Re: [EE] Measuring increasing mass over a 1/2 day period

Hi Chuck,

A microcontroller solution would seem doable using a load cell. Load cell amplifier 
like the HX711 with dev boards from SparkFun and Adafruit makes things pretty 
straight forward with direct to digital 24 bit output. (Recently used a variant, the 
HX71708, which was a good find as we wanted faster sampling... 320 vs 80 
samples per second).

Or you might measure the distilled water level using an ultrasonic sensor, or maybe 
a sight tube on the side and some optical detection at the established height.

Or for simpler/cheaper/dummer... perhaps a balance that tips over when weight of 
the distilled water container hits the target, trips a microswitch ~ else say pulls the 
main plug out from the wall :-)

Brent

On 12 Mar 2026 at 11:55, Chuck Olson wrote:

> The mass in question would start at 263 grams (container mass) and
> increase over 11+ hours to 4000+ grams (container mass plus about 1
> gallon of water).
> 
> I am trying to measure the distilled water output from a boil of maple
> sap.  I use a Still Spirits Air Still.  With the still it's like
> making candy blindfolded.  I can't measure the temperature or the
> specific gravity of the maple syrup or even see what is happening.