PipeBurst Pro System Overview: Today’s homes are packed with more appliances than ever and a lot of them feature some sort of “water usage” inside them. This exposure vastly increases the risk of a domestic water leak; but when you combine this with the fact that each of these appliances is under continuous pressure these days to be manufactured at an ever lower cost to satisfy the public, you begin to see how a perfect storm is developing for a significant number of disastrous water damaging events that can happen inside the home.

From the iron water pipes of yesteryear, to newer copper pipes used since the 1950's, we are now seeing pressurized plastic pipes becoming increasingly popular in homes at all price levels. (Formerly, for some time, plastic pipes had only been used on the non‐pressurized “drain” side of the plumbing). The iron pipes used more than 50 years ago have by now, seen their dependable days disappear. Copper pipes that have been popular for decades are now being challenged by the more cost effective plastic plumbing. Sturdily built plastic parts are often made of better, longer lasting quality than some copper parts are. But plastic does lend itself to being made "just good enough" and to last "just long enough". This type of engineering often leaves the owner with a disastrous, wet, mess to deal with.

From an act as simple as driving a small nail into the wall to hang up a picture, a leak can develop that is non‐detectable for an unforeseen period of time. The old saying that “Quality never goes out of style" has significant meaning when it comes to preventing disasters that can ruin precious, irreplaceable items such as generations of photos, or legal documents. Additionally, your life‐style is interrupted for what can be months of clean up and dry out time. Tremendous personal inconvenience, decreased resale value of your home, and mold intrusion for improperly cleaned up floods, along with other unforeseen factors, add up to this being an event no one ever wants to experience firsthand.

With all the information and equipment available to prevent this from happening, it remains the second highest category of insurance claims, according to the Insurance Information Institute . Home water damage claims also represent nearly three times the frequency of home fire claims. Domestic water damage is a significant problem and by and large, these floods are not caused by small nail holes in pipes!!

ABOUT THE VIP (TickerValve Interface Panel):

The VIP is the brains of our entire system. Its’ dependable solid state construction inside its rugged nylon enclosure comes ready to mount on any convenient wall; typically about 3‐4’ above floor level. The VIP controls the TickerValve and communicates with the FloTrax wireless control panel while it responds to various signals sent from each FloodBug water sensor. The VIP can also control a simpler system that operates with just the TickerValve; as the VIP includes one SideKick water sensor output located inside it. Of course this would provide just one water sensor location in the entire structure, but that’s all that some installations require. Normally, installations of this less demanding form will use our PipeBurst Pro Jr. system. However with the PipeBurst Pro, you can customize your system by adding as many FloodBug water sensors as you feel you need and as many FloTrax monitors as you desire.

The VIP is also a 12 volt DC unit and operates via a UL approved 120 volt AC adapter. Simple and effective! The VIP comes standard with an SLA battery backup power supply built in. Continuously charged and ready to provide protection during a power outage, its’ battery backup will automatically close (or respond as you program it to do) the TickerValve should the power outage remain for several days, thus providing whole house protection throughout the outage. Should you desire to use the water while the power is still OFF and your SLA backup battery has closed the TickerValve for safety reasons, the manual override on the TickerValve is always available for quick water service as you desire. When the power returns, the TickerValve will automatically return to the position called for by the VIP. Smart and Safe describes the VIP in all conditions.

ABOUT THE FLOODBUG AND its SIDEKICK:

The FloodBug is the wireless moisture sensor for the system. You can install up to 256 FloodBugs using just one VIP. Each FloodBug “syncs” up to the VIP during the set up phase, and after that they communicate with the VIP every 24 hours to insure functionality of each serial numbered unit. If the FloodBug’s AA batteries get low, the VIP will know it in short order and they both will send out an audible low battery signal. The FloodBug’s attractive black enclosure is designed to stay in the shadows out of sight. But its smooth outer profile makes it easy to clean and pleasant to look at if the location reveals its presence.

