Water Sensors

Review of Hardwired Water Sensors & Sump Pump Switches

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There're more than three times as many insurance claims each year for water damage and temperature damage than there is for theft. On top of that, the average insurance claim for water damage is over twice as high as it is for theft. That brings us to the topic of today's video, water sensors. It is easily one of the most overlooked features of an alarm system. And as you can see from the numbers, it may be one of the most indispensable as well. I'm Jason from alarmsystemstore.com, and today I'm gonna show three of the water sensing products we have on the site: the Sump Pump Float Switch, the USP Water Level Sensor, and the Waterbug.

First item I have today is the Sump Pump Float Switch. It's a Cellar Saver CS-2029, and it's got three main components to it. It's got the white sensor with the wire coming out the top, it's got the blue float, and then it's also got a magnet attached to that blue float. And so when the magnet and the sensor are next to each other, just like a closed door, then you have a closed circuit. And so what you'll do generally is mount this in your sump pump bucket, above where you want the water level to go. If the water level does rise above that point, then the float will start to rise with the water and break the connection of the magnet from the sensor, causing your alarm to go off. Another possible use for these is that they can be wired as normally open. And so what that means is that the float is normally up, and your alarm will actually go off when there's falling water, and the circuit is closed when the magnet meets the sensor. These have many different uses other than being used in a sump pump. It can detect rising water anywhere that you can mount it, as well as being wired as normally open to detect falling water, again anywhere you can mount it.

The second item I have today is The USP Water Level Sensor or WLS. It's a surface mount probe, and it detects water whenever the water bridges the two probes. It can be wired as normally closed or normally open, just like with the sump pump switch, to detect either the presence of water in normally closed, or the lack of water in normally open. It can be mounted on the floor, as is the most common use to detect any water level rising to meet those probes. But you can also mount it on a vertical surface to detect water when it rises up to meet the probes.

The third item I have today is called the Waterbug, by Winland Electronics, and it comes as two components. The first component is the main console. And this console is a very versatile unit. It can hold up to six sensors. So you can wire six sensors to this and it can be, you know, across a room or across your entire home. And if any one of those sensors go off, then it will send a signal to your alarm system saying that there's water detected. The second part is the actual water probe itself. It's a slightly larger probe than the others I've shown you, and it's got four feet, and if water bridges any of these two feet, then the alarm will go off. One benefit of this sensor over the USP WLS, is that on the USP WLS, you have about an eighth of an inch that the water has to rise before it meets the two probes. On this you'll actually lay it face down on a surface and the probes will actually be sitting on the surface. So the water doesn't have to rise quite as far to cause the sensor to send a signal to the Waterbug and the Waterbug to send it to your alarm system.

Water sensors make a great addition to any alarm system. Even if you don't live in a flood prone area, any house with plumbing can have a water leak, and response time is key in minimizing the damage that comes from those water leaks. Not only that, but these are very versatile sensors and they have many other applications. If you'd like to check these items out, we got the link below in the description, you can check those out and many other items on our website. And give us a call on our toll-free number if you'd like to talk to us. Thanks, and have a great day.