How a Spot Leak Detector Can Prevent Big Problems

A leak-detecting sensor can be a critical tool for companies that want to protect their facilities and workers against damage or injury. Having an early warning system in place can help minimize problems before they become catastrophic or expensive.

How A Liquid Detector Works

Packet Power's spot leak detecting sensors can detect the presence of as little as 1 mm (1/32 of an inch) of water or other conductive fluids and send an alert to facility managers or automatically feed the information via secure wireless transmission to a building management system (BMS).

The leak sensors attach to environmental monitors by wire, which are customized for your facility and can be up to 15 meters (49 feet) long. The sensors can be placed in small, hard to observe spaces. They mount horizontally and can be adjusted from their minimum detection height of 1 mm up to 13 mm (17/32 of an inch). This gives facility managers flexibility to customize their probes for the exact type of monitoring they need.

Where Spot Leak Detectors Are Helpful

Leak detection sensors can help prevent or identify issues in a variety of industries and applications, including some of the following examples:

HVAC
Maintaining temperatures and humidity levels is important in many businesses, and often an HVAC system will include a condensation drip pan. Placing a spot sensor in a drip pan can give you early warning that your system is not operating as intended. The same holds true anywhere you are operating compressors for refrigeration.

IT Spaces
Whether you’ve got a server closet, server room, or server farm you need to be 100% sure your valuable IT equipment is kept dry. Pairing a spot leak detector with other environmental sensors for humidity and temperature ensures you are maintaining conditions that will allow your servers, network switches, and other gear to run most efficiently. Data center managers often install leak detectors under raised floors.

Piping
Fuel pipelines and water lines don’t last forever. Placing sensors in key locations, at terminals and junctions for instance, can alert you if leaks are happening. This applies to machinery that require these waterlines as well, including commercial dishwashers and washing machines.

Water Heaters
Leaks in a water tank can lead to a deluge if not caught early. Placing a sensor next to a water heater can give you peace of mind that your tank is not near failure.

Fire Suppression Systems
A sprinkler can save a building in a fire or cause expensive damage if it goes off accidentally at the wrong time. In cold weather areas these systems can freeze and pipes can burst. A good backup is to have a sensor in a space where damage from water would be significant if not caught early–think museums, libraries, or any space storing sensitive items.

Warehouses and Remote Buildings
Spaces and buildings used for storage that don’t get a lot of regular traffic in and out of them can be remotely monitored for the presence of water with spot leak detectors. This can tell you if a pipe has burst or a roof has developed a leak without someone having to visually inspect the space.

Sump Pumps and Floor Drains
Sometimes, the equipment keeping your floor dry seems to run nonstop. Placing sensors around sump pumps can help detect leaks or pump failures, alerting you to initial problems before you find yourself with a flooded facility. Likewise, sensors around floor drains can detect any backups immediately, helping you contain the spread of unwanted liquids.

Packet Power’s leak detection sensors transmit data through a secure wireless network. They are used in many different types of facilities where immediate knowledge of the presence of liquid is vital.

If you have questions about the capabilities of Packet Power’s spot leak detectors, please reach out to our team and we’d be happy to answer them.