Terry Casey Wrote in message:
In article , johnny-b-
says...

...or does it mean they're simply not able to
withstand being sat in a puddle of water indefinitely in between pumping
sessions?

We had problems with our cellar flooding when the water table
is high - usually 2 or 3 days after a deluge (it drained off a
plain to the north of us which was riddled with gravel
extraction pits and took its time to reach us!)

The first couple of times, I hired a pump from a tool hire
place but, when the only one they had on one occasion wouldn't
pump below about 18mm, finally bit the bullet and bought a
Hippo.

Self priming, pumps to within 3mm of the floor and can be left
running after the water has all gone without damage. No float
switch so has to be manually operated.

There was a slight dip at one point in the cellar floor which
made it the ideal place to site the pump. The old coal hole
was only a few feet away and the cover had a convenient bar
running across the underside so I put a couple to tie-wraps
together to anchor the hose pipe to (I originally used rope
but after about 15 years it disintegrated!) The mains cable
was hung on a nail just inside the cellar door.

My wife kept vegetables in the cellar so was usually the first
to notice the water rising so the plan of action was to wait
for the water to get near the cellar stairs (slight upward
slope) at which point it was worthwhile running the pump. Open
coal hole and lift out the hose, the cast iron lid ensuring
that it didn't try and get back down the hole again, open
cellar door, remove mains lead and plug into socket in the
hallway.

Observe hose at intervals until flow dropped to a trickle,
then leave a little longer. When finally finished, unplug
pump, replace mains lead on nail a refit coal hole lid.
Finished!

This looks like the pump:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/hipp...ersible-water-
pump/


or: https://tinyurl.com/hippo-pump

although mine didn't come with a 'pump mud pack'.

It cost me about £10 - £15 more than that in B & Q about 35 or
so years ago, so a bargain at today's price when taking
inflation into consideration.


It sat in our cellar for 35 years until our recent move -
never let us down and seems good for another 35 years (but we
no longer have a cellar!)

Standby for the offer to rehome... ;-)


--
Jim K