Strips Drip Oil for LoRaWAN manual

1Introduction

Strips Drip Oil detects leaks and tells water from oil. It has two sets of capacitive sensors. Along the long edges, an outer set reacts to any liquid and raises a flood alarm. In the middle, an inner set sits behind an oil-absorbing layer and a metal foil, which water and touch cannot pass. When the layer soaks up oil or another non-water liquid, it raises an oil alarm. Strips Drip Oil also measures temperature.

It is made for machine rooms, hydraulic systems and technical installations, under pipes, tanks and equipment. It works with any LoRaWAN network server (LoRaWAN 1.0.4, class A, OTAA) and reaches up to 10 km in line of sight. The battery is built in and lasts well over ten years. Alarms are sent confirmed.

In the Strips LoRa Config Tool, this sensor is listed as Strips Multi-sensor +Oil.

What's in the box

Strips Drip Oil, with the oil-absorbing foil and the adhesive already on
One or two magnets on the sensor. They keep it in transport mode until you start.
The LoRaWAN keys (DevEUI, JoinEUI and AppKey). They come on a label in the box and also by e-mail.

No tools or screws are needed. The +Clip mounting accessory is sold separately.

Parts of the sensor

Front and back of Strips: square end with LED, rounded end with antenna, label with region and DevEUI on the back

The square end (by the logo) has the LED. The rounded end holds the antenna, and it is where you give commands with a magnet. The label on the back shows the region and the DevEUI.

2Before you start

A LoRaWAN sensor needs a little more preparation than a sensor that pairs with a hub. Have this ready first:

Strips sends by radio to a gateway, the gateway to the network server, the network server to your application; settings go back as a downlink

You need

A LoRaWAN gateway within range, powered on and online
An account on a LoRaWAN network server (for example The Things Network, ChirpStack, Loriot or Actility), with the gateway added to it
The keys for the sensor: DevEUI, JoinEUI (also called AppEUI) and AppKey
The region printed on the sensor's label (for example EU868 or US915). The network server and the gateway must use the same region. In US915 and AU915, they must also use the same sub-band.
The Strips payload decoder in your network server or application, so the messages can be read (see Support)

Choosing the place

Where the leak will reach the long edges: flat on a floor, in a drip tray, or under equipment and pipes. Liquid is detected where it reaches the edges of the sensor.
Temperature: the sensor works from −20 to +60 °C. Keep it away from very hot or very cold liquids and surfaces.
Antenna: the rounded end holds the antenna. Keep that end off metal.
Range: up to 10 km in open line of sight, much less through walls and floors
No metal: do not mount Strips directly on metal, magnetic surfaces or inside a metal structure. If it has to go on metal, put padding between them.

3Step by step: from box to ready

Eight steps. Register the sensor in the network server before you take the magnets off. Then join it, choose what it should report, and mount it last.

Unpack

Check that the sensor and its magnets are there, and find the keys. Leave the magnets on until you join.

Register the sensor in the network server

Add a new end device in your network server, with activation OTAA.
Choose LoRaWAN 1.0.4 (MAC version), regional parameters revision RP002-1.0.1, and the frequency plan for the region on the label. In US915 and AU915, choose the same sub-band as the gateway.
Enter the DevEUI, JoinEUI (AppEUI) and AppKey. Check them carefully: one wrong character and the join fails.
Add the Strips payload decoder to the device or the application.

Done when: the device is listed in the network server, waiting for its first join.

Join the network

Take every magnet off the sensor. Strips leaves transport mode and sends a join request.

One or two magnets on Strips; take them all off and it sends a join request

If the magnets have already been off, or you are joining the sensor again, start the join with the magnet instead: move it to the rounded end three times, for three green blinks.

Done when: a short green blink shows the join request was sent, and a few seconds later one long green blink confirms the join. The network server now shows the device as joined, with its first messages.

Five short red blinks means the join failed. See Troubleshooting: the usual causes are wrong keys, the wrong region or sub-band, or no gateway in range.

