a.bentonab
Expert
I moved into a new house 2 months ago. Found out during a heavy rain that the main sump pump was bad and so was the water powered backup pump. Caught it just in time before it flooded the basement. Anyway, got the primary pump changed out no problem it works like a champ. Problem is, the water powered backup still hasn't worked.
Initially I saw that its intake was nearly occluded with scale, so I took the piece out and chipped it all away. Didn't work. got to the point I called a plumber and they installed a new water powered sump pump (Sump Jet) but lo and behold, despite their assurance that they tested it, it does not move water out of the pit. Maybe that one is on me for letting them leave prior to seeing it work but I WAS dealing with a 4 year old and a 2 month old at the time. They did not change the check valve on the sump jet discharge line.
I test it by unplugging the primary pump and letting the water level rise. When appropriate, the float will turn the water powered pump on. Water flows through it. however no water seems to be sucked up the intake. Reaching down into the pit there is no suction. There also is not water shooting out the bottom of the water powered pump.
Another oddity I've noticed is that if both the water powered pump and the primary pump are running at the same time, no water is removed from the pit. If I then turn the water shut off valve to cut off the Sump jet, the primary pump empties the pit as expected in about 30 seconds. This is the situation that really worries me. If I'm out of town and really depending on the backup, lets say electricity goes off, then later it comes back on, the house wouldn't be protected potentially.
Can anyone weigh in with their thoughts? maybe a defective check valve? Do the discharge lines have to be changed out somehow? I thought about instead of connecting both primary pump and Sump Jet into a shared vertical riser, to give each of them their own vertical riser so they wouldn't be fighting each other so much? Here's a picture of my current setup.
Initially I saw that its intake was nearly occluded with scale, so I took the piece out and chipped it all away. Didn't work. got to the point I called a plumber and they installed a new water powered sump pump (Sump Jet) but lo and behold, despite their assurance that they tested it, it does not move water out of the pit. Maybe that one is on me for letting them leave prior to seeing it work but I WAS dealing with a 4 year old and a 2 month old at the time. They did not change the check valve on the sump jet discharge line.
I test it by unplugging the primary pump and letting the water level rise. When appropriate, the float will turn the water powered pump on. Water flows through it. however no water seems to be sucked up the intake. Reaching down into the pit there is no suction. There also is not water shooting out the bottom of the water powered pump.
Another oddity I've noticed is that if both the water powered pump and the primary pump are running at the same time, no water is removed from the pit. If I then turn the water shut off valve to cut off the Sump jet, the primary pump empties the pit as expected in about 30 seconds. This is the situation that really worries me. If I'm out of town and really depending on the backup, lets say electricity goes off, then later it comes back on, the house wouldn't be protected potentially.
Can anyone weigh in with their thoughts? maybe a defective check valve? Do the discharge lines have to be changed out somehow? I thought about instead of connecting both primary pump and Sump Jet into a shared vertical riser, to give each of them their own vertical riser so they wouldn't be fighting each other so much? Here's a picture of my current setup.
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