Automatic salt level monitor for a water softening device

摘要

An automatic monitor (10) for use in a chamber (16) with a solid water soluble softening agent (14), comprises: a signal emitter (38) that produces a signal in response to a request; an array of signal-detecting sensors (40) displaced in the chamber (16) from the minimum depth of the softening agent to the maximum depth of the softening agent, each of the sensors (40) configured for producing an output in response to the signal that varies depending on whether or not the sensor is covered by the softening agent (14); a controller (18) configured for issuing the request, receiving and interpreting the output and determining a low softening agent condition when the level of the softening agent (14) is depleted to a predetermined level; and an indicator (44) configured for warning when the low softening agent condition is present.