On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:31:11 -0700, "dan2590 wrote:

Hello, quick question for the experts out there. I live in the
midwest and have a sump pump in the basement. PVC from sump pump runs
up the basement wall and across a 10 foot ceiling section and connects
directly to the city sewer system underground (I think).

Some communities have separate 'sewage' pipe from drain water pipe. In
this case this is legal. Some communities don't require sump pumps, in
this case its probably legal. Otherwise, probably not a legal connection.
Not to mention what happens if water flows the other way...


Our sump had been making a BANGING noise at the end of each cycle.
Reading up about that, I determined it must be a bad check valve.
Replaced that myself. Still a lot of vibration. Had a plumber come
out...he recommended a new sump pump as our home is 12-years old.
Plumber installed that, and told me to secure the ceiling PVC better
to remove vibration. Winter came and I forgot about it. ;(

Likely just your pipes working themselves loose. All you required was to
tighten the pipes brackets again. I had the same problem and replaced
various parts, but in the end it was just in fact a few 'strap' brackets
had snapped. I installed new ones and no more banging.

I also installed my own make shift 'water hammer' arrestor. Which
probably don't do much but it was a nice idea, and I put a cleanout on it
so I can snake the pipe without having to remove the pump...

I don't think you needed a new sump pump at all. Maybe take that one out
and clean it a bit. If any thing buy a new one to have on standby, but if
it ain't broke...


Now that we've had some thaws, vibration came back worse than ever. I
got some hangers and secured the PVC as solid as possible. Now, the
vibration is localized to the check valve, and it lasts like 30-45
seconds after the pump cycles. No banging, just loud vibration.

Well I do recommend tightning the straps to stop the banging. However,
you now have a different pump which probably pushes a different amount of
water, so your sound will be different. Especially if you got a 'more
powerful' one which may not have been needed and only will be noisier.


I had saved the original check valve, which the plumber had said was
still good. I put that back on, and all was quiet, until I noticed it
was leaking around the upper rubber flanges. I tightened it down and
now it's the same...massive vibration localized to the check valve
after a cycle, lasting around 30-45 seconds.

Any ideas what's happening?

Its the signature of your new probably more powerful pump.