Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.


Chris

"Chris (SilverUnicorn)" wrote in message

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

Can you adjust the float for a longer distance? If not, get a better or
second check valve in the line. It may also be crud it is picking up in the
sump and not allowing the check to close properly.

On Dec 20, 2:34*pm, "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"
wrote:
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

Chris

Set the float switch so it runs for minutes not seconds if possible,
maybe pump is to powerfull?, set it so the pit is full for longest run
time and longest idle time. With a submergeable you lengthen the wire
to the float at the base, there is a clamp to loosen. Is pit small.
Where is check valve at pump or high up.

"Chris (SilverUnicorn)" wrote in message
...
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.


Chris

The check valve should be screwed directly into the pump discharge and it's
directional. You may have it in backwards. Also, when the pump shuts off,
you will hear the check valve "thump" when it closes and the water above it
slams it shut. Do you hear this?

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

How about reading the directions on the check valve. If mounted
horizontally it must be oriented properly.

On Dec 20, 2:34*pm, "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"
wrote:
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

Chris

Is the water draining back in, or is this new water coming into the
sump from the ground? If it is refilling from the drain pipe you
probably have it in backswards.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:34:36 -0800 (PST), "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"
wrote:

Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump.

My sump raises the water also 7 feet or maybe over 8, and I don't have
a check valve but when the water falls back, it only raises the sump
level 2 or 3 inches.

Maybe you have another source of water. How fast is other water
pouring into your sump? When the water table outside is higher than
your sump entry pipes, there is in practice an unlimited supply of
water. The higher the water table the faster it enters.

Maybe if you raised the float level there would be fewer periods when
the pump would run.

This happens every 2
minutes or less.

I don't have a check valve and have never had one. The pump turns off
when there are two inches in the sump, and when the pump turns off and
the pipe water falls back, it rises to 4 or 5 inches

Five inches is a far cry from the height needed to start the pump
again, which is about 12 inches, and that is still 3 inches from the
top.)

If my water level rose 7 inches in 2 minutes, it wouldn't take much
longer to rise 10 inches.

(I think these numbers are right. I'll check if you want.)

I would think if your check valve were backwards, there wouldn't be
much water coming out. Can you check outside the house if and how
much the sump pump is discharging?

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

I put a check valve on my basement sink drain, but it doesn't work. I
tried hard to keep lint from the washing machine from getting in but
maybe that ruined it.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.


Chris

On Dec 21, 2:36*am, mm wrote:
On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:34:36 -0800 (PST), "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"

wrote:
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump.

My sump raises the water also 7 feet or maybe over 8, and I don't have
a check valve but when the water falls back, it only raises the sump
level 2 or 3 inches. *

Maybe you have another source of water. *How fast is other water
pouring into your sump? *When the water table outside is higher than
your sump entry pipes, there is in practice an unlimited supply of
water. *The higher the water table the faster it enters.

Maybe if you raised the float level there would be fewer periods when
the pump would run. *

This happens every 2
minutes or less.

I don't have a check valve and have never had one. *The pump turns off
when there are two inches in the sump, and when the pump turns off and
the pipe water falls back, it rises to 4 or 5 inches

Five inches is a far cry from the height needed to start the pump
again, which is about 12 inches, and that is still 3 inches from the
top.)

If my water level rose 7 inches in 2 minutes, it wouldn't take much
longer to rise 10 inches.

(I think these numbers are right. I'll check if you want.)

I would think if your check valve were backwards, there wouldn't be
much water coming out. *Can you check outside the house if and how
much the sump pump is discharging?

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

I put a check valve on my basement sink drain, but it doesn't work. *I
tried hard to keep lint from the washing machine from getting in but
maybe that ruined it.



The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I would add, how big is the sump pump basin? If it only holds two
gallons, of course the pump is going to shut off after only a matter
of seconds. If it's at least average size, then you will have enough
water for it to run for a decent cycle. If it has no bottom, you can
also dig it deeper and then place a few inchs of washed gravel or
large crushed stone in the bottom. Don't be afraid that is going to
bring more water in. Water will only seek it's natural level. Also,
so pumps have adjustments on the float which can change the on/off
points.

And how much water actually gets discharged outside now with each
cycle? With 3 check valves, it seems clear that the check valve
itself is not the problem.

On Dec 21, 9:07*am, wrote:
On Dec 21, 2:36*am, mm wrote:





On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:34:36 -0800 (PST), "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"

wrote:
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump.

