[GT Audio Works]

I'm in my laundry room today cleaning the cat litter, after I wash my hands in the utility sink.
I walk down the hall into my stereo room and hear running water coming from the boiler room behind my equipment.
I open the door to find the sediment filter in my water supply line had popped its top and is flooding the area !!
I shut the water off and vacuum up 3 wet dry vac canister fulls of water. The water was just about to wet my power conditioner, cables and speakers.
All in all I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time, to avert a major flood !!   Greg
                   

[jarcher]

So glad to hear you dodged the bullet!

Maybe a water alarm for the boiler room would be a good investment for the future if there is any substantial risk of the problem happening again?  All of us who have valuable AV gear down in the basement should probably have one - this reminds me to buy one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/First-Alert-WA100-Water-Alarm/14710711

[GT Audio Works]

So glad to hear you dodged the bullet!

Maybe a water alarm for the boiler room would be a good investment for the future if there is any substantial risk of the problem happening again?  All of us who have valuable AV gear down in the basement should probably have one - this reminds me to buy one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/First-Alert-WA100-Water-Alarm/14710711

Good idea,,,I put one of those in my dads basement , but neglected to do my own !!

[srb]

Give us some more details on the sediment filter.  Most housings I have seen are heavy duty polycarbonate with fairly heavy duty threads.  Curious as to how it "popped its top".

Steve

[GT Audio Works]

Give us some more details on the sediment filter.  Most housings I have seen are heavy duty polycarbonate with fairly heavy duty threads.  Curious as to how it "popped its top".

Steve

Me too...I was in a rush to clean up the mess and bypass the filter with piece of 3/4" copper, so I didn't look at it too closely.
I agree it was very strange to do that but I definitely saw water spewing from the top of the unit.
I will take a closer look at the filter and get back to you tomorrow.    Greg

[mikeeastman]

Most of those filters have a valve on top to relieve the pressure , they can stick open or blow out.

[GT Audio Works]

So glad to hear you dodged the bullet!

Maybe a water alarm for the boiler room would be a good investment for the future if there is any substantial risk of the problem happening again?  All of us who have valuable AV gear down in the basement should probably have one - this reminds me to buy one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/First-Alert-WA100-Water-Alarm/14710711

Was thinking about this last night,,,an alarm is good if someone is home to hear it...for not a lot of money I am going to install one of these or similar product. http://www.basepump.com/Products/FloodStop.html

[JLM]

Other valuable parts to the preventive equation:

Consider alarms for water heaters, washing machines, etc.

Drip pans under everything

Remote alarm(s) to all these devices (easy if you already have a security/fire alarm system)

[GT Audio Works]

Well, I didn't think this would ever happen.
Guess anything is possible. 

[srb]

Well, I didn't think this would ever happen.
Guess anything is possible.

Nor would I, on a housing that would normally only see household static pressures of 50 - 60psi, although there certainly are incidences of homes with higher pressure needing pressure reducers.  Water pressure gauges are fairly inexpensive, I think I might add one to a future filter system.

My guess though, is just faulty or aged plastic.

BTW, what's the brand? 

Steve

[GT Audio Works]

Nor would I, on a housing that would normally only see household static pressures of 50 - 60psi, although there certainly are incidences of homes with higher pressure needing pressure reducers.  Water pressure gauges are fairly inexpensive, I think I might add one to a future filter system.

My guess though, is just faulty or aged plastic.

BTW, what's the brand? 

Steve

I have well water and my pressure is 50 psi at best..the brand is Omni Filter Omni House Systems.
Its been in the house since I purchased it 15 yrs ago. So who knows how old it is.

[jqp]

Late to the party, I had a water heater die a few months ago and ruin my carpeting.

I am really wondering about all these products that are made from plastic, even super heavy duty plastic. How long will they really last? Just one example, they used PVC pipes instead of connectring with copper pipes when they replaced my water heater. Are we thinking they will last for 20, 30, 40 years? Also there are environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure sunlight (IR and UV) which will degrade plastic. So many parts - all made from oil. Oil -> plastic -> oil?

[jimbones]

I had one of those fail on me and had bad damage. But the audio equipment was not harmed

[DaveC113]

About 6 months ago the flexible hose going to the hot side of my water heater burst, luckily I was home and heard it... I'm going to look into alarms and sump pumps.

[Don_S]

So glad to hear you dodged the bullet!

Maybe a water alarm for the boiler room would be a good investment for the future if there is any substantial risk of the problem happening again?  All of us who have valuable AV gear down in the basement should probably have one - this reminds me to buy one.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/First-Alert-WA100-Water-Alarm/14710711

Thanks for the tip.  I just sent the link to my sister and suggested she get one for herself and our mother.  They live in a part of Ohio where it is like Morton salt--"when it rains, it pours".  Both have sump pumps.

[Phil A]

I've had water alarms for years.  Had them in the old house by the water heater in the basement and now that I'm in FL they are by the water heater in the garage.  Cheap warning.  Glad you dodged the bullet.

