Electrical – How to connect a “safety overflow switch” to “turn off a wall outlet”

dehumidifierelectricalpumpshutoffwiring

I have a "Little Giant" condensate pump VCMX-20 model. This pump comes with a "safety switch". The pump turns on when the water level gets to 1.2 inches. The "safety switch" will "do something" when the water level reaches 2.2 inches.

Right now I don't have the "safety switch" connected… because I don't know how to connect the "safety switch". I want to connect the "safety switch" to turn off a wall outlet (used by a dehumidifier).

The manual is pretty short when describing the "safety switch":

  1. Safety switch: The safety overflow switch should be connected to a
    ClassII low voltage circuit. To control a thermostatic circuit the COM
    and NO connections from the safety switch are to be wired in series
    with the low voltage thermostat circuit to shut down the heating/AC
    circuit. The COM and NC switch contacts may be used to actuate a
    low-voltage alarm circuit (connected in series) if the heating/cooling
    system can not be disrupted. The safety switch comes from the factory
    with leads connected to the COM and NO switch terminals.

NOTE: When
installing or replacing the safety switch, make sure that it is
positioned between the two ribs on the motor cover (Figure 5).

For
hook-up of NC circuits see Figure 5.
figure-5

The "safety switch" has two wires hanging out.

I opened up the "safety switch" because the wires aren't labeled and found out there is:

  • one wire labeled "NO"
  • one wire labeled "COM"
  • one connector labeled "NC" without a wire
  • front
  • back

How do you connect the "safety overflow switch" wires to turn off a wall outlet??

The manual says to connect the "safety switch" to a "class-II low voltage" device. So maybe there is a "class-II voltage" device that controls the "wall outlet plug".

Best Answer

You just need a relay that includes an integral 24V transformer. There are several of those on the market. By "market" I mean the market of products intended and listed for use in mains electrical; the ones I'm thinking of mount in a 1/2" knockout in a junction box.

You would probably want to move the safety switch wire to the NC position so that it contacts until an overflow. That way if it becomes disconnected it will fail safe.