LeakBreaker Water Heater Shut-Off Valve with Control and Sensor

The Taco water heater shut off valve was so easy to install. The easy actuator release allowed me to install the valve in my water line without fuss. Easy electrical hook-up with just three plug-ins on the controller and I was done. Lightweight yet solid construction ensures this valve will last a long time without stressing my water lines. Now I have peace of mind that if my water heater leaks I won't have to throw away all my stuff in my basement and with the extra dry contacts available, I'll be able to connect other monitoring capability as well. I'm now considering another valve to shut-off all my water if a leak occurs other than at the water heater.

This is an inexpensive insurance policy to hopefully stop a potential flood do to a hot water tank leak. Can you imagine what it would cost if your basement flooded. I’ve decided to put this next to the hot water tank and not in the drip tray under the tank because it also serve as an alarm if the sump pump was to fail allowing water to back up in the basement, the sensor would sound alerting us that there is a problem. Installation was easy for me, I just had to tap into the main “PEX” water line and followed the instruction. I decided to use both battery and electric plug in, that way if we have a power outage the unit will still work. If you’re on a well system you could add this to the main line coming into the house and put the sensor close to the water tank.

Second to a house fire a major water leak is one of my biggest fears as a homeowner. Even though our hot water heater is in the basement and has the code required drain pan that goes to a sump pump, it's almost ten years old, and I just don't see it being able to handle the full forty gallons of water that would come rushing out the bottom along with the cold water supply that would keep feeding it from a 3/4" supply line. Shutting off the water supply is critically important if you want to prevent water damage, especially if your hot water heater is located inside the living area. Along comes a possible solution. This is the Taco LeakBreaker and from what I've seen so far I really like the way it's designed and constructed. The shut off valve is a full port ball valve. This style ball valve is more reliable than gate style valves that are cheaper to buy but tend to leak at the handle, collect sediment, and get frozen open over time. Let's face it, how many homeowners are exercising the water valves in their home on a regular basis? The actuator has a manual bypass so if the unit should fail you can manually override it to keep the valve turned on or off. You can even remove the actuator assembly that turns the ball valve shaft which essentially just makes it a stand-alone valve but without a handle. Also included is a wafer board water sensor that sits flat on the floor as close to the hot water heater as possible or in the catch pan if you have one. The water sensor plugs into the main control module or the "brain" of the unit. The brain is responsible for reading the water sensor and then activating the shut off valve. Water leaks can happen even when there is a power outage so the brain of the unit can be powered 24/7 by a set of four AA batteries or you can also use the included six volt AC/DC wall wart to power the unit which leaves the batteries as backup power. If you don't have an outlet near your hot water heater the batteries allow you to still take advantage of its capabilities. I ended up running an additional 110 outlet to the ceiling near the hot water heater so I don't have to keep replacing batteries in the brain. This is the optimal way to go but requires a knowledge of electrical wiring in addition to plumbing. When my house was built the builder installed a gate valve to shut off the cold water supply to my hot water heater. I decided to get rid of that valve entirely and put the Taco leak breaker valve in its place. Installation was a piece of cake because the brass valve has 3/4" FPT (female pipe thread) on both ends. I soldered a 3/4" copper MPT (male pipe thread) to the inlet of my hot water heater and threaded a 3/4" PEX male adapter into the inlet of the Taco shut off valve (don't forget the teflon tape). Soldering brass to copper is really difficult so I'm glad Taco used a female threaded inlet/outlet setup on the valve. If you don't know how to do this kind of work I would recommend having a licensed plumber install the ball valve for you, and then you can do the rest of the installation yourself. One additional thing I REALLY like that Taco did, is that they included two additional ports (and the plugs for them) on the brain module labelled, N/O Com N/C. I haven't had a chance to test them but I think these could be used to tie into a home automation system to send you an alert, or trip a siren. Very cool. If they can be used this way and your heater leaks you could rush home to clean up the water before too much damage is done. I only have a few minor complaints about the product that Taco could easily alter. Nothing that affects the star rating in my opinion. 1) The water sensor and actuator wires are only eight feet long. In order to put the "brain" module up in the rafters of my eight foot basement ceiling (away from accidents) I had to extend the wiring on the water sensor. Luckily this was easy to do without splicing the wiring because the water sensor and the plug that goes in to the brain both use screw down terminals. It was easy to just remove the factory wiring and substitute a longer piece of two conductor stranded wiring. I needed about 12ft of length on the lead so I used a wire gauge one size thicker than what Taco used. The wall wart power wire is about ten feet long. 2) The wafer board has four plastic standoffs that keep it about a 1/16" of an inch or so off the ground. However, they are not fixed in place and could get knocked out. 3) The wafer board is a little on the large side. About 4" by 1.5". If your catch pan is on the small side you could have some difficulty getting the wafer board in place. 4) The leak alert is not very loud. Even with it in the rafters of the basement I probably won't be able to hear it from the floor above. My final thoughts. Please don't use this in place of a proper catch pan and drain. Even with the LeakBreaker the tank is still going to empty itself along with all of the hot water lines running throughout your home. Forty gallons is still a lot of water. I haven't had it installed very long but every time I have tested it, it shut off the water valve properly. This is one of the better products I've had the chance to review but if I knew it existed would definitely want to buy.

I received the Taco Leak-breaker Water Heater Shut-Off Valve With Control and Sensor for review. I received this product in a well packaged box in undamaged condition. Go on Vacation and never worry about your water heater ever bursting again. This is a must have if you travel a lot and want peace of mind while your gone. Well built and easy to install when using push to fit fittings.

excellent valve

Installed by my plumber in Oct 2017, purchased from a plumbing supply house. In December 2020, a leak from ABOVE the water heater, not from the water heater itself, caused the LeakBreaker to trip. It could not be reset by any means short of removing the power head from the shutoff valve and opening the valve with a wrench. Taco has refused to acknowledge the problem with their valve, promoting instead a software change to the control unit. My plumber has replaced this unit with a different manufacturer's product. If it were allowed, I would give this product 0 stars.

I had two water heaters and had a plumber install a Leakbreaker unit on both units. Within 3 weeks both units continually tripped and shut the water off. No visible moisture and the units were both running on 110 v not batteries. Really disappointed in these units. I finally shut both off....real disappointment!!!

Simple to install, good instructions. Recommend placing a small non-metallic weight on top of the sensor to hold it down because the supplied wire is stiff enough to raise it off the floor.

Easy install!

Easy to install. Directions semi-clear. So far works as advertised, but I'll know for sure when my hot water heater fails. Note that the valve is female-female, so if you hook a flex hose to it, you'll need a male/male connecting pipe.