[subego]

Thank you!

The EZIO2X4 will definitely work for you. In the strictest sense, you don't even need to get a sensor to attach to it.

Any type of sensor for this application is going to be a variation of two bare wires placed close together. When something conductive bridges the gap (like water), your circuit closes.

This means you can use whatever wires you'd use to connect the sensor to the EZIO as the sensor itself.

Run a pair of wires to wherever it would first get wet. Strip off the ends. The amount you strip off will ultimately be the size of your sensor. Tack them down in some way where the bare wires are as close as possible without touching, and preferably in a way that will least interfere with them getting wet.

That's it, there's your sensor. As soon as something conductive bridges the gap between the wires it will close the circuit, which can then trigger Indigo to do whatever (assuming you also have a PowerLinc, which you need for any Indigo control of anything). Certainly it could send an email. For a text message I'd brute force it by sending an email to the appropriate address (listed here for a bunch of carriers).

That being said, SmartHome sells this for 15 bucks. It's meant as part of a whole system to shut your water off if it detects a leak. Because it's meant as an expansion, the details are a little sketchy, but taking a peek at the manual for the whole kit gives us this closeup:



which gives you an idea of what's going on. You can see the whole two wires close together thing here. According to the spec sheet, the sensor is double sided, so that's pretty cool, you don't have to worry about the water having to get deeper than the height of the sensor. It looks to be a few mm tall, but still, the faster it can trip the better. Running a pair of wires from the this to the EZIO wouldn't be too shabby of a setup.

Going off the idea the kit is based on, if the air handler is 15 amps or less, you could plug it into an ApplianceLinc, and have indigo shut the thing off if it leaked. The air conditioner (which is almost undoubtedly over 15 amps) is a little tougher, but if you went with one of the Insteon thermostats, Indigo could be rigged to shut off the AC too.

You'll also want some form of audible alarm for when you are home. Your computer can do that if it's loud enough, but then you never want to mute it or diddle with the volume unless you're the type who will always remember to set it back. I'm not... not to mention that the whole point is to make you not have to do things.

A dedicated solution would be a siren (this one's $12 at SmartHome, though I'm guessing there are much cheaper ones out there). The one from SmartHome takes 13.8v, so a 12v wall wart from Radio Shack would also be necessary. You wire the siren directly into the wall wart (i.e. plugging it in makes it go off). Then, you pass one of the wires from the wall wart into one relay terminal on the EZIO and out the other. This lets the EZIO (and hence Indigo) turn the siren on and off. Note that the 2X4 relays can pass a maximum load of .5A at 30VDC. You'll want a tiny siren. One of those ones with a bell shaped horn could smoke the EZIO. Well... it'd get close, and there's no real reason you need 120dB over 100dB.

If my verbal description of any of this doesn't make sense, I'll gladly whip up a diagram for you.

[thepainter]

Subego - Thanks for the quick response. I'm not sure what happened but after replying to your response it disappeared for some reason. Anyway I like the Smarthome idea. It covers more area and seems it would be ideal for what I want.

That being said, SmartHome sells this for 15 bucks.

I was originally thinking of getting the Thermostat and adapter as my next BIG purchase and then THIS came up. It has happened once before and fortunately I was around both times, however I'm big time paranoid now. I'm not very electrically inclined but I can follow directions very well, your offer of a detailed Diagram with the sensor, alarm and EZIO2X4 would be much appreciated. Could I add another sensor in say the Laundry room and connect that to the EZIO2X4 also?

Subego - If this were you how would you do it? I would ideally like to do it as inexpensive as possible but I also don't want to be short sighted. Obviously I don't want this to be an expensive alarm but I realize the EZIO2X4 can be used for other things also so I'm all for it if you think that's the best way to go. I'll just put off getting the Thermo for now for PEACE of MIND. Once again thanks for the quick response and hope you don't mind all these questions.

Paul

[subego]

No mind at all. It's my pleasure.

The best way to go about it would depend on exactly what you're worried about leaking, and if it's something that has a record of leaking (like your AC) or it's something you're being proactively worried about.

If the appliance is water based, and it has a record of leaking, the system the extra moisture sensor from SmartHome is designed for is probably the way to go. The entire system (which includes one of the sensors) costs about $100 per appliance ($130 for a washing machine). This not only has less links in the chain that could act as a failure point, by shutting off the water you're most elegantly covered in the worst case scenario where nobody's home.

