On Wed, 11 Apr 2018 00:13:33 +0000, Johnny B Good wrote:
On Tue, 10 Apr 2018 18:02:13 +0100, Terry Casey wrote:
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!)
Although the need for a pump has been rendered academic after Tuesday's
drain rodding adventures, I do appreciate your suggestion. What's
particularly appealing about this pump is the fact that, unlike pretty
well all the other pumps I'd been considering, it doesn't need total
immersion to prime itself, just a mere half inch deep puddle of water
suffices in this case!
I'd say that was a major plus point to anyone contemplating a less
onerous means than a bailing and bucket brigade solution to an
occasionally flooding cellar. :-)
I was on the point of buying the Hippo pump from our local MachineMart
on Friday but did my usual 'last minute browse' on their website to make
sure there wasn't a better alternative I'd failed to spot which resulted
in my purchasing that 12v submersible pump kit that would (and does!) fit
into my sump standpipe. There wasn't enough hose for me to pump from the
standpipe out to the backdoor so I was only able to test it on the more
accessible puddles which proved it was up to the job.
This morning, my son discovered that the coal hole had completely
drained out. When I looked at it just after 1pm, even the 'mini-sumplet'
next to the entrance showed only a moist looking muddy bottom. I've no
doubt I could pump out another 50 or 60 litres from the sump stand pipe
if I cared to try but without a 10 metre hose extension, there's not a
lot of point (I don't fancy running another bucket chain).
I was planning on buying a 10 metre coil of 1 inch garden hose today
(Saturday) to allow me to pump the sump out to the back door but I got
roped into supervising my sprog's offer of help in clearing out the
(largely) rotting collection of 'valuable junk' that was cluttering up
the coal hole. As a result, he chauffeured 2 loads of 'junk' to the tip
and I never made it to our local Lidl/Aldi to buy the hosepipe.
With the coal hole finally properly dry, I've decided to have a go at
installing a more direct and permanent drain hose route instead of buying
more hosepipe to take the water out of the backdoor.
There's a good chance it'll be dry enough this afternoon (Sunday) for me
to probe one of the front door threshold vent holes with a long masonry
bit attached to my ancient B&D drill. With luck, it should poke through
the plasterboard sheeting that was nailed to the underside of the hallway
entrance joists over the coal hole which should provide a guide as to how
best to route the final length of 15mm copper pipe outlet to which to
attach the pump's flexible hose. Hopefully, I can avoid drilling a 3/4
inch hole through 18 inches' worth of Victorian brickwork and do the job
'smarter, not harder'. :-)
Sod's Law decrees that I'll never suffer another flood once I have an
effective 'no fuss' solution in place (it'll be merely a matter of
lowering the pump into the sump pipe and switching it on once I've sorted
out a fixed and direct route for the drain hose). I can sort out a sump
level sensor at my leisure, along with a simple controller to operate the
pump on a strict 50% duty cycle (15 minute on/15 minutes rest) as well as
avoid dry running.
I won't be leaving the pump permanently installed in the sump pipe in
order to avoid premature failure since the user guide/manual advises that
it be stored clean and dry between sessions of use. It might be rated for
total immersion but I suspect indefinite periods of total immersion for
months at a time might finally prove too much of a strain on its
waterproof seals so I'll not be taking any chances in its care and
maintenance. It's only a 'cheap solution' if you don't have to buy a new
pump every 12 months or so.
This is the penultimate episode in my 'basement pump saga'. I'll post a
final 'episode' after I've finished the permanent installation as per the
above plan and report my results, hopefully in the next day or two.
--
Johnny B Good