Water Flow "Alarm" ?

OldPete · May 15, 2007

I don't know if I'm going to explain this right... but here is what I'm searching for.

I would like a gizmo that after 'x' number of gallons pass through it, it shuts the water off.

The purpose here is I've got a location that is prone to pipe cracking and I would like to avoid having a bunch of days worth of water fill the house...

What am I looking for?

Thanks!

FloridaOrange · May 15, 2007

This system was requested by a client for the layout of his office. Water Cops We opted not to use it due to the design of the buillding and some other factors. I do not have experience with it but I am interested for other projects....maybe.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

OldPete · May 15, 2007

That one seems interesting... I don't want to "sense" water in an area, since a pipe can break anywhere... I would rather sense that once a certain volume of water passes through the pipe, it shuts off...

Say, once a volume that exceeds 2 full washing machines... or something like that...

?

Kordts · May 15, 2007

Flow meter and a solenoid valve.

Verdeboy · May 15, 2007

Even 2 washing machines worth of water can do a lot of damage. Why not install a ball valve in a convenient location and shut off the water when you are not going to be around for a while.

OldPete · May 16, 2007

kordts said:
Flow meter and a solenoid valve.

Tell me more!

OldPete · May 16, 2007

Verdeboy said:
Even 2 washing machines worth of water can do a lot of damage. Why not install a ball valve in a convenient location and shut off the water when you are not going to be around for a while.

In a perfect world... yes, the would work. However, I would want to put it as close to where the service comes into the house. Second, the house is over crawl space, so I would have to put a loop up to the living area... I would rather have something in-line as close to the service entry as practicle.

Also, people "forget" to turn the valve when they leave... In the event of a disaster leak, 2 washing machines as opposed to days and days of running water... I take the first one.

Jimbo · May 16, 2007

There used to be a device advertised on the internet, which I cannot find right now. Maybe it went defunct. Anyway, was installed to replace your main shut off. It monitored flow in the pipe, and if it detected a sudden larger than normal flow, or if it detected a very small flow for too long a time period, it shut off. Supposedly a "smart chip" would over a period of time calibrate itself to your "normal" usage and act accordingly. I always wondered if it was "smart" enough to avoid nuisance shut-offs or fail to shut off on a true minor leak.

You could try googling around. I don't remember the name.

OldPete · May 16, 2007

jimbo said:
There used to be a device advertised on the internet, which I cannot find right now. Maybe it went defunct. Anyway, was installed to replace your main shut off. It monitored flow in the pipe, and if it detected a sudden larger than normal flow, or if it detected a very small flow for too long a time period, it shut off. Supposedly a "smart chip" would over a period of time calibrate itself to your "normal" usage and act accordingly. I always wondered if it was "smart" enough to avoid nuisance shut-offs or fail to shut off on a true minor leak.

You could try googling around. I don't remember the name.

Jimbo, *that* is what I'm looking for! I can do without the 'smart' chip part, but along that line is IT!

Thanks... I'll keep googling... if anyone knows more, PLEASE reply!

Thanks again!

Pete

OldPete · May 16, 2007

http://www.flologic.com/

I think I found it!

OldPete · May 16, 2007

Dam! $1000!

Okay. Next thought.

How about a valve with a remote (wired it fine) controlled device?

I suppose people will just HAVE to remember to hit the button when away!

Jimbo · May 16, 2007

FloLogic is the one I remember. Thanks for finding it. I looked into it several years ago, and is was about $500 then. The reliability of the logic bothered me, and you couldn't find them except on the net. They seemed to be looking for "distributors" at that time, and that was also a flag.

In addition, my location would have required a battery operated model, and also needed to be weatherproof. Those features weren't available then , but I see they have upgraded it..

OldPete · May 16, 2007

Why couldn't I just use a valve similar to a zone valve for hydronic?

Master Plumber Mark · May 16, 2007

valve wired to the main switch

I once did a Dentist office where they

put some sort of electronic silinoid ball valve

into the main water line in the basement....

dont know the name

basically it was wired to the front office area lights
which were the first lights to go on every morning and the last lights to be turned off every night.....

Also I have heard of others that had it wired to their alarm system.....

so when you set your alarm to leave the home or office it would
automatically turn off your water....

cirrus · May 22, 2007

Dam! $1000!

Thats what i said too Pete when I saw the price! I've been looking for something just like that too as our water usuage is pretty predictable from day to day and sensors might not be the best answer to protecting our basement.

OldPete · May 22, 2007

Yeah... I want to do a wall switch I think... with a motorize solenoid... This is one of those things I have to just fix in my head to do and that's it. I'm thinking right where the service comes in the house -- then I'll go up into the joist bay as high as I can (since we're working in a crawl) to avoid flooding issues... I don't really like the idea of the "trap floor door" that lots of folks do... something wired -- as long as the power is on I can turn it on and off...

I just need to hunt down the best quality motorized valve and go from there...

If anyone has any recommendation I would appreciate it much.

Thanks, Pete

Jadnashua · May 22, 2007

I don't know how you heat your place, but if you have a boiler, turning off the water supply can be messy. Same thing if you leave the water heater on...if there is a leak, you'll fry that as well as it tries to heat air. I suppose frying what's left of the wh isn't too bad if it leaked, though. Taco has an interesting device, all mechanical, that is designed to shut off water to a leaking WH, and if gas, disable the thermostat. You must have the heater in a pan, since it has a water soluable plug. They use the same thing that activates life vests, if I remember correctly, when they hit the water.

OldPete · May 22, 2007

jadnashua said:
I don't know how you heat your place, but if you have a boiler, turning off the water supply can be messy. Same thing if you leave the water heater on...if there is a leak, you'll fry that as well as it tries to heat air. I suppose frying what's left of the wh isn't too bad if it leaked, though. Taco has an interesting device, all mechanical, that is designed to shut off water to a leaking WH, and if gas, disable the thermostat. You must have the heater in a pan, since it has a water soluable plug. They use the same thing that activates life vests, if I remember correctly, when they hit the water.

Thanks for the reply Jim,

The domestic hot water and the baseboard heat are both generated from a sealed system Baxi Luna. This means that if the water is turned off, hot water can't be turned on -- so the Baxi won't fire... so we're covered there...

On the heat side, the loop is sealed and the only way for water to be introduced into the loop is manually.

So we're covered on both ends there...

In the end, it's the perfect scenario for what I would like to do... I just have to find the best possible valve and switch arrangement... I'm also wondering where the best place in the house for the switch would be...

Thanks again,
Pete

FloridaOrange · May 22, 2007

OldPete said:
I just need to hunt down the best quality motorized valve and go from there...

If anyone has any recommendation I would appreciate it much.

Thanks, Pete

I don't have the specs but for gas systems in restaurants we have a motorized valve connected to a solenoid that gets it's signal (low voltage) from the hood (very common setup). It might be a system to look into if it can be applied to the higher pressure water system.

Water Flow "Alarm" ?

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