ24GS6/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_FQQ3GKY5HYNH81N140XD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

[@superbarne]

hi awesome project! Wich soil moisture do you use? The one i habe tried, are not as good. But yours seem to function good, acording to the graph.

[@MakerMeik]

Hi, I use the "Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor V1.2" like this one: ebay.us/aqgftX I have several here in use and made very good experiences with it. It is recommended to paint the sensors with varnish spray before use, so that especially at the side no moisture penetrates into the PCB. After painting, I packed the electronics in a mini case from Thingiverse and additionally filled it with silicone. My sensor is now over a year in use, still works and still looks good.

[@raptorpome2577]

Hello I have looked at a couple of your projects they look very good can you please tell me the make and model of your 3D printer and does it have a heated bed .. plus this is a very quick video can you please do a more in-depth one explaining their sensors and how to purchase them and program this setup ... I would love to do a smart green house ... Cheers for the video's

[@MakerMeik]

Thanks for your feedback. I use a very old Anet A8, but this particular model is no longer available for purchase. In the meantime, however, I have exchanged and optimized so many parts on it that you can hardly speak of an Anet A8. But yes, it does have a heated bed. With most affordable 3D printers, you're going to have to compromise. I made mine more stable and quieter, first and foremost. You can get the stability by bracing the frame, of course. To get it quiet you need silent stepper drivers. Since it was not possible to change the stepper drivers on the original mainboard, I changed the whole board to a BigTreeTech SKR 1.4 Turbo. Maybe one day I will make a more detailed video about my irrigation system, at the moment other projects have priority. But the control system is relatively simple: In the housing, which I had not come up in at the quick, is a Wemos D1 Mini, which I have extended with an external WiFi antenna. Furthermore, the soil moisture sensor is connected there, which regularly reports the current moisture via MQTT to Node-RED. Additionally, the solenoid valve of the rain barrel is connected to the microcontroller. Via Node-RED I open the solenoid valve 1x daily in the evening, but only if the soil is dry enough. Otherwise, mushrooms grow on cool or rainy days when the soil is too moist. If you know the basics of how to program a D1 mini and you already have Node-Red and Mosquitto running, e.g. on a Raspberry Pi, then the setup should be quite simple. If that doesn't mean anything to you, I can only advise you to watch some tutorials about it, because it's easier than it seems at first.