My sump raises the water also 7 feet or maybe over 8, and I don't have
a check valve but when the water falls back, it only raises the sump
level 2 or 3 inches. *

Maybe you have another source of water. *How fast is other water
pouring into your sump? *When the water table outside is higher than
your sump entry pipes, there is in practice an unlimited supply of
water. *The higher the water table the faster it enters.

Maybe if you raised the float level there would be fewer periods when
the pump would run. *

This happens every 2
minutes or less.

I don't have a check valve and have never had one. *The pump turns off
when there are two inches in the sump, and when the pump turns off and
the pipe water falls back, it rises to 4 or 5 inches

Five inches is a far cry from the height needed to start the pump
again, which is about 12 inches, and that is still 3 inches from the
top.)

If my water level rose 7 inches in 2 minutes, it wouldn't take much
longer to rise 10 inches.

(I think these numbers are right. I'll check if you want.)

I would think if your check valve were backwards, there wouldn't be
much water coming out. *Can you check outside the house if and how
much the sump pump is discharging?

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

I put a check valve on my basement sink drain, but it doesn't work. *I
tried hard to keep lint from the washing machine from getting in but
maybe that ruined it.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I would add, how big is the sump pump basin? * If it only holds two
gallons, of course the pump is going to shut off after only a matter
of seconds. * If it's at least average size, then you will have enough
water for it to run for a decent cycle. * If it has no bottom, you can
also dig it deeper and then place a few inchs of washed gravel or
large crushed stone in the bottom. * *Don't be afraid that is going to
bring more water in. *Water will only seek it's natural level. *Also,
so pumps have adjustments on the float which can change the on/off
points.

And how much water actually gets discharged outside now with each
cycle? *With 3 check valves, it seems clear that the check valve
itself is not the problem.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for all the replies.

The system we have is this:

The RIGID pump is 1/3 HP, and is the main pump. There is also a backup
pump, a Basement Watchdog. These are plumbed inline. Here is a really
crappy picture of the setup.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...9b75d367_b.jpg

In that picture, the discharge for the Rigid pump is on the right, the
basement watchdog on the left.

At this point I am not convinced all is hooked up correctly though.

When the pump stops, there is a clunk, which I can oly assume is the
water closing the sump pump.

Each of the 2 pumps has it's own check valve, and they are directly at
the pump discharge.


Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I should add some gravel or rocks to
the bottom of the pit and raise the pumps themselves. These were
installed by a contractor, and a competent one at that

The basement watchdog pump worked very oddly when we got alot of
water, som I am not sure if that was a worthwhile investment. It is
currently unhooked because it alreasy needs a new battery (1 year
old).

Chris

On Dec 21, 9:25*am, "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"
wrote:
On Dec 21, 9:07*am, wrote:





On Dec 21, 2:36*am, mm wrote:

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:34:36 -0800 (PST), "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"

wrote:
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump.

My sump raises the water also 7 feet or maybe over 8, and I don't have
a check valve but when the water falls back, it only raises the sump
level 2 or 3 inches. *

Maybe you have another source of water. *How fast is other water
pouring into your sump? *When the water table outside is higher than
your sump entry pipes, there is in practice an unlimited supply of
water. *The higher the water table the faster it enters.

Maybe if you raised the float level there would be fewer periods when
the pump would run. *

This happens every 2
minutes or less.

I don't have a check valve and have never had one. *The pump turns off
when there are two inches in the sump, and when the pump turns off and
the pipe water falls back, it rises to 4 or 5 inches

Five inches is a far cry from the height needed to start the pump
again, which is about 12 inches, and that is still 3 inches from the
top.)

If my water level rose 7 inches in 2 minutes, it wouldn't take much
longer to rise 10 inches.

(I think these numbers are right. I'll check if you want.)

I would think if your check valve were backwards, there wouldn't be
much water coming out. *Can you check outside the house if and how
much the sump pump is discharging?

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

I put a check valve on my basement sink drain, but it doesn't work. *I
tried hard to keep lint from the washing machine from getting in but
maybe that ruined it.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I would add, how big is the sump pump basin? * If it only holds two
gallons, of course the pump is going to shut off after only a matter
of seconds. * If it's at least average size, then you will have enough
water for it to run for a decent cycle. * If it has no bottom, you can
also dig it deeper and then place a few inchs of washed gravel or
large crushed stone in the bottom. * *Don't be afraid that is going to
bring more water in. *Water will only seek it's natural level. *Also,
so pumps have adjustments on the float which can change the on/off
points.