This still leaves you on the hook for the AC though. The systems from SmartHome are all connected to valves, and what you would ideally have for your AC is a system connected to a switch. I don't know if this exists. At the least, SmartHome doesn't sell one.

Since you already have an Insteon setup anyways, getting the EZIO and the accessories, including an extra sensor for the laundry room, would cost about the same as protecting two appliances with water shut-off systems. I don't think there's a more economical way to cover the AC when you're not home, unless there's some analogous switch version of the valve system that we've missed.

I'm making those diagrams as we speak, and will post part one shortly...

[thepainter]

Fantastic - The only history I have has been with the A/C which requires shutting off. The Washer hasn't had any leaks (knock on wood) but the idea of having the sensor to alert me appeals to me. We have wonderful neighbors and we all have keys to each others house. At least I would be able to Alert them to maybe shut the valve off. This HA stuff is AWESOME, but I can see this might get very expensive. I might have to get my wife an account so my B-day presents, Xmas presents can be switches, lincs, sensors . Thanks agin for your help.

Paul

[subego]

Part One-Half: Electricity Primer

I know. We have to eat our broccoli first.

We'll be dealing almost exclusively with low-voltage DC, so the one thing you don't have to worry about is electrocuting yourself, which is a bonus. There are few things you do need to keep in mind however.


The first thing is that DC is direct current. DC travels in one direction only. This is opposed to alternating current, which changes direction several times a second.

What this means is that any device that uses DC has a wire where the power comes in (+) and where the power goes out (-). Likewise, a power supply has a wire where the power goes out (+) and where it goes back in (-).

When connecting a single device to a power supply you always connect (+) to (+) and (-) to (-).

On a power supply, you have to figure out which is which yourself. I'll get into that with the instructions for how to build the siren. On a device, which is which will be labeled, or the wires will be color coded and the code will be explained in the manual. Red is usually (+), black or white is usually (-).

For instance, the Elk-74 speaker I suggested from SmartHome has three wires coming out of it: black, red and yellow. The manual tells us that black is (-) and that red and yellow are both (+). Red makes the siren "yelp", yellow is "constant on". Just to keep it simple, you should pick one or the other and then tape over the unused lead. In the schematics I'm making, I picked red to connect to the power supply and yellow as the unused wire.

Some devices don't care if the polarity has been reversed. Some do, and will respond by destroying themselves. It's best just to get this right and not have to worry.


The other thing you'll want to understand is the relationship between volts, amps, and watts. If you don't get a handle on this, you might use too weak of a power supply. The worst case scenario (though highly unlikely) is an electrical fire. These are really, really bad.

Luckily, the relationship between the three is simple:

W(atts) = V(olts) x A(mps)

You'll usually know two of the three, so all you have to do is solve for the third.

For instance, the spec sheet for the Elk siren rates it at 480mA (milliamps) at 13.8V, so you know your amps and volts. Looking at the equation, to find out watts you just multiply the two.

13.8V x 480mA (the same as .48A) = 6.62W. The siren uses almost 7 watts.

The power supply you ultimately use needs to be able to handle 7 watts, preferably more just to be safe.



Wrapping this part up, you'll need some form of multimeter. I have this $30 one from Radio Shack. I included this in my $200 ballpark estimate for the whole project. Though the only part you absolutely need it for is determining the polarity of your power supply, but it's a handy thing to have around anyways.

In addition to telling you the polarity, you can also check voltages with it (test your batteries). Perhaps the most useful feature is checking continuity. Continuity is whether a wire is, well, continuous, or if there's some sort of break that stops the flow of current. This break is often hidden inside shielding, so there's no way to find out that's the problem without testing it. On the flipside, if you have a short circuit somewhere, the continuity tester can help you track it down. In this case the tester would show you continuity between two wires that shouldn't be connected.

Now the fun begins...

[thepainter]

Can't wait, I already have the Multi-meter - not that I know exactly all that it does, but it was on sale at Sears for $10 (60% off) and I couldn't help myself. (I knew it would come in handy ). I also like the part about not electrocuting myself.

[subego]

Part One: Siren

As I said in the last post, I'm basing this off the Elk-74 from SmartHome.

We know the important things about it. Black is (-), red or yellow is (+). I'm using red in the examples, but you could just as easily use yellow instead. We also know that it uses 6.62 watts.

Now you need to get your hands on a 12 volt DC power supply, more popularly known as a wall wart. You can get this at Radio Shack, or use the opportunity to go through your box of orphaned wall warts and check the fine print. Each one will have it's voltage and maximum amperage listed on the back under output. It won't list the maximum wattage, you have to calculate this yourself.

