Introduction

The Water Flow sensor measures the rate of a liquid flowing through it. The YF-S401 water flow sensor consists of a plastic valve body, flow rotor and hall effect sensor. It is usually used at the inlet end to detect the amount of flow. When liquid flows through the sensor, a magnetic rotor will rotate and the rate of rotation will vary with the rate of flow. The hall effect sensor will then output a pulse width signal. Connect it to a microcontroller and you can monitor multiple devices such as your coffee maker, sprinkler or anything else, and control the water flow rate to suit your needs!

• A 6 mm hose is recommended
• Avoid unit contact with corrosive chemicals
• The unit must be installed vertically, tilted no more than 5 degrees
• Liquid temperature should be less than 120 C to avoid damage to unit

Specification

• Inner Diameter: 4 mm
• Outside diameter: 7 mm
• Proof Water Pressure: <0.8 MPa
• Water Flow Range: 0.3-6 L/min
• Voltage Range: 5~12 V
• Operating Current: 15 mA (DC 5V)
• Insulation Resistance: >100 MΩ
• Accuracy: ±5% (0.3-3L/min)
• The Output Pulse High Level: >4.5 VDC (DC input voltage 5 V)
• The Output Pulse Low Level: <0.5 VDC (DC input voltage 5 V)
• Output Pulse Duty Ratio: 50% ± 10%
• Water-flow Formula: 1L = 5880 square waves
• Working Humidity Range: 35% ~ 90% RH (no frost)
• Dimension: 58*35*26 mm/2.28*1.37*1.02 inches
• Weight: 30g

Board Overview

Pulse Signal

Tutorial

In this Tutorial, we'll measure liquid flow using this sensor.

Requirements

• Hardware

  • DFRduino UNO R3
  • Water flow sensor
  • Jumper Wires

• Software

  • Arduino IDE, Click to Download Arduino IDE from Arduino®

Connection Diagram

Sample Code

/*!
 * @file  SEN0216.ino
 * @brief  This example reads Water flow sensor Sensor.
 * @copyright  Copyright (c) 2010 DFRobot Co.Ltd (http://www.dfrobot.com)
 * @license  The MIT License (MIT)
 * @author  berinie Chen <bernie.chen@dfrobot.com>
 * @version  V1.0
 * @date  2016-3-13
 */

/***********Notice and Trouble shooting***************
  1.This code is tested on Arduino Uno.
 ****************************************************/

volatile double waterFlow;

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);  //baudrate
  waterFlow = 0;
  attachInterrupt(0, pulse, RISING);  //DIGITAL Pin 2: Interrupt 0
}

void loop()
{
  Serial.print("waterFlow:");
  Serial.print(waterFlow);
  Serial.println("   L");
  delay(500);
}

void pulse()   //measure the quantity of square wave
{
  waterFlow += 1.0 / 5880.0;
}

FAQ

More Documentation

CAD File