Best sump pump?

juryduty · 04-28-2009, 12:31 AM

I have a home with a B-dry system installed around the perimeter, which empties into a sump crock. A few years ago the pump float died -- it was a cheap Home Depot sump pump. Instead of replacing the pump, I added a float trigger that turned the power on/off to the pump through the power cord. In doing this, I allowed the water level in the sump crock to get higher, so it completely submerged the pipes emptying into the crock.

I haven't had problems in 2 years but this season there was a LOT of rain. Now I have some dampness in the basement and think it's probably due to the pump allowing the water to get too high. I'm going to replace the pump.

Question is, does this reasoning make sense, and if so, what's the best sump pump that I can get from a local HW store?

Thanks!

Speedbump · 04-28-2009, 10:26 AM

There are a couple of great sump pumps on the market but neither of them come from hardware or home improvement stores. As a matter of fact, there are no good pumps of any kind that come from those places.

Why would you want a cheap pump and take a chance of flooding your basement?

bob...

Nestor_Kelebay · 04-28-2009, 11:29 AM

I've had a Little Giant submersible pump in my sump for at least the past 15 years with no problems at all.

Speedbump · 04-29-2009, 07:34 AM

Quote:

I've had a Little Giant submersible pump in my sump for at least the past 15 years with no problems at all.

Little Giant makes a very good product.

bob...

Redwood · 04-30-2009, 11:30 PM

As far as sump pumps go my preference would be the Zoeller M-53...

Nestor_Kelebay · 05-01-2009, 02:16 AM

I was always told that submersible sump pumps were superior to the old style kind that have a float hanging down from an exposed electric motor at the top of the sump pump. I forget the reasoning now, but I think it was that if someone unplugged the pump and the motor got flooded, then the pump's motor would be ruined, and that would be it for the pump. That's not a consideration with a submersible pump as they're intended to be submerged anyway.

However, I can't say I know why submerging an electric motor would ruin it if there was no power in the motor at the time it was submerged. I don't understand why it wouldn't still run perfectly fine after it dried out completely. If anyone could explain this, I would be eternally grateful.

I believe I've seen Little Giant submersible sump pumps for sale at my local "McDairmid's" hardware store, so I'm not sure it's fair to say that you can't get a decent sump pump from a corner hardware store. I don't expect Little Giant makes good pumps when it's shipping them to plumbing wholesalers and crap pumps when it's shipping them to small, privately owned hardware stores. I expect Little Giant makes the best pumps it can for each and every customer it has who buys Little Giant sump pumps. Or, rather, I'd be very surprised to learn different.

Speedbump · 05-01-2009, 07:55 AM

I haven't heard of Little Giant selling to much to hardware or big box stores. Although I have seen some pumps under another brand name that sure looked a lot like Little Giant. They certainly wouldn't be the first company to cave into the big box stores. They like some just don't want their actual name on the product.

I sell a few little giant dual purpose pumps that can be used above ground or under water and they work very well. Their sump pumps may not be the quality of a Zoeller though.

As for the pedistal pumps of yesteryear (they are still available today) one of the problems was that the tube that the water came up through would rot through. It was pretty thin. Then the float rods would rot and break.

I'm with you, if the motor gets wet, no problem if it dries before applying power. You may get some corrosion on the start points which could hinder it's starting ability, other than that if the grease in the bearings got washed out, it would soon be noisy.

bob...