Are you a homeowner with a sump pump in your basement to keep it dry? Are you predicting that it will never fail especially during a heavy rainstorm? Are you banking on the fact that you have never had a power outage during a severe lighting and thunderstorm so your electrical sump pump will always run? You are taking a lot of risk because sometime it will fail and you could be on vacation. Installing a backup sump pump protects your basement when your pump fails.

Do Manufacturers Know Your Pump Will Fail?

Manufacturers know your sump pump will fail. They estimate that your sump pump should run somewhere between 90,000 to 155,000 cycles before failure. Based on the statistics you can calculate how long your pump will last. For example, if it runs twice an hour or 48 times a day for 365 days at 17,520 times per year it will last around 5 years. Can you predict exactly when it will fail and if you will be home when it fails? Of course you cannot. That’s why a backup sump pump is so important.

Do Sump Pump Parts Fail?

Float Switch

The most common parts failure is a sump pump float switch. Tethered float switches are very prone to get hung up on the sump pit wall or pump. The tethered float and vertical float switches can also fail when the point of contact between the float and switch becomes covered with particle buildup. It is not uncommon for the float switch mechanism to become stuck in the ‘on’ position thus causing the pump to run continuously until the motor burns out.

The diaphragm switch will fail as it gets older because the rubber gets brittle and the shape of the diaphragm changes. This causes the potential of the switch not activating or the switch getting stuck in the ‘on’ position.

Electronic sensors have no moving parts to malfunction; therefore they do not fail as quickly. However, the build up of chemicals such as calcium carbonate will desensitize them causing the switch to stay in the ‘off’ position.

Motor

The pump motor requires lubrication during operation to keep the motor from overheating. If the seal breaks, the lubrication will leak and the motor will fail. In addition, if a switch gets caught in the ‘on’ position the motor will keep running when the sump pit is dry and eventually the motor will burn out.

Impeller

Impeller failure will cause the pump motor to run without removing water from the sump pit. If a check valve fails, there will be no prevention of the back flow of water down the discharge pipe and back through the pump. This may cause the impeller to run backwards and unscrew from the motor. Likewise, small stones or debris can get caught in the impeller causing it to malfunction. Infrequently the impeller itself can break since most impellers are not made of cast iron. Without a fully functional impeller, water will quickly accumulate in the sump pit to the point of overflowing into your basement.

Sump pump parts do fail. Will you be home at the time of failure or will you end up with a flooded basement? A backup sump pump provides protection when your sump pump parts fail.

Does Electricity Fail?

Electricity does fail. Electrical failures cannot be predicted. The infrastructure of our country is becoming older and requires maintenance and upgrade because of electrical volume usage. Infrequently there is the mishap of a construction worker digging into a wire or a horrific windstorm blowing down trees on power lines. A backup sump pump will run when electricity fails.

Do You Really Need A Backup Sump Pump?

During your lifetime, your sump pump will fail. The time, frustration and dangers of mold resulting from a flooded basement because of sump pump failure are too overwhelming. The cost of a backup sump pump is so much less than the cost of cleaning up a mess.

We live in a high-water table area of the country. We have more than one backup sump pump installed in our basement. They have prevented our basement from flooding more than once.

For more information on backup sump pumps and which one to buy visit my website.