Most of the 12V one's I've seen are 1A, so that's 12W (12V x 1A), which is plenty of headroom. I'll also note that this will be on the bigger and heavier side as wall warts go. You might find a 750mA one, which works out to 9W (12V x .75A), also plenty. A 500mA model would be only 6W (12V x .5A), so it isn't powerful enough.


With wart in hand, snip off the end. Not the part that goes into the wall, but the part that you would plug into your device. You can ditch that end. With that done, you should be able to split the pair of wires at the cut end with your fingernail, and pull them apart without wrecking the jacket around each wire. Pull them apart an inch or two. This will make dealing with the individual wires more manageable. Take each end and strip off about 3/4" of jacket from each wire.

Now's the part where you need to find out which wire is positive (+) and which is negative (-), so, making sure your wires aren't touching, plug in the wall wart and whip out your multimeter. With my meter, you set it to volts and touch your (+) probe to one bare wire and the (-) probe to the other bare wire. If your (+) probe is on your (+) wire, you get a normal voltage reading. If your (+) probe is on your (-) wire, your voltage reading will be negative. Just so you're not surprised, most plug in power supplies provide a higher voltage than listed in the back. Your 12V supply will probably read closer to ±14V.


Okay, now you actually get to build the thing. It's best to build it first and test it as an individual unit before integrating it into the EZIO. It's simple enough to do all at once, but if a problem comes up, doing it in steps isolates the problem to that step, and you don't waste time backtracking.

With all this buildup, you probably don't even need the schematic for this part. All you have are two (+) wires, one on the siren, one on the supply, and two (-) wires, also one on the siren and one on the supply. You just splice (connect) your (+) to (+) and (-) to (-). I made the schematic anyways, so here it is:



The best way to make a splice in this particular situation will probably be with electrical tape. Twist the wires you want to connect together like with a twist-tie. Wrap electrical tape a few times around the bare wire, enough to cover it. This sticks out like a branch on a tree, so fold it back along the jacket of one of the wires, and secure it there with what's left over of your tape.

You can do all this with the wall wart plugged in, but then don't forget your earplugs.


So, if you're at this point, you have a siren that goes off when you plug in the wart. Now we can integrate it with the EZIO. Here's the schematic:



"R" stands for "relay" on the EZIO, so the "R1" on the two terminals you'll be using stand for "Relay 1". I have it connecting to the (+) wire, but it can just as well be connected to the (-) one. Likewise, I have the power flowing into R1_B and out R1_A. This could be in the other direction without causing any trouble. All the EZIO is doing is acting as a switch. If the switch is off no power can get through. If the switch is on, it's as if the EZIO wasn't even there, and you're siren goes off. Switches usually don't care where they are in a circuit.

You'll care where the switch is though, mainly because if you unplug the wall wart (like when it's still going off after you've found the leak) there needs to be enough slack for you to set it down without ripping the wires out of the EZIO. Extra slack wouldn't hurt, since you'll likely be irritated when this happens.

Of course you want to be able to set it down somewhere it won't get wet. I've been assuming that you'll plug the EZIO near the air handler and plug the wall wart into the EZIO itself.

The schematic sort of implies you're going to need to run a bunch of extra wire to get to the EZIO, but that's more for the clarity of the connections. Wherever you choose to connect the relay, you'll split the wires with your fingernail again and pull them apart a bit, making sort of an "o" shape. You then cut one of the wires, strip the jacket off of both ends, and screw those down into the EZIO. The uncut wire will now be longer than the cut wire, so it will bow out a little. The whole thing will actually look something like this:




Assuming you've already created a device in Indigo for the EZIO (this is done the same way as any plug-in Insteon device), that's it, you're good to go. Plug the whole contraption in and test it out. When you select the EZIO in Indigo, the pane at the bottom lists the status of the four inputs, and has two switches (labeled 1 and 2) that control the relays. Hitting button 1 will toggle that relay open or closed, and in turn toggle the siren on or off.


Next up... sensors!

(this might take a day or two)

[subego]

Part One and One Half: Wiring Interlude

Like before, I thought it would be better to separate this out.

The main issue you are always dealing with when it comes to wiring is resistance. Your voltage gets used up forcing the current down your wire. The thinner the wire, the more voltage you lose.

So, the thicker your wire the less of a problem this is. Likewise, the shorter your run, the less the problem.

