Sump pump

[atgcpaul]

We're renting an AirBnB for a month. This house has 2 sump pumps installed in opposite corners of the house. It's raining today and the constant cycling of the one pump directly below my wife's home office is driving her nuts so she's made it my problem.

Our house had a sump pit but our basement never flooded so the pump never had to run. I know when the water level lifts up the float, the pump will turn on, but shouldn't there be a longer delay between cycles? It sounds to be cycling on/off every 30 seconds. Is it possible the sump pit is actually filling up that quickly?

Thanks
Paul

[Robert Adams]

The float adjustment probably needs to be messed with. Just cause the pump is running doesn't mean the basement is being flooded. Different soil conditions and waterproofing on the basement wall etc or ground water from under the house needing to be pumped out. Normal for those fortunate enough to live in a climate that is nice enough to have a basement... Here in Crematoria(Texas) we only have to deal with pumping heat out 9 months of the year. Cheaper and easier to pump water...

[jteneyck]

Call the owner.  

John

[fredhargis]

Our pump cycles regularly when we have rain, and in heavy rain it cycles quite a bit. That's the purpose of the sump. That said, if you think there's a problem like John said, call the owner.

[atgcpaul]

We'll send a note to the owner just as a CYA.  There aren't even any pipes leading out the top of the sump pit. At least the rain is supposed to move out of here in a couple hours.

[blackhat]

In the meantime, get her a radio with good volume. 

[TDKPE]

It's possible the check valve is stuck open, allowing the line to backflow and refill the pit and reducing the net level change.  

It can also be that the on/off points are just too close, which happened to me the one time I'm aware of that my sump pump actually got a real workout from heavy, extended rain a few years ago.  Mine's a pedestal type, and the on and off points are separately adjustable, so I lowered the off and raised the on to take up most of the depth.  

Being so noisy, it sounds like you have the pedestal type rather than a submersible.  I'd suggest replacing it with a submersible, but it's not your house.  


One thing I noticed is that the water rose slower as the water depth increased, so increasing the 'off' depth probably resulted in less total run time once the ground water dropped a little.  I could actually see it pouring into the pit through the crushed stone base.  That's a quick adjustment that I'd look into if I were you, and while in the pit, take a look to see if the water level rises a lot when the pump shuts off.  Then call the owner if it does.  

[Snipe Hunter]

Like stated above, check valve stuck open or there's no check valve at all. Pretty common. But, if there's high ground water... it will run a lot. .

[EdL]

High groundwater table and poor drainage can cause a sump pump to run almost non-stop.

The fact the house has 2 seperate systems doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Ed

[Snipe Hunter]

High groundwater table and poor drainage can cause a sump pump to run almost non-stop.

The fact the house has 2 seperate systems doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Ed