So, last week at work we noticed two of three sump pumps had burned out, the sump breaker blown, and the sumps themselves were really full of water. So, we have two blown pumps. But two perfectly good level switches. Can we do anything with them? Maybe.
This vaguely ominous widget is an emergency water level sensor which converts that gigantic 10-amp 120VAC float switch into a signal our computer can use. The red LED means "everything's OK". If it ever goes out that means either high water or blown breaker. Hypothetically this means I can hook it up to our monitor system and get it to send red alert emails to the boss when something bad happens.
It's built out of junk and leftover stuff from renovations: Box, outlet, level switch, two mutilated computer power cords, current sensor, light bulbs and sockets, scrap wiring. It cost us $1.00 only because we had to buy wire nuts. Estimated cost to use, $10.00 per year with these 25W bulbs, smallest we could find in what we had.