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Auto shut of valve?

jonny88
jonny88 Member Posts: 1,139
edited January 2015 in THE MAIN WALL
I have been getting questions lately about a valve which will shut of main in case of broken pipe.From what I can see they are activated by remote sensors.Has anyone installed them and if so what brand do you suggest.
Thanks in advance

Comments

  • unclejohn
    unclejohn Member Posts: 1,833
    You could just use a 24v solenoid and the alarm contacts of a wet switch.
  • Snowmelt
    Snowmelt Member Posts: 1,405
    There's a few out there but taco has two types one for whole house. Another for water heater gas and water.
  • jonny88
    jonny88 Member Posts: 1,139
    Thanks.I will look into taco.If I put it in I am responsible so I want the customer to be able to look at it first.Thanks Unclejohn but for liability reasons I want to go with a device made especially for this reason.Thanks
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    If the concern is a pipe breaking and flooding, those valves have limitations. Some leaks are slow and will not trip the valve. Is the valve powered OPEN? What happens during a power failure. If it is powered CLOSED, does it open when the power fails?

    If the concern is that the house is left unattended for long periods, drain the water and heat. If the house is left unattended and they want the heat on, drain the water, leave the heat on and have someone carefully and regularly monitor the property.

    If the house is going to be left unattended and the owner is tentative about when they might comeback, but wants to leave the water and heat on, have someone carefully monitor the home, turn off the water at the water service, open all the faucets, let all the water run down from upper floors to the first or lower, and shut off the faucets. Leave the heat running. If the heat goes out, there will be no water damage from broken pipe.

    If the owner doesn't want to be reasonable, there is a device you can buy for short money that is a thermostat that connects to a phone outlet. As long as the temperature is above the pre-set level of the device, it is as if the phone is off. If the heat is off and the temperature is below the set point, the line becomes closed. If you call the number and it is warm, you get a steady ring. If it is cold, you get a busy signal. You could make one with a thermostat. If you make one, you're liable if it doesn't work.

    If the owner is concerned, monitored alarm systems are a better choice. I think you get a reduction in your insurance premiums. Where I worked, the toy weenies would have loved them. I don't know of anyone that installed one.

    WAGGS valves on washing machines are nice. Turn off the washing machine hose valve. I never say any of those either. Although my wholesaler had one on the counter for about a year, no one bought one.

    If you install one, you partially own it.
  • jonny88
    jonny88 Member Posts: 1,139
    I heard of a valve with remote sensors which you place under fixtures and in boiler room,once they sense water they send a signal to valve to shut supply.I have been in three flooded basements in the last month.If I am going to recommend a solution I want it to be the right one.You know they will come after me.Thanks for your input and dully noted.
    Stay warm
  • Snowmelt
    Snowmelt Member Posts: 1,405
    Johnny I understand your point, it's just like installing new heating equipment and the blower motor fan for the exaust stops in middle of winter, I was lucky where the blower motor stopped in summer when the indirect water heater was cold in shower.
    Here is what I would do, I would give them the flyer for flood breaker ( taco product) tell them it's a new product.
    I don't know off top off my head if it has an alarm.
    Also there is a product that works on alarm, if it gets wet they have an alarm so it works on batteries and just tell you when water is in basement. There is also a product from liberty pumps that if your basement does flood and no electric the sump pump works on either a ( motorcycle ) size battery with an alarm or a pump that works on water. ( for every gallon it uses it pumps out 3 or 4 gallons. The pumps also has alarms.
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    You can have all the alarms you want. Without a monitored alarm system, they are useless unless someone is notified. Its fine to have them shut off the water, Someone needs to be notified.

    The emergency battery pumps need a much bigger battery than a motorcycle battery. In fact, the battery is the most important part of the system. The ratio of water used to water pumped is a lot different than noted. They work like a Jet Pump. They use a toilet ballcock to supply the water. If you have a house with a well, and loose power, you won't have water to run the pump.

    I've installed one. It was a back up. I wasn't impressed with the cost.

    All the customers I had with floor sensors were connected to dedicated alarm systems. Alarms are only as good as the reliability of the person notified.

    If you have a basement with water issues and have a sump pump, a battery back-up pump is an option. So is another pump. If one fails, the other one takes over. I've pumped a lot of water. If over 40 years, only once did I experience a washing machine hose break and cause damage. Anyone that worried about flooding and pump failure because of a power failure needs a generator. The power could be off for days. Like it will be in some places after this latest Nor'easter.
  • kevin_58
    kevin_58 Member Posts: 61
    I saw an add for pipe burst pro its an automatic shut off with sensors you can shut water off through internet connection and it sends you an e mail text or phone call when activated
  • unclejohn
    unclejohn Member Posts: 1,833
    At our beach house you had to crawl under the house to turn on and off the water. My wife would not do that so I just got a Sporland water solenoid valve and wired it off the 24v trans of my heat pump and use a toggle switch to turn the water on and off, pretty simple. Happy wife happy life. Now nothing is 100% fool proof so I did add a bypass and some day she might have to go get somebody to manually open the by pass for her. So I don't see the difference between something made by Taco or something made by you both will eventually fail.
    jonny88
  • jonny88
    jonny88 Member Posts: 1,139
    Agree with what you say Unclejohn and no dought bith will eventually fail.Problem is when that basement is flooded who will they come after.At least with a brand name I have a leg to stand on.I put in a mixing valve for a customer a year ago(Watts).After 4 months a drip started on hot side.Customer never went down to basement.When they eventually did I got the call.Person at Watts told me to bring it back to supply house and they will send it to watts.The next person I spoke to at Watts told me to send it myself.I went back to supply and to my surprise defective washer was lost.I ended up paying for a new carpet as they were afraid of Mold.
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    I had a friend who had a hobby of looking for ancient arrowheads. He once found one that was a metal one that turned the whole entire "Clovis Point" arrowhead system on its ear and would have changed the settled opinion about when pre-Columbian peoples came to the America's. "They" wanted him to send the object to them for testing purposes. He told them NO because he knew that they would never return it to him and they would deny ever receiving it.

    It was eventually written up in a peer reviewed magazine but the description put it in the time frame that fit their theories.

    Don't ever send the evidence to the person that has a vested interest in them being wrong.

    They can peek. They can look. But they can't have.
    jonny88