With his last breath, Leak Frog saves the day!
41On February 17th, 2006 I bought a Leak Frog from Woot. When he arrived I placed him between my furnace and water heater and then promptly forgot about him.
Even though forgotten, Leak Frog stood resolute in defense of my townhome, vigilantly protecting me and my family without acknowledgement.
Yesterday evening, as my wife and I were getting ready to go pick up our daughter from a late field trip and then head to dinner, there was a faint beeping from somewhere. After a quick search we located our hero chirping away in a tiny voice in a 10’ x 5’ puddle of water in the basement. A pipe had burst under our neighbor’s house and it was seeping in through where the wall met the floor. We got everything out and used a shopvac to clean up the water. We were pulling up about a gallon or two every five minutes until the water company showed up to turn of the water at the street. Without our heroic Leak Frog, we would have returned from dinner to a flooded basement. It wasn’t a fun evening, but it could have been so much worse. Thank you, kind Leak Frog.
When I went to replace his batteries I found that he had been running on the original… let’s call them ‘secondary market’ batteries that he shipped with almost 14 years ago.
So, noting his heroism, I declare the Ides of November, ‘Leak Frog Day!’ We are forever indebted.
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Well done, Mr. Leak Frog. May you live forever.
Mine is still standing guard in the utility room.
That’s amazing. Oddly enough, just yesterday the water company came out to upgrade the water meter which is in our laundry room. Thursday evening I checked the Leak Frog I had sitting on the floor near the meter and found the batteries were dead. New batteries and my little watchfrog is standing strong once again. A friend whose meter was changed a few months ago said they discovered theirs was leaking for about 6 weeks afterward. Not all are lucky enough to have the little warrior on their side.
I also bought some of these years ago. Deployed them around the house & forgot about them. Until the laundry drain clogged or the kitchen pipes corroded through - then they saved the day! Absolutely the best purchase I’ve ever made here. Even better than the hundreds of fidget spinners I’ve bought!
I wasn’t active on Woot back in ‘06, but I sure wish we had a leak frog two years ago when the pipes backed up!
@JnKL My wife said she wants to buy a bunch and give them away at Christmas. I told her that they were on a liquidation site 14 years ago so I wasn’t confident they are still in circulation…heh. Amazon does have similar items, but Leak Frog will always be the OG.
Technically it would be XVII Kalends December (17 days before December 1). The Ides of November was the 13th. Not that I’m trying to be a buzz-kill, especially for something that could have been a blame, but as the Goat I feel a sense of extra-snark responsibility.
@ybmuG Not that I’m trying to be a buzz-kill-kill but I never mentioned that it was the 15th. FWIW Sir Frog of Leak’s favorite day is November 13th and he’s looking forward to next year when it’s on a Friday.
@capnjb well, you posted 3 hours ago and said yesterday, so I did some math. And I would have figured SFoL’s day would be Feb 29.
@ybmuG I understand how you came to your conclusion but that doesn’t make it any more accurate than me assuming you have a pet called yekoP
@capnjb How do you know I don’t?
@ybmuG How don’t I?
/giphy wonder woman salute
That is amazing the batteries have lasted that long.
@Kidsandliz Very Yes! They were… um, not made in the USA… and I may put them in a lead box and bury them very deep in the ground. Maybe in a dungeon if I had one.
edited to add - There was no corrosion on the batteries either… just a very low charge. But just enough to make enough noise for us to hear one floor up.
@Kidsandliz My thoughts exactly!
I test each and every leak frog twice a year (on the time change). As long as they aren’t beeping, batteries last a very long time.
I’ve had one go off when it detected a link from one of the chemicals under the bathroom sink (the bottle had a crack in the bottom). It saved me from a really EXPENSIVE repair, since it was headed towards the wall, and was caustic enough to eat through dry wall. I no longer keep dangerous chemicals in the upstairs bathroom. That leak frog was fine after a bath, and went right back under the sink.
I bought a lot of them while they were around. I’ve given several as gifts, and I still have three spares (not for sale).
/image leakfrog
What an amazing Leak Frog story.
We have two hard-working Leak Frogs in the basement, though they have no experience with a flood yet.
I did change out batteries last year that had to be very old.
I hear they can not be found anymore. What a shame…
A true warrior. I have 3 of them that have “bailed” me out on a few occasions, from a leaky washer hose to a slight leak in a water heater that would have gotten a lot worse before I would have noticed to a kitchen sink that needed a bit more caulk to stop water from getting into the cabinet below. I wish they were still available. All the new ones I see are bulkier and obviously not as cute!
Amazing story of a little guy doing his job! I never got any of the original Leak Frogs, but I do have one of the vaguely star-shaped ones Meh sold last year(?) for $5. It hasn’t gone off yet, but I’m sure it will be appreciated if it does.
I have one under every sink in the house, including the basement. I gave some to a granddaughter when she and her husband bought a house. They recently moved to a new and bigger house and I don’t think they brought the Leak Frogs with them. They might well regret it.
Hey meh buyers Amazon sells leak puppies (which seem like leak frogs cousins- does anyone have reviews) i would be interested in buying some leak critters. Meh buyers please sell some.
@CaptAmehrican They also sell leak ladybugs on there. I think they call them leak bugs. The newer version only use 2 AA batteries and the leak frog uses 3.
One year I gave family and friends leak frogs for Christmas. Probably only half the people used them. My mother did though and that cute little frog has saved her three times. Once when the water heater barely had a pinhole and leaked enough to wet one paper towel, twice were roof/ice dam issues.
Meh sold floating leak sirens on March 13th 2019. Not as cute but they do the job.
Siren
@msklzannie sent me some 3 years ago. I’m still hoping they’ll be useless (meaning I’ll never have a flood), but I’m sure grateful for the kind gesture!
The Leak Frog I have planted next to the water heater has saved me twice. The one by the well system 3 times. Best purchase ever. Haven’t changed the batteries yet either. Not sure what they’re made of, but it’s awesome.
I have a leakfrog, with no batteries, in my toolbox drawer about ten feet away from a 15-year old water heater. I might be doing this wrong.
@walarney
You are saving it for your heirs?
@walarney mail it to me and i will mail you a pack of batteries
@f00l
Pretend I photoshopped a leakfrog into this image.