Need Help with my Sump Pump

[daisy87]

Hey, guys, I bought a sump pump from a plumbing company. The problem is we have got tethered floats switches and they are constantly getting stuck on the side walls of the sump pit and because of this the basement is always getting flooded. The switch gets stuck all the time and I am tired of getting the water off the basement. If you guys have any idea on how to repair this, it would be great.

 

[smurfjuice]

Single float ...

 

[Homercidal]

Change to a pump with a float on a rod. The tethered floats are for places that are wide enough to keep the floats from getting stuck to the sides.

 

[kristiismean]

I hate tethered floats.

the ones on the solid arm work, as do pressure switches.

I am like you, my basement was always getting flooded, but then my basement is below the water table (live on a lake) and year round my main pump pops every 30-45 minutes... We replace it every 2 years, and have a very deep sump.

I use a solid rod for my primary, and a pressure switch for the backup pump. (and another solid arm for the oh crap pump)

 

[daisy87]

Thanks guys.

 

[cloudybrewer]

You may just need to rotate the pump a little so the float wants to point toward the middle of the pit instead of towards the wall. This depends on whether or not the vertical pipe is centered in the pit, and the size of the pit, though. Otherwise, you need a different float style, as others said.

 

[jimmykx250]

Spend the money on a good pump with a float on a rod. You wont regret it- the cheap ones burn out quick and are unreliable at least in my experience. I forget the name brand I buy but they are green and all cast iron. I have one that is 8 years old now!

 

[IslandLizard]

The ones I used were the submersible kind. They had a float in an 8" (?) pipe directly attached to the pump housing. They were bright orange, around 1/3-1/2 HP. One lasted for many years (10+) the other developed a leak in the switch housing on top, corroding out the switch mechanism. I paid around $80-100 for each of them back in the 90s.

Yes, I needed 2 pumps there at times, especially when the thaw set in. NE PA.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Cut off a piece of PVC pipe to protect it from getting stuck on the side?