Came home tonight after work to find about 2-3 inches of water in the basement. It's been raining hard here in Indiana all week, and just told my wife last night..."You know, I haven't heard the sump pump this week" A little too late. :angerhead Just spent 6+ hours hauling Shop Vacs full of water up the stairs and outside. Luckily the basement isn't carpeted, but man, what a pain. If it wasn't 2:30 in the morning and sleeting, I think I'd enjoy a nice smoke to unwind. Anyway, hopefully a good reminder to check your sump pump every once in a while to make sure it's still working! Looks like a there are a lot of videos on YouTube on things to check, easy fixes, etc..
Basement Sump Pump PSA
- Thread starter derwood
- Start date
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Most sump pumps don't stop working. The float switch that turns it off and on does.... You can unplug the first inline plug and plug back in the second power cord to verify if its just the float switch.
If it powers back on it was a bad float. You could of pumped your basement dry in a hr........
Every five years replace the main pump.
When replacing a main pump buy a back up as well.......
Menards/Home depot sells 2 brands the have a main/backup already "piped'" together. Buy a 12V marine battery for 80 dollars (Deep cycle Marine not Starting Marine) and your done in less then 30 mins.
Big boxes sell alarm that will go off at the contact of water with the sensor at top of the sump pump or concrete floor.
It sells for 11 dollars....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100038838?productId=100038838&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100038838&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100038838&ci_gpa=pla
If it powers back on it was a bad float. You could of pumped your basement dry in a hr........
Every five years replace the main pump.
When replacing a main pump buy a back up as well.......
Menards/Home depot sells 2 brands the have a main/backup already "piped'" together. Buy a 12V marine battery for 80 dollars (Deep cycle Marine not Starting Marine) and your done in less then 30 mins.
Big boxes sell alarm that will go off at the contact of water with the sensor at top of the sump pump or concrete floor.
It sells for 11 dollars....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100038838?productId=100038838&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100038838&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100038838&ci_gpa=pla
Last edited:
Jfire
BoM 9/9' 9/11' 8/12'
Want to add that I just replaced my main pump last fall with a new main and back up. It was five years old and running like a champ........... And I pulled that mofo out of that pit faster then you could blink a eye. Home cigar lounges only get built once in a man's lifetime. We had 9 inches of rain in 12 hrs this week. I was at work the night the storm hit. Slept like a baby that night. Sorry to hear you had such bad luck brother.
Hate to hear it man cuz I have a clean up to do now because of that in another property.Most sump pumps don't stop working. The float switch that turns it off and on does.... You can unplug the first inline plug and plug back in the second power cord to verify if its just the float switch. If it powers back on it was a bad float. You could of pumped your basement dry in a hr........
Every five years replace the main pump.
When replacing a main pump buy a back up as well.......
Menards/Home depot sells 2 brands the have a main/backup already "piped'" together. Buy a 12V marine battery for 80 dollars (Deep cycle Marine not Starting Marine) and your done in less then 30 mins.
Big boxes sell alarm that will go off at the contact of water with the sensor at top of the sump pump or concrete floor.
It sells for 11 dollars....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100038838?productId=100038838&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100038838&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100038838&ci_gpa=pla
Gonna check on this alarm...my current basement is finished. Couldn't imagine that happening here. I remember checking all night at the back door drain during the last hurricane....everything went fine tho
Most sump pumps don't stop working. The float switch that turns it off and on does.... You can unplug the first inline plug and plug back in the second power cord to verify if its just the float switch.
If it powers back on it was a bad float. You could of pumped your basement dry in a hr........
Every five years replace the main pump.
When replacing a main pump buy a back up as well.......
Menards/Home depot sells 2 brands the have a main/backup already "piped'" together. Buy a 12V marine battery for 80 dollars (Deep cycle Marine not Starting Marine) and your done in less then 30 mins.
Big boxes sell alarm that will go off at the contact of water with the sensor at top of the sump pump or concrete floor.
It sells for 11 dollars....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100038838?productId=100038838&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100038838&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100038838&ci_gpa=pla[/QU
Thanks Jolietfire - This pump only has a single plug. Different design?? It's definitely seems like it's toast though.
Definitely going to go the backup route this time. Woke up and looks like I get to haul more water just to empty the pit again (and about 1/2 inch covering the floor)
Hate to hear you've gotta go through that too -- this was not the most fun I've had on a Friday night/ Saturday morning! That alarm sounds like a great idea too.Hate to hear it man cuz I have a clean up to do now because of that in another property.Most sump pumps don't stop working. The float switch that turns it off and on does.... You can unplug the first inline plug and plug back in the second power cord to verify if its just the float switch. If it powers back on it was a bad float. You could of pumped your basement dry in a hr........
Every five years replace the main pump.
When replacing a main pump buy a back up as well.......
Menards/Home depot sells 2 brands the have a main/backup already "piped'" together. Buy a 12V marine battery for 80 dollars (Deep cycle Marine not Starting Marine) and your done in less then 30 mins.
Big boxes sell alarm that will go off at the contact of water with the sensor at top of the sump pump or concrete floor.
It sells for 11 dollars....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100038838?productId=100038838&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100038838&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100038838&ci_gpa=pla
Gonna check on this alarm...my current basement is finished. Couldn't imagine that happening here. I remember checking all night at the back door drain during the last hurricane....everything went fine tho
But I'm thinkin ok alarm goes off in the middle of huge storm meaning the pump has stopped? Then what? Lol I guess to know its stopped working on a regular day gives me time to fix it tho.Hate to hear you've gotta go through that too -- this was not the most fun I've had on a Friday night/ Saturday morning! That alarm sounds like a great idea too.Hate to hear it man cuz I have a clean up to do now because of that in another property.Most sump pumps don't stop working. The float switch that turns it off and on does.... You can unplug the first inline plug and plug back in the second power cord to verify if its just the float switch. If it powers back on it was a bad float. You could of pumped your basement dry in a hr........
Every five years replace the main pump.
When replacing a main pump buy a back up as well.......
Menards/Home depot sells 2 brands the have a main/backup already "piped'" together. Buy a 12V marine battery for 80 dollars (Deep cycle Marine not Starting Marine) and your done in less then 30 mins.
Big boxes sell alarm that will go off at the contact of water with the sensor at top of the sump pump or concrete floor.
It sells for 11 dollars....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100038838?productId=100038838&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100038838&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100038838&ci_gpa=pla
Gonna check on this alarm...my current basement is finished. Couldn't imagine that happening here. I remember checking all night at the back door drain during the last hurricane....everything went fine tho
This thing was definitely dead. Bought the house four years ago and that puppy had been in long before that judging by the looks of it. Had to go to 3 diff stores to find any, but got a new one put in (with backup) and it's doing it's job. Water is pretty much coming in as fast as it's going out. Some seriously saturated ground.