Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | Originally we had just a single wet holding bin. I assembled a homemade bin level indicator system made from bin level switches from Deere that are used in their combines. These bin level switches are mounted inside at different heights inside the wet bin. I used truck clearance lights for an indicator on the outside of the bin. The clearance lights are designed to withstand the weather and run on 12VDC. Basically 12V is sent to each switch inside the bin and when a switch is depressed by the corn, it sends 12VDC out a wire to the appropriate clearance light which is connected to ground. I use the battery box that I made for chemical totes inside the dryer shack for power. It contains a fairly large battery with a charger.
The bin wiring is placed inside a "tree" made of PVC conduit with branches at the height of each switch location. This protects the wiring harness. I used different colors of wire to keep the wire locations straight. The Deere sensors use a two pole Weather Pak connector so an appropriate mating connector was installed at each branch. The wiring comes out the top of the bin and leads back down through more PVC conduit. This worked well for several years.
Later when we went to a second wet holding bin, I made another indicator for it. Later yet I made a small indicator box that is wired in parallel with the outdoor indicators. This means the bin level of each bin can be checked by observing the clearance lights on the outside of each bin or inside the dryer shack on the smaller display. The smaller display is mounted near the dryer indicator screen.
We have a camera system that is pointed at the dryer indicator screen which also shows the small bin level indicator. This means we can check the status of the dryer through a phone app which is connected to the internet. This allows us to check the status of both the dryer and the bin levels of each wet bin. Our dryer screen flashes RED when it has shut down for some reason.
This means we can check the wet bin levels 3 ways. Glance at the outside clearance lights if we are outside, look at the small display if we are inside the dryer shack or use a phone via the camera.
This homemade system in no way controls anything as far as running augers etc. Those items are handled by a PLC and various switches/sensors. The homemade system is for our reference.
Here is an old picture of an outside display. Originally, I ran the wires to the switches through a sheet bolt hole that I had removed and replaced with a pipe nipple. There is now a conduit tree inside and a single conduit on the outside. Using conduit was a better way to protect the wiring. The original harness got beat up by the wind.
Edited by tedbear 7/3/2026 09:48
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