Has anyone tried soldering a couple wires to the ZSE42's probes in order to sense water at a distance? I don't have one yet so I'm unfamiliar with its construction and operation.

I'm currently using a Wireless Tag moisture Sensor to detect when a water barrel is full. I soldered a couple wires to the existing probe in order to sense down in the barrel. When the barrel is full, I trigger a valve and pump to empty it. All is working fine except when the Wireless Tag malfunctions like it did yesterday when it lost Internet connection and then the barrel overflows until somebody notices it. Needless to say, I'd like to eliminate the cloud and was thinking of the ZSE42.

I have several Ecolink Zwave Plus Flood & Freeze Sensor, White (FLF-ZWAVE5-ECO) and love them.  They come with a remote probe, and battery life is great.  I had tried several other remote sensor water detectors, and this one by far works the best.  (Available on Amazon.)

2 hours ago, skunkiechris said:

I have several Ecolink Zwave Plus Flood & Freeze Sensor, White (FLF-ZWAVE5-ECO) and love them.  They come with a remote probe, and battery life is great.  I had tried several other remote sensor water detectors, and this one by far works the best.  (Available on Amazon.)

Thanks. I'm curious about how many times your sensors have actually triggered from an event. For my case they will trigger several times a day so I would expect decreased battery life.

19 hours ago, vbphil said:

Thanks. I'm curious about how many times your sensors have actually triggered from an event. For my case they will trigger several times a day so I would expect decreased battery life.

I have one that triggers pretty much every time we have rain (it switches on a wall fan in the basement), but nothing nearly that often.  That said, I've had that for maybe two years and have yet to change the battery.

You can just get the Aeotec door sensor and put an arbitrary long sensor on it.  The new Aeotec leak sensor and door sensor are the same device, one just has a water sensor soldered on where the other had screw terminals.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was committed to the ZooZ, ZSE42. I'll try the others at a later time, especially the Ecolink since it comes with a probe already attached. Meanwhile I soldered a couple wires to the probe contacts and attached a 300-ohm twin-lead cable to use as the probe. Working great so far.

 

Edited July 23, 20223 yr by vbphil
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