Hydrolock water leakage protection system

Leaving the apartment for a long time, we close the hot and cold water supply taps, protecting ourselves from the flood in our absence. But leaving every day for work, we don't. And the opportunity to flood the house and neighbors still remains. The best way out in this situation is to install the Gidrolock leakage protection system.

Principle of operation and composition of the system

Manufacturer - LLC Gidroresurs. The production of the system has been established in Russia, Mytishchi, Moscow Region, using both domestic and imported components.

Composition of the system Composition of the Hydrolock system:

• Water sensors. There are wired and wireless.
• Ball valves with servo drives of various sections.
• Signal processing controller.

There are several versions of the system, differing in a more complete set of parts and advanced functionality. It is possible to assemble the system from leaks independently from components.

The work of GidroLock is based on the actuation of sensors with the appearance of water and the controller's response with the supply of voltage to the electromechanical valve

When water gets on the sensor, the signal lamp lights up and the controller emits a sound signal. This double reporting is done for reliability, which is confirmed by the owners of the system.

Features of work and differences

As already mentioned, the gidrolock system has differences in equipment, quality of components and a set of functions. Let's take a closer look.

The drive breaks the pencil

The reasons for the good reviews of the Hydrolock system are in high-quality components and reliability of work. Reliable Bugatti brass and stainless steel ball valves, powerful servos with three modes of operation - nominal, reinforced and maximum.

Design features

In different Ultimate, Professional, Winner systems, servo drives with different torques on the shaft are used - 100, 450 and 160 kg / cm. This is enough to close even a jammed tap.

• The electric drives use only a metal gearbox.
• The drive only rotates in one direction, and this increases the torque of the gearbox and reduces the load on it.
• The controller reacts to the presence of a gap. For safety reasons, there are no electrical contacts in the tap.
• The motor is brushless, which guarantees a long service life.
• The fastening is simple and, if necessary, can be quickly removed and access to the valve valve can be obtained.
• The water sensor is a small circuit that eliminates false alarms.To remove the drive, you can manually close the water
• The water presence sensor in the Hydrolock anti-leakage system is not just two contacts. This is a small circuit that virtually eliminates false alarms. To protect against oxidation, the sensor contacts are gold plated.

Some of Hydrolock's leakage prevention solutions set them apart from the competition. "Aqua Watchdog"And"Neptune«.

Functional check

The Gidrolock system should work extremely rarely and most of the time it is in standby mode. To preserve the performance of the equipment, it is necessary to test it. The test is carried out automatically. To prevent deposits in the valve from jamming, they are forced to close and open once a week. If the tap fails to close, an alarm is triggered.

Locations of sensors and valves

Reliability and safety

Everything in the system is provided for ensuring safety:

• Power supply of all elements with voltage - 12 V from the converter.
• Redundant power supply.In the absence of mains voltage, power is supplied from the battery.
  

  Power is supplied from a 220 V network and a battery

• The housing is sealed with a degree of protection IP67.
• The water leakage sensors are powered by low voltage and are soldered to reduce the possibility of failure.
• Cranes with earthing option.
• In standby mode, the taps are de-energized. In the event of a leak, 12 volts are supplied for the time required to close.
• In wireless devices, the sensors have batteries.

As you can see, the Hydrolock control system is well thought out and quite safe. Although there are drawbacks, we'll talk about them later.

Additional features

There are two more options in the Hydrolock anti-leakage system:

• Forced water shutdown by pressing one button. It makes sense to install it near the door. Allows you to quickly shut off the feed if necessary. For example, to leave home for a long time.
• Forced preservation of the water supply for 30. For example, a sensor under the bathtub while taking a shower can give a signal to be triggered. Including the option, you can finish the job, and then restore the system to work.

The Hydroloka control unit has the ability to connect a large number of equipment:

• 20 electric drives.
• Up to 200 wired or 100 wireless sensors.
• The possibility of GSM notification, that is, an alarm signal will come to your phone.
• Installing a radio module allows you to control the system with a remote control and install wireless sensors.
• Separate light signaling for up to 8 control zones. No need to look for exactly where it flows.

When installing a water leakage control system in a private house, connect a relay to the controller, you can turn off any device. For example, the system will not only close the tap, but also turn off the power to the pump.

Sensors

As already noted, Hydrolock protection against leaks, depending on the version, is completed with two types of sensors in an amount - up to 200 wired and up to 100 wireless. The sensors are 2 contacts (there are three in the WSU), upon contact, to which water forms a signal. The signal goes to the control unit giving the command to shut off the water. It takes 15–20 seconds from the moment water gets on the contacts until the servos start to work.

The sensor contacts are raised above the floor level by 1 mm

The sensors are raised 1 mm from the surface to prevent false alarms.

Wired

The sensors are equipped with a cable with a length of 3 to 5 meters, if it is not enough, then it can be extended up to 100 meters. Recommended cables FTP 2x2x0.35 and SHTLP 4.

Supplied sensors:

• WSP- passive type sensor in a plastic case with dimensions 35 * 47 * 8 mm. Cord length 3, 4, 5 m. Supplied with Enerdgy, Universal, Premium kits.
• WPS +- passive with line break control. For Gidrolock Premium systems.
  

  External and internal view of the sensor

• SWU (WSU)- active sensor. The ability to work in the "smart home" system. IP 67 housing, wire length 3 m with an increase of up to 100 meters.

Wireless devices

Wired sensors are more reliable since wire breaks are extremely rare. Radio sensors can be affected by interference that cannot be predicted. So that such a case does not lead to a false alarm, the system can send SMS (if there is a GSM alert), but does not close the water.

• Radio sensor - Spider... Used to expand the territory. The connection to the control unit is wireless, but up to 20 wired WSP sensors are connected to the spider in parallel. The "spider" monitors signals from connected devices and, in the event of a water leak, transmits a signal to the controller. Power supply 3 volts, dimensions 45 * 70 * 8 mm.
  

  Spider expansion module

• WSR... Sensor in the form of a small cylinder in five colors. Works independently or with connected WPS sensors. Powered by CR2450 battery. The cost is $ 30.
  

  WSR wireless sensors matched to surface color

When installing them, you need to carry out the procedure of the so-called acquaintance with the control unit and then expand it into the necessary places.

Servos and ball valves

In the documentation, this design is called electric ball valves (SHEK). The valves are full bore, that is, they do not affect the flow and do not create water hammer.

In three types of Hydroloc systems: Ultimate, Professional and Winner, they differ in parameters. Their characteristics are shown in the table:

Parameters of SHEK Hydrolock

The large torque makes it possible to move the boiling taps, therefore the gearboxes are made metal. The long closing time of the taps is not so important, it is more important to close the tap and fix the leak

The drive gears are metal

Disadvantages of Hydrolock protection

The Hydrolock water leakage tracking system is well thought out. However, there are drawbacks to any system. In this case, they are not critical and with proper care they can be avoided, these are:

1. The system is not DIN rail mountable.
2. If the battery breaks down, the system does not work.
3. The batteries in the sensors are soldered.

After the system is triggered, Hydrolock will not restore operation on its own, even with dry contacts. It is necessary to turn it off and on.