Treatment plant alarm light

[vfrdave]

My iwox treatment plant comes with a remote alarm light for the sir compressor. They recommend to install a 5 core 2.5mm swa to accommodate this.  We only buried a 3 core some months back.

 

What could I use that I will have any chance of getting through the gland on the tank as well as the 3 core swa?

 

Thanks in advance

[ProDave]

Do they provide a wiring diagram?

 

You only need 2c SWA if you use the armour as earth, so you can then probably use the spare core as an alarm signal.  What colours are the 3 cores in  your SWA?

 

[vfrdave]

@ProDave I will need to check my cable for the colours.

This is the wiring diagram, one side of the isolator is prewired to the compressor.

[ProDave]

Need more technical information than that. I suspect those 2 cores "sensor output" are a relay contact so could be configured as a switched L output going back down the third core, but would need to be a LOT more certain of their actual function.

 

The cable cores issue. If you have the common 3 core with a brown, a black and a grey core you can use that with appropriate sleeving of the cores.  But if you have the less common 3 core SWA with brown, blue and green/yellow cores then you really should not be using the green/yellow for anything other than earth.

[vfrdave]

8 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Need more technical information than that. I suspect those 2 cores "sensor output" are a relay contact so could be configured as a switched L output going back down the third core, but would need to be a LOT more certain of their actual function.

I will find out from the supplier or take a closer look during the week and report back.

[vfrdave]

On 06/01/2019 at 17:07, ProDave said:

brown, blue and green/yellow cores

That is what I have.

I don't mind running another cable, a question of what cable, and sizing, to try and get it in the same gland as the swa.

[ProDave]

You can't get 2 SWA cables into one gland.  Your only option would be an external waterproof box, bring your existing an new SWA cables into that, and then a short length of 5 core SWA from that box to the treatment plant.

 

1.5mm 2 core SWA would do for your extra alarm cable.

 

Or look at a wireless alarm link, might be a whole lot less hassle.

[vfrdave]

Thanks @ProDave a joint box seems the easier option.

Had a quick look for a wireless solution and nothing looked like it would do what I need.  I do remember @JSHarris talking about a wireless solution previously, not sure if he built it in the end.

[Onoff]

How about this?

 

https://www.xtra-sense.co.uk/products/merlin-mains-signalling/merlin-eco-remote-switching-system/

[Jeremy Harris]

22 minutes ago, vfrdave said:

Thanks @ProDave a joint box seems the easier option.

Had a quick look for a wireless solution and nothing looked like it would do what I need.  I do remember @JSHarris talking about a wireless solution previously, not sure if he built it in the end.

 

 

Yes I did, and it works well.  It monitors both pump pressure and effluent level (if needed) and transmits the data back to a display and alarm inside the house. 

 

Now the bad news.  I bought parts to make a few for others, then ran into a major regulatory problem which means I can't even give them away, let alone sell them at cost price (which was my original intention).  It's the same problem that the chap that wanted to make the Open Energy Monitor PV diverter kits ran into.  I'd need to get the units tested and certified against the LV Directive and also the EC Directive, which would cost many times more than even a few hundred of these things would cost to build.  The net result is that I had to just put the whole box of bits away and forget about making them for others.  Making a single unit for myself, as a DIY project is semi-OK, in that it's exempt from the need to comply with the LV Directive, but strictly speaking I still should have had it tested to ensure compliance with the EC Directive, even though it uses a licence-exempt radio link module.