FloodStop!

[varjohaltia]

Plug! After the washing machine (near) disaster, I went looking for leak alarm systems. I found two useful ones, only one of which would work for us. So, to get some peace of mind for doing laundry while not constantly watching over the machine, I ordered the FloodStop one. First impressions are good. The thing has a water sensor, a controller box, wall-wart for power, and two solenoid valves that you affix between the faucets and washer hoses.

If the water detector detects water, the box starts screeching, and closes the two solenoids, thereby cutting off the flow of water. (The only annoyance is that the solenoids are open when not powered--if for some reason the unit doesn't have power, it won't do anything.) We tried it a few times, with a drop of water flicked onto the sensor, and it seems to do exactly what it promises.

So, in case you have a washer in a place where disaster would ensue by a burst hose or malfunctioning machine, and you want to spend $70 to do something about it, I'd so far recommend this gizmo. Beyond that, change your hoses every five years, or get metal braid ones.

Comments

[hyanan.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised, but I didn't even know gizmos like that existed.

We had our ancient washing machine fixed recently. It was making a really high pitched sound when it was filling up with water and when it started to wash, it would dance around on the floor. Really. ;)

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

There actually are ones for houses; the valve goes to the main feed line of the building, and then there's a network of water sensors that go around the house. If any go off, the water feed gets shut off. These are the ones that Home Depot and Lowes and so forth carry, and they're pretty pricey. FloodStop makes cheapo ones to go right next to an appliance: they have a model for washer/dryer, one for water heaters, and one for ice makers.

What happened in our case was apparently that the water level sensor in the washer failed to sense the water level, and it never knew it had filled, so it kept filling more... According to the Sears maintenance guy it's not all that unusual that components, relays and sensors in washers have occasional one-off malfunctions. He couldn't tell whether it was the washer solenoid, the timer that's supposed to get triggered by the water level sensor, or the water level sensor itself that was on a fritz, and replacing any of them was ludicriously expensive, so we stuck with letting it be and seeing if it will misbehave again. I guess I'm too much of a perfectionist. If I designed a washer, it'd have a few more safeguards or backup systems!

Hm. Washing machine dance. That could be a hit. Need video footage for the net, and catchy music to go with it!