off valve and wireless sensor(s) combination package. Optional temperature sensors for freezing pipe supervision are available. www.dynaquip.com ELK Products — The versatile Water Shutoff Valve (WSV) can be electrically controlled by wireless receiver or alarm panel. It includes a quality stainless-steel valve. www.elkproducts.com FloLogic — Single valve control units with built-in sensors for centrally detecting water flow in a home and away mode. The device can be controlled by an alarm system. Presents no need for local spot WLD sensors. www.flologic.com George Risk Industries (GRI) — Known for its security sensors, GRI also makes WLD sensors. The 2600 and 2800 models offer WLD spot sensors that can complement either GRI’s water valve shutoff (WVS) or other control systems. WVS has monthly valve cycling testing and trouble reporting capability. www.grisk.com GreenField Direct — The PipeBurst Pro Series is a high quality, commercialgrade line with a seven-year warranty. The TickerValve controller (see photo) closes incrementally and avoids water hammering. The units feature monthly valve testing. The sensors are corrosion resistant and detect if flipped over, and are wired or wireless. www.greenfielddirect.com
In alphabetical order, here is a sampling of the many providers of WLD devices and systems:
Honeywell — The 470-12 model allows water or any conductive nonflammable liquid to be detected with low voltage and low current. It can monitor up to two sensor probes simultaneously. www.security.honeywell.com
DynaQuip Controls — The WaterCop system offers a nice automatic shut-
RLE Technologies — The Seahawk leak detection system uses a special
8 Suppliers Offer WLD Solutions
Courtesy GreenField Direct
an away and home setting. In the home mode the unit will allow 30 minutes of water flow for daily activity, from dish and clothes washers or showers. In the away mode the control valve will cut off the water supply after detecting only 30 seconds of water flow. While WLD sensors come in many different flavors, the concept is similar. They are placed in strategic locations such as near hot water tanks, washing machines, toilets and at the lowest level in a dwelling. They are spot detectors and have probe tips that when shunted by water will complete a sensor or alarm circuit. One manufacturer even offers an alarm that alerts if sensors are accidentally turned upside down. Another provides a sensor that works on both top and bottom sides. Every effort should be made to mount sensors so that they cannot be accidentally moved or flipped over and then would not sense the leaking water. Sensors come in both wireless and wired configurations. There is another vendor that makes a rope-type sensor that can be strapped directly to pipes or placed on the floor. Interfacing with alarm systems is a big plus. This can be both input and output from your system. In the WLD systems that have home and away modes you can tie them into a home and away output function of the alarm system, thereby making it more natural to operate this feature. You can also provide at least one alarm zone for alarm feedback from the WLD systems. At the bare minimum you could offer the monitoring of a simple single station WLD sensor as a sales closing option or additional recurring monthly revenue (RMR) for WLD services.
Installation of water leak detection systems, such as the PipeBurst Pro shown here, is simple. These devices often include wireless sensors with an electrically operated water flow valve.
leak detection cable with EOL supervision. The length of this unique cable can be up to 300 feet and can be directly strapped to water pipes. www.rletech.com Winland Electronics — The WaterBug Series are commercial quality WLD devices. Supervised sensors and controls come in a turnkey package. www.winland.com
Summing Up Your Sales Strategy So you have a lot of great choices. You can offer the customer everything from the monitoring of a single WLD sensor; an intelligent flow controller with sensors built in; a valve controller with wired or wireless spot sensors; WLD sensor cabling; and integration with alarm system controls and sensors. This sounds like the perfect sell-up package. Good luck with your WLD sales! ■ Bob Dolph has served in various technical management and advisory positions in the security industry for 30+ years. To share tips and installation questions, E-mail Bob at bdolph.ssi@gmail.com. Check out his Tech Shack blog at www.securitysales.com/blog.
www.securitysales.com • JANUARY 2011 27
SS1tech.indd 27
1/4/11 8:16:08 AM