Elk M1 Rule Help

[dean830]

Hello Everyone,

I have a ELK M1 gold with my house water pump controller relay - normally open, closed when pump is running.

I have this relay hooked up to a zone on my panel and am hoping to create a rule that will send me a email if the pump is continuously running for more than x hours. We have had a few occasions where there is a tap left open and the pump has run for extended periods of time. I think a rule may be feasable but cant seem to find the right combination of items to put to make this happen.

The pump will often run throughout the day whenever there is water demand. I need the rule specifically to trigger when the zone is violated for more than say 4 hours.

PS. The current workaround is that when system is armed (away) and the water pump is running (violated, non alarm) that it sends me a email > text. That way I just have to ponder what is running for water.

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,

Dean

 

[RAL]

To do what you want, you need to use a counter.
 
First, define a counter with a name of say "Water Run" and use it as a timer to keep track of how long the water pump has been running.  For every minute the water pump is on, increment the counter.  When the water pump turns off, set the counter back to zero.  If the counter reaches a value that you determine to be the "too long time," then send out an e-mail.
 
WHENEVER EVERY 1 MINUTE     
  AND Zone Water Pump (Zn 1) IS SECURE
    THEN ADD 1 TO Water Run (Counter 1)

WHENEVER Water Run (Counter 1) CHANGES TO 240               240 = 4 hours
    THEN SEND EMAIL MESSAGE 1 TO Email 1

WHENEVER Water Pump (Zn 1) BECOMES NOT SECURE
    THEN SET Water Run (Counter 1) TO 0

The second rule will send just one e-mail at the 4-hour point.   You may prefer to change the rule to send multiple e-mails any time the counter is greater than 240.   Or write more rules to send one every 5 minutes or whatever you think is needed. 

[Edit]:

After thinking about this a bit more, I'm not sure it will give you the result you're looking for. If you have a traditional well and pump, you probably also have a pressure tank. If the water is running for hours, the pump will actually run for short intervals to repressurize the tank, then shut off until it draws down to the low pressure limit again. That short shut off would cause the counter to be reset, and you wouldn't count up to the 4-hour run time you're looking for.

I think you could get what you are looking for by counting how many times the pump runs over a period of time. The tricky part will be that with a large leak, it'll run much more often than with a small leak. Maybe you'd be comfortable with allowing a small leak to continue without notification.

Each time the pump runs, that means that you've drawn down, say 10 or 20 gallons from the pressure tank. That's a fair amount of water. So maybe you'd want to send out an e-mail if the pump simply runs more than X number of times in a given time interval.

 

[dean830]

Thanks RAL, this isn't the first time you have helped me. Your knowledge of these systems and software programming is amazing. Thanks again!
 
This is a constant pressure pump system. There is no "pressure tank" perse. I am mostly concerned with taps being left open and the pump running continuously for a long period of time. I do like the idea of notifications for if the pump runs x times over a long period of time (especially if it is in AWAY) as that would indicate a slow leak.
 
Essentially whenever there is a significant pressure loss the pressure sensor kicks the pump in.

 

[RAL]

Thanks RAL, this isn't the first time you have helped me. Your knowledge of these systems and software programming is amazing. Thanks again!
 
This is a constant pressure pump system. There is no "pressure tank" perse. I am mostly concerned with taps being left open and the pump running continuously for a long period of time. I do like the idea of notifications for if the pump runs x times over a long period of time (especially if it is in AWAY) as that would indicate a slow leak.
 
Essentially whenever there is a significant pressure loss the pressure sensor kicks the pump in.

 
Glad to help.  If you have a constant pressure system that has a variable speed pump, then my original suggestion should work.  I don't have any personal experience with that type of well pump, so I tend to think of a pressure tank system first.