Calibration happens twice. A preliminary calibration is made when the magnets come off and the sensor joins: hold the sensor by its ends, and do not touch the capacitive sensors that run along the long sides in the middle of the sensor. The second calibration is made two hours after the sensor connected to the network. By then it must be mounted in its final place, completely dry and free of oil: that sets the base level. So mount the sensor within two hours of the join. If you miss that, or move the sensor later, calibrate it with a downlink (step 7).

Check the signal where it will sit

Hold Strips at the place where it will be mounted and send an uplink: move the magnet to the rounded end three times. Then look at the message in the network server.

Good: the link must carry at least SF9. As a rule of thumb, look for an SNR above −5 dB and an RSSI above −115 dBm. That leaves a margin to the SF9 limit (about −12.5 dB SNR).

A weaker link forces the network server's adaptive data rate (ADR) onto SF10–SF12. Each message then takes much longer to send, which costs battery and capacity. If the sensor is still on SF10–SF12 a day after installation, improve the link.

If the message does not arrive, or arrives only now and then, move the gateway or the sensor, or add a gateway.

Configure

From the factory, oil and liquid detection are off. Turn them on with the profile. The sensor calibrates itself two hours after the join, so mount it within those two hours (step 6). Step 7 explains when to calibrate by downlink instead.

Profile in the Config Tool	What it does
Liquid, Oil Leak, and Temperature Alarm	Alarms (confirmed) for liquid, for oil, and for temperature below −10 °C or above +50 °C. The sensors are checked every 30 seconds.
Custom Profile (Advanced)	Choose reports and settings yourself, for example other temperature levels or the flood report.

Open the Strips LoRa Config Tool and choose Strips Multi-sensor +Oil.
Choose a profile, check its reports and settings, and change a value if needed.
Copy the payload the tool creates, and send it as a downlink on port 11 from your network server.
Send an uplink with the magnet (three times at the rounded end). Strips is a class A device: it only receives a downlink right after it has sent something.

Done when: Strips answers with status code 0300 (OK). Any other code means the setting was not accepted. See Status codes.

Without the magnet, Strips picks up the downlink at its next message, at the latest with the daily heartbeat. So a setting can take up to 24 hours to arrive, and on a busy network longer.

Install

Make sure the surface is clean and dry, with no oil present.
Peel off the transparent protective film on the back, which covers the adhesive.
Press Strips Drip Oil flat onto the surface.

Where the adhesive is not enough, for example on a rough surface or where the sensor may need to be moved, mount it with the +Clip accessory (sold separately) instead.

Within two hours of the join: the sensor calibrates again two hours after it connected, and takes what it then senses as the base level. It must be mounted here, dry and free of oil, by then.

Calibrate

The sensor calibrates itself two hours after the join. You only need to calibrate it yourself if it was not mounted, dry and free of oil at that time, if you move it later (different surfaces give different baselines), or after a leak, when it has been cleaned and given a new foil (see After a leak). Then, with the sensor in its place, dry and free of oil, send the downlink 030030 (hex), or AwAw (base64), on port 11, and send an uplink with the magnet.

Ready

Registered in the network server with the right region and keys
Joined, and the messages are decoded
Profile chosen and confirmed with status code 0300
Mounted dry and free of oil within two hours of the join, or calibrated by downlink
Signal checked at the final spot

4Using the sensor

What it reports

Flood alarm: any liquid at the long edges
Oil alarm: oil or another non-water liquid in the oil-absorbing layer. While it is active, the LED blinks orange at regular intervals.
Temperature: alarms at the low and high levels, reports or averages
Heartbeat: with no alarms, one message every 24 hours, to show that it is online

Damp places: adjusting the liquid alarm level

In a damp place, the flood value (0 = dry, 100 = soaked) from the sensors along the edges can rest above 0, and with the default alarm level of 10 % the liquid alarm may trigger without a leak. Calibrate the sensor in place first (step 7). Then watch the flood value for a few days, using the Flood Report Interval (for example 60 minutes) to see it, and set the Flood Alarm Threshold Level clearly above the highest normal value, with a few per cent of Flood Alarm Hysteresis. Send the settings from the Config Tool as a downlink on port 11, then send an uplink with the magnet. Do not go higher than needed: a small leak must still pass the level. The oil alarm has its own level, the Oil Threshold, and is not affected.