The FloodBug’s genuine gold plated water sensor pins are located on its’ under side. But flip it over for more than 3 minutes and it will start to audibly chirp at you! This signals a disabled unit that needs attention. If it doesn’t get flipped back over within 24 hours, it will not report in and its absence would be audibly and visually announced via the VIP or the FloTrax wireless controller. The FloodBug also features a battery test button on its underside for quick battery checks as desired. This button is also your sync button during the setup process. The FloodBug can also be powered via a small AC adapter (included) as well as batteries. FloodBug (Top and Bottom View)

ABOUT THE SIDEKICK:

The SideKick is a high quality yet economical extension of the FloodBug water sensor. The SideKick’s 5’ long, lay‐flat flexible wire simply plugs into the gold contact plug on the end of the FloodBug. The SideKick water sensor is a weighted, stainless steel casting that houses its gold water sensors. At about 3/8” tall, the SideKick can easily be slid under a refrigerator, dishwasher or similar appliance to provide point source water detection. It will also more than double the FloodBug’s coverage area in a very economical and unique fashion.

ABOUT OUR BALL VALVES:

Our TickerValve’s premium, full flow ball valve is constructed of 316 series Stainless Steel. This Stainless Steel’s high nickel content will not allow it to rust or otherwise deteriorate. It is built to provide decades of dependable service. It’s rated at 600 psi, which is typically more than a 6:1 safety factor, as most applications do not run above 100 psi. Its’ 3 piece bolted construction allows for simple and quick disassembly and reassembly for difficult or tight installations. This premium feature also makes it very simple to install new valve seats and seals in the unlikely event that maintenance is ever required. It has proven itself to provide tens of thousands of openings and closings; thus lasting indefinitely in this application. The valve stem, (the most likely spot to leak on most valves), is constructed using 2 methods of sealing: 1. A pair of twin O‐rings as the primary seal, and: 2. A secondary PTFE lubricated thrust seal. Thus, any one seal can fail and still leave sufficient sealing surfaces in place to avoid external leakage. Of course, in our typical method of designing, using both redundancy and superior quality; if it ever did leak, our FloodBug or SideKick would quickly sense the moisture and close it… automatically. Thus, audibly and visually signaling you that a problem does exist that needs attention (plus, your home’s water will already be OFF, and you will quickly notice that!).

Our TickerValve also comes equipped with a Manual Override Handle; thus providing fail‐safe access to control the valve manually, if required, for any peculiar reason. Its’ ¼ turn handle is simple to use and highly visible (bright yellow in color) for quick access.

WHY OUR “MOTORIZED” TickerValve?

Our full flow, motorized, TickerValve is frankly, over‐engineered to provide the required “extra” power to insure the valve’s proper operation even in tough water applications. These often create mineral build‐up on the moving parts in the flow path, inside the valve itself. As simple as water seems to be, it is one of the most difficult fluids to control smoothly due to its lack of lubricity. Oily liquids, while often more difficult to handle, are typically, vastly easier to control than simple, plain, H2O. Because of these potential hazards, our TickerValve cycles back and forth in a 90 degree rotation arc. This way if it encounters any sort of obstruction while closing that it can’t power its way through, it can free itself by re‐opening in reverse. 25 years ago our valves rotated round and round stopping every 90 degrees and never reversing; however this cycle pattern caused inherent problems we have long since overcome with the back and forth rotation pattern we use now. Additionally, our exclusive TickerValve features a ¾ second close time to stop the leak fast, and a SloFlow “Ticking” action to open the valve in several slower steps. This prevents the surge of released energy in the form of water hammer, from damaging your pipes upon re‐pressurizing of the homes plumbing every time the TickerValve is opened. Quick close, and SloFlow open is a PipeBurst Pro exclusive feature.

The 12 volt DC gear‐motor inside our rugged TickerValve actuator’s case is built using all steel gears in its final drive stages. No plastic gears are used in this high torque area! We also use Perma‐Lube grease inside the gearbox to eliminate all maintenance of our actuator. The handy, clear, position indicator dome (with a yellow flag inside), on the top of our TickerValve gives immediate visual indication of the valve’s position below it. This is very useful during installation, testing and trouble shooting. As such, again, we have sweated the details so you can rest assured you are getting the best system available.

DID WE SAY IT WAS WATERPROOF? Again:

Our TickerValve actuator’s enclosure is waterproof, and we back that claim with a 7 year limited warranty. This exclusive waterproof feature and our proprietary sealing process has not been successfully duplicated by anyone industry wide! It quite simply is the best available. Whether your control valve is located inside and you routinely spray the area down with a hose or you locate it outside in a wet weather climate, our waterproof TickerValve will yield decades of dependable service for you.