Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge, and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where it
can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most of the switches to I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off in
a couple inches of water. Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:59:50 -0400, "Mark" wrote:

Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge, and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where it
can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most of the switches to I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off in
a couple inches of water. Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Search for GLENTRONICS BWC1

You could get this to work. It's a little hard to see from the
picture, but inside the plastic cage is a small dual float switch. It
only has to move about half an inch to activate the pump.

HTH,

Paul

On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:59:50 -0400, Mark wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge, and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where it
can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most of the switches to I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off in
a couple inches of water. Does anyone know of such a switch?

google for "water sensor switch"

Mark wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard.
On heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on
very heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage.
I don't want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have
enough space for this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water,
and there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the
discharge, and I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind
the garage where it can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most
of the switches to I've seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't
designed to turn on and off in a couple inches of water. Does anyone
know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Build one of these and attached the output of the 555 timer to a relay
instead of a speaker.

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/e...ted-alarm.html

When the relay coil is energized, the contacts will close and supply
power to your pump.

- or -

Open the hot lead to your pump and suspend it a couple of inches off the
ground. When the water gets high enough, the pump will turn on.

We're professionals..don't try this at home.

Mark wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard.
On heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on
very heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage.
I don't want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have
enough space for this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water,
and there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the
discharge, and I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind
the garage where it can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most
of the switches to I've seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't
designed to turn on and off in a couple inches of water. Does anyone
know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark
Look at bilge pump switches like this one:

http://tinyurl.com/472xe6
OR
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...5&classNum=213

You may need to use this switch to control a relay or contactor which in
turn will operate your pump.

On Sep 12, 12:22*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:
Mark wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. *
On heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on
very heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. *
I don't want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have
enough space for this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water,
and there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the
discharge, and I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind
the garage where it can drain away to the storm drains. *Problem is most
of the switches to I've seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't
designed to turn on and off in a couple inches of water. *Does anyone
know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Build one of these and attached the output of the 555 timer to a relay
instead of a speaker.

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/e...51-water-activ...

When the relay coil is energized, the contacts will close and supply
power to your pump.

- or -

Open the hot lead to your pump and suspend it a couple of inches off the
ground. When the water gets high enough, the pump will turn on.

We're professionals..don't try this at home.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Presuming relay will need DC current flow to operate; will it, instead
of speaker, operate in series with C2?????
I think not?

On Sep 11, 9:59*pm, "Mark" wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. *On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. *I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge, and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where it
can drain away to the storm drains. *Problem is most of the switches to I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off in
a couple inches of water. *Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

First off, you'll probably need a bigger pump.

Second off, it'll be cheaper to just buy a sump pump and put it in
your hole and then decorate that. Then you have the right pump and
the right switch for the job without tickering around.

On Sep 11, 8:59*pm, "Mark" wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. *On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. *I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge, and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where it
can drain away to the storm drains. *Problem is most of the switches to I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off in
a couple inches of water. *Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Water level switches are common in dishwashers, etc. Find one out on
the curb for free and you're halfway there. HTH

Joe

On Sep 11, 6:59*pm, "Mark" wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. *On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. *I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge, and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where it
can drain away to the storm drains. *Problem is most of the switches to I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off in
a couple inches of water. *Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

It's odd that your house would be the absolute lowest spot around.
Where does the water go? I hope it's not all slow seepage. I'd look
EXTRA hard at finding lower elevation for your water problem to drain
to without pumps. Big storms can often cause your power to go out
precisely when you need drainage the most.

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space
for this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the
discharge, and I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind
the garage where it can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most
of the switches to I've seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't
designed to turn on and off in a couple inches of water. Does anyone know
of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark
If you find a suitable switch I feel fairly certain that your system may not
be totally satisfactory. It seems likely that once the pump starts the water
level will rapidly drop down until the pump stops and it will cycle fairly
rapidly that way. Preventing that is basically why deep sumps are normally
used. It may be possible to make it work but that would require a pump that
pumps water out slower than it comes in. That in turn would cause the water
to get deeper and deeper while the pump is running which might be okay if
the runoff only lasts a short time and can be pumped away later. If you want
to prevent flooding into the garage it seems you need to pump the water out
at least as fast as it comes in. Just something to consider before you
invest too much.

Don Young

Thanks! I think this is exactly what I'm needing.


"Paul Franklin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:59:50 -0400, "Mark" wrote:

Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space
for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge,
and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where
it
can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most of the switches to
I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off
in
a couple inches of water. Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Search for GLENTRONICS BWC1

You could get this to work. It's a little hard to see from the
picture, but inside the plastic cage is a small dual float switch. It
only has to move about half an inch to activate the pump.

HTH,

Paul

Thanks for everyone's suggestions and concerns. I think the GLENTRONICS
BWC1 switch is probably what I'm needing.

On everyone else's concerns:

There are lower areas than my trouble spot, but they are 20-30 feet and not
easily reached without major re-construction and grading.

In my uses so far, the pump seems to work fine. We haven't had a major
rain, maybe this weekend with remnants Ike passing thru, but I don't think
there will be an issue with it cycling on and off as the water level goes up
and down. I'm OK with some water accumulating before the pump comes on. If
it does become an issue I'll consider digging a sump pit.

