Backup Sump Pump - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

kknudson · #16 12-26-2006, 10:15 PM

Don't buy it directly, they sent me to HD for their water alarms. He told me they were cheaper there.

They were in Glenview, next to the old Naval Air Station, when I had the unit rebuilt.

Nice guys, good setup.

Alarms for everything, even tells you when the battery neads water, and when it's wearing out.

Oh, no reason that I say this. Buy their better unit.
When I got mine thats all they had, again never had a complaint.

Southern · #17 12-28-2006, 10:23 PM

All this talk about water alarms I decided to buy the watchdog water alarm. It has a removable sensor that you can mount 6' away. This will alert me that my primary sump is not working so that I can either setup my generator or replace the sump.

Attached is a picture of my home-made battery back sump. I used an inverted 5 gal bucket to mount the 2000 GPH bilge pump and float switch since there was no room to locate it next the the primary sump. On the side is my "jump start" battery. This battery has far outlasted my previous car batteries and it doesn't emit any acid fumes. About once a month I plug in the wall wort to top off the battery.

This sump has saved me once when my primary sump went out. When I first installed it I wanted to test it so I unplugged the primary sump (during a down poor) and the water quickly rose and the battery sump kicked in and performed liked it should.

The total cost of my setup was under $100 about 10 years ago.

Dubyagee · #18 12-28-2006, 10:31 PM

An Optima red top spiral cell would work perfect for this setup.

mpolli · #19 12-29-2006, 12:17 AM

I have personal experience with this issue. I got a 1000 GPH bilge pump from West Marine, a float switch from them also and 4, yes 4 deep cycle batteries from Costco (I wanted a little juice for a small inverter also). The pump itself has always worked flawlessly. The rest of the system has been nothing but trouble. The first float switch I got from them was bad out of the package. The second one worked - sometimes and ultimately failed. So if you go that way make sure you have a quality float switch. The next issue is the batteries. Mine failed completely after 5 years. However this is their stated life. So now I am investing in top-of-the-line batteries and a good charger. I want the batteries to last a LONG time. Another way is just get the cheaper batteries and change them every 4 years or so. I am an electronics guy so I can deal with it all but if I was giving advice to someone else I would have to recommend the water powered ones. These are about 400 and should be "fool proof". Keep in mind they are only for city water not if you have a well powered by AC!

Ultimately the battery system I think has too many possible failure modes for the average person to tolerate. The stakes are to high to gamble with a flooded basement unless you don't have anything down there of value - just cement walls and floor.

Mike

kknudson · #20 12-29-2006, 12:59 AM

Mike:
The water powered pumps
in my case it is well, community, but no backup power.
I also consider that a HUGE waste of a precious natural resource.

As far as reliablity etc. That is another reason to go with a packaged system.

Basement watchdog uses quality parts, Has circuitry to test regularly.
It runs the pump every ???, and detects failure.
Tells you the condition of the battery.
Lets you know when fluid level is low.
Alerts you when it ran (when in Backup Mode) so you know your primary died.
Has smart charging, to attempt to give the battery a long life.
I just put the 3rd in last year. I put the system in 5/5/1990.

Too often, the most expensive thing you bought, was the cheapest.
(Doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive, but)

I don't often pound the table endorsing a product, this one I will.
I have lots of friends that also have them and not an issue.
I have no affiliation with them, beyond satisfied customer.

mpolli · #21 12-29-2006, 04:09 AM

OK. I looked at the system on Home Depot's site and it looks pretty good as far as it goes. The monitoring is good. I will trust the float switch is good also. You do have to replace that battery at some interval (5 years?) and that's 100.00 each time. The main issue I see is it will only last 6 to 12 hours depending on the system and battery chosen. So you have to assume you will never lose power for more than that time. That is a gamble. In the case of Seattle recently it was out for a week some places. I am putting in a monster battery pack that will go a week. It needs to work even if I am not there for a week. So that would be my only concern, that the battery life is enough for "worst case". I am not knocking the system, I have one, and I am not knocking their system, it looks well designed. But just make sure it will last long enough, and consider that the capacity will drop off every year until you replace the battery. I learned the hard way. For the record I do not know the reliability of the water based systems, and as you said it doesn't work from well water so not an option for some people. As far as the natural resource issue, I hug trees with the best of them. The water powered systems I have seen pump 2 gal for every 1 gal they use. What is the environmental harm if you haul you furniture and carpet and whatever to the dump if the battery runs out? What is the environmental effect from the manufacture and disposal of LEAD ACID batteries? I'm just sayin'.......

Mike