Confirmed messages and network outages

Alarms are sent confirmed: Strips waits for an acknowledgement from the network server. If none arrives, for example because the gateway is off, Strips goes into resend mode. It tries again after 1, 2, 4, 8 minutes and so on, up to once a day. After 7 days without an acknowledgement, Strips resets itself and goes into standby (see below).

Operating modes

Mode	What it means
Transport	Magnets on, deep sleep, almost no battery used. This is how Strips is delivered.
Joined	Normal operation: connected to the network and reporting.
Resend	A confirmed message has not been acknowledged. Strips retries with longer and longer gaps.
Standby	Not joined, after a reset or after 7 days in resend mode. Strips sends a join request once a day until it gets in.

Strips cannot be switched off. Once the magnets have been removed, it can go back into transport mode only if it has never joined. This applies if the join failed, or if the magnets were put back before it sent a join request.

LED signals

LED	Meaning
● Short green	A magnet at the rounded end. An extra short blink after a three-swipe pattern: the command was accepted. Also shown when an alarm is acknowledged.
● Long green	Joined, reset or starting up
● Short orange	Strips is sending a report, or a join request when it is in standby
●● Orange, then red	Duty-cycle limit: too many messages for the network. The message goes out a little later.
● 5 short red	The join failed. After a resend: the message still had no acknowledgement.
● 3 short red	Strips sent a confirmed report, but got no acknowledgement (ACK) from the network server
● 2 short red	A report was not sent, because Strips is in resend mode
● Long red	The magnet was detected while Strips is in standby (not joined)

You can turn the LED down with the LED Level setting: all events (default), user actions and errors only, or very limited.

5Magnet commands

You give commands by moving a magnet at the rounded end of Strips. Use the magnet that came with it, or any small magnet.

Magnet moved to the rounded end of Strips and away, three times

Command	How	Result
Send an uplink / join	Magnet to the rounded end three times, for three green blinks	A short extra green blink. If joined, Strips sends a message and picks up waiting downlinks. If not joined, it sends a join request.
Reset	As above, but on the third time hold the magnet at the rounded end for 10 seconds	Two long green blinks. Strips leaves the network and restarts. Its settings are kept.

Between each swipe, move the magnet about 20 cm away from Strips and wait 2 seconds before the next one. Too quick or too close, and Strips counts the swipes as one. Watch how it is done: wake-up and uplink (video) and reset (video).

The magnet reset does not clear the settings. To return the settings to factory defaults, send the downlink 00 on port 11 (or 0100 on port 10). The sensor stays joined.

6Maintenance and removal

Battery

The battery is built in and lasts well over ten years. It cannot be replaced. Frequent reporting, a weak link and high spreading factors all shorten it. To get the most out of it:

Mount Strips away from metal, within good reach of a gateway
Report only what you need. The profiles in the Config Tool are tested for battery life.
Keep the poll intervals at their defaults unless you need faster response

In the cold, the battery level can read lower than it really is. This is expected: the reading takes the temperature into account and does not show the real charge.

The battery is a lithium manganese dioxide (LiMnO₂) cell, one of the most stable lithium chemistries. Do not open the sensor, and do not puncture it or heat it above +80 °C. When the battery is empty, dispose of the whole sensor as a battery, for recycling. Near the end of its life the battery normally swells a little; this is expected.

After a leak: new foil or a new sensor

The oil-absorbing foil can be used once. After oil has reached it, it must be replaced.

After aggressive chemicals or extreme temperatures, replace the whole sensor.
After ordinary liquids or dirt, clean the sensor and fit a new adhesive foil.

