Why Phyn Plus is NOT protecting my house
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- Опубліковано 29 гру 2022
- Sharing what happened to my Phyn Plus 2nd Gen device this last year and why I still have a Phyn Plus plumbing blank on the house.
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Great video Margaret. On my side of things, my Flo unit has been flawless since I got it. It's been more than a year now. It still gives me with a blanket of confidence that I won't get another huge water spill. I sleep better at night. Plus, I got 8 water detectors around the house 👍.
Hi Vincent! I was thinking it was closer to the two year mark--I'll admit to verifying my gut feeling by looking up our old email conversation. Time flies. The sensors really do make a difference shutting down the water in a timely manner. Glad to hear yours is still going well and you've enjoyed two winters in a fully functional home!
@@NoMoreLeaks OMG you're right! It's been two years already. Granted it's installed inside, it has not suffered from weather changes. Still the moving parts are holding up so far!
@@vincentroy5093 what part of the country are you in? I’m in the Phoenix metro and the hard, hard water destroys the turbines. We’ve also found that leaks can be small enough that they can still do damage but not trigger the Flo to shut off.
Same here, phx area. Haven't bought a valve yet. This is discouraging ha. Turbines are easy to replace though right? How long does it last? Anything better you'd buy? Mine will be downstream of a whole house filter so praying whatever valve I choose will do okay@@flubmooseballs
I'm looking to install Phyn Plus at my house in Phoenix. It will be in the garage which does get pretty hot in the summer. Your previous comment seems to indicate the Phyn is able to handle the hotter temps?
Hi Joe. It has been a pretty busy summer--I hope my reply is not too late. At this point in time I do not have a good recommendation for any system to go in our hot garages. Phyn's electronics will keep going, but the actual material was starting to break down internally. Flo's has some issue where a gasket or something internally breaks down and water mixes with the electronics and fries the unit. Neither company is working with me at the moment to improve their product. I'm trying out FireBot now, but it certainly does not have the measurement features that Phyn, Flo and other in-line water monitors offer.
I just checked my Amazon order history and it turns out I've had my Flo by Moen for 2 years now. I'm currently waiting on the turbine I ordered to remove and clean the unit, but I can say I haven't had any issues with the unit in the 2 years I've had it. The most important thing I've learned since owning this unit is my daughter takes ridiculously long showers. I appreciate the push notifications and the occasional phone call I receive from Moen for excessive water usage. Having a water monitoring system and control to turn off the water supply to my home is awesome. Now I'm looking for a similar device to monitor and control my well pump....... Any suggestions?
I forgot to mention I heard the turbines were on backorder. It seems there has been a lot of activity with those coming out. It is really interesting where the secondary monitoring features--and I dare say more day-to-day impacting--become the primary benefit. Knowing if the increasingly spotty "automatic" water timer went off kept the garden alive during the heat of the summer while we were on vacation. Monitoring shower usage will be more important as our average household age gets older ;-)
I have not educated myself on well pump technology. I'm only aware of Moen expanding into the smart sump pump market--which I recall you mentioning you were interested in. Did you end up with that system as well?
I have watched all your videos related to Flo vs Phyn since your video pop up on search for the matter but you watching your videos, I am more confused. I am looking to decide between the two brands and wanted get the perspective of someone who has used both units to confirm which brand or unit is a better choice. I live in southern california and the unit would be installed inside the garage but again I figure out which unit are your recommending having used both brands. Can you confirm clear winner between the two since your video are Flo vs Phyn title!!!
I am most definitely a proponent of Phyn. However, both have their own set of pros and cons, which makes it really depend on your situation. My main concern I have for you is how hot your garage gets. Flo has worked OK inside in a temperature controlled basement going on 2 years and 4 months, but I would not even consider putting it in my garage--it gets over 100 F in the summer. Phyn is built for hotter temperatures and will last longer because it has no moving parts. Please let me know if you have any questions about a particular feature or aspect to make your decision easier.
How did the Phyn perform in the AZ Sun?
My longest install was with Gen 1 at 11 months (Jan-Nov) before they sent Gen 2 for testing. I sent the first one back at 7 months (Dec-July). Honestly, I haven't had a single Gen 2 unit on long enough to give you good feedback. What I can tell you is the electronics are the better than anything else on the market at this price point and will not be the failure point (unlike Flo). It might be better than products that are twice this price point--I've called a few and the ones that pick up the phone suggest they should be at least protected from the sun. Since I bought this last unit with my own money, we had a neighbor fabricate an aluminum hood so Phyn Plus is out of the sun. I plan on taking it off in another couple months to see how it looks.
