What is "Plumbing Check" and how does it work?
Plumbing Checks for the Phyn Plus look for activity associated with tiny leaks in your plumbing system that can create damage over time. During a Plumbing Check, your water will be turned off as Phyn monitors for potentially tiny pressure losses in your pipes. When a Plumbing Check is run, any intentional water usage in your home will interrupt the test. Please ensure that water is not intentionally being used during a Plumbing Check. You can see the results of these Plumbing Checks in the Phyn app.
There are three types of Plumbing Checks:
Standard Plumbing Check
- Takes about 3-5 minutes
- Phyn looks to see if there is any pressure lost during this duration.
- Normal Plumbing Checks can be run either as Scheduled Plumbing Checks or manually, as needed, from the App
- If a Normal Plumbing Check is run, Phyn will alert you if the pressure loss is abnormal or indicative of a leak issue.
- For a Normal Plumbing Check, a plumbing check alert will be generated if the plumbing check detects a drop of 4 psi or higher over the 3 minutes.
- Alert message: “Phyn Alert for Home. Plumbing Check detected unusual water activity”
Extended Plumbing Check
- It takes about 10-13 minutes.
- Phyn looks to see if there is any pressure lost during this duration.
- An Extended Plumbing Check can detect more subtle issues in your system.
- You can run an Extended Plumbing Check from the App. The longer duration increases the Plumbing Check’s accuracy in finding small pinhole leaks and other issues.
- If you run an Extended Plumbing Check, Phyn will alert you if the pressure loss is abnormal or indicative of a leak issue.
- For an Extended Plumbing Check, a plumbing check alert will be generated if the plumbing check detects a drop of 4.5 psi or higher over 10 minutes. • Alert message: “Phyn Alert for Home. Plumbing Check detected unusual water activity”
Dynamic Plumbing Check
- It takes about 10-13 minutes.
- Phyn looks to see if there is any pressure lost during this duration.
- Just like the Extended Plumbing Check, a Dynamic Plumbing Check can detect more subtle issues in your system.
- Dynamic Plumbing Checks begin as Scheduled Normal Plumbing checks which are run during the period the user selects
- If the Scheduled Normal Plumbing Check detects a pressure drop of 1.5 psi or more over 3 minutes, the Normal Plumbing Check is extended dynamically out to the duration of an Extended Plumbing Check.
- For a Dynamic Plumbing Check, a plumbing check alert will be generated if the Dynamic Plumbing Check detects a drop of 4.5 psi or higher over 10 minutes.
- Alert message: “Phyn Alert for Home. Plumbing Check detected unusual water activity” Phyn automatically runs Normal Plumbing Checks at times that it knows you are not likely to use water, like in the middle of the night. If you do turn on your water during a Plumbing Check, the test will automatically be interrupted, and your water will resume flowing as it normally does. You can adjust the times when these automatic Plumbing Checks will run on the Phyn App. You can also temporarily disable automatic Plumbing Checks if you wish on the Phyn App.
You, or your plumber, can also run a Plumbing Check at any time from the Phyn app – just go to the main menu and select “Plumbing Check” then select Run Test. Select Normal Plumbing Check or Extended Plumbing Check. You can exit the app while a Plumbing Check is running, Phyn will alert you when it is over with your results.
Note: If devices that are connected to the water network cause abrupt pressure fluctuations or a constant drop in pressure, there may be problems running Phyn’s automatic Plumbing Checks. Such devices are hot water recirculating systems and radiators connected to domestic water, ice machines, and water dispensers for refrigerators. If there are fixtures that run continuously and consume water 24/7, then the plumbing checks may completely fail to run. In this scenario, it is recommended to turn the appliance/fixture off and then run a manual plumbing check.
Enhanced Plumbing Checks
Note: This feature is being introduced with a progressive rollout in conjunction with the release of the Phyn App 8.13, and will not be available to all customers immediately, but will be released in stages.
