Sonin 00700 Water Alarm with Remote Sensor

List Price: $14.99 Discount Price: $10.99

Features:

• Detects water and sounds alarm
• Loud 85 dB buzzer sounds up to three days
• Intermittent chirp signals low battery
• Test button allows user to check battery
• One year warranty

Customer Reviews:

Not impressed [Posted on 2008-04-04]
In our 30 years at this home we've had 3 basement floods. The last one was because the sump pump switch stuck. This seemed like a good early warning device but I'm disappointed. It's really pretty chintzy and the alarm cannot be heard upstairs unless you're really listening for it. It will not attach to a sump pit, so I just dangled it in the pit on it's wire. It does set the alarm when water contacts it, but unless I lengthen the wire it's not doing much good. At least it didn't cost too much.

If it stops working..... [Posted on 2008-05-15]
The sensor for this and other Sonin (and probably others!) water alarms uses two tiny metal buttons in the sensor to set off the alarm. Water simply completes the circuit and the alarm sounds. These metal buttons are prone to corrode over time (in my case, about 2 years in a crawl space sump).

If your alarm has stopped working and the battery tests good, lightly scrape the surface of each button so they're shiny again. This removes the corrosion and the sensor will most likely work again. Do this every 6 months or so and test the sensor in water.

Cheap insurance that's still going [Posted on 2008-05-29]
I bought this little alarm about 5 years ago (if not longer) and it easily paid for itself -- and more! -- with its very first alert. Three times our basement was flooded and this alarm let me know before sensitive electronic equipment was threatened. The last incident was this month, when the town sewage became blocked on our street. We happened to be the low-point for the neighborhood so, you guessed it, raw sewage started flooding our basement at 7 am. Lucky for us, this simple but effective alarm screamed a warning, which allowed us to take quick action to minimize the damage. The poor thing has been chirping ever since but I suspect that it's due to a low battery. I don't ever recall replacing the battery (but I might have done so once) so I'm not about to complain about battery life! I did notice that one reviewer has had terrible luck with battery life. This has not been an issue for me at all. For those who have had theirs crap out, maybe the company started cutting corners in recent years because mine has been going strong and reliably for many years now. Hopefully, other buyers will have the excellent luck I have had with this inexpensive water alarm.

Works, but finicky [Posted on 2008-06-07]
I soldered in a longer wire on the detector so that the alarm can be upstairs and the detector in the basement.

It became very likely to go off on its own with one polarity and okay on the other. I can't think of a reason for this, except that it doesn't care for my modification.

Nevertheless it's worked correctly a couple of times over a few years.

Now it's started sounding continuously regardless of water conditions. I'll look for a better one first before replacing it, I think; but this one did work for quite a while, albeit always on the edge of not working right.

The alarm is loud but not loud enough to hear on the second floor if it's in the basement, even if all doors are open.

Lame [Posted on 2008-07-23]
Using as a sump alarm for high water, i.e. failed pump. #1 pressing the button does not stop the beeping as it's supposed to. #2 the black sensor holds water. So when it does go off, it will continue to sound the alarm even when it appears the exterior contacts are bone dry because the INSIDE is still soaking wet!!! Bad design all around. I'm replacing this unit 2nite.

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