Sump pump running every two minutes

[Joe]

Hi, I'm from CT and we had about 5-8 inches of rain earlier this week. I just got back home and everything is well in the basement but I've been timing the minutes between my sump pump turning on and it was about 6 minutes earlier today and now it's going off about every 2.5 minutes. It normally doesn't go on at all unless it's raining or just stopped raining - it hasn't rained here for 2 days but we did have a massive Noreaster here on the east coast so I guess I'm asking if I should be alarmed that the time periods between sump evacuations are increasing rather than decreasing. What could be the reason for that? I'm a little worried that my 1/2 HP is going to give out tonight while I sleep due to overexertion.

[Lawrence]

It seems water is coming into the basement regardless of the details. Just make sure your valuables are up off of the floor. Then go out and buy a backup pump, cheap insurance. Perhaps install the new one and keep the old one for a backup. Then maybe you can get some sleep, (:

There are many posts like this and the standard answer is to address the problem outside the house. Check grading to be sure water is draining well away. Gutters also need to be check to see that they are carrying water well away from the base of the house.

[hallerb]

many people have sumps above the grade of a lower spot on their property.

draining by gravity, even if its just a overflow if the pump gets behind is always a good idea. gravity tends to be highly reliable:)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I have to wonder if some of the water is just now getting down to the lower levels. Often the frozen ground will keep water near the surface but now that the weather is warming, some new vein of water may be breaking through.

Also, check the run time. If the pump was cycling on every 6 minutes and running for two, but now comes on every 2.5 minutes and runs for less than one minutes, the float switch may not be in the right spot and it is short cycling. Every motor has a duty cycles that includes so many starts per hour. Yours is on the high side right now and can cause some strain. .

[Toller]

At my old house the pump would run almost constantly. It didn't fail until the switch broke and it ran while "dry". Naturally they wear out eventually, and a battery powered backup will help you sleep. If you do your own plumbing, it would also help to have a spare pump on the shelf.

I am in Rochester NY and we had much less rain than you did, but I got the most water in my sump since I moved here 14 years ago. Not high enough to start the pump, but almost. It hasn't gone down, though we haven't had rain in a couple days. Everything is so saturated, it just takes time to clear out.

[mm]

Pumping every 6 minutes, and then every 2.5 minutes? When it gets to every 1 minute, you should go to the hospital. You and your wife are going to have a gusher.

It's been unusally wet, but your pump is unlikely to break tonight. It will be fine. (It's also too late when I am posting for you to buy another pump anyhow, but I really don't think you will need one.)

[deke]

Spend $7 and buy yourself some peace of mine:

Just hook the switch to a radio or buzzer and you will be notified when the sump has failed.

[mm]

Very interesting. Your description says more bout it than its own does. It will really turn on a 110 volt radio? The vendor doesn't bother to say that.

AS to leaking from the condensate pan, I had a lot of that, and although there wasn't enough water to "destroy my home" as the vendor puts it, it wasn't good.

The drain opening was clear and the pvc pipe was clear, and it came out from the duct (plenum?) 1 inch horizontal, two inches down, 16 inches to the wall (horizontal, not at all up hill), 4 feet down to the floor, 10 feet sideways to the sump along the wall, and 16 inches out to the sump.

I ended up just cutting the pipe a bit and rearranging it, so that the first 2 inches down were increased to ~16 inches down and then back to the wall. Everything else stayed the same, and it has worked fine ever since.

[deke]

It is just a plain ol switch that opens and closes when water covers it. You can hook anything you want to the contacts.

I'd just stick it right above the sump inlet and hook a loud radio/alarm to the NO(normally open) contacts. Then I'd quit measuring how many seconds the sump pump runs.

Peace of MIND.

[dnoyeB]

Mine runs every 2 minutes and has for a year or more at this point. It breaks down as the dirt cakes over the blades. THey I have to clean the dirt off the blades, off the pressure switch, and snake the pipes.

Otherwise, that is not too much load for a sump so long as there is water to keep it cool.

[Anonymous]

Install a ( small ) swamp cooler water pump in the pit.

They pump a few gallons a minute, ( continuous ) and will stay ahead of your water seepage.

Draws a few watts, and no harm if it runs dry.

I turn it on during wet season.... the main sump rarely runs now, except during a heavy rain.

[MLD]

When the water table drops, the time between ON-Off will increase. MLD

[Just Joshin]

I've heard a failed check valve can cause repeated cycling of a sump pump. Might want to check that.

tom @

[dnoyeB]

True. I wonder when God will decide to drop the water table around here. Its been running like this for over 3 years now...

[mm]

But 2 days after a rain like you had is a lot like "just stopped raining". My pump runs for a day normally after a long storm, and I think sometimes longer.

It's surprisign that the interval has gotten smaller, but if there is some sort of water leak somewhere, you'll have to wait until the ground dries out longer to learn that.

I have no check valve at all. That's the way the house came. I can hear the water run back when the pump turns off, and I can see it in the bottom of the sump too.

I think it raises the water level about an inch or less (I can check if someone wants), and probably takes under 5 seconds to pump out the next time. I used to know just how long it takes to pump out the whole sump, but now I only remember that it was between 25 and 35 seconds.

So I guess I'm wasting maybe between a sixth and a twelvth of the electricity I use for the pump, but I'm pretty sure that's no more than a dollar a year. If I put in a battery backup, I'll have to add checkvalves for both of them.

[dnoyeB]

What your wasting depends on the size of your pipe. Your also wasting the life of your pump. And of course there is also the critters that can find their way in. Plus it becomes a path for air when its empty. Check valve is pretty cheap for what it does.

[hallerb]

I have no checkvalve. My pump is near the garage door, in the right conditions water held by a check valve could freeze:( ruining everything.

My pump drains downward to a line running underground to daylight at the street......

[Elbow]

replying to hallerb, Elbow wrote: I have the same problem, I can hear the water pour back down the pipes which causes the sump pump to kick back on. It’s a continuous cycle. I haven’t really heard any solid advice in here yet but if you figure out how to solve the problem, PLEASE let me know!

[trader_4]

Does it have a check valve on the discharge line? Typically these run up for a good number of feet after leaving the pump. If there is no check valve, then all the water remaining in the pipe runs back into the sump pit. If it has one, it may be stuck and need to be replaced.

[trader_4]

What's the purpose of draining the pipe below the check valve with the air hole? I recall hearing about this before, but can't recall what the issue is supposed to be.