Has Anyone Used a xioami Water Leak Sensor For Letting You Know When the Hot Tub is Filled?

Hi, I am ordering a Xiaomi water leak sensor and was wondering if anyone else had used one of these things to alarm you when the bath had filled up. Was thinking I would stick it to the inside of my spa bath and get it to alert me somehow when the bath was at that point.
Anyone know if this is possible? Course it is … right? :slight_smile:

I don’t believe that device may be water proof, just resistant on the surface. If it’s submerged it may likely stop working.

A better way would be to use a water leak sensor with a wire and prongs like the Everspring/Utilitech water sensor which a long wire that you can attach the side of the tub to inform you when it’s full. Do note that some batches of this device are problematic, but otherwise an excellent sensor.

Alternatively you can fashion your own custom sensor using a Monoprice Door/Window sensor, it has an external wire switch to which you can attach wires and use it a water sensor, however you’ll need a custom device handler if you’re going down that route.

OK, this is going to be a really unpopular answer, but I’m going to stand by it. (Or sit by it: wheelchair joke. :wink: )

Home automation sensors are generally spec’d to operate with the kind of water that runs through ordinary plumbing pipes. Tap water.

Pool, spa, and hot tub water is a very different environment. There’s a lot of chemicals in it that you won’t find in tapwater. And you generally treat that water by pouring in a bunch of chemicals at once which creates super high concentration areas until the chemicals disburse.

When you put all of this together, you run a very high risk of what is called “galvanic corrosion“ and that in turn can cause electrical equipment to catch on fire even when it’s wet.

For this reason, almost all jurisdictions in the US have special safety codes which apply to any electrical equipment, including battery operated equipment, installed in “the splash zone“ of pools and hot tubs.

So unless you fill your hot tub with water from the hose every time, I could not recommend using a typical home automation leak sensor for this purpose. Instead, look for a purpose built device spec’d to A hot tub environment.

( and before somebody asks, no, you cannot just put a sensor inside a Ziploc and solve the problem that way. Batteries outgas. A battery operated device should not be placed inside an airtight enclosure unless the device is specifically designed for that kind of environment.)

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Quite surprised to hear that a “water” leak sensor would not be water proof but will investigate this. Get what your saying (that its just the base that detects), but thinking of scenarios where you may not be home and the bathroom floods up above that level … would mean that the sensor would break right?

RBoy - I’m referring to more of an indoors spa bath so no major chemical apart from some bubble bath.
I’m in New Zealand so no jurisdictions apply in that regard.
I hadn’t realized that these things weren’t water proof.

It’ll probably turn into a one use scenario. These are designed to detect water leaks - not floods. The utilitech design is better from that perspective as it has a long separate cable (and a local alarm built in)

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The Xiaomi water sensor uses screw-type contacts, and I don’t see any reason why wire leads couldn’t be attached and routed along the side of the hot tub, with the ends of the wires at the desired water depth.

Then the sensor itself could be placed in a spot safe from being submerged, and if the wires become corroded due to the chemical composition of your hot tub water they could be easily and cheaply replaced.

Just a thought. :smile:

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Good idea, I had the same brainwave.

Attach crocodile clips to the 2 sensing screws with wiring going in the tube, attached to a small pcb as sensing element.

Maybe a Xiaomi pushbutton switch to kill the alarm (siren :rotating_light:) when the tube is full.

IP67 on several sites

I tested it this way in a glass of water.

I use an Everspring zwave sensor. It has a wire with prongs, so the unit itself does not sit in any water.

And because of possible chemicals such as bath salts, I don’t leave the sensor prongs sitting in the water. I put it in, then when the house tells me the tub is full I remove the prong before using the tub.

I use a xiaomi leak sensor in my aquarium sump. It routinely gets submerged for months now with no issue.

However, these sensors in particular are notoriously finicky and have a habit of falling off the network during initial set up and shortly thereafter. That said, from my experience…once it does stay on the network for a couple weeks it is solid for me. I have several that wouldn’t stay on the network no matter what I tried so they are just paperweights till I have another go with them.