For this project you are dealing with 3 different lengths.

Jumper length: an inch or less. These will be to connect something on the EZIO to something else on the EZIO.
Short length: a few feet. This is to connect the EZIO to your air conditioner sensor, which is in the same room.
Really, really long: 200'. This is for the sensor in the laundry room. Remember, it needs to make a round trip.


Now the sweet spot for this project would be 22-gauge wire. Perhaps 20-gauge for the really long run. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a hole in terms of what's easily available. For instance, a basic Home Depot will have 18-gauge wire (brown lamp cord, looks exactly like a brown non-grounded extension cord) and 16-gauge wire (white lamp cord). They'll also have telephone wire, which you can split apart to get 4 24-gauge wires, or ethernet cable, which will have 8 26-gauge wires. IOW, they have everything you don't need. If you have a really huge Home Depot though, you might be able to find more variety in the department where they sell home security and alarm systems.

Potential solutions for the different needed lengths:

Jumper: Normally I'd say use anything that's lying around, even a single strand from an ethernet cable, but since we have such a long run with the laundry room circuit, even the smallest voltage drop somewhere along the line might make the long run unusable without thicker gauge wire ($$$). I'd just use some 18-gauge lamp wire (which is overkill), or perhaps sacrifice another wall wart for its cable. If you don't mind making the extra splice, you could even cut out a chunk of wire from your siren rig and put it back together. Of course, if you haven't built the siren yet, when you snip the end of the wall wart off, snip off a few extra inches of wire to save for later.

Short: Each of the sensors from SmartHome come with a 3' extension cable, which looks to be a pair of wires with plastic connectors on the ends that mate with the sensor and the system they were designed for. Snip one of these connectors off (I assume they are the same on both sides), strip some jacket off the end of each wire, and poof... there's your wire. The end that still has a plastic connector plugs into the sensor. This has the advantage of not needing to rig the wires to the sensor itself (for which you'd need a soldering iron), and if the extension cable isn't long enough, it'll be easy as pie to splice more wire onto the bare ends (which is what you'll be doing with the laundry room sensor). I'd use the 18-gauge lamp cord here if needed to lengthen it, but hopefully 3' will do the trick.

Really, really long: 18-gauge lamp cord on this one too. I apologize for not foreseeing this possibility, so 100' of lamp cord is going to add about $40... I think. In your PM you mentioned you had some ethernet cable lying around. It's definitely worth a shot, though whether this idea has any merit from a laws of physics standpoint is just a guess. What I'm thinking you could do is strip all the ends off of the eight wires, and twist four of them together to make a big wire. You could twist the other four into another big wire, and then twist the same groups together at the other end. You probably shouldn't separate the individual twisted pairs if that makes any sense (i.e. brown and brown with white stripe should be in the same group of four). If you haven't run the cable through the walls yet, this is definitely something you want to build and test, and then if it works, take it apart and run the wire.

This is actually a good policy for these sorts of things in general. I have the marks to prove it.

[subego]

Part Two: Sensors

(be sure to scroll-up if you didn't catch my post on wiring)

Alright! Here's the steak!

The circuit you're building is actually dirt simple, the layout of the EZIO makes things seem more complicated than they are. This is the same circuit I made for my door-lock sensor and my garage sensor.




Starting at the bottom, you have the power supply. This is exactly like the wall wart you cannibalized for the siren, only all the work is done. No cutting or taping is needed, and they thoughtfully labeled the polarity. The (+) lead is the +5V terminal on the EZIO. The (-) lead is the GND terminal on the EZIO.

Going clockwise (which is how the power is flowing), we have the EZIO input. This also has a (+) lead and a (-) lead. In the schematic I'm using input 1, so the (+) terminal is I1+ on the EZIO and the (-) terminal is I1- on the EZIO.

The third part is the switch. This is what your moisture sensor is. The only thing that makes it different is instead of flipping a lever or pressing a button to turn it on (close the switch), you get it wet to turn it on. This type of switch doesn't have a polarity.

So, we have one wire connecting +5V to I1+ (the red wire), one wire connecting I1- to the moisture sensor (the blue wire), and one wire connecting the moisture sensor to GND (the green wire).

Here's (schematically) how those wires would go into the EZIO terminal block:



Note that the blue and green wires are the two wires attached to the sensor. Since the sensor doesn't have a polarity, it doesn't matter which wire you pick from it to be green and which you pick to be blue.

