David Jenkins
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 posted on 15/11/06 at 10:30 AM |
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Leak detector...
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
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locoboy
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 10:34 AM |
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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]
ATB
Locoboy
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 10:43 AM |
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quote:
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.
Now there's a good idea - well done! I was thinking of making a strip of something absorbant with 2 wires through it to be the sensor, which is
probably what they do...
Any more ideas, folks?
David
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BenB
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 10:44 AM |
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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
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BenB
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 10:47 AM |
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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
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 10:49 AM |
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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
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BenB
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 11:01 AM |
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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.....
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Dusty
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 11:33 AM |
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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.
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nick205
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 12:00 PM |
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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?
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 15/11/06 at 01:43 PM |
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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).
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