Phyn’s AI has now been trained on nearly two billion water events. With that data we can now offer Enhanced Plumbing Checks which improves leak detection accuracy while reducing misidentified alerts. At the same time delivering improved, clearer messaging to assist in better understanding your plumbing. When Scheduled Plumbing Checks are enabled three attempts will be made to run the Plumbing Check. The first attempt will run based on the Scheduler. If that attempt is blocked or interrupted an attempt will be made to run 30 minutes later. Should that second attempt be blocked or interrupted the plumbing check will attempt to run a third and final time 30 minutes after the second attempt. Only after all 3 attempts have been completed and been blocked or interrupted will a Push notification be sent notifying you of the Blocked or Interrupted Plumbing Check.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Existing Water Usage Detected What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that water was flowing (most likely due to intentional usage) prior to running a plumbing check and skipped the test to avoid interruption of the existing water use event. What Can I Do? 1- Set the plumbing check schedule within a period when no water is running in the home. 2- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Interrupted Reason: Water Usage Detected During the Plumbing Check What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that an intentional water usage event was started during a plumbing check and interrupted the test to allow your water to continue uninterrupted. What Can I Do? 1- Set the plumbing check schedule within a period when no water is running in the home. 2- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Low Pressure What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that there was not enough water pressure in your plumbing system to start the SPC. What Can I Do? 1- Ensure that your manual water shut-off valve is not closed during the scheduled plumbing check. 2- Set the plumbing check schedule within a period when no water is running in the home. 3- Ensure your home’s base water pressure is not lower than 20 psi before the SPC running. 4- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Interrupted Reason: Thermal Expansion (Pressure Rise Detected) What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that pressure, in your plumbing system, rose significantly during the SPC runtime. Often, this could be caused by hot water in your pipes expanding and causing an increase in pressure. What Can I Do? 1- Ensure that certain water systems, like a recirculation pump, are not active during or just before the scheduled plumbing check. 2-Set the plumbing check schedule within a period when no water is running in the home. 3- Ensure your home’s thermal tank and/or hot water heater is functioning within the established guidelines. 4- Consider setting the plumbing check schedule for a period when water pressure remains stable. 5- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Shut-off Valve Already Closed What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that Phyn’s Shut Off Valve was already in a closed state prior to commencing with the SPC test. What Can I do? 1- Check Phyn’s shut-off valve status and ensure that it is open prior to running the SPC. 2- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Interrupted Reason: Pressure Fluctuation What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that there was too much pressure fluctuation during the SPC test to complete a valid analysis. What Can I Do? 1- Ensure that certain water systems, like a recirculation pump, are not active during the scheduled plumbing check. 2- Set the plumbing check schedule within a period when no water is running in the home. 3- Consider setting the plumbing check schedule for a period when water pressure remains stable. 4- Consider installing a Pressure Regulator Valve or, if one is already installed, having it checked by a professional. 5- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Data Timeout What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that network connectivity was unreliable and affected the reliability of the SPC test. What Can I Do? 1- Consider power cycling your device. 2- Check your Wi-Fi network as well as your broadband connection and ensure that it is stable prior to running of the SPC. 2- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Interrupted Reason: Low Pressure What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that the average pressure during the SPC’s test was below 5 PSI. What Can I Do? 1- Ensure the water shut-off valve is not closed during the scheduled plumbing check. 2- Set the plumbing check schedule within a period when no water is running in the home. This includes avoiding any automated/scheduled other events such as hot water circulation pumps, filtration systems, or the like. 3- Ensure your home’s base water pressure is not lower than 20 psi. 4- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Shut-Off Valve Unresponsive What does this mean? Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) determined that the Shut-Off Valve is unable to open or close or that there has been a failure in communication. What Can I Do? 1- Consider power cycling your device. 2- Check that your communication network (e.g. Wi-Fi and broadband) is functioning properly. 2- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Interrupted Reason: Other What does this mean? Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) was unable to be completed due to an unspecified cause. What Can I Do? 1- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience. 2- Consider power cycling your device.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: User Cancelled What does this mean? The automated start of the Phyn’s Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) was canceled by the user before commencement. What Can I Do? 1- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Plumbing Check Already in Progress What does this mean? A manually started Plumbing Check cycle was already in progress when the automatically scheduled SPC attempted to run. What Can I Do? 1- Check results from the manually run Plumbing Check. 2- Avoid running a manual Plumbing Check around the time when the automated SPC is scheduled to run.
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Plumbing Check Blocked Reason: Other What does this mean? Smart Plumbing Check (SPC) was unable to start due to an unspecified cause. What Can I Do? 1- Consider running a manual plumbing check at your earliest convenience. 2- Consider power cycling your device.
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