Leak Sensors saved my A$$ today

Here's my setup on the main water line. Saved me last week. Wife complaining there was no water, looked at my dashboard, leak under kitchen sink averted by the sensor and water valve. I put in the isolation and bypass valves to facilitate valve replacement if need be.Fortrezz

Sharkbite fittings: https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=sharkbite

@danfox52

I've used sharkbites when I raplaced the washer valves and a leak we had last year. They are great. Did you swap out the section of PVC that has the valve with copper?

My pipes are copper, I just cut a section out. Sharkbites work with PVC, Copper, and PEX

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Don’t forget an audible reminder there is a leak. I turn my phone to do not disturb at night. Several years ago a line at the water softener broke and allowed about 2 gallons of water to gain their freedom before the Dome valve closed. This happened around 11:00 pm. I didn’t notice anything amiss until I went to use the water in the morning By then the 2 gallons had gone under a door into a finished room and sat there for 6 hours.

I added an Aeotec siren to the mesh. Had a chance to check it last month when a faucet under the kitchen sink leaked. Mess was cleaned up quickly.

I learned my lesson with my smoke detectors. Don't get too crazy or it could send the SAF down the tubes! :rofl:

This inspired me. 10 leak sensors incoming this week!

When I get around to the plumbing overhaul I will make sure I have a in house shutoff valve

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Me too. I already had all the leak sensors set up for awhile but have been dragging my feet on the shut off due to have to change the plumbing. I ordered the shut-off and will change out the old gate valve in the next couple of weeks.

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I was about to pull the trigger on a bath remodel, that would have included replacing the rest of the original cast drain pipes, then COVID hit and I'm on furlough. Provided funds are sufficient for the remodel whenever I get back to work This will be part of it.

@Hasty1

@oldcomputerwiz
@IslandMan54

Hi all. Never would have thought of doing this in the past, but we had a badly connected kit tap pop off a few weeks ago. Luckily we were in the house but it could have been pretty catastrophic.

I purchased a handful of these...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07XXVFMXW/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_CZVwFbE6FSF88
... on a whim from amazon for a fiver. Intention was to connect to a nodemcu, but I'm not 100% on if they're the best format.

Any recommendations on the best way to physically install? Or what to pick up instead (not buying dedicated zigbee etc, thanks).

Also looking for a recommendation for a shut off valve I can hook up to the AC supply (preferably) or low voltage. Again, nothing expensive / zwave etc as I'll handle operation 'manually' by having HE flick a relay somewhere.

UK based if that's relevant. TIA! =P

If I had those sensors I would probably hook them up to a ESP2866 or similar and use the Arduino drivers that @ogiewon maintains? Or I think that’s who maintains them.

For the shut off valve I would look for something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/BACOENG-AC220V-Brass-Electric-Solenoid/dp/B01054IGXI/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=solenoid+valve&qid=1600114169&sprefix=solinoi&sr=8-3

In general the solenoid valves are not meant for continuous energized use. Plus I would be wary of chinese brass being drinking water safe.

Here's an esp8266 based unit the you attach you your own valve.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Control-Controler-Compatible-Assistant-Automatic/dp/B089VSXBJ1

If you really want diy here's one you can add your own controller.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CWN219B

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I really just picked the first valve I found. Ideally it would be a NC valve and you could power it with any zigbee or zwave outlet

Cheers all. Just a thought - I'd have thought that since the valve is going to spend the majority of its life open, I'd use a NO as opposed to NC?

Unless the solenoid type valve specifies continuous use, the coil will burn out after after a period of time, like 1 hour continuous use, either open or closed. If you choose this type read the description very closely.

That's why I suggested the other type as the motor is only energized during the transition open/close. Plus you can use with higher quality valves.

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Thanks for that. Definitely something to consider. This project is a little down the list at the moment, so I'll revisit it later =)

You do not want to put a solenoid valve on your water main. Could work on a single outlet such as water heater. The reason is that solenoid valves close very fast and stop the water flow immediatelly, which creates too much of a water hammer. You want to put a motorized valve that closes gradually.

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Sharkbite has a very bad reputation among plumbers. If anything do not put it inside a wall where it cannot be seen.

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I'm paranoid about water leaks and have a bunch of leak sensors and a motor operated valve (watercop). We turn the valve off when we leave the house. We get notified of valve operation or water sensors by Pushover notification.

I'm thinking of turning off the valve overnight programmatically, but have to figure out how to reprogram the water softener, which regens at 2AM.

This summer I'd like to build a system to water the hanging baskets, especially when we're not home. It would turn on the water, turn on a (sprinkler?) valve to water the baskets, and then turn off the water. I'd been wanting to do this for a while, but Hubitat will make this do-able.

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I had so far only one situation where one of the leak sensors detected an event under one of the bathroom sinks. It was a small one which could have been run for a long time undetected causing mold and rot. Initially my set up was only able to send voice and SMS messages. However, after this small success I was encouraged to carry on installing a whole of the house valve and additional sensors. Dome valve is working well but I decided to replace the clamp attaching to the pipe with a home made one since I was not confident with the original one. Now l, am researching to monitor the pressure and the flow to get something similar to these commercial systems but not being dependent of any clouds/subscription and so on ( privacy too). Another thing that I’ve done was to add some hue lights ( flashing blue) along with a siren an instruct the Rain Machine when the the main valve is closing to discharge some of the water to further reduce the remaining water of the system. Really worthwhile to have control over your water if something is going wrong.