Remove the sensor carefully. Saw gently with dental floss between the surface and the sensor. Do not pull the plastic housing away from the circuit board.
Remove all the old adhesive, then clean the sensor with soap and water.
Let it dry completely.
Fit the new foil as described in the Strips Oil adhesive mounting guide (PDF): centre Strips on the foil, press the white cloth firmly against its sides, and remove the transparent film when mounting.
Mount the sensor in its place again.
Calibrate it again by downlink: with the sensor mounted, dry and free of oil, send 030030 (hex) on port 11 and send an uplink with the magnet. The new foil and the cleaning change the base level, so this step is not optional.

Where there are oil mist, petrol fumes or a lot of moisture in the air, inspect the sensor regularly. These can soak into the sensor over time and affect its sensitivity.

Removing Strips

Floss behind Strips, pulled along its length

Use dental floss or a thin string.

Moving to another network server

Delete the device from the old network server.
Reset Strips with the magnet.
Register it in the new network server and join it again.

The settings stay in the sensor.

Once the sensor has joined, do not pack or store it with the magnets back on.

7Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
Joined, but no oil or liquid alarms	Detection is off from the factory. Choose the Liquid, Oil Leak, and Temperature Alarm profile, and calibrate.
Oil alarm with no oil present	Calibrate again in place (downlink 030030 on port 11). Was the sensor moved, or was it not yet mounted when it calibrated two hours after the join?
The LED blinks orange regularly	The oil alarm is active. Check for oil and replace the foil.
Join Request in the network server, but no Join Accept	Check the region, the LoRaWAN version (1.0.4), the regional parameters and the keys. In US915 and AU915, the network server must use the same sub-band as the gateway.
Nothing at all in the network server	Check that the gateway is on and online, and listed as connected. Check that Strips is in range and not on metal. Check that the region on the label matches the network server. Strips may still be joined to another network server: reset it with the magnet and try again.
"MIC mismatch"	The keys are wrong. Check that they belong to this sensor and are typed correctly.
"DevNonce too small"	Delete the device from the network server and add it again. Then reset Strips with the magnet and join again.
A new setting has no effect	Strips receives the downlink at its next message, up to 24 hours later. Send an uplink with the magnet to fetch it sooner, and look for status code 0300. On a busy network it can take several messages before the downlink gets through.
Messages missing or irregular	Check RSSI and SNR. The sensor may be too far from the gateway, or behind metal. Some channels can also be disturbed by interference on the same frequency band, for example from a nearby cellular transmitter or an RFID reader. In US915 and AU915, check that the sub-bands match.
Short green, then short red	Duty-cycle limit: the network server thinks the sensor sends too often. The message goes out later.
Battery shows 99 % on a new sensor	That is full, by design.
Keys missing	They are on a label in the box and were sent by e-mail. Contact Sensative if you need them in digital form.
The LED does not react to the magnet at all	The battery may be empty. Check the last battery level the network server received. The battery cannot be replaced, so an empty sensor has to be replaced. If the battery level was fine, contact Sensative support.

8Technical reference

For integrators. The Strips LoRa Config Tool builds the downlinks, and the payload decoder reads the uplinks. Both are linked under Support.

Ports and factory settings

Port 11	Configuration downlinks from the Config Tool. `00` returns all settings to factory defaults.
Port 10	Commands. `0100` also returns the settings to factory defaults.
Port 10, `08XXXX`	Leave the network and wait: `08XXXX`, where `XXXX` is a number of minutes as two bytes in hex. Strips leaves the network and sends no new join request until that time has passed; for example `0805A0` waits 1 440 minutes (24 hours). Useful for joining sensors at the office to check them before they are shipped to a customer for mounting.
Factory settings	Heartbeat once every 24 hours. Oil and liquid detection are off until you choose the profile and calibrate.
Class and activation	LoRaWAN 1.0.4, regional parameters RP002-1.0.1, class A, OTAA

