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Sump Pump - Last night's rain

Discussion in 'Homeowners Corner' started by snoopy, Jun 7, 2005.

  1. rharse

    rharse New Member

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    This past weekend our sump came on about every 5-10 minutes, was on for about 15 seconds and then turned off with a pretty major "thud." Not sure if the thud is form the pump or some sort of check valve (back flow preventer). All I know is that it seems to go off frequently and is only on for a very short period. Does the system have a back flow preventer?

    I'll try moving some of my gutter drain further away for the house to see if that makes a difference. Any insight on the battery backup would be appreciated.
     
  2. cindyb

    cindyb New Member

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    I highly recommend the 2nd pump with a battery back up. I think it was our 2nd summer here that we kept losing our power, one time in particular our sump pump was ready to flood the basement. After that my husband installed a backup pump. We put a hose down the basement steps and were able to test the pump to make sure it works. Actually, since that day the power has never gone off long enough during a rainy period to make the 2nd pump go off - it's been a great insurance policy!
     
  3. rharse

    rharse New Member

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    Can anyone provide info on brands of battery sump pumps? Where to buy? I've done a search online and there are lots out there but wanted to know what others have used successfully. I'd want to install it myself.
     
  4. WesGurney

    WesGurney New Member

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  5. Koyak

    Koyak New Member

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    I 'm not sure how effective this is but....I was thinking about getting a small Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) like the kind used for computers and servers and plugging my sump pump into it. Anyone try this?

    Mike
     
  6. L0stS0ul

    L0stS0ul hmmmm

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    Interesting idea. It might work. It does depend on how much power the pump actually requires when it's on though.
     
  7. WesGurney

    WesGurney New Member

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  8. Chsalas

    Chsalas Active Member

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    a UPS will not last long with the start up amperage that a sump pump needs to get water moving. A deep cycle maraine battery system is the only thing that will work in these instances for a substansial time period. UPS only provide minimal amperage since most (not all) computer components only require very little amps to start up.
     
  9. Peppermint

    Peppermint New Member

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    I have this EXACT same situation. A crawl space and a sump pump that runs frequently whenever it rains. By frequently I mean every minute in some cases. The crawlspace has never flooded, so I don't know what to make of this. As I'm not one to attempt to install a battery operated back-up pump, I'm calling around plumbers to see if they can do it - but so far they all would replace the existing main pump along with installing a battery back-up pump. Wacker plumbing (whom I've used before) quotes $763 to do the whole job (labor included).

    Don't know if I'm worrying unnecessarily about the frequent running of the pump ...

    Does anyone know if this frequent cycling on/off is normal? It's been this way since I bought the house (I'm the original owner and bought the home in 2003).
     
  10. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    Well, I have an unfortunate sump pump update to share. As of this afternoon, the pump has been humming loudly (we can even feel the vibration on the first floor) and frequently belching out small amounts of water through the discharge pipe -- definitely not normal operation! I unplugged the float and plugged the pump directly into the electric outlet, but it does the same thing. It seems to be running continuously, and I don't know why.

    On top of this, our home warranty company claims that it isn't an emergency, although I thoroughly explained what will happen when it (inevitably) stops working altogether, probably later tonight. So I made my own phone calls and have a plumber coming out within the next few hours. Has anyone else had a similar problem with their sump pump?
     
  11. WesGurney

    WesGurney New Member

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    I had something similar happen when we first moved into our house. After about a week, the sump all of a sudden came on and was running constantly - similar to how you describe.

    When I looked under the lid, there was a a bunch of construction and other debris (a couple bottles, plastic sheeting, and pieces of wood and gravel). This debris was preventing the water from being properly pumped out of via the sump motor and also preventing the float from returning to the top.

    I cleaned this stuff out and then everything worked normally.

    Needless to say, it was this experience that caused me to install a backup sump pump. :(
     
  12. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    Wes has some really valid points, check the lid for debris...we also purchased cheese cloth to skim the water in the pump and added a water additive (to lower the chance of mold, alge..etc). Last year our landscaper actually installed french drains for each of our downspouts, it carries the water to the swail in our backyard and onto the sidewalk on our side yard...but adding more dirt is a cheaper alternative. Also we purchases a backup generator, because the the power outages last year as we looked into the battery powered sump-pump. Another thought you may want to try a shop vac (make sure it's a wet vac and suck the water out of the pump) this will give you a good baseline as to how quickly the pump is getting filled up.
     
  13. jim

    jim New Member

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    In addition to the downspouts in point #2, make sure your sump pump discharge is directed away from the foundation. I installed 10' of PVC pipe underground to get the water away from the foundation. Our previous house had a long hose to the back yard (not pretty, but effective). Otherwise, a good portion of the discharge will just return to the sump.

    -Jim
     
  14. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    For thepea2001: where is your backup generator located, and where is it connected (does it power other appliances - fridge, for example)?
     
  15. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    I have to ask the hubby about the connection...I know that one of them is in our basement (in the furnace room) and I think the other one is in the attic, near the second HVAC system. Thankfully this year we have not has as many power outages as last year. I do recall a few months ago the power went out around 3AM (for about 30 minutes)...I went down to the kitchen to get a drink from the fridge and it was still running. I do know the generator kick in, b/c I could hear the humming from the motor.
     
  16. LKelly

    LKelly New Member

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    I'm guessing they're not gasoline-powered if they're inside the house -- what kind of generators are they?
     
  17. lilpea

    lilpea Member

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    banner power is on the outside of the one downstairs...I didn't feel like getting up in the attic
     
  18. peace

    peace New Member

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    All -

    Did your home sump pump issues get resolved?
    What did Van Metre do? how long did it take to resolve?
     

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