Service life for a sump pump?

[JDgreen227]

The 3/4 hp pedestal type Craftsman brand sump pump with a vertical float in my addition basement is ten years old now and still works perfectly, but I did replace the vertical float switch atop the motor housing about 3 years ago "just in case". Had one of the submerged type pumps with the tethered float prior to that and the float hung up twice and the water overflowed the sump pit. Have to wonder what kind of a service life one can expect from a quality sump pump if it never runs dry and fails from overheating. Opinions, please?

 

[jaotguy]

depends on the "use" ...

runs a few times each year on occasion = lifetime

runs most of the day for a week solid = several years

runs solid 24 hrs a day for a week or so = 1-2 years


in the "off season " ... pull the pump, remove the lower leg and check the bearing / bushing in the bottom by the impeller ... they tend to wear and get sloppy ..... other than that , it should run for many years

 

[JDgreen227]

depends on the "use" ...

runs a few times each year on occasion = lifetime

runs most of the day for a week solid = several years

runs solid 24 hrs a day for a week or so = 1-2 years


in the "off season " ... pull the pump, remove the lower leg and check the bearing / bushing in the bottom by the impeller ... they tend to wear and get sloppy ..... other than that , it should run for many years

Good advice...mine almost never gets extended use, there was 2.5" of rain here yesterday but the pump almost never turned on...my brother who lives in the city has the same hp pump and he told me his was turning on about every 15-20 seconds. In the city there is so much pavement the rainfall just bounces off and runs into the sewer system which gets overtaxed quickly and most of the homes where he lives have really old tile drainage systems. Here the soil is almost all clay so the rainfall takes a while to percolate down. Appreciate your input.

 

[bigtiller]

Don't forget the check valve above the pump. When it quits working you're done pumping.

 

[newbury]

I keep a spare pump ready to hook up and swap into the sump pump hole.

Often when you REALLY need the pump, after several days of heavy rain, there is a shortage of them because a lot of them are failing.

 

[AMD]

I keep a spare pump ready to hook up and swap into the sump pump hole.

Likewise; I too have a spare.
Ours quit the first night we stayed in our new house - pedestal style - and I replaced with a submersible. It runs every 5 - 10 minutes in the spring and sometimes even more depending on the weather. It slows to maybe once an hour throughout the rest of the year but is going on 2.5 years now. The sump hole dried the first summer but not last.

 

[JDgreen227]

My backup is that I saved the 3/4 hp submersible pump that I used for the first year, the problem with the tethered floats is that sometimes they get hung up in the crock and that's why mine didn't turn on. My next door neighbor had a pump with the type of pressure switch built in the pump itself that turns it on but two years after his house was built the switch went bad and his basement (finished) got really wet.

 

[jaotguy]

.my brother who lives in the city has the same hp pump and he told me his was turning on about every 15-20 seconds.

ask him if he has a check valve in his "out" pipe ... if he doesn't, the water he just pumped out will just come back in the same pipe and refill the pump pit....

 

[JDgreen227]

ask him if he has a check valve in his "out" pipe ... if he doesn't, the water he just pumped out will just come back in the same pipe and refill the pump pit....

Yes he has a check valve where it should be but the water inflow was so great his pump could barely keep up....

 

[jaotguy]

looks like ... time for a second pump in the pit with a second out line ,cause if that pump fails ......

 

[jimpen]

Well when my ex-GF bought her house her father came over and installed a battery powered backup sump pump. It only goes about halfway down the height of the sump hole, but it prevents an overflow just in case. That might be a way to do it..

 

[JDgreen227]

Being in the country, I always have to worry about a power outage so I do have a battery powered backup pump...last time the juice went off I was visiting relatives in Illinois and was worried sick about possible damage...but there was none. Makes me envy those folks who have a gravity drain for the sump pit....I could have one, IF I wanted to put down about 600' of underground pipe...:laughing:

 

[whistlepig]

We don't have a wet basement but do have a sump pump. Our water softener back flushes into the sump pump pit. Pretty corrosive stuff. We got 13 years of use out our first sump pump.

 

[JDgreen227]

Just an update here...the screws holding the plastic base on the pump I mentioned in the beginning of this thread rusted out and the base came off, rendering the pump useless. I took it out, went to Sears and asked them to replace it under the "Limited Lifetime Warranty" and they no longer sell the model...meaning I have to wait for store management to decide whether to give me a refund, or if I so choose I can have a new model (submersible type, not pedestal type) with same hp but ONLY 3 year warranty. Screw 'em.

 

[teejk]

Mine will last forever. Our house was built on a lot that would have been better used as a sand/gravel pit. But code being code, I still had to do the exterior/interior foundation drain tile with the sump pit/pump in the basement. I don't even know if the pump works and unless we get back to a Noah's ark thing, I don't think I ever will. But interesting discussion...I would think that the "on-off" would be fatal (well pumps have that start-up torque that shortens their life) but somebody said continuous use was worse. I learn a lot here.

 

[whistlepig]

These are good sump pumps.

Zoeller M98 - 1/2 HP Cast Iron Submersible Sump Pump w/ Vertical Float Switch

 

[jaotguy]

Mine will last forever. Our house was built on a lot that would have been better used as a sand/gravel pit. But code being code, I still had to do the exterior/interior foundation drain tile with the sump pit/pump in the basement.

same here ... 273" of sand beneath me , I'm on top of a hill .... the water table is 45' below me ... and a sump pump and pit that has never had water in it .....

 

[JDgreen227]

These are good sump pumps.

Zoeller M98 - 1/2 HP Cast Iron Submersible Sump Pump w/ Vertical Float Switch

Thanks for the link...everywhere I read says that brand is great. The submerged type of pump runs much cooler but the limited travel of the float means much more stop/ start cycles compared to the pedestal type.