THIS GUIDE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS #
Introduction #
Pump Pal is a smart plug designed to monitor the health and performance of your water pump.
Many household pumps—such as sump pumps, well pumps, and sewage pumps—operate automatically in the background. They turn on and off as needed, often without the homeowner noticing. Because of this, problems like clogs, dry runs, or mechanical failures can go undetected until they cause serious damage, such as flooding or pump burnout.
Pump Pal helps prevent these issues by continuously analyzing the electrical behavior of your pump. By observing how much power the pump uses and how long it runs, Pump Pal learns what normal operation looks like and can detect when something is wrong.
Unlike traditional monitoring systems, Pump Pal does not require additional sensors, float switches, or complex installation. Simply plug your pump into Pump Pal, and plug Pump Pal into a standard wall outlet. Once installed, the device automatically learns your pump’s normal operation and begins monitoring for abnormal conditions.
When an issue is detected, Pump Pal can send alerts via Wi-Fi (SMS or email), helping you take action before minor issues turn into costly problems.
Getting Started #
To begin setting up your Water Pal device:
1. Simply turn on the Pump Pal device.
2. Look for its SSID (broadcasted Wi-Fi network name) in your device’s Wi-Fi settings. It’s gonna have a name PumpPal-SSID (SSID = last 4 characters of the device MAC)
3. Connect to it and it should automatically launch the setup page.
Note: If it doesn’t, stay connected to PumpPal-SSID and open a browser (Chrome, Safari, etc) and type in 192.168.4.1 to manually launch the setup page.
4. Start with the setup and Choose the Wifi SSID network name you want WaterPal to connect to and type in the password
5. Choose your desired Notification Mode (Email, SMS or BOTH)
How Pump Pal Works (Simplified) #
Pump Pal monitors your pump by observing how it uses electricity during operation.
When your pump turns on, it draws a specific amount of power and runs for a certain amount of time. These patterns are unique to your pump and its installation. Pump Pal uses this information to understand what normal operation looks like.
Step 1: Detecting Pump Activity
Pump Pal continuously watches the electrical current flowing to your pump.
When the current rises above a certain level and stays there briefly, Pump Pal recognizes that the pump is running.
Very short spikes or electrical noise are ignored so they are not mistaken for real pump activity.
Step 2: Learning Normal Behavior (Calibration)
During the first few pump cycles, Pump Pal enters a learning phase.
- It observes how much power the pump typically draws
- It measures how long each run lasts
- It identifies normal patterns between cycles
These first 5 valid pump runs are used to build a baseline of normal operation.
Step 3: Monitoring for Changes
Once calibration is complete, Pump Pal continuously compares each new pump cycle to the learned baseline.
If the pump behaves differently than expected, Pump Pal recognizes this as a potential issue.
Examples include:
- Running too long
- Turning on too frequently
- Drawing too much or too little power
Step 4: Alerting You
If Pump Pal detects abnormal behavior, it sends a notification via Wi-Fi (SMS or email), so you can take action before the issue becomes serious.
