det1015 wrote:
det1015 had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...ow-369452-.htm


det1015
-------------------------------------
Bob F wrote:

det1015 wrote:
I moved into my house durring this winter and now going through
spring
thaw, it has also been raining for 3 days straight and now the
sump
pump in my basement that I have not had any issues with before is
backing up. My utility sink and washer both drain into the sump
pump
crock so the pump runs frequently and has never backed up before.
I
checked it out to see if the float was maybe lodged on something
and
it seems fine. I started taking the water out and emptying it into
a
bucket but no matter how much water I take out of the crock the
water
doesnt get any lower. So I sat and watched to see what the pump
was
doing. It will kick on and I can here the water draining through a
pipe in the basement wall but it will only run for about a minute
and
drains about 1/2" of the water then stops, when it stops the
same
amount of water runs right back into the crock from the drain pipe
and I'm right back where I started. I know that there shouldnt be
any
backflow into the crock. Any ideas???
det1015

If the float switch is working right, the pump may be tripping an
internal
protection switch. If you are using it for laundry water, maybe some
thread or
cloth has gotten into it and is binding up the impellor.

What happens when you manually operate the switch?

The sump pump is fully under water because it is one that is mounted
to the bottom of the crock and the crock is full. The float is not on
a small electrical line like most that I have seen. It is underneath
a lip on the pump and is attached by a 3-4" long thin metal
rod...when the float rises on the metal rod and reaches the lip on
the pump it kicks on. Well the float is at the top of the metal rod
(due to the pump being fully submerged) and the pump will not stay on
for longer than a minute at a time. I have pulled the float down and
back up and the pump does nothing.


So, the float is way under water, and the water never drops down to the float
level? Does the pump cycle regularly, without ever moving the float? If so,
something else is causing the pump to turn off after a short run time, which
takes us back to a thermal protection switch or some such thing.

Does it just keep cycling for the same short period, over and over? A short time
on, and longer time off, with little change in water level from after the pipe
drains back until it turns on again? Again, something binding the impeller could
activate a thermal protection switch.

Can you disconnect the output and see if it keeps pumping then? Does it continue
running then? Is the water flow good? Look for a plugged outlet pipe then.

Does water come out of the outside pipe?

If you unplug the pump for ten minutes so it can cool off good, then plug it in
again, does it start pumping right away? Does pushing the float down quickly
stop it? Multiple times? This would suggest that the switch is good.