Thanks for doing this video! I have several of the Z-Link sensors... well actually, they were branded by Homeseer at one point (and perhaps had custom firmware?) - and, depending on the detection cable used, could be either a water sensor or a light sensing probe. (Personally, I don't understand sticking a light detector on anything, but, plenty of people seem to find this useful). Anyway, Homeseer discontinued the version of this product that uses the flood sensor cable. And Z-Link also appears to be out of stock on this item, which makes me think that it has been discontinued. However, I need more of the official flood detection ropes. The 3.5mm jack is has 4 connectors, and the Yolink and Honeywell detection ropes each have a 3-connector 3.5mm jack. In my testing, I can not get these alternate ropes to detect leaks. I suspect that plugging the 3-connector probe into the 4-connector jack causes things not to connect at the proper points. If you have any wisdom on this or happen to know where to source the flood detection ropes for the Z-Link, I'm all eyes. Thanks again for this comparison video!
I reached out to Zlink last week to see if they had any information to share but haven't gotten a response back. Hopefully I'll hear back from them next week with some good news on where to source additional ropes. I do agree it's probably the issue being a 3 vs 4 connector. Might be able to splice a 3 to 4 together depending on the internals but I doubt any would just be plug and play.
I recently installed (13) Yolink water sensor 2 devices in my home along with the Bulldog Valve Robot. Yolink devices are excellent due to their strong LoRa radio frequency which allows them to transmit 1/4 mile away from the hub. As soon as one of the water sensors detects a leak, the Bulldog Valve Robot automatically shuts the house water off within 15 seconds of the alarm. I also get notifications on my phone and I have Alexa Routines announce the water sensor that is detecting the leak on all of my echo devices. I also have the Outdoor Sensor on my mailbox that notified me when mail arrives and Yolink Garage Door Controllers and sensors that allow me to control my garage doors from my phone. Yolink devices are really affordable. I highly recommend them.
Another awesome video with a lot of info, Thanks for the great work! I have 8 sensors currently in use at home connected to hubitat. I use the original smartthing water sensors, third reality and few wally zigbee sensors from a company that is not longer in business , they only work with hubitat. To me it's important that water sensors have an alarm because in some cases they lose connection with the hub(freeze) without me noticing. They looks fine but not working. Wally sensors did that , however smartthing sensors and third reality didn't. also I like TReallty because they use regular AAA batteries so I don't have to have an stoke of different types of batteries. the sensor it ugly and looks cheap to me but I don't care as long as it works.
I'm glad you found the video helpful, and thank you for sharing your insights as well! I like the water droplet shape of the ThirdReality sensors, makes it fun. lol They are on the bigger side though which can kind of be expected with their price, and the battery size used is another plus for sure on them. That's a good point for having a built in alarm. With z-wave plus you can associate devices together so I think in theory you could associate z-wave leak sensors directly to a z-wave alarm, but I have not actually tried it and could be wrong on how that works. I do recommend checking leak sensors once a month to make sure they still detect water properly and any automation you have setup around them trigger as expected.
I'm always wondering. How it is possible to upload video where voice and video track's are out of sync. Don't you see that when editing or you think it's OK?
Our 1 story home is all ceramic tile floors and I'm looking for water leak sensors that work with Echo devices and smartthings hub (limited repeaters). I want to put sensors on floor behind fridge and by washing machine and toilets and under bathroom/kitchen sinks in cabinets. Does one stand out to you for these locations/applications?
@@BeardedTechGuy our from door lock is a zigbee device and I have a light switch (AC powered) in master closet activated by motion sensor which is only repeater in house. Home is 1930 square feet.
What are you looking to accomplish with the Amazon Echo devices and the leak sensors working together? I never tested how they work with Alexa through SmartThings so not sure if any or all of them will be capable but I can test it. For zigbee I'd check out these 3: Aeotec ( amzn.to/3EjVJ32 ), Linkind ( amzn.to/3xzEMQW ), ThirdReality ( amzn.to/3jIqqWm ). If you go Aeotec make sure its the zigbee one and not the z-wave plus one that has an extension. If you settle on one type you could buy one and then place it near all the spots you'd have one to make sure you have enough coverage.
