Monitoring Sump Pump Backup Battery

[Jim Doolittle]

I did a quick search and see that a lot of people just monitor water level when adding automation to sump pumps. I am purchasing a battery backup sump pump (Aquanot II... WatchDog is cheaper but the Aquanot gets better reviews) and would like to monitor battery. These units have LEDs that signal low battery. Could I get a signal to my Ocelot/Secu16I from the LED? If so, could I do it in a way that would not void any warranty? Or, do I use a less invasive approach and use a sensor that can detect that the LED is on? I believe people have done the latter for monitoring status of A/V equipment.

Thanks,

 

[politics123]

I did a quick search and see that a lot of people just monitor water level when adding automation to sump pumps. I am purchasing a battery backup sump pump (Aquanot II... WatchDog is cheaper but the Aquanot gets better reviews) and would like to monitor battery. These units have LEDs that signal low battery. Could I get a signal to my Ocelot/Secu16I from the LED? If so, could I do it in a way that would not void any warranty? Or, do I use a less invasive approach and use a sensor that can detect that the LED is on? I believe people have done the latter for monitoring status of A/V equipment.

Thanks,

It's fairly easy to monitor for the presense of an LED (or lack thereof). Check out the electricity monitoring projects (www.bwired.nl or http://www.btinternet.com/~jon00/ ) Can't you tell low-battery because the voltage drops off? Seems like something you could measure through an analog circuit...

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Could I get a signal to my Ocelot/Secu16I from the LED?

[yoda voice] "The CocoonTech How-To's you must seek! [/yoda voice] :blink:
http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=1505

 

[Rupp]

I did a quick search and see that a lot of people just monitor water level when adding automation to sump pumps. I am purchasing a battery backup sump pump (Aquanot II... WatchDog is cheaper but the Aquanot gets better reviews) and would like to monitor battery. These units have LEDs that signal low battery. Could I get a signal to my Ocelot/Secu16I from the LED? If so, could I do it in a way that would not void any warranty? Or, do I use a less invasive approach and use a sensor that can detect that the LED is on? I believe people have done the latter for monitoring status of A/V equipment.

Thanks,

Jim,
Isn't there a one wire battery monitor? You run a one-wire network don't you?