Water Leak Detector Recommendations - Adjustable Volume and Easy to Silence [closed]

Question

To make a long story short I have an HVAC unit in a small rental property that leaks condensate and in order to apply a fix, we first must catch the leak in the act to better understand root cause.

My objective is to alert our tenants when water is detected in a drip overflow pan so they can turn off the AC and contact us.

To most effectively do this, we're trying to find a leak detector that can easily be disabled and for which the alarm volume is adjustable or has a reasonably quiet but audible setting (e.g. no louder than a microwave beeping). It is highly undesirable to have an alarm that wakes up everyone in the building.

I have done quite a bit of research into what's out there and have seen few if any with an alarm less than 110dB except for units requiring a WiFi or network connection for which it would be difficult to configure or maintain since the network is maintained by tenants.

Was wondering if anyone has any experience finding or using a leak detector that fits this challenge (namely quiet, with a seperate probe lead and easily disabled)?

Answer 1

You might be over-engineering this. Modern code demands a cutoff switch in the pan and this doesn't rely on your tenants being there (or paying attention). You just suddenly discover that the HVAC unit is off and the thermostat is dead. The names vary between "HVAC float switch" and "air conditioner moisture overflow switch", but the idea is you put them in the pan and they kill the AC to prevent water damage. If you have a condensate pump, the modern ones have this switch built-in.