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[The_Kakaze]

Okay, so I'm learning how to use pressure plates, and I was wondering if anyone could help me out with how they work a little.  Is there a way to have a pressure plate send an open command when it has no weight on it?  Like, 0/7 water (up to say 5/7), a door stays open, but then it closes on 6/7 and above?  As far as i can tell, pressure plates seem to trigger closed things to open, not the other way around.

In that case, could i set up a hatch with two pressure plates, one a z level below my well proper that opens the hatch on 7/7, then the next in the actual resevoir will trigger (hopefully changing the state of the door to closed) at 6/7?

[Canadark]

I believe that there is a workaround but it involves a water pump, mechanisms, and an extra pressure plate. Mechanisms are engaged and disengaged by pressure plates regardless of whether or not it is sending an open or close command. In other words, while pressure plates normally always send the same command when its conditions are met (open) or its conditions are not longer being met (close), it will simply toggle mechanisms. It's like pressing or lifting the clutch pedal on a car whenever the conditions on the pressure plate change.

So, you could have the pressure plate set to 5/7 send a signal to disengage mechanisms and stop a pump from pouring water on to another pressure plate, which is then linked back to a door.

Step by step it would be like this:
1. Pressure plate (P1) reaches condition of 5/7 water --> signals mechanisms (M) connected to a water pump (W) to disengage
2. (W) turns off and stop pouring water on to second pressure plate (P2) which is set at 4/7
3. (P2)'s conditions are not longer being met, so it sends a closed signal to the door.

When P1's conditions are no longer being met (water falls below5/7), M will re-engage and W will turn on spouting water on to P2 which opens the door.

[Triaxx2]

Pressure plates are toggles. They don't send a constant signal, so they simply toggle states. Build your Flood gate, and open it with a lever. The lever will flip it to open, and then the pressure plate will close and open it normally.

[Quietust]

Is there a way to have a pressure plate send an open command when it has no weight on it?  Like, 0/7 water (up to say 5/7), a door stays open, but then it closes on 6/7 and above?

Certainly - just set it to trigger on a minimum depth of 0 and a maximum depth of 5.

A word of warning, though: if you're going to do that, I'd recommend using a door rather than a floodgate, since a floodgate's open/close delay can interact poorly with rapidly fluctuating water levels and cause it to get stuck open, flooding your fortress; since doors respond instantly, the worst you'll get is some additional lag.

Pressure plates are toggles. They don't send a constant signal, so they simply toggle states. Build your Flood gate, and open it with a lever. The lever will flip it to open, and then the pressure plate will close and open it normally.

You are WRONG and you should not be giving out this sort of advice.
While pressure plates do act as "toggles", they send on signals when activated and off signals when deactivated, and those translate directly to "open" and "close" for doors/floodgates/bridges/etc - if an open floodgate receives an "on" signal, then nothing will happen. Only gear assemblies will interpret those signals as a generic "toggle".

[MadocComadrin]

More concisely stated: gear assemblies work on signal edges, while everything else works on signal content.

[Quietust]

More concisely stated: gear assemblies work on signal edges, while everything else works on signal content.

That isn't true either - everything responds to signal edges, because signal generators only send transitions. For example, if you link two levers to a door, pull the first one once, then pull the second one twice, then the door will be closed even though the first lever is in the "on" state. The distinction is that most machines respond differently to rising edges versus falling edges (i.e. a rising edge makes them open and a falling edge makes them close), while gear assemblies (and cages/chains/supports) respond the same way to rising or falling edges.

[Canadark]

I want to add that I have never used this setup before. Right now I am working on a project that will utilize pressure plates linked to gear assemblies and a bridge but it is far from completion. One element that I know little about is timing. For the application of this design into your self-filling well you need to consider that the pressure plates don't always act instantaneously. I can't comment as to how it will apply to your design because we don't know your design and I don't know what the unit of time ("tick") really is.

[GhostDwemer]

Why use a pressure plate at all? Why not use a diagonal pressure reducer? Your cistern will always remain full when connected to a renewable water source through a diagonal connection. I use a U-bend with a grate over the top to make it secure. I know a pressure plate system is more dwarfy, but it is not any more functional.