And how much water actually gets discharged outside now with each
cycle? *With 3 check valves, it seems clear that the check valve
itself is not the problem.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for all the replies.

The system we have is this:

The RIGID pump is 1/3 HP, and is the main pump. There is also a backup
pump, a Basement Watchdog. These are plumbed inline. Here is a really
crappy picture of the setup.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...9b75d367_b.jpg

In that picture, the discharge for the Rigid pump is on the right, the
basement watchdog on the left.

At this point I am not convinced all is hooked up correctly though.

When the pump stops, there is a clunk, which I can oly assume is the
water closing the sump pump.

Each of the 2 pumps has it's own check valve, and they are directly at
the pump discharge.

Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I should add some gravel or rocks to
the bottom of the pit and raise the pumps themselves. These were
installed by a contractor, and a competent one at that

The basement watchdog pump worked very oddly when we got alot of
water, som I am not sure if that was a worthwhile investment. It is
currently unhooked because it alreasy needs a new battery (1 year
old).

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I don;t understand this statement of the problem:

"Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the
pump
shuts off. "


That would seem to mean that you are saying that on each cycle, the
pump only pumps enough water to fill 7 feet of pipe, which isn't much
water at all. It's a funny way of expressing the problem and
measuring. If that is actually true, then definitely something is
wrong and the check valve is not the main problem. A faulty check
valve will allow water to come back in, but it can't keep a pump from
first completing a full pump cycle. Either the float is set with
the on/off too close together, or the volume of water in the sump pit
is too small. The bigger the sump pit, the longer the cycle will be,
which is better for pump longevity, energy usage, etc. With a faulty
check valve in an otherwise correct system, you would still have
gallons of water actually ejected outside, but then the remaining
water in the pipe flows back in.

What happens outside at the discharge? How much water is coming
out? With lots of water, it could be perfectly normal for a sump
pump to come on every two minutes. The real issue is how much water
is it actually discharging

Chris said:

....

Thank you for all the replies.

The system we have is this:

The RIGID pump is 1/3 HP, and is the main pump. There is also a backup
pump, a Basement Watchdog. These are plumbed inline. Here is a really
crappy picture of the setup.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...9b75d367_b.jpg

In that picture, the discharge for the Rigid pump is on the right, the
basement watchdog on the left.

At this point I am not convinced all is hooked up correctly though.

When the pump stops, there is a clunk, which I can oly assume is the
water closing the sump pump.

Each of the 2 pumps has it's own check valve, and they are directly at
the pump discharge.


Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I should add some gravel or rocks to
the bottom of the pit and raise the pumps themselves. These were
installed by a contractor, and a competent one at that

The basement watchdog pump worked very oddly when we got alot of
water, som I am not sure if that was a worthwhile investment. It is
currently unhooked because it alreasy needs a new battery (1 year
old).

Chris

Decent looking installation and a pic's worth a thousand words:

Unless it's a semantics issue, the pumps are installed in parallel, not
inline. One pump does not push anything through the other pump, which
would be the case were they "inline".

Can one safely assume that, were the cover removed, and the pump
outlsetS clearly visible, that the check valveS would BOTH be right
there and visible? From the pic, I can't see anything that looks like a
check valve.
If so, BOTH check valves need to be functional or either one would
allow water to run back into the pit. If either one leaked, the water
would just flow right back into the pit, maybe even siphoning extra
water from wherever they connect to outside.
In order to use only one check valve, it would have to be in the
horizontal pipe, to the left of the place where the two pumps connect
into the horizontal pipe. And I'm sure I don't see a check valve there.

If the check valve is farther away than the pieces shown in the picture,
then it's mislocated and simple air in the pipe/s/outlets could flip one
of the other open on you and you might get a slow return from a poor
closure.

IMO:
1. Either get two check valves in there, one at each pump, or, remove
one pump and plug its pipe so nothing can flow either way. The latter
makes it harder to put the emergency pump back into service though, so
makeing sure each one has a good check valve is better.

2. If the bottom of the sump isn't clean, has sand, floor grit, fur,
wet dust dust bunny fur, small pebbles that can get into the pumps, then
those can easily defeat the check valves by getting stuck and tangled up
in and around them. Sump pump regular debris screens are almost never
fine enough to keep out debris that would let a check valve be
compromised. And sand will wear it very quickly.
So perhaps a good cleaning of the pit is in order, and possibly the
addition of a galvanized screen around the two of them so there is
plenty of surface area on it, but a much smaller grid opening size, to
keep out normal flooring debris. But get the water-return problem fixed
before worrying about this one.

