GoveeWiFi Water Sensor, 100dB Adjustable Audio Alarm and Smart App Alerts, Leak and Drip Alert with Email, for Home, Basement

I received the item and a box of five more sensors about an hour ago. I am professional at home construction, including the plumbing trade. Here's what I found.After setting up the first sensor to the internet, I proceeded to place that one under my kitchen sink. I looked under the sink with a flashlight and didn't notice anything on the bottom of the sink cabinet, so I slid the sensor to the back of the cabinet. On doing so, I felt a dampness on the palm of my hand as I placed the sensor. There was a film of water on the bottom of the cabinet. I waited to see if the sensor would go off, as it did when I tested it by wetting a finger and putting it across two of the terminals on the bottom of the sensor. Well, that film of water did not trip the sensor. Wondering why, I placed the sensor on a flat piece of plastic on my work bench and I could see there is a 1/16 inch or so of space between the sensor probes and the flat plastic sheet I put it on. That's the problem right there. A film of water on the bottom of a cabinet will not set the sensor off. The probes will not contact the water surface.Here's what I did. I removed the little rubber plugs from each of the four feet of the sensor. Use a sharp object. I placed the sensor on a piece of sand paper on a very flat surface. Rubbing down on the sand paper I sanded the plastic feet down to the same level of the metal probes under the sensor. Now the probes will touch the surface the sensor is resting on. I tried the sensor under the sink again and it immediately tripped the water alarm. A slow drip will not make a puddle of water in a cabinet. It will most likely coat the bottom of the cabinet as it's being absorbed into the wood or leaking out at the seems of the cabinet.Something about kitchen cabinets: The bottom of kitchen and bath cabinets is usually made of cheap particle board or some material equally water absorbent. A small drip will not form a puddle of water as you might think. The bottom of the cabinet will absorb a small water leak, like a very slow drip, for MONTHS. Probably until the bottom of the cabinet is ruined. You will be able to tell by the bottom of the cabinet sagging down. But here's what I do with my sink cabinets. I put a heavy bead of caulk around the edge of the inside of the cabinet where the bottom of the cabinet meets the sides. Then I apply two or three coats of varnish to the bottom of the cabinet (we're talking INSIDE the cabinet here). What this does is make the bottom of the cabinet somewhat water proof, enough that the cabinet material will not absorb a small leak. And a larger leak will run out the FRONT of the cabinet, rather than down the seams between the bottom and sides of the cabinet. And you will notice it before damage is done.Now, the Govee setup. I did find the setup a little confusing I'll admit. Especially when setting up to the internet. The app wanted me to connect my phone to the wifi of the gateway unit that comes with the sensor. I'm thinking, do I want to do that? And lose my home wifi on the phone? I ended up backing out of the setup. But going back into the app again, I found it was working. I pushed the buttons as directed and setup the 6 sensors I had without issue. As you do each one, and are looking for it in the app screen, pull down the screen to refresh it and you'll see the device you connected.I gave four stars because: The directions could be a little more precise with the wifi setup of the gateway. The sensor probes should be lowered to pick up any amount of water.Note: The first sensor I installed saved me a big headache had the dripping fitting decided to break sometime down the road. This one find paid for the sensors I put in today. An overall excellent product. Just sand down the feet.UPDATE: 6/29/21 - I had a sensor alarm in my bathroom vanity sink cabinet. I removed the stuff stored under the sink and didn’t see anything around the sensor. I moved the sensor and carefully felt the area with my fingers. With no visible water, the area felt slightly damp to the touch. I took a closer look at all the plumbing with a flashlight, and sure enough, one sink supply connection was the slightest bit wet. Maybe one drop per hour.My description above on how I modified the sensor probes to touch the surface (floor, etc.) had allowed the unit to alarm well before any water started to puddle and soak into the wood and ruin the cabinet.I highly recommend these water sensors and that you modify them as I suggested above.

Works as described and easy to set up. I Bought this item to alert me if my basement flooded. When it did the unit got too wet and seemed to have shorted itself. It drains batteries in half an hour now, but when I reached out to ask about the warranty, I was quickly shipped a replacement. They were very nice and professional. I also use a Bluetooth thermometer of theres for several years without issue, and wouldn't hesitate to buy another gadget of theirs. A++

These sensors can be used stand-alone and also with a Govee hub via wifi. Used alone, they have a loud (adjustable) alert if water collects under the sensor, or falls onto it. Used with a Govee hub, you have the option to have text messages sent to your phone if a sensor is triggered. I have these all around the house and garage- everywhere there is the potential for a leak to develop unnoticed.

To my surprise, once I went through the machinations of adding the app to my phone and adding the sensor to the app and my home wifi it all worked. I tested the sensor with a bit of water, the hub alerted the app, and the app alerted my phone as well as sending an email. I like that the hub and sensor are powered separately The hub is ac-powered and the sensor that will be sitting on a basement floor next to the sump pump is battery-powered. Adding the Govee device to my Google Home wasn't difficult but added no value.

When adding additional sensors to pair to the Gateway, it appears that the little instruction booklet that comes with the sensors are correct. The step by step guide within the Govee app for adding additional sensors is not correct.When I did get beyond that, everything works great.We have trouble with a washing machine’s drain not draining fast enough so it overflows and water is all over in the washroom in the basement.I now have a Govee leak detector, a Govee Smart plug and Alexa working together. Now when the water sensor alert goes off, I have an Alexa routine that kicks off and shuts the Govee smart plug in off…and thus cutting power to washing machine so it stops pumping out water.