Status codes

After a configuration downlink, Strips answers with one of these codes:

Code	Meaning
0300	OK
0301	Bad settings
0302	Bad payload length
0303	Value not accepted
0304	Unknown command

Reports

Report	Content
Flood Alarm	Liquid detected at the edges (confirmed)
Oil Alarm	Oil or another non-water liquid detected, or the other sensor was removed (confirmed)
Flood Report	The flood value, 0 = dry to 100 = soaked, at a set interval
Temperature Report / Alarm	Current temperature, and alarms at the low and high levels
Average Temperature Report / Alarm	Average over a set period, and alarms on the average
Battery Report	Battery level (%)

Oil alarm values

The oil alarm carries a value that shows where the reading stands against the calibration:

Value	Meaning
0	No alarm, stable against the calibration
4	Rising, but not past the calibrated level
2	Falling, but not past the calibrated level
5	Past the calibrated level and rising
3	Past the calibrated level and falling
1	Past the calibrated level and stable

Settings

The settings that apply to Strips Drip Oil, as in the Config Tool.

Setting	What it does	Range	Default
Flood Poll Interval	How often the leak (and oil) sensors are checked. 0 = off.	0.5–60 min	0.5 min
Flood Report Interval	How often the flood value is reported	10–10080 min	0 (off)
Flood Alarm Threshold Level	Flood value at which the leak alarm triggers	0–100 %	10 %
Flood Alarm Hysteresis	How far below the alarm level the flood value must fall before the alarm clears	0–100 %	4 %
Oil Threshold	Capacitive level that triggers the oil alarm. Different surfaces give different baselines.	0–65535	1450
Oil Filter Factor	Filter for detecting a deviation from the moving average. 0 = this detection is off. Recommended 5–15.	0–30	0 (10 in the profile)
Oil Sensor Differential	How far the value must deviate from the filtered value to trigger an alarm	1–100	30
Temperature Poll Interval	How often the temperature is read. 0 = off.	0.5–60 min	2 min
Temperature Low / High Alarm Level	Temperature at or beyond which the alarm triggers	−20 to +120 °C	off
Temperature Alarm Hysteresis	How far back the temperature must go before a new alarm can trigger	0.1–60 °C	1 °C
Magnet Poll Interval	How often the magnet sensors are checked. All other intervals are multiples of it. Lower is faster but uses more battery.	1–10 s	1.5 s
LED Level	0 = very limited, 1 = user actions and errors, 2 = all events	0–2	2

9Specifications

Sensors	Two-layer capacitive liquid sensor: outer for any liquid, inner (behind the oil-absorbing layer) for oil and other non-water liquids; temperature
Alarms	Liquid leak and oil leak, reported separately; temperature
Radio	LoRaWAN 1.0.4, class A, OTAA
Frequency plans	EU868 · US915 · AU915 · AS923-1 · IN865
Range	Up to 10 km in line of sight
Battery	Built-in LiMnO2, 480 mAh, well over ten years
IP rating	IP67
Operating temperature	−20 to +60 °C
Dimensions	195 × 15 × 4 mm
Weight	11 g
Mounting	Adhesive, or +Clip

10Support

Strips LoRa Config Tool, which creates the configuration downlinks: strips-lora-config-app.service.sensative.net
Payload decoder (open source): github.com/Sensative/strips-lora-translator-open-source
Support, FAQ and downloads: sensative.com/support
Product page and product sheet: sensative.com/sensors/strips-oil
Strips Oil adhesive mounting guide (PDF): sensative.com/assets/downloads/strips-oil-adhesive-guide.pdf
Technical support request: through the form on the support page

Sources: Sensative Docs, Strips for LoRaWAN pages, FAQ Strips LoRaWAN, Troubleshooting Guide Strips LoRaWAN and +Switch (read 24 October 2026); Strips LoRa Config Tool (profiles, reports and settings); Rev B datasheets; specifications from the sensative.com product data.