I don't get it. Why'd you remove it
They are testing my Phyn Plus device to see how it performed in the heat/uv stress last summer. I put my new one on last week.
Why not create a sun shade or something so the pipe is not in the direct sun??
The companies say their units are outdoor rated. I've intentionally left the review units out in the sun to see how well it does--just like I did the original Flo per the engineer's encouragement (while enrolling in FloProtect)--to get a fair comparison. I shaded Flo units #2-4 and sent #5 to live somewhere else. Now that I've bought a new Phyn Plus, our neighbor helped fabricate an aluminum hood and I've pressure fit R24 Rockwool Comfortbatt between the unit and the hood. It has been 5 months. We'll see...
So I'm sure if you do reviews on this issue you know that they no longer provide the union set up and a female adapter does not screw onto this unit properly I have a client who reached out to them and said that you have to provide your own unions well in that case if a female adapter cannot screw on to the plastic fitting properly how is this new unit supposed to work
It sounds like there are two issues here. I’ll address why connectors are no longer included with Phyn Plus-- I think it is a good move. Personally, I don’t want to pay for something I’m not going to use. There are so many different kinds of plumbing on houses--sizes and material. Since the water meter connectors can either be brass or PEX and either straight or elbow, the company discovered the plumbers were not using them. The cost is not insignificant and if I’m not using something that comes with a device, it's an insult to injury to have to buy the correct connectors--again.
No matter what you'll need a 3/4" connection using one of these 4 unions (depending on if you have PEX or copper): www.phyn.com/help/plumbing-unions-and-propex-parts-for-installing-your-phyn-plus/ Supplyhouse has the straight and elbow Uponor PEX couplings with the SKU Phyn provided in that article. As for the copper version, you can find the Uponor brand somewhere, but it is the same as a water meter coupling: www.supplyhouse.com/Jones-Stephens-M20075-3-4-Water-Meter-Coupling.
I’m not 100% on the female adapter problem--as in there is a placeholder waiting for Phyn Plus and it’s leaking? I do wish there was a way to attach a photo in a comment. But oh, crud, if you are saying the line was cut, then the adapters were put in place and the female end did not work properly *with a gasket in place*, that's a defect in either the unit or the unions and that would be horrible!
Please let me know if that isn't clear or you have any other questions.
@@NoMoreLeaks thanks for the information 👍
@@NoMoreLeaks Lady M,
I had Phyn Plus gen. 2 installed a couple weeks ago. I ordered it directly from Phyn using a link for my insurance company (one of several major insurers who have a relationship with Phyn) which gave me a discount on the product. Unit arrived about 7-10 days after order.
Of the plumbers recommended on Phyn's website, one did not service my area and the other two did not answer my call, perhaps because they were busy fixing busted pipes from Atlanta's hard freeze a week before. The plumber I got had a hard time figuring out what connectors to use (to 3/4" copper). The installation guide did not mention water meter/NPS couplings and the diagram did not look like anything either of had seen before.
The app would not read the QR code on the end of the unit and there was not a numeric id/code next to the QR code as the app instructed. Fortunately there was a third route of using my phone to assist the Phyn+ to connect to my wifi router.
The learning phase on the app has been interesting, challenging, frustrating, perplexing... Phyn's website FAQ search has not been particularly helpful, but a google search for what I want to know sometimes produces a link to a blurb on the Phyn site that I could not find by searching the website itself. I tried to call customer service, but hung up after being on hold (selected appropriate # for their automated answering system) for 45 minutes.
I wish we had done a better job identifying devices during the learning phase. I would recommend to people to be prepared to disrupt their normal lives for a while and use one device at a time, and keep a log of what device is used when. You need the log because water events do not show up in the app right away. The data goes to the Phyn cloud to be analyzed and then an event is posted to your Phyn database. It can take several minutes to an hour. Sometimes the events do not show up under the See Water Events option, but do show up in the device usage summary under See Water Use option. Clicking on device in the summary will show individual events that can be edited for device type. There is an excellent review/installation writeup at restechtoday.com; the author states that you can edit an event to a specific device (e.g., master bath toilet) but I have not been able to figure out how to do that.
