Well, for the second time in a year I've had a leak behind the washing machine - and this time it's damaged part of a kitchen cabinet, which will be a real PITA to fix. Trouble is, it had been going on for some time without us knowing.

So what I need is something to tell me that there's water where it shouldn't be - before I go off and try to make something, can anyone suggest a commercial (and cheap) device that could do the job? Something mains-powered that could be plugged in and left would be a favourite, rather than battery-powered (but I'd consider anything, just now).

cheers,
David

Live wire coming out of the nearest socket just dangled down the back of the machine onto the floor......................

Im sure it would let you know when it gets wet



sorry not very helpfull Dave


you can buy blankets thet sense when kids wet the bed and sound an alarm to encourage them to sense when they need to go when they are asleep. Mains powered and audible too.

[Edited on 15/11/06 by locoboy]

quote:

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Originally posted by locoboy
you can buy blankets thet sense when kids wet the bed and sound an alarm to encourage them to sense when they need to go when they are asleep. Mains powered and audible too.

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http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=22564&TabID=1&C=SEO&U=Strat10&doy=search&MenuName=Water%20Alarm

with a AC-DC 9v adaptor (wall wart in US speak) would do nicely.
It probably wouldn't be that difficult to hook up an external speaker either.....

Ben

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=31782&criteria=water&doy=15m11

would also do the trick. You might to stick with batteries unless you're prepared to hack the box up to wire in a plug for an AC adaptor...

Bad luck- flooding's always a worry. I live in a basement flat below street level (and below the level of the garden at the back of the house).... I've seen how damaging floods can be!!!

Ben

Well spotted! And I'd looked in the Maplins catalogue too...

At that price it's not worth peeing around trying to work out my own solution.

cheers,
David

Also, if you're anything like my, DIY Maplin projects have a habit of escalating spec.

Before I'd finished I would have ended up with a mains powered unit with battery back-up, a sump in my kitchen floor to collect even the smallest leak with a built in windscreen washer pump to get rid of any fluid, a mobile phone hooked up to a PIC microprocessor to text me when the leak occurs and an electrically controlled mains water stopcock....

Of course the leak could occur in a different room so then I'd have to put it on an autonomous robot which could go from room to room checking fluid levels

I do know of a bloke on the Se7ens list who rather than sorting out the leak on the bottom of his kitchen sink famously made up a mains-powered water-sensor activated pump, put it in a bucket and put that under the sink, with a hose going back into the sink!!!! Still working many years later.....

Pharmacies will be able to get enuresis alarms. Designed to detect junior peeing in his bed they come with a decent sized pad sensor. Not locost but effective.

I might be missing the point here (not uncommon), but why not just sort your plumbing out and have done with it? Or if it's the washing machine at fault then fix or fling and replace?

The main problem is a combination of bad design (the plastic thread holding the cold water hose onto the shut-off valve, which you have to do up ridiculously tight to get a seal) and a stiff plastic hose that eventually loosens the connector when you pull the machine out and in a couple of times.

The long-term plan is to move the machine to another place, where I can build a dam around it and install a drain, just in case (bit like a shower tray).