Water Leak Alarm
Troubleshooting Guide
This guide provides tips and advice for managing alarm triggers on water leak detection alarm systems.
We’ve covered the common reasons for an alarm activation including leak, fault/cable break, and service. If you require any further guidance, please contact us to request a maintenance visit.
It’s important to have your equipment professionally serviced annually (or to the manufacturers’ recommendations) to ensure the smooth running of your water leak alarms.
Leak Alarm
Alarm sounding but you’re not sure where to look?
The original system installer should have provided an O&M manual containing a leak location map or zone chart and a commissioning record – this will provide information about where the sensor is installed.
If this information is not available, sensors are usually installed in the following areas:
Kitchen & Tea Points
Below the kitchen units behind the plinth or within the floor void
Comms Rooms
Within drip trays and around the perimeter of the room within the floor void
Plant Rooms
Located around the various plant or around the perimeter of the room
WC
Within the wall or floor void below the cisterns, or within the cistern (probe)
Alarm sounding but you can’t see any water?
A single drop of water making contact with sensing cable can produce a leak alarm at the panel, so you should not expect to see a puddle of water. Check the sensing cable along the full length to see if there are any droplets of water; gently wiping down the cable with a clean dry cloth should remove any water.
Contaminates such as builders’ dust, dirt and debris can also react with sensing cable and produce a spurious leak alarm – make sure the sensing cable installation area is clean and wipe down the cable to remove any contaminates.
If you have water detection probes and there is no water in the immediate area, try wiping the probe prongs to remove any contaminates or droplets of water.
The leak alarm reset but is now sounding again
This indicates either the original cause of the alarm has not been resolved, a sensor is still wet, or the sensor has been damaged.
It is possible that the cause of the alarm is condensate; as the drop of water makes contact with the sensing cable the leak alarm will be produced, but this will dry quickly enabling the alarm to be reset. Check the sensor installation area for signs of condensate or water drips.
Make sure the sensor and installation area are thoroughly dried following a water leak as prologued submersion in water will cause irreparable damage.
Fault Alarm
Alarm sounding but we can’t see any cause
Depending on the system type, a fault alarm can be caused by a failed sensor, a cut cable, a panel component failure, a damaged connector, failed backup batteries or power loss to a sensor interface module.
If the cause is not immediately apparent this will require further investigation by a leak detection system specialist. Get in touch to request a service visit.
Service Alarm
Alarm sounding but a service is not due
If you have a TraceTek system, the Service alarm does not mean the system requires servicing, this particular alarm is indicating that one or more of the sensors have been affected by contamination, such as moisture or a very small leak, or contaminates such as builders’ dust, dirt and debris.
The panel will show a meterage in square brackets to indicate the approximate location of the issue. Because the cause (concrete dust, for example) of low-level current may be distributed over a long section of the sensing circuit, it is not always possible for the system to report an accurate location. However, the indicated location is always a good point from which to begin a troubleshooting procedure.
You will need to refer to the leak location map to find the approximate location indicated on the sensing circuit, check for a small quantity of water on the sensor (this may be a drop of condensate etc. not likely to be a puddle of water), and clean the sensor and installation area of any contaminates such as leak residue, builders’ dust, dirt, and debris. The service alarm will clear when the issue has been resolved, you do not need to reset the system.
Please refer to the manufacturer manual if your system is not a TraceTek system, as the cause of a service alarm can vary between system types.