@@BeardedTechGuy It doesn't have to be through Alexa though we use Alexa Guard in concert with security system when we are away. Biggest thing is having some monitoring of water sources in house to advise us if a leak were to occur. If we are gone for multiple days we shut all water off but a small leak can do a lot of damage if it happened and we were gone for a few hours. I have to go into ST app rarely now as all devices show in Alexa app. Separate app for leak sensors is not end of world but it would be nice if the leak sensors interfaced with her. With washer, toilets, icemaker and sinks; we have 8-10 water sources in house. Our daughter had a leak under her diswasher that wasn't discovered for 2 years and caused a lot of damage. I don't necessarily want to buy an additional hub so that may eliminate Linkind.
I'll check out Alexa Gaurd later tonight to see if any of the leak sensors work with it through smartthings and will let you know! Linkind works with SmartThings hub directly so no additional hub needed for it :)
me encantó el vídeo! days ago I was buying the THIRDREALITY Water Leak Sensor And mine does not give me that option to activate the alarm. Do I have to make any changes to the settings?
Honestly the rug is very helpful for us because there is carpet under both our water heaters... Which I cannot explain. 🤣 As both are open flame gas.. and you'd think that would be a concern for all reasons and I can find no logical reason they did it.
Ha that's crazy! Maybe the area was once all carpet and they didn't want to move the hot water tanks? I'm glad you found the video helpful, and thank you for sharing!
Stay away from Honeywell/Lyric/Resideo Water sensors. They constantly lose connectivity to the network, they eat batteries and their customer service and support is non-existent. Incredibly dissatisfied with them...
What leak sensors do you use? Let me know below!
Another great video and thanks for the laughs!
Thank you!
Great video and testing
Thanks for doing this video! I have several of the Z-Link sensors... well actually, they were branded by Homeseer at one point (and perhaps had custom firmware?) - and, depending on the detection cable used, could be either a water sensor or a light sensing probe. (Personally, I don't understand sticking a light detector on anything, but, plenty of people seem to find this useful).
Anyway, Homeseer discontinued the version of this product that uses the flood sensor cable. And Z-Link also appears to be out of stock on this item, which makes me think that it has been discontinued.
However, I need more of the official flood detection ropes. The 3.5mm jack is has 4 connectors, and the Yolink and Honeywell detection ropes each have a 3-connector 3.5mm jack. In my testing, I can not get these alternate ropes to detect leaks. I suspect that plugging the 3-connector probe into the 4-connector jack causes things not to connect at the proper points.
If you have any wisdom on this or happen to know where to source the flood detection ropes for the Z-Link, I'm all eyes. Thanks again for this comparison video!
I reached out to Zlink last week to see if they had any information to share but haven't gotten a response back. Hopefully I'll hear back from them next week with some good news on where to source additional ropes.
I do agree it's probably the issue being a 3 vs 4 connector. Might be able to splice a 3 to 4 together depending on the internals but I doubt any would just be plug and play.
Great video thanks for all your testing very informative keep up the great job
I'm glad you liked the video!
I recently installed (13) Yolink water sensor 2 devices in my home along with the Bulldog Valve Robot. Yolink devices are excellent due to their strong LoRa radio frequency which allows them to transmit 1/4 mile away from the hub. As soon as one of the water sensors detects a leak, the Bulldog Valve Robot automatically shuts the house water off within 15 seconds of the alarm. I also get notifications on my phone and I have Alexa Routines announce the water sensor that is detecting the leak on all of my echo devices. I also have the Outdoor Sensor on my mailbox that notified me when mail arrives and Yolink Garage Door Controllers and sensors that allow me to control my garage doors from my phone. Yolink devices are really affordable. I highly recommend them.
Good job. This helped me to make my choice
I'm glad to hear you found the video helpful
5:45 The new version of the Third Reality has large-headed screws to reach better. Thus the metal fingers or 3-D printed spacers are no longer needed.
Good to know, and thanks for sharing!
