Home Protection Valve Overview

When installed at the water service entrance to your home, the DROP home protection valve can protect your home from water damage caused by leaks, notify you and shut off the water in the event of unusual flow patterns, and test your home for very slow leaks that ordinarily would go unnoticed. The valve features a motorized shutoff valve, a connection for a leak detection cable, a water meter to monitor the flow of water, a temperature sensor, and a pressure transducer to monitor the water pressure in your home.
During normal use, the DROP home protection valve is open and allows normal water flow to the home. When a leak or unusual flow is detected, the valve will close and DROP will send you a notification. (depending on how the DROP system is configured)
If you have not yet connected your Valve device to the system, please see the section “How to Add Your Devices”.
If you need help installing your Home Protection Valve, please see the “Home Protection Valve Installation Manual”.

Manual Bypass

The Home Protection Valve features a manual bypass valve that can be used to restore water service if the shut-off valve fails while in the off position. It is very important that the manual bypass valve is off, as shown below, during normal operation. Otherwise, the shut-off valve will be unable to close off the water supply when a leak or abnormal flow is detected.

Lights

The home protection valve will normally be in the service position. This is its normal position that connects the incoming water supply to the household plumbing system. While in service, the lights on the shutoff will be green. When the valve moves to the shutoff position, the lights will change to orange.
While observing the device, you will notice periodic purple flashes. These indicate that it is wirelessly communicating to the DROP Hub during that time. Also, when the water meter on the unit senses water flow, the top lights on the device will alternate. The rate of alternation of the lights will give a general idea of the current flow rate. The highest frequency of the lights alternating is determined based on the highest flow seen by the system.

Pushbutton Functions

The home protection valve has a recessed, touch sensitive button that can perform some basic functions. These functions can be accessed by pressing and holding the button. As you hold the pushbutton, the light closest to the button will turn white to confirm the button press, and the top lights will change for the different functions available. The following list explains the functions that are available:

The valve lights will turn orange or green, depending on the valve’s current position. If the valve is in service (green lights before the button was pressed), releasing the button while the lights are orange will send the valve to the shutoff position. Likewise, if the valve is in shutoff (orange lights before the button was pressed), releasing the button while the lights are green will send the valve to the service position.

The valve lights will turn purple. Releasing the button while the lights are purple will cause the valve to turn the motor and verify the valve is in the correct position.

The valve lights will turn blue. Releasing the button while the lights are blue will cause the valve to recalibrate the pressure transducer. Note that this option should only be used when the pressure transducer is open to the atmosphere. If it reads more that 5PSI, the instruction to calibrate the transducer will be ignored.

The valve lights will turn orange. If released during this time frame the valve will be armed for a factory reset and the lights will turn red. If the button is pressed again, once it is red, a factory reset will be performed on the valve. It is recommended that before performing a factory reset, that you remove the valve as a device on any DROP system that it might be attached to. This can be done while using a local connection in the App and going to System on the navigation menu on the left, and then the Advanced page (selected at the top). On that page you will see “Manage Device Components”. Find the valve in that list and press the “Remove” button associated with that valve. Once the valve is removed then perform the factory reset.

Status and Settings

You can view the status of the home protection valve and adjust settings by starting the DROP Connect app, selecting “Devices” on the left navigation menu and then selecting the shutoff valve from the devices list.
The valve status page includes several settings that can be adjusted:

Action when leak detected – Normally, the shutoff valve is configured to shut off the water supply when a leak is detected. However, if you are using the sensor cable attached to the shutoff valve to monitor a location unrelated to your water supply (for example, a sump pit or a condensate pan), you can change this setting to only send a notification.
Low and high temperature notifications – These settings define temperature thresholds that will send a notification when the temperature around the shutoff valve is outside the selected temperature range. The default settings will notify you of low temperatures before your house gets cold enough to freeze and damage water pipes.

Slow Leak Tests

A dripping faucet or a toilet slowly leaking water down the drain will not be apparent on the daily usage graphs and can result in hundreds or thousands of gallons of wasted water each year. The slow leak test uses the pressure sensor in your DROP system to detect very slow leaks during times when you are not using water. The slow leak test is performed by temporarily shutting off the water supply and monitoring the water pressure in your home plumbing system.

When a slow leak test is due, DROP will monitor your water usage and automatically start the test during a time when you are not using any water. DROP will close the water shut-off valve for 10-30 minutes (depending on the test length setting), monitor the system water pressure, and then reopen the valve. Any small, slow leaks will result in a pressure loss in the system. DROP will notify you if it has discovered a potential leak.

If you happen to use water during a slow leak test, DROP will immediately open the shut-off valve and reschedule the slow leak test for another time. When this happens, it is normal to notice a few seconds of reduced water pressure. DROP will automatically find a test time when water use is unlikely. DROP systems equipped with a Home Protection Valve will display a “Manage Slow Leak Tests” button on the dashboard. Tap this button to manually start a slow leak test and view the results of the previous slow leak test. Also, you can change the slow leak test settings:

Test Frequency: This controls how often the slow leak test is performed.
Test Length: This controls the length of each slow leak test.
Test Failure Threshold: This determines how much pressure loss must be observed before a test failure notification is sent.

NOTE

For more details on each of these settings, tap the DROP Information icon next to each setting in the app.

Placement

If the Remote is going to be primarily used as a user interface, it should be hung on a wall or placed on a counter top so it is convenient to see and to control your home water state.

However, if you need to extend the range of the DROP Link network, you can place the remote at a location between the Hub and the devices you need to extend to. The DROP Remote is a network extender that will improve communications between the DROP Hub and distant DROP devices. The construction of every home is different, so you may need to experiment with the location of the Remote to find the optimal placement.

Up to eight DROP remotes can be connected to a DROP Hub as user interfaces and/or network extenders.