Battery Powered Sump Pump Problems

All,

I just bought a house with a redundant battery operated sump pump installed (brand name is "Ace in the Hole"). I decided to test it out by unplugging the main AC unit. The pump made noise like it was running but didn't pump any water out. The date on the battery says it is only 4 months old. I checked the battery water levels and they were all ok.

Any ideas? Does it sound like a bad pump? I should mention it has its own pipe running from the pit to the outside, so maybe the pipe is plugged?

Thanks, Dan

Reply to
lagman
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Don't those things run on AC also? Seems to me if the sump filled while your AC was on it would need to empty it.

Reply to
Meat Plow

How old is your Ace in the Hole?

I had one freeze up on me and had to replace the motor.

You should exercise the pump on a regular basis. The "Ace in the Hole" will have a "test" button on the battery case.

you could hook up your regular pump to the AITH discharge pipe and see if there is a blockage.

Are you using an additional check valve in the AITH discharge pipe?

Could the check valve be in backwards?

The AITH is a pretty simple machine so a little detective work should narrow it down. You could also talk to the local AITH distributor for ideas. I've bought all of mine at Menards but there are others out there.

Reply to
Jay Stootzmann

Reply to
Jay Stootzmann

More important than either of those for the purpose of debugging is the voltage of the battery. Should be about 12.6 vdc when not running and only a little below that when it is.

Why, because a brand new battery can become discharged, and the charger can break, without lowering the water level. You know that you should use distilled water to refill the battery, riht.

It's too early to say. If the voltage were low, it might make some noise but still not be spinning fast enough to pump.

Maybe something has clogged the input.

Is it a one-piece motor and pump? Maybe it's the motor and not the pump.

Maybe.

Only the most expensive ones. Unless you mean the battery charger.

Reply to
mm

My regular pump is pretty firmly connected to its own discharge pipe. It might be easier to put a garden hose in the aith discharge and back fill the sump. OP, have someone inside at the same time to yell when to stop, or use a walkie talkie or cell phones. Filling up the sump a quarter or half way is plenty.

You can then empty the sump with the main sump pump.

I haven't done this, but I can imagine a small chance that fillign backwards would unclog a pipe or unjam a pump,

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Reply to
mm

Try isolating various things. I'd suggest to unhook the discharge pipe and (very briefly) run the pump. See if water comes out of the pump. That way you'll know if it's the pipe or the pump.

Pull the pump out of the water, and see if there is any intake screen, see that's clear.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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