No, nothing is wrong. The system is actually working as designed. When you put the sensor in a glass of water there is not enough water to absorb the signal. When you fall into a body of water such as lake, river, stream, ocean, there is plenty of water to cancel the signal as opposed to a glass. The system is designed to recognize the difference between falling into the water and getting washed over by a wave while driving. We do this with software so that you do not lose control of the boat in rough water. If you want to test in a bucket you need more than 8 gallons of water and hold the sensor so it doesn’t rest on the bottom of bucket.