That's all there is to it. The sensor is now functional. When the switch is open (dry), the EZIO tells Indigo that its status is "0". When the switch is closed (wet), the EZIO tells Indigo that its status is "1". You can see this when you select the EZIO in Indigo, but more usefully you can now use either status (or a change of status) as a "trigger action" to set off anything Indigo has control of, like the siren.

The circuit for the second sensor is the exact same as the first, except it uses the I2+ terminal and the I2- terminal. The red wires that go into the EZIO inputs both start at the +5V terminal, and the green wires for both sensors end at the GND terminal. All wired in it will actually (as opposed to schematically) look more or less like:



With it wired up like this, the second sensor is now active, and can be used to trigger an action just like the first. I'm pretty sure you'll have to have to make an identical set of trigger actions for the second sensor, i.e. you can't have one action have two different triggers, each action needs its own individual trigger. I'm pretty sure you can duplicate your first set, and then all you have to do is change the triggers in your duplicate set from input 1 to input 2. This would be easier than having to remake each trigger action from scratch.


That's it! All done!

Don't hesitate to ask for clarifications, and stay dry!

[thepainter]

Thanks for the very thorough description. Just waiting on the parts to arrive to start.

Paul

[thepainter]

Subego - First some apologies for not getting back sooner I know you put alot of effort into helping me. I decided to get the Venstar 1700 as well so that extended my purchase a bit and then I had to get some power (recepticle) into the A/C Closet which is now done. So now I have all the parts and am ready to Rock n Roll. I may have a change of heart depending on your answer but I am sure you can help me. I still want to keep the sensor upstairs but am debating whether to have the second sensor downstairs OR use it as a garage door sensor instead. My question, can I have all Three with the EZIO2x4? and if so are you up for another demo for the Garage Door . I know I'll need a sensor similar to the ones used with the alarm system. Anyway, wish me luck I start tomorrow. If any light bulbs go off let me know. Thanks again for the detailed instructions...........

[thepainter]

UPDATE: So - it's Sunday morning and I got the Alarm working (very LOUD). Sensor is next on the list.

[thepainter]

Sensor is in but now I need to setup the EZIO2x4. What I really need to have it do is once water touches the sensor i need it to trip the Alarm and then turn off the A/C. Then also, if possible send a text message to my phone. I saw that there were some settings for the EZ like(enable Analog settings,Enable 1 Wire Sensor, Enable broadcast on sensor Alarm) Also what should I use for the Trigger - Device state change? Sorry for what maybe really simple questions but I truly am a Noob.

Thanks Again

Paul

[subego]

Just noticed the post. I'm a touch busy but should be able to answer soon.

[thepainter]

Whew! Thought I lost you. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Paul

[subego]

Originally Posted by thepainter 

Subego - First some apologies for not getting back sooner I know you put alot of effort into helping me. I decided to get the Venstar 1700 as well so that extended my purchase a bit and then I had to get some power (recepticle) into the A/C Closet which is now done. So now I have all the parts and am ready to Rock n Roll. I may have a change of heart depending on your answer but I am sure you can help me. I still want to keep the sensor upstairs but am debating whether to have the second sensor downstairs OR use it as a garage door sensor instead. My question, can I have all Three with the EZIO2x4? and if so are you up for another demo for the Garage Door . I know I'll need a sensor similar to the ones used with the alarm system. Anyway, wish me luck I start tomorrow. If any light bulbs go off let me know. Thanks again for the detailed instructions...........

It just occurred to me that you can run both water sensors into the same input. AFAICT, the only reason you wouldn't want to do this is if you need to know which water sensor has been tripped. IIUC you are going to have the same action triggered regardless of which sensor gets wet, so you can (using my schematic colors) put both green wires into the ground, both blue wires into I1-, and a single red wire from the +5V to I1+.

I'll whip up a schematic for this, the garage door sensor, and take a picture of the actual sensor mounting itself. It's wired exactly the same way as your other sensors.

Edit: if I am mistaken about how you want to do the water sensors, it's still possible to do all three (2x Water + Garage) on separate inputs, and you'd still have one input left over.

[thepainter]

That's not a bad idea as I basically need to know if it's leaking, from which one doesn't matter - my house isn't that BIG . Subego, what can I say you've done a great job with your diagrams and explanations - simple and easy to follow just how I like it . I think now my main problem will be the actual setting up of the EZIO2x4 but I'm sure you have that covered. Thanks again.

Paul