New INSTEON Leak Sensor

It's unclear on Insteon's website, but can I forgo the Insteon hub if I have Indigo and an Access Point to convert the RF signals to PowerLine?

Thanks!

[matt (support)]

Instead of the INSTEON Hub Indigo uses the USB PowerLinc (2413U, 2412U, or 2448A7) to communicate with INSTEON modules. So the Hub won't help Indigo at all.

The AccessPoint RF is used to help bridge the 2 110V power legs and extend the range of the network. But they may not be needed. A dual-band LampLinc (or even dual-band SwitchLinc) will serve the same purpose, presuming it can be plugged into an outlet on the correct circuit.

Instead of the INSTEON Hub Indigo uses the USB PowerLinc (2413U, 2412U, or 2448A7) to communicate with INSTEON modules. So the Hub won't help Indigo at all.

The AccessPoint RF is used to help bridge the 2 110V power legs and extend the range of the network. But they may not be needed. A dual-band LampLinc (or even dual-band SwitchLinc) will serve the same purpose, presuming it can be plugged into an outlet on the correct circuit.

Thanks, Matt. Very clear and that's what I assumed. Since I'm using Indigo, I'm using the 2412U, and I also have an access point to help bridge the phases in the house.

I actually asked this question to a friend who is just now investigating getting started. The response time and quality on these forums from other users as well as the staff of Perceptive Automation is just outstanding. It's why I can recommend Indigo 1000%. Even though I personally have no need for Indigo 6 functionality, I'll probably be upgrading if nothing else just on principle to support a great company and what looks to be a great community, too.

Thanks!

I have found a fatal problem using the Leak Sensor with a mix of 2413U and 2443 APs. See the full post in this thread.

Just got one of these. I am a little unsure on how it's supposed to work.

When placed in a pan of water, sometimes I get a constant flood of "leak detected". Other times, I'll get 2 "leak detected" and they will repeat every 15 seconds.

When lifted out of the pan, I'll get 2 "sensor dry" events.

Is that what I should expect? Thanks!

[matt (support)]

I'm not sure. Does the flood of commands happen at the beginning? Perhaps it does that to make sure the responder is getting the initial message, but then it backs off to every 15 seconds to conserve the battery.

If you are creating an Indigo Trigger for it and you don't want it to repeat a bunch of times, then you can add on an addition action of type Disable Trigger which disables itself. Then you can use the optional checkbox to have it automatically re-enable after N minutes.

In the case of a wet event, the spec calls for multiple messages:

8 messages in the first 2 minutes
then 3 messages every 20 minutes
then the heart beat once every 24 hours

Just wondering, could this sensor be used in reverse to trigger a water-fill for a fountain?

Wet = good
Dry = bad, need more water [turn on irrigation valve]

Is the sensor rated for exterior use?
Could the sensing portion of the base withstand always being in water?

Just wondering if you ever got this figured out, or came up with another solution?

Leak sensor is for indoor use. If they become submerged, they need to be replaced.

Just wondering, could this sensor be used in reverse to trigger a water-fill for a fountain?

Wet = good
Dry = bad, need more water [turn on irrigation valve]

Is the sensor rated for exterior use?
Could the sensing portion of the base withstand always being in water?

Just wondering if you ever got this figured out, or came up with another solution?

+1 and Topic Bump
I am wondering as well.
My mother just purchased my wife an outdoor fountain and this would be great to use in conjunction with an outdoor appliance leak.

I don't think the Insteon Leak sensor will do the job. It might work, but it is not really designed to be submerged in water. If you can get a wire to the location, just about any water detector would work. Like this one from MacHomeStore. When wet it should provide a short across its two leads, which could be detected by any Digital I/O board (Phidgets, EasyDAQ, etc.).

If you want wireless, you could experiment with low power XBee radios (checkout Sparkfun). You'd need two XBees, like the Series 1, 1mW Wire Antenna, plus 1 USB explorer board to connect to the Mac and a explorer regulated for the remote end. Add some batteries and a little setup time and you should be able to transmit the water detector lead state up to 300ft/100m.

Speaking of "not to be submerged in water" one of my league sensors got some water in when I had a leak. It kept sending message after message, more than 20. Apparently it got water in it itself and must have shorted the leak detection. I looked on the bottom and there are some little holes, which I thought were just mounts for the contacts, but the base is not sealed. I am currently airing it out to see if that fixes the problem.

They're not really meant to be re-usable in case of a leak.

Would it be possible to add a state to the water sensor that contains the date/time of the last heartbeat received? I've got some triggers for this now, but think it would be cleaner if this value is held in the device.

[jay (support)]

We've been thinking about how to deal with heartbeat messages but have yet to decide which course of action to take - but it is definitely something we're thinking about.