Sump pumps
- Thread starter 4429 mcc
- Start date
He meant to say "until this thread was started I thought they were called sun pumps."
No, no, no, I already knew that sun pumps were just a fancy name for bicycle pumps. :wink:He meant to say "until this thread was started I thought they were called sun pumps."
my girlfriends parents in Marion had theirs quit tonight and had a couple puddles form in their basement...they replaced it last year after the old one quit and they ended up with a quarter inch of water in their entire basement...I was in colorado at the time but I heard it was not fun to clean up.
If you live in a newly constructed home make sure to check yours. Our builder put the cheapest model in and it died after a year. We could hear the motor running but it had ceased up and was not actually pumping water out of the well.
OK. Maybe a stupid question but how do you check your pump? Do you add water until it comes on? Or just lift the float? I know it isn't good to run a pump without head on the impeller and that is why I would rather not simply lift the float.
I would think add water until it comes on. I'm considering buying a secondary pump with a battery just in case. Seems like, when you need it most, the power goes out.
Mine went out on this past Christmas Eve. Picked a new one up at Lowe's right before they closed that night. It was melting that day, and if it had been 5 degrees warmer, my basement would have been toast.
I was told you have to have the right size sp for your basement. Too small, they run too much and burn out. Too big, they don't run enough, and can develop a flat spot (not sure where that would be).
I have heard the best back up option is a water pump. You actually run water through this manual pump from an indoor water source into the well, but the water drives the pump and it pumps water out faster than the water coming in. That way you don't have to worry about a power source for the backup. Not sure how you engage the water system though, I'm sure it's automatic. I think they are pretty expensive installed. $500-$700 ?
My pump never came on last summer during some of the worst flooding and heaviest rains of all time. I also checked the sump occassionally and never saw any water so I'm probably OK. But I wouldn't mind knowing it works in the case I should need it.
We discovered ours wasn't working right before the floods of 2008. Good thing we discovered it wasn't working and replaced it because my wife had our daughter a week later.
I second this. Our builder put in the cheapest one possible. Fortunately when it failed after three years we had not gotten around to finishing the basement and most of what we did have down there was off the floor, so cleanup was minimal. I'm considering digging a second sum pit before we finish the basement. Sump pumps are one of those things you just can't buy cheap.
