From: (m Ransley):
If you have city water not well water a better option is a water powered
pump www.basepump.com or www.zoeler.com water powered will outperform
a battery unit in most every way, there is no comparison on an extended
power failure, water powered wins. I would not use one discharge use 2.
Your present pump may be restricted and get improved output by raising
it a foot to reduce head, and increasing output pipe size. If your sump
lid wont work make one , or cut new holes or buy one you can cut and
modify. Remember batteries last 5-7 years, will you remember to test and
replace them before they go bad,

Absolutely not. I have enough trouble remembering to mow my lawn, and
100 other things. But I always go into these projects thinking I've
changed.

to test a battery properly you need to
do a load test, something few homeowners can do as the test equipment is
expensive.

I think you've convinced me**.

Just a couple questions:

The current sump pump output has mortar or cement around the exit
pipe. Would it work as well for this 3/4 inch pipe if I just used
the aerosol insulation they sell for filling cracks?

Can I use PEX pipe for the output? It seems like it bends and that
would make running the pipe easier.

I can't tell how big the thing is, and I haven't found specs. Will it
fit between two floor joists on 16 inch centers? If not, I'll run it
sideways, but I'd like to know.




**I could make a new sump lid out of two sheets of 1/2 inch plywood.
A friend gave me a dozen squares of the stuff, just the right size.
I've already given away 4 pieces to two people so they can make their
own lids. But I like my plastic lid, that came from the sump maker
and if I use the Basepump, I can easily fit the one 3/4 (or 1"?) pipe
into the same slot that is there now.

I didnt' think of raising the pump, but if it is 10 feet now and I
lowered it even to 9 feet, I don't know how much extra output I would
get, and it wouldn't help during power failures, which do somewhat
correspond to rain. We get a lot of power failures around here. In
Brooklyn, NY, I never got any, except for the second one that made the
national news. (Wasn't in NY for the firtt one.)

Thanks for your multi-faceted answer.