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At age 68, I find myself with a house that has the first sump pump I've ever owned. I've had sumps in the past in several houses, but they were always high enough to have natural drainage from the sump. Anyway, this morning the main pump went out (also have a battery backup). I walked by and heard it running, felt into the sump and it was hot. I guess the switch got stuck and I couldn't get it to open. Anyway, we are facing torrential rains tonight so in a calm state of panic I rushed to Blowes and grabbed a 1/2 HP (55 GPM) model, went back to the house and changed it out in all of 15 minutes. Here's where I need some help: the pump I removed looked like a cast iron pump, but no built in switch. Attached to it was some kind of float switch that had it's own power cord; looks like it switched the pump on/off at the outlet. The replacement I bought was the integral unit, made in Taiwan and was priced as though it was a better pump than the Utilitech ones sitting next to it. So, do folks take the heavier cast irons utility pumps and put switches on them for sumps? If yes: is this a more reliable arrangement than the common pump like I bought. Also, are there any good names I should search for? What I've done is set us up to get through the impending storm, but I want a good sump pump set up.I've got questions on the battery unit as well but will save them for another day.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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Fred, here is a link to Sump Pumps Direct, where you can get all your questions answered by read and corresponding with Jim, their resident pro. I recently replaced my sump pumps with ones I got from SPD. Excellent service and several brands better than you will find at the BORG. They also have several AC and battery backup packages all bundled together with the parts you need for an easy installation. To answer your question about the separate float switch; the switch seems to be the thing that often fails before the pump, unless you buy a high end electronic switch. One strategy to deal with that is to buy a bare pump and use a separate, and easily replaceable float switch. The only downside of that approach is that the sump pit has to be large enough for the float to be able to swing thru its arc to turn on/off. Please send us some of that rain. We haven't had much rain all month and farmers are starting to worry. John
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I've got one where the float swings up in an arc and one that it rises on a rod...both the same size (1hp IIRC). the one with the float on the rod takes up less space and seems to come on earlier and stay on a bit longer.
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. - Philip K. Dick
Mark
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Yeah, I'm not sure I could get a swing arm into my sump. In any case, the torrential rains I was expecting last night didn't happen. They skirted all around me....and we really need some rain. But the website John linked is a treasure trove of sump pump info. I haven't finished going through everything yet but I've learned 2 things already. 1) the pump I got at Lowes isn't as bad as i thought, in fact it seems to be a high quality model made by Zoeller (who would have thought they would have high quality?). 2) in all likelihood I got one too big, should have went with a 1/3HP. Once I figure out this stuff I'll buy a replacement and keep it on hand as a spare. That website also has some info on the battery back up models I haven't read yet.
Edit: Oops, misspoke. The pump from Lowes was "engineered by Zoeller", not their pump. Whew!....for a moment there I thought Lowes was moving to high quality products.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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Do yourself a favor & get a vertical float switch. Much less likely to hang up or fail. This is the one I had recommended to me & have been using with a Zoeller N53 pump. SE Rhombus Vertical Float Switch
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Fred, when you buy a new pump take a look at the amp ratings vs. HP. Zoeller and some others draw a huge amount of amps compared to their HP. Liberty and some others, on the other hand, have very low amp draws. This may not be important to you - but it might be, too.
I ended up buying two 1/3 HP Liberty pumps and managed to fit them into my 14" dia. sump pit. I hooked them up to separate circuits. If one pump dies and takes out the breaker the other is still available. If the power goes out my whole house generator takes over.
My experience with battery backups was all bad. They have limited capability for a limited amount of time and the batteries never seemed to last more than a couple of years. If you have city water a water powered backup sump pump might be a better option, IMO.
Good luck.
John
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A standby generator is on the list, but it may be quite a few months before it materializes. Once I have that, the battery pump may be on the gone list. No city water, I'm out in the sticks.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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I put in a Red Lion 1/3 hp and it works great. Had battery back up, it was garbage. My water table is at 5' so need something reliable. Installed a generator with a panel and wired the pump to it along with my jet pump for water. Actually have all my lights and tv wired to it as well. Generator is electric start and I run it every month, 10.000wtts. Also placed a baby monitor near the sump pit and the receiver in my bedroom, I know every time the pump comes on.
Mel
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Oh yeah, when I reconfigured my two new sump pump arrangement, I plugged a little light into the electrical outlet for the primary sump pump. If the breaker trips the light will go out and I'll know it.
John
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(02-12-2018, 12:47 AM)albertbill21 Wrote: Hi !
Kindly help me out which sump pump is good for personal use !!!
thanks :-)
I chose Red Lion because they are low amp draw for their rated HP, and are made here in NYS where I live. I also liked their compact integral float switch. Whatever you choose, if you have a generator to provide power when the grid goes out I recommend you install two, one as a backup to the primary, and install them on separate circuits so if one trips out a breaker the other will take over. If you don't have a generator then you'll want to consider a battery backup or water driven pump. I had a battery backup system for several years, but would install a water driven pump if I had to do it again.
John
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