Help! I have flooding because my sump pump isn't working!
I have received many after hours calls with a desperate message for help with a flooding basement or garage. The items linked to in this blog are the key to solving this type of problem! The person leaving the message is often so distraught that they will forget to give their name, address or other important contact information. In this blog, I’ll go over the basic help I offer our customers on the phone, the measures our technicians take to help onsite in such situations and the common problems that sump pumps can encounter.
The first thing we ask our customers is if they have power/electricity. In storm conditions the power may be off and this is the reason that their basement area is flooding. No electricity, no pumping! The solutions in this case involves obtaining and running a generator to power the house or sump pump or obtaining a gas powered pump to suck the water out of the basement.
If power is available, the next item to check is the float switch which turns the sump pump off and on. In some cases the float switch has become stuck or tangled and tapping/moving it gently with a broom handle can restore operation. If this doesn’t work, some float switches work by plugging into a wall outlet and then the sump pump is plugged into the back of the float switch plug piggyback style. Unplugging the sump pump from the piggyback plug and plugging it directly into the wall can restore MANUAL pump operation, but you’ll need to monitor the water level to turn the pump off if it starts to suck air AND sort out the problem with the float switch when it can be safely accessed.
In some cases the sump pump is running, but the water level keeps rising. This can be because the sump pump is plugged up with leaves, dirt, paper or plastic that got into the pump’s suction. The sump pump will need to be unplugged, removed and cleaned out for it to work properly! In some cases the sump pump is working just fine, it just is unable to keep up with excessive or larger than normal flow rates into your basement area. You may need to consider installing a larger pump and discharge pipeline to be able to handle the large inflows of water to your basement area!
Our crew members keep 3 items on their work trucks at all times and can usually get the equipment installed and running in about 5 minutes to dry up a basement! The number one intervention is to have a capable sump pump that isn’t a cheap POS, a discharge hose that is compact enough to store, but lays out quickly and a heavy duty extension cord in an accessible area ready to use! Keeping it buried in the flooding garage or lost under a bunch of stuff is not going to help you when you need it most.
The pump pictured above can provide a maximum of ~70 GPM and a maximum lift of ~23’ vertically. These specifications are adequate for most sump pump applications. Note that the higher the pump has to lift, the lower the flow rate will be! There are several things to be aware of that are your enemy when running a sump pump: too much elevation and a hose that is too small (like a garden hose). These factors will severely limit the flow rate of the sump pump as it tries to empty the water from your garage or basement.
Sump Pumps use a significant amount of power, typically around 1/3 to 1/2 horsepower or around 300-500 watts. If you need to use an extension cord to get power to your sump pump, you need to use a heavy duty extension cord to ensure it is rated for the amount of power. Remember that the larger wire is expressed as a smaller number in wire size. (for example: #12 wire is bigger than #14 wire) The extension cord for your submersible pump should be #12 wire or, preferably, #10 wire to ensure it is up to the task. Make sure to keep the connection point for the extension cord to your pump and outlet out of the water!
When selecting your sump pump equipment, don’t get the cheapest thing you can find! Scrimping on your extension cord, pump or hose often results in a basement that stays flooded or floods even more and will end up costing you a lot more in the long run!
Oakville Pump helps many of our customers keep their feet and their basements dry (and sometimes we get wet in the process). If our crew can help, please give us a call at (707)944-2471 today!
Please note that Amazon links have been provided to show illustrations of products mentioned in this blog. These links are not intended to show the exact product for your specific application, rather a generic example of the product referenced. While purchasing these items is possible, please do so after having done your own due diligence and understand that these links may generate Amazon commissions.