Another awesome video with a lot of info, Thanks for the great work! I have 8 sensors currently in use at home connected to hubitat. I use the original smartthing water sensors, third reality and few wally zigbee sensors from a company that is not longer in business , they only work with hubitat. To me it's important that water sensors have an alarm because in some cases they lose connection with the hub(freeze) without me noticing. They looks fine but not working. Wally sensors did that , however smartthing sensors and third reality didn't. also I like TReallty because they use regular AAA batteries so I don't have to have an stoke of different types of batteries. the sensor it ugly and looks cheap to me but I don't care as long as it works.
I'm glad you found the video helpful, and thank you for sharing your insights as well!
I like the water droplet shape of the ThirdReality sensors, makes it fun. lol They are on the bigger side though which can kind of be expected with their price, and the battery size used is another plus for sure on them.
That's a good point for having a built in alarm. With z-wave plus you can associate devices together so I think in theory you could associate z-wave leak sensors directly to a z-wave alarm, but I have not actually tried it and could be wrong on how that works.
I do recommend checking leak sensors once a month to make sure they still detect water properly and any automation you have setup around them trigger as expected.
Thanks for the info. I may just opt to use the leak sensor app for notification but I'll look at it. Appreciate the help
I'm always wondering. How it is possible to upload video where voice and video track's are out of sync. Don't you see that when editing or you think it's OK?
Our 1 story home is all ceramic tile floors and I'm looking for water leak sensors that work with Echo devices and smartthings hub (limited repeaters). I want to put sensors on floor behind fridge and by washing machine and toilets and under bathroom/kitchen sinks in cabinets. Does one stand out to you for these locations/applications?
Zigbee or Z-wave plus?
@@BeardedTechGuy our from door lock is a zigbee device and I have a light switch (AC powered) in master closet activated by motion sensor which is only repeater in house. Home is 1930 square feet.
What are you looking to accomplish with the Amazon Echo devices and the leak sensors working together? I never tested how they work with Alexa through SmartThings so not sure if any or all of them will be capable but I can test it.
For zigbee I'd check out these 3: Aeotec ( amzn.to/3EjVJ32 ), Linkind ( amzn.to/3xzEMQW ), ThirdReality ( amzn.to/3jIqqWm ). If you go Aeotec make sure its the zigbee one and not the z-wave plus one that has an extension. If you settle on one type you could buy one and then place it near all the spots you'd have one to make sure you have enough coverage.
@@BeardedTechGuy It doesn't have to be through Alexa though we use Alexa Guard in concert with security system when we are away. Biggest thing is having some monitoring of water sources in house to advise us if a leak were to occur. If we are gone for multiple days we shut all water off but a small leak can do a lot of damage if it happened and we were gone for a few hours. I have to go into ST app rarely now as all devices show in Alexa app. Separate app for leak sensors is not end of world but it would be nice if the leak sensors interfaced with her. With washer, toilets, icemaker and sinks; we have 8-10 water sources in house. Our daughter had a leak under her diswasher that wasn't discovered for 2 years and caused a lot of damage. I don't necessarily want to buy an additional hub so that may eliminate Linkind.
I'll check out Alexa Gaurd later tonight to see if any of the leak sensors work with it through smartthings and will let you know!
Linkind works with SmartThings hub directly so no additional hub needed for it :)
me encantó el vídeo! days ago I was buying the THIRDREALITY Water Leak Sensor And mine does not give me that option to activate the alarm. Do I have to make any changes to the settings?
Honestly the rug is very helpful for us because there is carpet under both our water heaters... Which I cannot explain. 🤣 As both are open flame gas.. and you'd think that would be a concern for all reasons and I can find no logical reason they did it.
Ha that's crazy! Maybe the area was once all carpet and they didn't want to move the hot water tanks?
I'm glad you found the video helpful, and thank you for sharing!
Reliable is the first priority when it comes to leak sensors..
Can it be linked to APPS please?
Stay away from Honeywell/Lyric/Resideo Water sensors. They constantly lose connectivity to the network, they eat batteries and their customer service and support is non-existent. Incredibly dissatisfied with them...