Sump pump acting up - 2 floods

This is my first post and I am not all that familar with sump pumps. 1st home, country living, shallow well.

Last year we experience our first minor flooding. It seemed to be coming from the basement walls, mostly in our storage area where our sump pump is located. I had recently added soil to the outside of the house to bring the soil levels up to the parging. At the time I figured our flood was due to that and the major storms the area was receiving. Sump pump was working well.

Last weekend we had a flood in the basement that left us with about 2 inches of water. We discovered that our sump pump wasn't working but the water hadn't yet overflowed from it since the area around it was still dry. Our alarm hadn't sounded either but it was found to be off. (May have hit the switch off when vaccuming earlier).

Since then we have cleaned up the mess and I believe the pump switch (SJE Micromaster - 125V w/plug) isn't working properly and that the control switch (Floater switch) may also not be working.

The sump pump will fill within a couple inches to the top without draining. I would then have to jiggle either one or both of these switches to activate the pump, then the pump will constantly run with only about 1 or 2 inches of water at the bottom. Water is constantly coming in from the 4" pipe on the side from the weeping tiles. I'm worried that this will shorten the life of the motor because it's constantly running and will shut off on it's own but could have run anywhere from 30 seconds to 12+ hrs.

Again I'm still (now because of the flood) learning about sump pumps, I'm just a country gal looking for some seasoned advice. Dads in Florida. LOL!!

Just another note. The house is only about 3 years old. The area we live in is a flood area. I've put extensions (6 feet) on the evestroughs and will be getting some splash pads(evestroughs are located on the same side of house the sump pump is located and where 1st flood occured). Our ditches are low and everything seems to be drying up. Area soil seems to consist of sand/clay. I have yet dug down along foundation to check the backfill zone and course gravel. Since it's a new house I suspect there is air in the soil that was disturbed and put back.

So any advice on the sump pump or something that I haven't considered.

Thanks!!!

 

It sounds like your switch is not working. You mentioned jiggling either of the switches...is there more than 1 switch or are you referring to the plugs? A piggyback switch setup will have the pump motor plugged into the back of the switch plug which then goes to the electrical outlet.

SJE Rhombus makes good switches, they are used on Hydromatic brand pumps. You might try their website to locate a distributor who can get you a replacement if the pump motor itself seems to be fine. Otherwise, you can remove the switch mechanism from the pump...give it a cleaning, and re-install it to see if it works any better. Good luck!

 

Yes, it's a piggy back system, wasn't sure how to explain it. At least I think it is. It does plug into the electrical outlet. The two "switches" I'm refering two both float. The smaller one I'm calling the control switch that I think should be activating the alarm, control the liquid levels and pump control panels is the smaller of the two and floats higher up the water goes.

The second which is larger and found lower in the sump pump is what I'm calling the "Pump Switch - SJE Micromaster) - directly controls the pump.

I may be mixing them up....?????

My pump has since stopped and the sump pump is slowly filling up again. I'm going to keep an eye on it to see if the alarm is atleast triggered. Once the alarm is triggered should water levels go down? Or is the alarm just to let us know something is wrong?

 

Thanks for clarifying. Usually a high-level alarm is separate from the pump float/switch mechanism. In other words, your alarm system will not activate your pump.

If your situation is urgent, you can do a couple of things.
1. if you need immediate pump ability, you can unplug the pump motor from the back of the piggyback switch and simply plug the pump motor plug directly into the outlet. This will enable you to manually operate your pump to get water out of your pit and drain tiles. Do NOT just leave the motor plugged in though, because you want you be present to unplug the motor as the water level drops to just a few inches in your pit.
2. as a temporary solution, you can go to your local plumbing supply store and get a "wide-angle" piggyback switch to replace your SJE switch. A wide-angle piggyback float is simply a float on a cable with either a mechanical or mercury switch on the inside. These are easy to install and only require sufficient "swing" space in your sump pit. Make sure it can swing without hitting anything else and that the height that it turns on is below the level of any drain tile pipes feeding into the pit. They can be connected directly to your pvc discharge pipe with a nylon zip-tie and you use the plug similar to the setup with the SJE switch (plug pump motor into back of the wide-angle float plug, then into the outlet).
3. Is your SJE switch operate on a straight vertical shaft? If so, try removing and cleaning the SJE switch, re-install to see it if works better.

 

Situation isn't presently urgent. We are still able to manual control the pump via the back-up battery system.

The sump pump has yet to overflow from it container but has backed up the drain tiles which is what I believed caused our floods.

I will remove the SJE switch from the vertical to clean it and see if that helps.

I also see debris at the bottom of the container - small rocks, nails, dirt/sand and little bits from the construction of the house. Can this also be causing the problem?

Should water levels be lower than the open pipe on the side of the sump pump from the weeping tiles? Presently water is resting 1/4 to 1/2 way up this opening.

Thanks for all the info. It's really helping!!

 

Good to hear you have a backup....you might want to test it to make sure it works. Ideally it should come on before the water level reaches the drain tile level in the pit.

You might want to consider running your primary pump manually a few times to get the water out of your drain tiles. If they are saturated around the perimeter of your foundation, this excess water is not a good thing. You may end up plugging/unplugging a few times, but its best to keep your drain tiles from filling up.

The SJE switch mechanism should just "bolt" on the primary pump (if it is a vertical shaft type). there is a thin/flat metal bracket that is attached to the pump. If it is a wide-angle float design, just look for where the cable is fastened to the pump and unscrew it.

 

Well I've removed, cleaned and re-attached the SJE Switch and replugged the piggy back system. It only worked 2 times on it's own and the pump has since started to work constantly with only 1 to 2 inches of water at the bottom. How would cleaning the slim off it help? Does this switch also have a mechanical or mercury switch inside?

I this point I think it's best to replace the part.

I'll let you know how that goes.

Again thanks for all your assistance!!

 

Carmel Corn I just wanted to say Thank You!!

I replaced the switch earlier today and it's been working like a charm since. I think the old one may not have had enough "play" in the pit and thus shortened it's lifespan.

Again, Thank you!



Christine