Sump Pump Backup battery question

[astutesolutions]

I've done some research in the groups on backup sump pumps, and between the water powered pump, the generator backup and battery powered backup I've decided on the battery powered backup.

One thing that I wasn't able to find in the hour I was googling around the groups is battery selection. If I get a system from Lowes, I still have to provide a battery, and they provide a manufacturer 12volt battery that is 75 AH for $113. For that price, I can get two 650 AH batteries and run them in parallel. There's a local tractor supply store that will sell me the cables for the parallel hookup (that place has cool stuff).

The battery they sell doesn't look like a car battery at all, even though its 12 volts and heavy as can be (about 20 lbs?)

My initial assumption is that it should work fine to use a Walmart car battery (marine deep cycle), but there have been other things that I have assumed to be so that aren't.

Any thoughts?

[hallerb]

any deep cycle battery should work and will need perodic replacement:( They DONT last forever! maybe 3 or 4 years

Your better off with ONE LARGE BATTERY because in parallel 2 battery that look the same may not be identical and self discharge one another. Different ages, and minor production variations can cause that.

just curious is there any way to drain your sump by gravity. lots of people have sumps with pumps that could drain to say a low spot away from the house but people never thought of it or didnt want to do the digging

[astutesolutions]

Good point about one battery taking out the other. My wife's Alfa Romeo

164 used to use a huge battery (for tractors), but it would be way overkill in terms of replacement cost versus time it may potentially be used. I hope to get a small generator for camping, so I'm thinking I can use that for emergencies past 8 hours. I'm more concerned about the autmatic cutover when the AC sump goes out/off.

Actually, there is a place where it should drain out. Even though my basement is 6 feet underground, there is a 15 degree slope going down the road and my house is above the sewer level, so it would drain out under ideal situations assuming water only comes through the sump area and not through other parts of my foundation. I have a floor drain 4 feet from the sump pit, but I'm worried about major flooding that might cause the sewers to backup into the house. I have an aftermarket device in the drain to prevent backflow, but a congruence of calamaties (power out, big rain storm, overflowing storm drains etc.) could reak havoc and the resulting "wife storm" damage could be much worse, so hence the battery backup.

[m Ransley]

Batteries eventualy die and only pump a few hours. City water powered do not wear or die.

[Bennett Price]

[hallerb]

you cant protect from everything but installing a undergound 4 inch schedule 40 pipe is better than a back up pump system. havent known of gravity to fail yet.

I suggest you leave the existing pump in place, think of the pump as the back up to the gravity drain.

where does the pump send the water?

another advantage to gravity drain if your in a high radon area the gas heavier than air should flow towards the open drain location

[astutesolutions]

Although the floor of my basement is higher than the lowest area on my street, I would have to go pretty far out, 10 houses down, to be able to do that gravitiy drain cost effectively. Supposedly there should be a check valve on my system joining the sewer system. If it gets jammed, my own water could flood my basement.

The discharge is to the side of the house where it runs to the street (assuming its not absorbed by my front yard first).

Regarding the post about the water pump, I considered it, but I knew someone whose basement flooded because of his water pump getting jammed and the water from the pump just fed back into his sump container somehow. Besides, their flow rates versus cost were not as appealing as the other options.

Thanks for all the replies.

[m Ransley]

Water powered pumps out pump battery powered. Batteries only last a few hours. How will you know when the batteries need replacing, there is no indicator of low capacity, only dead. Of course you will not do a Load Test every few years as you need to do, failure to pump or flooding will likely be your first indication of battery powers drawback. They truely give false security.

[astutesolutions]

The system I'm looking at comes with a charger, monitor and alarm. I don't know if it monitors the battery status or not. It wouldnt be a good system if it didn't.

Since I have a gravity drain as well, I'm more worried about the primary sump wearing out and stopping. A battery system would run 6 hours continuous with a 75 amp-hour battery. On real bad storms my sump only runs about once an hour for 15 seconds. That would give me plenty of time to get a new AC sump from the hardware store.

Do you know of a water powered pump that costs under $300? I couldn't find any.

Thanks.

[m Ransley]

Zoeller and Basepump make them. But look at overall cost and issues. I have had several name brand Delco, Diehard-gold batteries last 1 year, some 7 years. You have no way of knowing a batterys condition unless you periodicaly load and gravity test it. So when will it fail, it will fail when you need it in years to come. What does it cost to charge it, what is "Standby" load of your charger, 20 watts? well 20 watts is $1.80 a month for me, add that up over 10 years and figure it at 30% higher electric cost. What is battery depreciation cost. Zoeller is quality, cost has a few factors to think about .

[clifto]

A car battery is not a deep-cycle battery. The deep-cycle battery would be better for this application than a car battery.

[user]

They certainly do wear and die.

I'm currently on my third Zoeller HomeGuard water powered pump, in

3-1/2 years. In spite of religiously doing maintenance on it - cycling it once a week, etc, they've all sprung massive leaks in the float valve switch, resulting in water spraying in a 5 to 6 foot radius from the valve. This is not conducive to keeping a basement dry.

The only reason I've been replacing them is that I'm getting free replacements under warrenty. But once that stops, I'll be getting a battery system.

[user]

See my previous post. Zoeller water pumps are absolute *crap*. Even after they changed the design of the float switch so that it wouldn't get stuck open as easily ( basically, replacing the string with a pushrod ), the valves *always* start leaking, and so you get water, at whatever your household pressure is, spraying out of the valve whenever it trips.