1970-01-01 20 hours ago

I thought the same thing. A very small float switch would work here. Somewhere between the radiator and the bumper. Fording depth is different for every vehicle.

▲ NetMageSCW 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

By the time that triggers it is probably too late.

	▲	1970-01-01 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Time is a direct function of volume of water. A thimble size would fill in less than a second.

▲ esseph 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Going to move up and down with every bump and pothole

▲ adrianmonk 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Have a rod that pivots in its center and has objects of equal mass at each end, like a balanced seesaw. But make one of the objects very low density (less than water) and other high density.

Since the densities differ, water will cause the rod to rotate. But since the masses are the same, bumps will create no net torque around the pivot point and thus no rotation.

ASCII art diagram:

    F------(x)------C

    (x): pivot point
    F: float
    C: counterbalance

Also include a small spring to keep the float in the down position.

I'm sure there are other ways like sensing the electrical resistance of the water.

Or just let the float sensor bounce. It's underwater when it stops bouncing and is continuously in the up position.

▲

esseph 5 hours ago | parent [-]

> Or just let the float sensor bounce. It's underwater when it stops bouncing and is continuously in the up position.

Road grime, break dust, grease, grit, etc will contaminate the shaft and make it stick, potentially telling you that youre:

A) Never in water

B) Always in 2.5" of water because the sensor is stuck.

	▲	aitchnyu 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I surrender my speedometer ceremony for the wade sensor. Instead of a motor sweeping the speedometer from 0 to 200 on startup, put the motor to sweep the wade sensor.