[Kenneth Patchen]

I have battery water alarms near several appliances and at the lowest point in the basement floor but none are hard wired. I plan to remedy that situation soon. The battery units work though but you or your neighbors have to be around to hear them.

I've talked with my plumber previously about sump pumps and now's the time to have one installed.

I don't have a portable generator either but I'll have one before the snow flies. The world gets scarier and scarier.

None of my audio systems are in the basement.

[gregfisk]

I own an alarm company and our bread and butter is the reoccurring revenue from the monitoring of the systems. Most alarm companies charge the same price per month no matter what they are monitoring so adding flood detectors and smoke detectors to your burglar alarm is a no brainer. Then it doesn't matter if you're home or not as you will be notified. And the new cell devices we use for monitoring will email you so you get an instant message at your desk or on your smart phone usually before the monitoring company even has time to call you.

[JLM]

I own an alarm company and our bread and butter is the reoccurring revenue from the monitoring of the systems. Most alarm companies charge the same price per month no matter what they are monitoring so adding flood detectors and smoke detectors to your burglar alarm is a no brainer. Then it doesn't matter if you're home or not as you will be notified. And the new cell devices we use for monitoring will email you so you get an instant message at your desk or on your smart phone usually before the monitoring company even has time to call you.

We added security and smoke alarms (while we were at it) when we built 10 years ago.  The electrical inspector wouldn't approve these smoke alarms (even though they're superior to the typical required ones), so we ended up with both sets (until the first time one of the required ones mistakingly went off).  But overall the security system has been a PITA.  Last month had the State Police come out twice because we (I once, wifey once) opened the garage walk-in door upon returning home before disarming the system.  I never got a call from the security service the first time and wifey didn't remember the passcode the second time.  Power goes out, they call (yeah we know, even at 2AM, or we're not home so what am I supposed to do?)  Glass breakage detected (cat knocks a dish off the counter), either I'm home and know it, or I'm away and what am I supposed to do about it?  It's like that all the time. 

[gregfisk]

We added security and smoke alarms (while we were at it) when we built 10 years ago.  The electrical inspector wouldn't approve these smoke alarms (even though they're superior to the typical required ones), so we ended up with both sets (until the first time one of the required ones mistakingly went off).  But overall the security system has been a PITA.  Last month had the State Police come out twice because we (I once, wifey once) opened the garage walk-in door upon returning home before disarming the system.  I never got a call from the security service the first time and wifey didn't remember the passcode the second time.  Power goes out, they call (yeah we know, even at 2AM, or we're not home so what am I supposed to do?)  Glass breakage detected (cat knocks a dish off the counter), either I'm home and know it, or I'm away and what am I supposed to do about it?  It's like that all the time.

JLM, there is a lot we could talk about here but let me address the issues you mentioned.

It sounds like your keypad is in the garage rather than inside the house. The reason the keypad should be inside the garage entry door is so you have a reminder tone when the door is open and a delay so you can turn off the system before it goes into alarm. We never put keypads in the garage for just the reason you mention, it's too easy to forget about the alarm.

You are correct that building code does not allow security system smoke detectors in place of the 120v interconnect type even thou they are miles ahead in everyway possible. We usually just put one on each floor in the hallways outside the bedroom areas so that the fire dept. is called whether you are home or not. On a side note your insurance company will give you a discount for having a monitored burglar alarm and even more with the monitored smoke detectors so if you're not taking advantage of that you should give them a call.

Regarding procedure, you need to let your alarm company know that on any alarm you want the home number called first "assuming you have a land line" then call at least two more numbers that you provide. This would be your cell or work numbers. Most alarms are caused by the people that use them or people trying to use them that aren't familiar with how they work. Give your alarm company a password or two that both of you can remember so when they call you, you don't have to come up with the system/account number of the system. This can be any word or number you provide and will allow you to cancel the police response. The alarm panel can also be set up in programming by your alarm company so that it sends a "cancel" signal when you disarm the system after an alarm so the central station stops the process and they don't even need to call you.

When the power goes out the central station gets a signal, once again you can have them respond anyway you like. If you feel you don't need to know about it just have them ignore the signal, there's no reason to call you at home in the middle of the night when the power goes out, especially when you already know about it.

Regarding the cats, In 35 years in the business I don' think I recall a cat knocking a dish off of a counter and tripping a glass break but I'm sure it could happen. Normally they are a good solution for additional perimeter protection. When we set up a system for cat(s) or dogs we usually install a motion detector with what we call a pet alley. What this means is we mount the detector at about chest high and turn it upside down. What this does is create an area below the detector which allows animals to roam free with out tripping the detector. The detector has to be installed in an area where there isn't furniture for the pets to get up on such as a hallway, across a stairway or entry way. The motion detector becomes more of a "trap" and doesn't cover as much area but it works very well for the application.

If you'd like to discuss other options you could talk to your alarm company about feel free to PM me, I'm happy to help.