There have been some questions about these devices - I just installed one. We have been worried about water damage in the house we just moved into. I considered both the "floodstopper"
- posted
18 years ago
There have been some questions about these devices - I just installed one. We have been worried about water damage in the house we just moved into. I considered both the "floodstopper"
And there's good reason to. Houses that have flooding claims history can be "blacklisted" and become uninsurable because of the potential for serious mold damage to occur down the line. I'm not sure how one goes about selling an uninsurable home without taking a bath. (Arf Arf!)
Wow! That's a lot of bucks. My current design calls for the plumber to install 3 electrically controlled valves. One is for the main shutoff for the house water and it will be backed up by the original manual valve. The other two valves will control the lines that run to the front and back yards so I can leave the house water on but insure that no one can open up the spigots when I am away. It will also be a poor man's two zone sprinkler control.
It sounds like you made the same choice I would in going for the unit with the most sensors.
Good to know what at least one plumber charged for the call!
That's a bummer. I'll have to go check my supply line but IIRC, it shoot out of the cinderblock basement wall and then heads straight up. Will the unit not operate vertically?
I guess I'm "some" then!
That's an interesting point. I intended to somehow link the sensor net to my HA system to alert me to the shutoff.
Hmmm. I suppose the way to prevent that would be to have a solenoid controlled "dump valve" that drained into a basement slop sink or drain tube. If you hooked it up so that it opened when the whole house valve closed, the remaining pressure and water in the house plumbing would be spilled harmlessly into the sink.
The unreasonably high prices (when compared to the relative cheapness of electrically controlled valves) are leading me to design my own system. That would ensure I'd be able to add the bells and whistles at some later date. Somewhere I read you can make a very cheap (one shot) water detector from a clothespin, some small brass wood screws, some wire and an aspirin. You wire the clothespin so that current flows when the clothespin's fingers touch. Then, you insert an aspirin to keep the contacts separated. When water hits the aspirin, it dissolves and the contacts close.
I don't think it would be too hard to hack into the system you have already and add a sonalert or two that fired via relay when the valve got a "close command."
-- Bobby G.
Sorry, but this device sounds pretty lame....
Couldn't you just take waterbug, hookup multiple sens attach it to your automation/alarm controller? All you would need is automated valve.
I propose Honeywell 3/4 zove valve powered by 24v tranformer plugged into x10. So if one already owns controller same thing could be done for $100.
zone valve - $30 WB2k - $40 X10 - $10 Wire, etc
Definitely.
Kind of slow. That may be desirable in some instances.
Maybe a good starting point for a water sensor, Harbor Freight has little battery operated water alarms. IIRC, sale price is about $5. (One of them saved me a big mess last week when water main broke just outside the basement wall at 3am). The unit has an undocumented 1/8" (3.5mm) jack which does not appear to be power. Haven't traced the circuit yet. Maybe remote sensor? Maybe audio or other alarm out...
Darn, looks like they have two now. I have the second:
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