3. The dead battery: Died within a year? Was it kept properly
charged/topped off as per the installation instructions? It's hard to
see but I don't see any charger connections, IF it is supposed to need
one, which I suspect it is. If the charger is there & I just can't see
it, do you know it works?

4. Last and least likely, are you certain the water is coming back in
via the pipes to the pumps, or is it leeching in somewhere
in/under/along the floor/walls? I had a very similar problem once,
changed the check valve and no help: It turned out the water was
seeping back to the wall from outside and coming into the floor tunnels
and then running into the put. All the water routing is underneath the
cement, so you couldn't easily just look at the ditch and see the water
running; I had to remove inspection caps to look for it.

It's a fairly simple solution, whatever it turns out to be, and just as
simple to diagnose, once the right thngs are looked at. Try getting the
house quiet and just sit and watch it run thru a cycle or two while it's
doing that. Between your eyes, ears and mental visualization of what's
happening,, the problem and thus the solution may jump right out at you.

Question: Where does the water go outside? How far away, above or
below the grade of the exit thru the wall, etc.?
Are you certain the check valve/s are working? Yes, that clunk
usually indicates the valve closing; but are there two of them and is
the second one staying closed and correctly closed? Etc.

HTH

Twayne

PS - that water hose; probably water softener or water heater, whatever:
Looks like it runs right into the floats. Is it interfering with the
float operation at all?

On Dec 21, 8:25*am, "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"
wrote:
On Dec 21, 9:07*am, wrote:





On Dec 21, 2:36*am, mm wrote:

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:34:36 -0800 (PST), "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"

wrote:
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump.

My sump raises the water also 7 feet or maybe over 8, and I don't have
a check valve but when the water falls back, it only raises the sump
level 2 or 3 inches. *

Maybe you have another source of water. *How fast is other water
pouring into your sump? *When the water table outside is higher than
your sump entry pipes, there is in practice an unlimited supply of
water. *The higher the water table the faster it enters.

Maybe if you raised the float level there would be fewer periods when
the pump would run. *

This happens every 2
minutes or less.

I don't have a check valve and have never had one. *The pump turns off
when there are two inches in the sump, and when the pump turns off and
the pipe water falls back, it rises to 4 or 5 inches

Five inches is a far cry from the height needed to start the pump
again, which is about 12 inches, and that is still 3 inches from the
top.)

If my water level rose 7 inches in 2 minutes, it wouldn't take much
longer to rise 10 inches.

(I think these numbers are right. I'll check if you want.)

I would think if your check valve were backwards, there wouldn't be
much water coming out. *Can you check outside the house if and how
much the sump pump is discharging?

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

I put a check valve on my basement sink drain, but it doesn't work. *I
tried hard to keep lint from the washing machine from getting in but
maybe that ruined it.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I would add, how big is the sump pump basin? * If it only holds two
gallons, of course the pump is going to shut off after only a matter
of seconds. * If it's at least average size, then you will have enough
water for it to run for a decent cycle. * If it has no bottom, you can
also dig it deeper and then place a few inchs of washed gravel or
large crushed stone in the bottom. * *Don't be afraid that is going to
bring more water in. *Water will only seek it's natural level. *Also,
so pumps have adjustments on the float which can change the on/off
points.

And how much water actually gets discharged outside now with each
cycle? *With 3 check valves, it seems clear that the check valve
itself is not the problem.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for all the replies.

The system we have is this:

The RIGID pump is 1/3 HP, and is the main pump. There is also a backup
pump, a Basement Watchdog. These are plumbed inline. Here is a really
crappy picture of the setup.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...9b75d367_b.jpg

In that picture, the discharge for the Rigid pump is on the right, the
basement watchdog on the left.

At this point I am not convinced all is hooked up correctly though.

When the pump stops, there is a clunk, which I can oly assume is the
water closing the sump pump.

Each of the 2 pumps has it's own check valve, and they are directly at
the pump discharge.

Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I should add some gravel or rocks to
the bottom of the pit and raise the pumps themselves. These were
installed by a contractor, and a competent one at that

The basement watchdog pump worked very oddly when we got alot of
water, som I am not sure if that was a worthwhile investment. It is
currently unhooked because it alreasy needs a new battery (1 year
old).

Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


It looks like your check valve is too far away from the pump because
you have that horizontal run in there. That, combined with the
smallish-sized pit refills all that water prior to the check valve
(apparently located outside the photo). Re-plum it so that the check
valve is vertical and directly above the pit, then do your horizontal
sweep elbow run over to the wall, then up and out. This will mean the
horizontal run we see will be raised about a foot or two higher than
it is now. I really like those Rigid sump pumps though, good power and
nicely made. You simply have too much pipe between the check valves
and pumps.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 06:25:56 -0800 (PST), "Chris (SilverUnicorn)"
wrote:

On Dec 21, 9:07*am, wrote:

I would add, how big is the sump pump basin? * If it only holds two
gallons, of course the pump is going to shut off after only a matter
of seconds. * If it's at least average size, then you will have enough
water for it to run for a decent cycle. * If it has no bottom, you can
also dig it deeper and then place a few inchs of washed gravel or
large crushed stone in the bottom. * *Don't be afraid that is going to
bring more water in. *Water will only seek it's natural level. *Also,
so pumps have adjustments on the float which can change the on/off
points.

And how much water actually gets discharged outside now with each
cycle? *With 3 check valves, it seems clear that the check valve
itself is not the problem.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for all the replies.

The system we have is this:

The RIGID pump is 1/3 HP, and is the main pump. There is also a backup
pump, a Basement Watchdog. These are plumbed inline. Here is a really

Well, I was going to suggest you really didnt need a checkvalve, but
if you have two pumps, of course you do. You need two of them.
Otherwise one pump will pump and the water will come out through the
other pump.

crappy picture of the setup.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/...9b75d367_b.jpg

Very neat job.

So your check valves are clamped in below the lid? Right?

In that picture, the discharge for the Rigid pump is on the right, the
basement watchdog on the left.

At this point I am not convinced all is hooked up correctly though.

When the pump stops, there is a clunk, which I can oly assume is the
water closing the sump pump.

The water closing the check valve, when the water starts to fall back.

Each of the 2 pumps has it's own check valve, and they are directly at
the pump discharge.


Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I should add some gravel or rocks to
the bottom of the pit and raise the pumps themselves. These were
installed by a contractor, and a competent one at that

Then you will pump out LESS water, because the pumps will be higher.
That's not so bad if you started that way -- your pump willl pump less
water so it will have to turn on more often when the water outside is
coming in -- but it won't solve your problem.

The basement watchdog pump worked very oddly when we got alot of
water, som I am not sure if that was a worthwhile investment. It is
currently unhooked because it alreasy needs a new battery (1 year
old).

Why unhook it. Yes, it's no good during a power failure, but it
should pump in tandem with the other pump when there is power, and
when the water in the sump is high enough to reach the second float.

My home is 30 years old, and once but only once during that time has
my pump not been enough. The water was pouring out the pipe outside,
but inside the water level still rose above the basement floor, and
got a few things wet, mostly the cardboard boxes things are stored in.

BTW, is your battery charger good? Check the output voltage of it.
Must be over 13 to work, but I don't know exactly what it actually
should be if working as designed.. 13.5?

Chris

Please condsider run the discharge pipe UP, and then over. Inverted P trap.
Lets see if I can draw it, using the key board.
+========+
|| ||
|| L===drain hole in the wall
||
||
||
SUMP

That will help to keep the water from draining back. Please forgive the
crappy art.

This kind of thing drains back:

+===drain hole in the wall
||
||
||
||
||
SUMP

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Chris (SilverUnicorn)" wrote in message
...
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.


Chris

either will drain back without a check valve. the up and over won't affect
the drain back in the least.

s


"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
Please condsider run the discharge pipe UP, and then over. Inverted P
trap.
Lets see if I can draw it, using the key board.
+========+
|| ||
|| L===drain hole in the wall
||
||
||
SUMP

That will help to keep the water from draining back. Please forgive the
crappy art.

This kind of thing drains back:

+===drain hole in the wall
||
||
||
||
||
SUMP

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"Chris (SilverUnicorn)" wrote in message
...
Well it's at it again. We got a new sump pump and now it's doing the
same thing the old one was doing.

The water level in the pit is low, but high enough to trip the pump.
That's fine the pump starts, and pumps out some wayer ( needs to go 7'
vertical than out the discharge).

Problem is, that 7 feet is enough to empty the pit enough so the pump
shuts off. I can only assume the check valves don't work, because the
pit fills up enough again to restart the pump. This happens every 2
minutes or less.

It is just recycling the same water over and over. The electric
company will love me

Any ideas on how to fix this? Thsi is our THIRS check valve. I can not
imagine these are designed so poorly.

The checl valves are made by Flotec. The pump is a Rigid brand that
was purchased at Hiome Depot about a year ago.


Chris