Alternative to Aeon Labs DSB45?

Hi guys,

currently I use the DSB45 water sensor to control the water level at my pond. I have chosen this specific device because it can also monitor the absence of water, not only if water is present.

I use this device to monitor if water is present and if the water level is too low, the DSB45 will trigger an action and switch off the pump.
So far, so good.
Unfortunately, the device seems to be somewhat unreliable. After a few hours of operation, and when pulling the probe out of the water, it still reports "Water present", until I manually "dry up" up the probe...
I guess this is not how it should works...
So it could be a defective sensor device and I will return it.

But before I order another one: do you guys have any recommendation for alternatives, which are known to be reliable?
As mentioned earlier, the feature of choice is to report the absence of water.

Side question: I also plant to measure the water temperature in my pond. Is there any device you could recommend?
It doesn't have to be waterproof since I have a case to place the devices and protect them from weather.

Thanks!

Guido

I have not used this device myself, but it looks promising. It's not plug and play, but it looks to be a perfect solution for measuring liquid levels.

http://www.vegetronix.com/Products/AquaPlumb/

I have this on my list to measure groundwater under my foundation.

Dave, thanks for the reply!

Interesting solution, this looks rely sophisticated. But I will give the Aeon Labs another try, since this is a bit easier to implement.

Quick update on the water temperature topic: I have a working solution now using the Fibaro FGBS binary sensor and two waterproof DS18B20 sensor probes. One probe measures the temperature on the surface, the other one measuring the temp at the bottom of the pond....

Guido

Dave, thanks for the reply!

Interesting solution, this looks rely sophisticated. But I will give the Aeon Labs another try, since this is a bit easier to implement.

Quick update on the water temperature topic: I have a working solution now using the Fibaro FGBS binary sensor and two waterproof DS18B20 sensor probes. One probe measures the temperature on the surface, the other one measuring the temp at the bottom of the pond....

Guido

You're most welcome.

To be clear, I haven't actually done this. It's on my list for future enhancements.