Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Anyone have experience with basement sump pumps? I am thinking about the Basement Watchdog combo. I’d get a Zoeller, but plumbers are saying their switches lately have been dying - and that’s kinda important.

When I was a teenager, the house in which I lived had a sump pump in the basement.

My friends and I discovered that tossing our cigarette butts in the sump hole was a bad idea. What happens is that a bunch of cigarette butts end up all over the yard, and they will clog the pump. My father was very displeased. We found the furnace to be far more effective.

That's my experience with sump pumps. Probably not what you were looking for, lol.

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That's a good story, tho'!

Sorry, cannot help with a brand, but...

Sump pumps work very well and are usually very long lasting and dependable.

Get a full submersible with a built-in float switch. Keeping some water in the holding tank will help with cooling. Don't set it to drain completely dry. You can use a floating bulb if you have room in the holding tank. Most do not and the bulb may hang up on the wall of the tank.


Be sure the outside drain goes away from the house. If not the water will just run back into the ground and need pump the same water again.

Depending on where you live climate wise, keep the drain "down hill" so it doesn't freeze in the pipe. That too will make for problems - likely burn out the motor.

Important! In the sump base use a short piece of galvanized pipe about 6" long (nipple) and make your attachments to that. It will give a better connection than taking threaded PVC directly into the pump.

Wiring: Use a plug-in that will allow a screw attachment to hold the plug to avoid accidental power loss.

We had a basement pump in Bloomington Il and had a few problems. Thats the best learning.

I usually stay away from houses with basements when I buy a house to "Flip" ...Buy ...Remodel...Sell hopefully for a Profit.
I bought a house at auction in November that had a basement and it had a sump pump , it looked like it had been there for quite a while. I could not tell the brand .We could not get it to come on and didn't want to spend too much time on it . I replaced it with a County Line 1/2 hp. with a vertical switch from Tractor Supply @ $160.00. My electrician rewired it on a separate circuit and NOT on a ground fault so that it would not lose power if a ground fault tripped somewhere else. it was a fast and easy install and worked great. The couple that bought the house from me had had experiences with sump pumps before and seemed pleased from what they saw.

I had a basement watch dog sump pump and it was junk. The pump worked, but the control module wouldn't stop beeping. I had the back up model so it hooked up to a 12 volt battery. I tried 2 batteries and it still would stop beeping. I called and never got any place with support, so just gave up. I would get a different brand.

GregVA - automotive or deep cycle?

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