Chirp! Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor with Cable - I2C

This is the I2C variant of the Chirp! Plant Watering Alarm. This variant has no buzzer, but can be read out via I2C. Examples are available for Arduino and Raspberry Pi, among others.

The sensor differs from other soil moisture sensors by the capacitive measurement instead of a resistive measurement. This makes the sensor a lot more resistant to corrosion and therefore lasts longer.

Specifications:

• Supply voltage: 3.3 - 5V DC
• Signal voltage: 3.3 - 5V
• Current:
  • Sleep mode: ~1.1mA (5V), ~0.7mA (3.3V)
  • Single measurement: ~14mA (5V), ~7.8mA (3.3V)
  • Constant measurements: ~4.5mA (5V), ~2.8mA (3.3V)
• Measuring method: Capacitive
• Communication: I2C*
• I2C address: 0x20 (adjustable in software)
• Cable length: ~1m
• Dimensions PCB: 149 x 18mm

Pinout:

• Red: VCC
• Black: GND
• Blue/Green: SDA (I2C)
• Yellow: SCL (I2C)

Package contents:

• 1x Chirp! Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor with Cable

For more information on programming this sensor, see the following page: Github-I2C-Moisture -Sensor.

*Note: There are no pull-up resistors on the sensor for the I2C bus yet.