Backup Battery/Generator for Sump Pumps

Do you have any recommendations for back up batteries and generators for sump pumps? Not wanting to spend too much if possible.

 

Battery back up beats nothing.The only problem is, in a prolonged outage, the battery will lose it's charge. You could gang multiple batteries to extend run time.

If you have city water, a water powered backup will run as long as the city water maintains pressure.

Self starting / house voltage loss sensing generators can be quite expensive. They need to be maintained and tested on a regular basis. You also need a fuel source, gasoline, propane, or natural gas from a suppling utility company.

 

How bad is the need. If the water flows in rapidly and can do lots of damage, then a back-up and automated system is the call. If it is slow and something you can easily catch before any damage, then a gas powered pump you can set up when needed. The water powered as mentioned is also an option, except when water pressure is lost.

With a battery back-up, you also have the option of recharging the batteries with your car, carefully. Not ideal, but it would extent the operating time if you were home and needed to keep it dry.

One, not so common approach I have used where there is a significant slope somewhere, is to run a hose down over the hill and charge it with water, then let it continue as a siphon. The size hose and the elevation you have to work with will determine how much water you can move. May not be perfect, but it's a trick to have in your back pocket.

Bud

 

We have a battery backup unit for our sump pump. The pump that we are running came with the backup unit as a kit. It's pretty much an ugly cousin to a standard computer UPS. It plugs into the wall and charges a car battery. There is a relay setup so that if the household power disappears, the battery takes over. I didn't purchase this unit (previous house owner did), but I have seen them advertised as a kit with the pump for a little more then double the cost of just a cheap pump (~$175CND).

BUD;
The siphon idea is awsome. I would have never thought about it.
Some rocket scientist routed our weeping tiles into the sump pit, so when it rains, my pump is running hard. A garden hose with a suitable reducer on the end might be enough to run a siphon steady and not burn my pump... You got me thinking....

 

Took Bud's idea and ran with it.
A cheap battery powered siphon system. Long story short, the pump starts the flow and shuts off once it's moving (manual or automatic if you want to get complicated). The siphon effect will continute provided there is water to move. If you adjust the exit size (manual valve), you could keep a steady flow of water, allowing the system to run power free until there is no more water to move.
This sketch is very simplified, but you should get the point.


A store bought full siphon could work too, but would require some customization to suite.

 

What else would you do with them? Unless the house is on a hill and you could run a pipe out to daylight and let gravity do it I don't see what else to do.

 

The property does have a slight grade away from the house towards the back of the property. At the end of my property (~200ft from the house) is a drop off into a small river.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I am definately interested in a backup system for my sump pump. Power does go out here on occation, and if it is raining, my pump is running almost full time.
The water pump sounds like an interesting idea, but I am on a well, so no power means no moving water to run the pump.
I was going to start another thread, but I think this is on par with this one. Any ideas?

 

In my experience a battery backup pump will never keep up with the amount of water I get in my sump pit during a very heavy rainfall. BTDT. It is better than nothing, but I think my basement would flood with it or without it. We ended up buying a generator after the last big storm that the power went out during. It works great as long as we're home to use it. I will definitely be looking into one of the water powered pumps soon.

 

This right here is ultimately my point of concern. If this wasn't a concern, A UPS system and generator would more then likely be enough for my setup. If those fail (or run out), a garden hose siphon would work (if I'm home).

If the OP is on city water, that water pump sounds like a promising setup.

 

I had a battery back up system that had a deep cycle battery and charger running a large boat type bilge pump.
The problem I had with this was that the pump was a fairly low capacity and not very robust looking.

I replaced this with a 1000 watt inverter/charger and a 31 series deep cycle battery.
Then installed a 1/4 hp cast iron sump pump on a cement block as a secondary high level pump which the 1000 watt inverter powers nicely.

I got the 1000 watt Zantrax inverter/charger on sale for 150.00, the 31 series battery for 150.00, the sump pump for 70.00 and about 50.00 for the battery to inverter cables.
If this kind of money is in the budget it is a pretty decent solution.