Sump Pump

How to choose sump pump?

Purpose of the writing this section is to avoid the hassle in choosing the right type of sump pump according to your needs. It is based on my own experience and dilemma I faced while selecting a sump pump for the replacement of my old faulty pump.

On a rainy morning when I saw that there was water flowing around my sump pit, it made me worried and concerned. I did not have any previous experience of handling such type of task. I decided to look into the matter. I first took off the sump pump’s power cord out of the electric outlet to see and check out my pump. After opening the pit I saw my old sump pump which was sitting fine at the bottom of my sump pit. It was looking old but still seems okay. It was float type of sump pump. After doing some testing i.e. inserting my pump’s power cord into another electric outlet I concluded that my sump pump is dead.

I did some research on the pumps and decided to buy one.

My old dead pump was having float type sensor with ¼ hp motor. Its outlet (where pipe is required to be attached to transfer the water from sump pit to outside) was of 1 ½ inch dia.

So I decided to buy the pump with similar hp and orifice.

Old float type sump pump

I found one pump on discount (with 1/3 hp motor which was higher than my old pump) with the same orifice size. This was also having float type sensor as my old pump. I was aware that if I would use the same orifice size then I need not to buy any additional connectors to join my old pipe with the new pump. My old stuff should work fine with my new pump.

New float type sump pump

I fit this pump and tested it. It was working fine. I covered my sump pit. I was happy that I accomplished the task.

On next morning when I went to my basement just to ensure that everything is fine because it was still raining outside. I saw overflowed water around my sump pit area. I uncovered the sump pit and checked the pump. Pump was working fine. Then, why did not it pump out the water?

This was float sensor type of pump. To start its working its float should rise to specific height so that the float become almost vertical, which would move the ball shaped sensor present inside the float to activate the pump.

What was the problem?

My sump pit was not very deep though it was good enough to cover the sump pump. During the period as water level raised inside the sump pit, float actuator of the pump stuck with the pit cover and did not achieve its required vertical position to move its ball sensor to activate the pump. Secondly, the water inside the sump was calm and smooth (which is the common case), and unable to produce any motion to activate the ball sensor. 

Sump pump pit

I even shorten the float length to activate it at lower water elevation level, but still it was not the practical option. Smoothly raised water level was unable to exert enough force to make the float at desired angle to activate the ball sensor.

I brought another utility sump pump which was able to pump the water till water level lowers to ¼ inch. This was also not the practical solution for my case because this pump was always working (active) in the sump. This was just the wastage of energy.

Finally I purchased another sump pump. This was also float type but its float sensor was vertically attached to pump and did not required to be raised at higher elevation than the pump’s top. Also there was an easy option to control at which water level pump would stop pumping out. I find this pump best suitable for my use particularly when you want to have more control for pumping out water and your sump pit is not very deep. I believe it will save energy too because you can have control when to stop pumping.

Vertical switch sump pump

Vertical switch sump pump with connected hose