Are Sound Sensors a thing?

Sure Brad. The septic alarm measure a backup level out near the drain field and was installed by the previous home owner to alert of there were was a pump failure. The alarm has only gone off a few times since we moved in, but I always wonder how long it goes off before we actually hear it. 100% of the time so far, the pump has stopped working do the the breaker popping on the GFCI outlet that the pump is plugged into. Maybe I could monitor that outlet and alert if it loses power?

Sorry - just to clarify, it's the breaker popping, not the the GCFI outlet, correct?

Could the breaker tripping repeatedly mean that it's not (or the GFCI outlet is not) the correct amperage (or whatever the term is, I am not an electricity guy) for the pump? AFAIK, a breaker should not keep tripping unless there is an actual problem.

If power is being cut how about something that simply monitors that circuit and can report like a ring extender. Let it sit on the circuit and when it looses power trigger a bigger alarm.

You could also use a raspberry Pi with a UPS. Have the Raspberry pi hooked up to monitor the UPS. Then use Node red to monitor the UPS and send status to Hubitat. Then hubitat could know when the power is lost on the circuit

The Ring extender is probably the easiest and cheapest optoin though

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@kerrylebel This would work... of course dollars to donuts the next failure will NOT be the breaker.

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I think the question is what makes the best trigger for the real alarm. Is it a power issue on the circuit, a water level issue in the septic system.

Maybe a question is what triggers the sound normally if power isn't a problem?

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With the latest firmwares for the Zooz Appliance switch (one of the few motor rated plug in modules) can disable both the physical and Zwave switches. (firmware 1.03 according to their documentation) They are fairly economical, especially when they go on sale, which they regularly do (and are now). You could monitor if the pump has run with "X" time period. This would work OK if it is a plug in type pump.

The other option might be to do this:

Suggestion for a device that senses voltage? Septic Tank Alert In particular, I outline using a relay starting at post 13 or so.

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Power gets cut to the pump because the GFCI pops and needs to be reset and as a result of the pump not running it triggers the alarm as levels get too high.

My 2 cents for what it's worth.

I assume your septic pump alarm goes off or on, when the water level is too high.

One thing you could use, is a water level float sensor attached to ZWave Plus Door Window Sensor with external input, as the water level reaches a danger point, it would set a rule in action, which could activate a light of something.

Dom

As others have suggested a Ring range extender could help notify you that the GFIC circuit is out. If your sump alarm has a LED light when its alarming you could purchase this light sensor and it can notify you if the LED is on:

Folks in the community use it for washer and dryer notifications as example.

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Well the ring range extender code certainly address the gfci outlet. But doesn't do anything about actually adressing the alarm condition. If you want both then i think there are allot of good options mentioned.

I would look to see if you could simply attach some kind of relay to the siren wiring itself.

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I've tried it and had basically zero luck getting it to work. It would be nice if you could put the Echo device into "listening mode" and trigger the alarm, so the device could send the recording up to the cloud and get it added as a viable trigger.

First thing I would do is replace the GFCI. They can and do go faulty.

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Yup. Thought of that and replaced it last week. At this point, this alarm is just to be safe. Good call though.

I like the idea of the ring v2 extender being used. It's cheap, simple, and reliable.

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Is your GCFI rated for the load the pump puts on it - seems like it is not if it's popping when there isn't a "real" event w/the pump motor. Sorry, but still not sure why we'd "band-aid" the GCFI issue w/alerts, and not focus on replacing/upgrading the plug?

Caveat: I'm not the guy to give advice about electonics/electricity, I'm the guy to ask stupid questions and not understand all the answers. :wink:

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It is. The old one I replaced was rated to support the pump, the new one is, and the main breaker in the box was plenty of capacity.

Thanks. Weird...but then I think everything about electricity is weird. :slight_smile:

Typically in the pit is a float.
Normally open as it dangles above the flood line, closing when it tilts by being floated.
Add another tied to any number of contact/relay inputs to alert your HE system.
May not be possible.
Depending on the alarm system, it is possible to piggy back or just tie into HE.
What do you have for a high limit system?
SJE Rhombus?

I know I will receive flack on this but change the GFI or simply replace it with a normal outlet.

Safety: I know GFI will sense leakage current, shutting off the power if this current exceeds some small level. However some devices simply do not work well with GFI's . For instance devices with EMC filtering to ground.

If the sounder is 110V or other voltage you could use a relay to trip a contact sensor that has an external input. That's how I did it. I also install a current sensing relay to monitor the gray water pump running.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KNT3L9U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1