Hello I recently purchased some inexpensive soil moisture sensors that each consist of two, main pieces of hardware: 1) a two-tined fork-shaped soil moisture sensor that is planted into the soil (each one has two wires going to it and is simply a fork-shaped PCB board with relatively large, uninsulated foil runs) and they simply have a voltage applied when a measurement is taken ; and 2) a small PCB board that has a potentiometer and a comparator on-board and the pot sets the point at which the digital output goes high or low, depending on the soil wetness.
I have heard that the sensor that goes into the soil is prone to rusting and degradation that requires attention. I was wondering what the thinking is if I replace the soil sensor with a simple, homemade "likeness" of the sensor in the form of two, stainless-steel machine screws fashioned into the original shape. I know that the intrinsic resistance would be different but that could probably be handled by the potentiometer.
I am just trying to anticipate any problems wih this before going large-scale and any opinions/advice are appreciated.