Floodstop Washing Machine Valve Shutoff Kit
by Floodstop
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Our Price: $144.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $116.81 (click here) Category: Home See more product details |
Product Details
Manufacturer: FloodstopBrand: FloodStop
Model: FS3/4H-90
Publisher: Floodstop
Studio: Floodstop
Music Label: Floodstop
Product features:
- Prevent avoidable water damage to your home or belongings
- Automatically shuts off water to washing machine when leak is detected
- Installs in minutes - no professional plumber is needed
Tools and Hardware Reviews of Floodstop Washing Machine Valve Shutoff Kit
Customer Review: Great idea... very cheaply made
Summary: 3 Stars
This product is a very good idea. The self shutoff hoses that are now available have problems with stopping the flow when they shouldn't, which this device solves. Other water sensing electronically controlled shut off valves are available, but cost a lot more than the Floodstop. But the Floodstop is not perfect.
The biggest problem is that the unit is very, very cheaply made. It's a Chinese import, and smacks of it. This is the sort of product that needs to be seriously reliable and thus made to a high level of quality. It's not. The cables and connectors are as cheap as possible, the control unit is in a flimsy housing, and the valves themselves are not very rugged. As an example, where the interconnecting wires terminate to the cheap plug-in connector at the controller unit, there is no "strain relief". A little flexing there will cause the wires to break. Another example is the plastic housing that protects the solenoid that operates the water valves. Again, the wires are not strain relieved, so that any accidental tugging or excessive vibration are likely to cause the soldered connection to break. I may sound too critical, but I'm an engineer and would never design a device that is supposed to be "high reliability" like this - cable and connecor issues are huge sources of failure. If any problems occur with the wires of the Floodstop, the user won't know about it and the thing will simply not work when it's needed. It wouldn't have taken much for the unit to be designed to be much more robust. There are some other sensing shut off valves on the market that cost considerably more. I appreciate that this one is priced lower, but Floodstop cheaped out much too far IMO.
There are a couple of other things I didn't like. The cable length works for many installations, but it's too short for others. There isn't an optional longer wire available, and you can't buy the connectors separately (so I was told by the distributor) to allow you to make your own, nor will they provide a part number for the connector. If we had a number, the connectors could probably be purchased from one of the online electronics hobby stores or an industrial supplier. You can still do it, but you'll have to match up the connector. It looks like a common low cost part. It just seems that the it's a bigger hassle than it needs to be if you need a longer cable.
Personally, I don't like wall transformers for this type of device. Washers and dryers (especially the newer styles) vibrate a lot. If the wall transformer falls out of the socket (and we've all had this happen) then the system is dead. It would cost more, but building the power supply for the system into the control box and having a simple line cord that plugged into the wall outlet would be a more reliable configuration.
The plumbing connections on this are designed with a female hose thread and washer on the inlet side of each valve and a male hose thread on the outlet. This is clearly intended to connect to your existing washing machine valve, which is fine. However, if you are plumbing up a new installation, you might well prefer that the inlet be 1/2" pipe thread, to get rid of the rubber washer. Rubber washers are much more likely themselves to leak than pipe thread. If your inlet side hose gasket starts to leak, and the valves automatically shut off... you will still be leaking, because this washer is located upstream of the shutoff valve. Unfortunately, the hose connection on the inlet of the valves supplied with this kit are integral with the valve -- you are stuck with them. The manufacturer does offer other valves, but not in a dual kit that you need for a laundry application. So, if you need anything other than hose inlet connections, call the distributor. The guy I spoke to said that they "may" be able to configure a kit with different valves -- although if they could, I have no idea what such a "custom" kit would cost.
On the positive side, the device does seem to work well. My sensor took more water than I thought it would to trigger a shutoff, but that's probably a good thing to avoid nuisance tripping. I did get a second sensor. The sensors are pretty simple printed circuit boards.
Like others, I purchased a Furman MP20 so that in the event of a drain leak, the power to the washer will shut off and avoid pumping soapy water all onto the laundry room floor. In my experience, drain leaks are at least as much of a problem as burst supply hoses, although obviously a supply hose that bursts will flood your house until someone discovers the leak. In any case, I think a REALLY well designed device would include the power relay as well, so that you wouldn't have to pay the (significant) price for the Furman unit. As an option, you can do the exact same function as the Furman with X10 home automation components for much less money. I expect the Furman is more reliable than the X10, and that's why I chose the Furman... but I have no real data to back that up other than reading internet comments on X10 and Furman.
Again, it's a great idea. Remember, this thing will probably be dormant for 5 or 10 years before you need it... but then, when there's a leak, it needs to absolutely work. After getting this, I hope it will work when I need it, but am not confident. Next time, I will be looking at one of the other higher-end water sensing shut off systems... preferably made in the USA and designed to be more rugged and with a long lifetime. Wish I understood that this was a cheap import before buying. A one year warranty seems kind of pointless for a device like this. A safety system, like this one, that's not designed to hold up for a long time could be a false economy.
Description of Floodstop Washing Machine Valve Shutoff Kit
FloodStop is a point of use, leak detection and automatic water shut-off system designed for residential, condo and apartment dwellings. It uses automatic, motorized ball valves to shut off the water supply when it senses a washing machine leak.Safety & Security Tools
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