Yes, electric does go out occasionally, but not as frequently as some areas
or for as long. In 30 years here I only recall one or 2 times when it was
out more than an hour or 2 and in those cases I don't recall there actually
being that much rain that I had the flood problem.


"Mark" wrote in message
...
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space
for this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the
discharge, and I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind
the garage where it can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most
of the switches to I've seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't
designed to turn on and off in a couple inches of water. Does anyone know
of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Just to clarify, my home is not the lowest point, in fact its 1st floor is
actually about 3 feet higher then the neighbors. It is an area in my back
yard next to my detached garage that is the low spot.

"mike" wrote in message
...
On Sep 11, 6:59 pm, "Mark" wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard. On
heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on very
heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage. I don't
want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have enough space
for
this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water, and
there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the
lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the discharge,
and
I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind the garage where
it
can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most of the switches to
I've
seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't designed to turn on and off
in
a couple inches of water. Does anyone know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

It's odd that your house would be the absolute lowest spot around.
Where does the water go? I hope it's not all slow seepage. I'd look
EXTRA hard at finding lower elevation for your water problem to drain
to without pumps. Big storms can often cause your power to go out
precisely when you need drainage the most.

Mark wrote:
Just to clarify, my home is not the lowest point, in fact its 1st floor
is actually about 3 feet higher then the neighbors. It is an area in my
back yard next to my detached garage that is the low spot.
....
Fill it in so that it drains instead of collects???

--

That's the long term plan. Except that the next lowest spot is the garage
floor, so the long term plan is to raise the garage floor 6-8 inches, (which
probably means raising the garage, or at least the door opening, putting in
a new driveway, raised as well, so I can then fill in the low spot in the
yard so it is higher than the alley in the back.

A lot of work & money to solve a problem that happens less than once a year.





"dpb" wrote in message ...
Mark wrote:
Just to clarify, my home is not the lowest point, in fact its 1st floor
is actually about 3 feet higher then the neighbors. It is an area in my
back yard next to my detached garage that is the low spot.
...
Fill it in so that it drains instead of collects???

--

Mark wrote:
Hi group,

I've been looking (but not extremely hard!) for a switch I can use to
trigger the pump I'm using to drain water from a low spot in my yard.
On heavy rains I get several inches in an area next to my garage, and on
very heavy rains it actually gets deep enough to roll into the garage.
I don't want to dig and put in a dry well, I don't know that I have
enough space for this without tearing out a lot of driveway and yard.

The problem is my yard is lower than neighbors on each side, and general
drainage, downspouts from our garages, etc is the source of the water,
and there isn't much I can do with it at the source.

I have the pump I'm going to build into a decorative planter to place at
the lowest spot. It can handle a garden hose or a 1" pipe on the
discharge, and I can run either inconspicuously out to the alley behind
the garage where it can drain away to the storm drains. Problem is most
of the switches to I've seen are for pumps in a sump-pit, and aren't
designed to turn on and off in a couple inches of water. Does anyone
know of such a switch?

Thanks!

Mark

Have you calculated how much water you get? I had a problem with
standing water near my back door during heavy rains - enough that it
came in the house a couple of times.

I dug down just enough to drop in a plastic 55 gallon drum and have not
seen standing water in over 20 years.

Granted, my lot is all sand and I was able to dig the hole straight down
by "shaving" the walls with my shop vac until it was wide enough and
deep enough. I didn't have to go wide to get deep, if you know what I mean.

On Sep 12, 8:56*pm, "Mark" wrote:

There are lower areas than my trouble spot, but they are 20-30 feet and not
easily reached without major re-construction and grading.

Only 30 feet away? How deep of a trench would you have to dig to
place 30 feet of pipe?

On Sep 15, 5:04*pm, mike wrote:
On Sep 12, 8:56*pm, "Mark" wrote:

There are lower areas than my trouble spot, but they are 20-30 feet and not
easily reached without major re-construction and grading.

Only 30 feet away? *How deep of a trench would you have to dig to
place 30 feet of pipe?

hi , instead if 555 i used a CMOS CD 4066. the diagram and working is
given here
http://www.electronic-circuits-diagr...armsckt6.shtml
i knowmost of u would have seen it , but there is a big problem in
it . when u try it practically it doesnt work . the reason is , the
water is not able to short the two wires . when i touch the two
wires , the circuit works perfectly. the same problem will arise when
u try out the 555 circuit provided by one guy in this discussion .
can anyone say any other alternative ? like a water switch or
something ?

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:15:38 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Sep 15, 5:04*pm, mike wrote:
On Sep 12, 8:56*pm, "Mark" wrote:

There are lower areas than my trouble spot, but they are 20-30 feet and not
easily reached without major re-construction and grading.

Only 30 feet away? *How deep of a trench would you have to dig to
place 30 feet of pipe?

hi , instead if 555 i used a CMOS CD 4066. the diagram and working is
given here
http://www.electronic-circuits-diagr...armsckt6.shtml
i knowmost of u would have seen it , but there is a big problem in
it . when u try it practically it doesnt work . the reason is , the
water is not able to short the two wires . when i touch the two
wires , the circuit works perfectly. the same problem will arise when
u try out the 555 circuit provided by one guy in this discussion .
can anyone say any other alternative ? like a water switch or
something ?

Howdy,

To the OP, check:

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/sumpwatcher.html

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."