DIY Leak detector using a GFCI

[Paul B]

I have been an electrician for 50 years so I like to fool around with electric. Many years ago, just after they invented GFCIs or GFIs as they are called in the trade I "designed" a leak detector/ shut off switch that I made for my hot water heater in my house. I saw to many times where the thing leaks and 10,000 gallons of water pours on your floor normally while you are away, maybe at a MACNA convention of Lady GaGa concert.

I also use one in a bucket under my very large skimmer in case it leaks or the effluent overflows it.
It is basically a GFCI receptacle that you plug into a normal outlet.

You plug your pumps into it or anything you want to shut off if there is a leak. It could also send an alarm but the wiring for that is a little different.

The probe, which is in series with a 7 watt light bulb sits under the tank in a bucket or if you want to use it for a tank overflow, you can build a barrier under your tank or put it in a pan. When the probe detects water. Electricity goes through the light bulb and returns through the probe, then to ground and it will instantly trip the GFCI.

The thing is also actually legal because it is plugged into a normal outlet and the code stops at the outlet. You can plug in a Nuclear Submarine with 24 intercontinental Ballistic Missiles all aimed at Bayonne New Jersey and it would still be legal as long as it wasn't hard wired into your wiring system.

To use it for my hot water heater, I put a normally closed electric valve in the heater line plugged into this device. If there is a leak, the valve shuts off preventing any more leakage. It's simple and uses items most of us have laying around.

For the few that will say it is not legal, do something else. Perhaps go to a Justin Beiber concert and mop up the water when you get home.

 

[sixty_reefer]

This wouldn’t work if the leak is coming from the rodi unit top up?

 

[Paul B]

Yes it does. It works anywhere where the water ends up on the floor.

I have an electric valve that feeds my RO/DI and it shuts off if there is water on the floor.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Yes it does. It works anywhere where the water ends up on the floor.

I have an electric valve that feeds my RO/DI and it shuts off if there is water on the floor.

How does the probe works?

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m dying of laughter.

I skimmed through this thread (I don’t know about electrical stuff so I ignored it all). But then I thought to myself: “Paul is weirdly serious in this post.”

Then I got to the last paragraph:

For the few that will say it is not legal, do something else. Perhaps go to a Justin Beiber concert and mop up the water when you get home.

I can’t with you. This is too funny. All your posts have these Easter egg jokes sprinkled on it and it’s the funniest thing!

I love when Paul tries to explain stuff because he goes on tangents and forgets his train of thought and says the most comical things.

 

[Paul B]

he goes on tangents and forgets his train of thought and says the most comical things.

What comical things? ;Pompus

How does the probe works?

Very simple. You wire a GFCI receptacle just like you would any GFCI receptacle. Put it in an electrical box with a "3" prong plug on it so you can plug it in. (It needs that ground prong in the plug)

From the "load" hot on the GFCI connect one leg of a 7 watt bulb. Any bulb but not an Led. The other wire on that bulb goes to one leg of the probe which is a brass or stainless steel screw in a small container like a film container I pictured. Google it.

The other screw in the probe goes to the same ground the GFCI is connected to.

When water contacts the screws in the small container, they complete a circuit allowing the return from the bulb to go to ground instead of the neutral and it trips the GFCI shutting off the power to the pump or whatever you plug into it.

To make the probe I put the wires on two screws in the container and filled the thing with glue gun glue so that just the screw heads stick out. I also drilled some small holes in the container to let air out so the screws get wet.

I have then all over the place because I don't like Justin Beiber, don't like to buy expensive, complicated made in China leak detectors and like to use what I already have all over the place.

Lady GaGa would be proud and maybe she even uses them also.

I think this is in my book but I am not sure. ;Droid

 

[Miami Reef]

What comical things? ;Pompus


I have then all over the place because I don't like Justin Beiber, don't like to buy expensive, complicated made in China leak detectors and like to use what I already have all over the place.

Lady GaGa would be proud and maybe she even uses them also.

I think this is in my book but I am not sure. ;Droid

Justin Beiber and Lady Gaga! I never knew Gaga was an electrician.

 

[Paul B]

Yes she is. Sometimes she needs a few extra bucks especially if she finds a purple tang that is the same color as her pork chop dress.