Pumps
Sewage, drainage, booster and circulation pumps, which are running only if they draw current.
AC current monitoring tag
The ZARC AC current tag reports whether a piece of equipment is running, from the current it draws. A clamp goes around the supply cable, with no disconnection and nothing wired into the equipment's controls, and the tag reports the moment the load starts or stops. Continuous current readings, as opposed to running or stopped, are available as a bespoke project.
01
What it reports
A pump can be powered and still not running: its controller has tripped, its contactor has failed or its motor has stopped. Current is the proof. When the equipment draws current it is running; when it stops drawing current it has stopped.
It reports running and stopped as they happen, and the dashboard turns those events into running hours, starts per day and time since the last run.
Schedules decide what matters: a pump that should run at night and did not, or a fan still running at the weekend.
02
Applications
Wherever it matters that equipment is actually running, not just switched on, the tag has a job. These are the loads we are asked about most, and the list is not exhaustive.
Fans and ventilation
Extract fans and air handling units, including kitchen extract.
Heating and cooling plant
Circulation pumps, chillers and compressors that must run when the building needs them.
Trace heating and frost protection
Heating tape and frost protection that is supposed to be on in winter.
Compressors
An air compressor running when nothing should be drawing air is the sign of a leak.
Lighting circuits
External and car park lighting on when it should be off, or off when it should be on.
Equipment with no fault output
Where there is no contact to read, the current it draws tells the story.
Running hours for maintenance
Servicing planned on hours run rather than on the calendar.
03
Where it can go
The clamp goes around the cable feeding the equipment, and the tag mounts nearby. Nothing is disconnected. Typical positions:
Around the supply cable
A clamp on one conductor, with no disconnection.
In a distribution board
On the circuit feeding the equipment.
In a control panel
Inside a pump or motor control panel.
In plant rooms and pump houses
Beside the equipment it watches.
Outdoors
Kiosks and pumping stations, in an enclosure specified for the location.
Across an estate
Every load on every site on one dashboard.
04
In the dashboard
Every load shows its live state, running or stopped, with a timeline of starts and stops. The dashboard works out running hours, starts per day and time since the last run, and flags equipment that runs outside its schedule or fails to run inside it. History exports for maintenance and audits, and is held on a UK-hosted dashboard or on servers on your own site.
Alerts are pushed on stop, on start, on a load not running when it should and on a load running out of hours. They go by email or SMS, and through an app where required, to the people you name, with escalation to further contacts.
- Running or stopped for every load, grouped by site
- Timeline of starts and stops
- Running hours
- Starts per day
- Time since the last run
- Running out of schedule, and missed runs
- Site-by-site comparison across an estate
- Full event history, exportable
- A tag that misses its check-in is flagged
05
Industries
Every sector that depends on pumps, fans and motors running when they should, including:
Energy and utilities
Pumps and plant on unmanned sites.
Buildings and estates
Heating, ventilation and drainage plant across a portfolio.
Industrial and manufacturing
Motors, compressors and fans on production plant.
Facilities management and property operators
Plant running states across a managed portfolio.
Data centres and critical infrastructure
Cooling and ventilation plant that must not stop.
Healthcare
Ventilation and building services plant.
06
Technical specification
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Measures | Whether AC current is flowing to a load: running or stopped |
| Sensor | Clamp around one supply conductor; no disconnection |
| Reporting | Start and stop, sent as they happen |
| Running threshold | Set per load at commissioning |
| Statistics | Running hours, starts per day, time since the last run |
| Schedules | When the load should and should not run |
| Continuous current readings | Available as a bespoke project |
| Supply | Single-phase or three-phase loads, one conductor clamped |
| Alert delivery | Dashboard, email or SMS; app where required |
| Recipients | Named people and groups, with escalation to further contacts |
| Check-in interval | Configurable; a silent tag is flagged |
| Gateway power loss | Raises its own platform alert |
| Data | Full event history, exportable; UK-hosted or on servers on your own site |
| Power | Internal battery, up to five years depending on use and check-in interval |
| Radio | 433 MHz, one-way (transmit only) |
| Range | Site-dependent; confirmed by site survey |
| Mounting | Clamp on the cable; tag on a DIN rail, wall or inside the panel |
| Environment | Indoor or outdoor, enclosure specified to the location |
| Charges | No per-alert, per-user or licence charges |
| Manufacture | Made to order in the UK |
| Certification | CE marked |
07
From requirement to live alerts
Requirement
You tell us which equipment matters, when it should run and who needs to know.
Configuration
We set the running threshold, schedules and alert routes for each load.
Fitting
The clamp goes around one conductor with no disconnection. Where site rules require a qualified electrician to work inside the board, we work alongside theirs.
Commissioning
We start and stop each load and confirm every alert reaches every recipient before handover.
Ready to get started? Every deployment begins with a site survey.
Book a site survey08
How it reports
Each start and stop goes over 433 MHz radio to a ZARC gateway, which passes it to the dashboard, where it is timed and checked against the schedule. The tag only reads the current and only transmits, so nothing is sent back to the equipment or the tag.
Related tags
Power failure
Whether the supply is there at all.
Dry contact
The equipment's own fault or run output.
Pressure
What the pump or compressor is producing.
Temperature
What the heating or cooling is achieving.
Questions we answer most.
What does it report?
Whether a piece of equipment is running, from the AC current it draws.
Does it give live current readings?
Not as standard. It reports running or stopped. Continuous current readings are available as a bespoke project.
Does the cable need disconnecting?
No. The clamp goes around one conductor with nothing disconnected.
Why not just monitor the power supply?
Power shows the supply is there. Current shows the equipment is actually running.
Does it work on three-phase loads?
Yes, by clamping one conductor.
Can it count running hours?
Yes, along with starts per day and time since the last run.
Can it alert when equipment runs out of hours?
Yes. Schedules set when each load should and should not run.
Who fits it?
The clamp goes around a cable with no disconnection. Where site rules require a qualified electrician to work inside the board, we work alongside theirs.
Does it need mains power or wiring?
No. It runs on an internal battery for up to five years, depending on use and the check-in interval.
Do alerts or extra users cost more?
No. There are no per-alert, per-user or licence charges.
Looking for something else?
We work with any sensor for any application.
Most sensing needs are met by a tag we already build, configured for your equipment. If yours needs a sensor or interface we don't list, we have the engineering to build it. Tell us what you need to measure, and we will tell you how we would do it.
Discuss your requirementDiscuss a monitoring
or alerting solution
Tell us what is happening on site, what you need to see, and the event you need to hear about. We will come back with the system that answers it.
Direct contact
Location
Venator House, Unit 9, 15-17 St Stephen's Road, Bournemouth
Dorset, BH2 6LA · VAT GB 409644484
Products contact
Contact the engineering team
Direct to the team that designs and builds the range. Tell us the equipment and the event that matters.