Speaking of master bath toilet, Phyn+ did identify a leak soon after installation. Turned out the fill valve ran constantly (weeping, flowing, or spitting), float could not be adjusted the proper height, and water was imperceptibly running over the top of the overflow tube. No telling how many thousands of gallons we've wasted over the years.
The plumbing check throws a pressure drop alert every night about 20 minutes after the start range (I've set at both 1AM and 2AM). Shows a nice smooth graph of 22 psi pressure drop over the course of 4-5 minutes. I have no idea what this is. I even called a guy I know who worked managed the county's water plant to see if that system has a nightly event that would cause a pressure drop. (Nightly event of shutting off pumps to fill water towers, but not at the same time every night because volume dependent.)
There is a redditt /phyn group, but it is inactive. I posted a couple replies to a comment that was 2 years old. I was not able to initiate a post, and have requested the owner allow such.
I'm hoping your effort to build a community around these devices/issues is successful and that there will be a way for us to post questions to the group and share our experiences.
It may sound like I'm being negative about the Phyn+ device and app, but I'm actually glad we have it. Just want to share some experiences that may be helpful to others. And hope that you are more able to give Phyn feedback than I am.
kind regards,
L
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I’ll have to check out the installation guide when I open up the box hopefully in the next few days--that does sound like a miss. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but knowing the websites too well--it is the blurb just below the buy button. Not saying that’s the best place either because the point of sale isn’t always when you are thinking about installing it. I just know that’s one place where it is mentioned. It’s a subject that I’d like to cover in a future video. That’s unfortunate with the plumbers.
Interesting on the QR code. I used your third option as my first option, but perhaps the original Phyn Plus did not have that option? It’s good feedback.
As for calling in, here’s my strategy: if I don’t ring through within a minute I call back an hour or two later. I also try not to call on a Monday. I figure this is a high stress device and people who had issues over the weekend should call through first.
It sounds like you also have many more events than I do here at my house. My learning phases have taken a month each time. I saw the same thing--a few minutes before events appeared. By then I’d forget, but I guessed enough right. The dishwasher was my biggest hurdle. I also tried running the washing machine a couple times solo with no other water use so I could mark that one properly. More events make it so much more difficult. I’ll admit to writing down the time I started the dishwasher and washing machine a few times to help it learn.
I’ll have to look harder at the events list and device usage summary. Thanks for the heads up.
There is an excellent review/installation writeup at restechtoday.com; the author states that you can edit an event to a specific device (e.g., master bath toilet) but I have not been able to figure out how to do that.--I have no clue on that. I think that if the technology is truly there to determine each fixtures ultrasonic signature, then that capability should be there, but all I see is the ability to label all of my toilets as “toilet”. I’d *really* like to know how he did that.
Glad to hear you caught that toilet leak! However, the 22 psi pressure drop is significant! Is that during the normal 3 minute test or is it the extended 13 minute test? As for the water plant--that’s independent of what’s getting measured. Phyn cuts of the water to the city and it’s expecting everything on the house side of the valve to maintain pressure. My pressure drop is only .1-.3. It could be much larger if I had a mansion, but 22 psi probably means something is still leaking--a pinhole leak, slow drip somewhere. Here’s a few tests you can run: ua-cam.com/video/I4F4HV4nipk/v-deo.html (interestingly enough that video shows an example of a 20 psi drop in my house and how much water came out of the faucet), except instead of using the water main as your shutoff, run a manual test with Phyn. This way you can pinpoint what line it could be on--hot or cold. Whatever line it is you can continue to shut off other individual fixtures to continue to pinpoint. Or perhaps you’ve gone down that road? Out of curiosity, what was the pressure drop before you discovered and fixed the leaking toilet?
Thanks for the support. Ask away! My answers are worth the price charged, and I’m not as technical as customer service, but I am happy to answer what I do know.
I am curious, did you end up talking to anyone at Leak Defense System before deciding on Phyn? What was the feature(s) that helped you make the decision?
I do wish your comment was an independent comment so that others have an easier job finding it. If you’d like to copy and paste your comment on this video ua-cam.com/video/a9lh_-g68Ns/v-deo.html I’ll also repeat my response there. That way we can reach more people considering Phyn. I don’t think this particular video we are currently conversing on will do as well long term.
I really do appreciate the time you took to explain your experience and suggestions. At this time I don’t have much more say than any other customer. I’m continuing to do this because I think there is not enough information out on these devices.