More questions about sump pumps. Pedestal vs. Submersible

[micky]

More questions about sump pumps. Pedestal vs. Submersible

I looked into sump pumps and Amazon and Home Depot have about 60 models of submersible pumps and only 2 or 3 models of pedestal pumps (probably

2 because one was probably repeated. I found over the whole net only 4 models of pedestal pumps, 1/3 and 1/2 HP, with stainless steel or plastic pipes. (Will stainless steel rust, at the water line?) (I didn't find any 1/4HP pumps, which I think is what my house came with io 1979 and I used again in 1994, but maybe they were 1/3.)

This alone will encourage people replacing a broken sump pump with a submersible pump, but that seems like a bad idea to me.

The range of water level adjustment seems to be no more than 12 inches for submersible pumps. None of them are designed to let the water get more than an inch or two over the top of the pump, because the bracket holding the float is no higher than that and the float can go no higher than the bracket. Even if this is high enough now, the water table outside your house can go higher over the years.

Switches higher than that, the ones tied to the output pipe, that swing out when the water rises, are labeled "high watar alarm switches". Not meant to turn off the pump, only turn on the alarm when the pump is insufficient. A separate switch could be rigged up, but that's a big inconvenience and adds an extra cost.

And to adjust the pump, one has to put his arms into the sump, maybe 12" down from the floor. Very awkward. And likely he has to put hs hands under water, sometimes cold water. If he turns off power to the pump while adjusting it, as they recommend, and even if he doesn't.

OTOH, with the pedestal pump I have, I can adjust the water level witout putting my arms into the sump at all, without getting my hands wet at all, just by moving the stop on the vertical rod, and I can set the water level in the sump all the way up to an eighth of an inch below the floor. Now maybe that's not optimal, but if the water table even when it's not raining goes that high, it's better than having the pump run

24/7. I haven't measured it for years but my image of the sump has it 16" or 18" deep. The maxiumum water level for submiersible pumps seems to be several inches below the top of my sump, which is the same as all my neighbors'.

While a submerisible pump has many good uses, like draining a swimming pool, it seems that it would be better for use as sump pump to use a pedestal pump, and people should not be swayed by so few models being for sale.

Right????

BTW, whichever siae I have, I should have had the next bigger one. Once, but only once, in the last 39 years, the sump pump has been unable to keep up with the water coming in. It overflowed the sump and spread out thinly for a few feet. The pump was making nouise and I went outside and water was gushing out of the pipe as fast as one could imagine. Yet it wasn't enough. I didn't remember it being so rainy before this but I know I don't keep close track and I guess the water level builds up over days.

[hubops]

Pedestal sump pumps are in stock at all the local hardware stores. Granted - fewer models than the submersible models. 1/3 and 1/2 HP models < not any 1/4 HP >

The pedestal models do have their advantages. .. not sure how a person would seal the lid effectively though - the float rod needs to move freely. John T.

[micky]

Wow, for this one someone says the impeller often wears out. Mine don't wear at all. Another reason not to run the pump too much.

"Vertical float switch enables installation in narrow sump pits."

That sort of implies that submersible pumps won't fit in narrow sump pits, which makes me think some submersibles won't fit in my average width pit and I would have to take measurements. Another reason to just go with pedestal.

My lid was made for the sump and has a U-shaped slot a couple inches wide from one side to the middle. It's hollow plastic, over an inch thick. One needs some opening for the output pipe anyhow, if you want to be able to take the lid completely off. Instead, most of the lids I found online** don't have an opening to the perimeter and it seems they have to be put on before the output pipe is fullly connected.

Even then it seems awkward to life it up to access t he pump, another problem with adjusting the level.

I was in one home newer than mine and the lid seemed to be screwed to the sump. I didn't understand why it needed to be screwed down since it was only water inside.

**None of the lids I found online clearly looked like mine. One or two might have been like mine but there was no side view. My neighbor doesn't have a lid for some reason. I"m going to tell her it's still safe if she can swim.

Could make one out of plywood.

BTW, she fixed her float level herself. and didn't need any video. My kind of woman. 31. Looking forward to meeting her.

[hubops]

A sealed lid is important for a sewage sump < which is also vented >

A sewage sump is pumped from below the basement floor - up into the septic tank. Mine pumps only laundry water, water softener brine, and furnace condensate. If I had a basement toilet - it would also be pumping the stinky stuff. John T.

[micky]

I don't have it in front of me now but earlier today an ad or story was about just a water sumppump, French drain, and it emphasized how well sealed it was. I don't understand it either.

[micky]

Just now I saw one where tightly sealed was supposed to prevent smells. I guess it would but I've never had any smells. I suppose if I put my nose down to the sump itself I could smell something, but I have other things to do.

[trader_4]

It's also important for homes with radon a mitigation system.

[Turd Ferguson]

Here's my setup:

With that switch, you can set the turn on and turn off of the pump. I set the turn on at just under the soil pipe, and turn off a just before the pump starts pumping air.

[micky]

Yes, that would be a good reason. I get the impression they are pushing sealed sumps, esp. in new homes, without having found a radiation problem in the first place. I think it takes weeks to test for one and they don't want to spend weeks or pay for the test, and once they use a sealable pump and pour the floor, they just put the lid on whether there is radon or not. I suspect the only lids made for sealable sumps, or at least the one the builder bought when he bought the sump liner, are sealed lids.

[hubops]

This one is like mine - I suspect that it could be fitted to ~ any 18 inch sump pit.

Different rubber collars for the two common pipe sizes - 1 discharge ; 1 vent and a small collar for the twin power cords. Stainless steel screws & flat washers. I just used a strip of foam weather stripping for a gasket - but my pit isn't handling any toilets. John T.