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Back-up options for sump pump

jdcyclone19

jdcyclone19

Well-Known Member
Apr 14, 2017
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Iowa
We had a sump pump put in last fall since we finished our basement and it is working quite nicely. It was bone dry until a week ago with all the rain and has been kicking on about every 15-30 minutes and now less often since it hasn't rained for 1.5 days. However, I want to be prepared for the event the power goes out or pump takes a crap. Looking back I didn't think about it but should have spent the extra $250 a battery back up system & pump at, so it goes.

What do you guys have for a back-up for power or pump failure, if anything? We rarely lose power. It seems hard to completely back the system up without backup power source and a pump.
 
Barracuda battery back up from Menards. Not cheap and I'm no genius but installed it myself and works great. It has come on just like it needs to and beeps like hell to let you know it's working. I've needed it as my main sump is going to hell and gets caught and I have to go down and jimmy it to get it back working and silence and reset the back up one about every other day. If it would stop raining for a couple of damn days, the pit would be dry enough for me to replace the primary one.
 
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I bought a back up sump that hooks to a car battery a few years ago. For my own piece of mind, it's worth it. I'm pretty sure it has never kicked on since I bought it (my basement flooded three times in the span of a couple weeks, but stopped after I extended downspouts and built up the ground around my house).
 
I don't have a backup and I should... My neighbor put in a pump a few years ago that uses your homes water pressure to empty the pit so if you lose power you are fine.
 
BillBrasky4Cy said:
I don't have a backup and I should... My neighbor put in a pump a few years ago that uses your homes water pressure to empty the pit so if you lose power you are fine.
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What we have if the water pressure ever goes I figure we are done for anyway:)
 
Various options. If you are worried, use multiple ones:

1. Battery back-up. May only buy you a few hours, but that is almost always enough.
2. Water pressure back-up. We have one of these that clicks on if the water in the sump tank gets too high. Very trustworthy because the city "never" loses water pressure, except for that time in 2010 right after I had it installed!
3. Back-up pump. We keep an extra pump right next to the sump tank with power cords attached that can go out the window and attach to an auxiliary generator.
 
BillBrasky4Cy said:
I don't have a backup and I should... My neighbor put in a pump a few years ago that uses your homes water pressure to empty the pit so if you lose power you are fine.
Click to expand...


Yea, and the city never loses water pressure . . . except for that one time in 2010 right after I installed ours. :mad:
 
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Battery backup is only good for a maximum of 45 minutes.
Your best bet is a natural gas powered whole house generator. A neighbor of mine did a 16kW Generac and it cost him $7,000 fully installed. 16kW can power his whole house.
If you want to be 100% bullet proof then you do a natural gas whole house generator with a double sump pump system. This will require a bigger/deeper sump pit. One sump pump will be on the bottom of the pit and the other pump is raised off of the bottom and it is a back-up if the other pump fails.
A work colleague had his pumps set-up so that they could run off of his car battery. He had electricians install an outlet in his garage that was wired to his pump in the basement. If he was home and the power went out he would go out to the garage, manually open his garage door so he doesn't gas himself, and connect wire leads, more or less jumper cables, from his car battery to the terminals in the outlet. Then he would start his car and let it run. As long as he is home and has gas in his car, he is good to go.
 
WoodCy said:
Battery backup is only good for a maximum of 45 minutes.
Your best bet is a natural gas powered whole house generator. A neighbor of mine did a 16kW Generac and it cost him $7,000 fully installed. 16kW can power his whole house.
If you want to be 100% bullet proof then you do a natural gas whole house generator with a double sump pump system. This will require a bigger/deeper sump pit. One sump pump will be on the bottom of the pit and the other pump is raised off of the bottom and it is a back-up if the other pump fails.
A work colleague had his pumps set-up so that they could run off of his car battery. He had electricians install an outlet in his garage that was wired to his pump in the basement. If he was home and the power went out he would go out to the garage, manually open his garage door so he doesn't gas himself, and connect wire leads, more or less jumper cables, from his car battery to the terminals in the outlet. Then he would start his car and let it run. As long as he is home and has gas in his car, he is good to go.
Click to expand...


I bet it's interesting working with Rube Goldberg.
 
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JM4CY said:
Barracuda battery back up from Menards. Not cheap and I'm no genius but installed it myself and works great. It has come on just like it needs to and beeps like hell to let you know it's working. I've needed it as my main sump is going to hell and gets caught and I have to go down and jimmy it to get it back working and silence and reset the back up one about every other day. If it would stop raining for a couple of damn days, the pit would be dry enough for me to replace the primary one.
Click to expand...

I have a computer APC battery backup on mine, works fine.

Now last week the pump itself died and I was pulling up carpet an hour later. Going to have a plumber install a second water fed pump for emergencies next week.
 
WoodCy said:
Battery backup is only good for a maximum of 45 minutes.
Your best bet is a natural gas powered whole house generator. A neighbor of mine did a 16kW Generac and it cost him $7,000 fully installed. 16kW can power his whole house.
If you want to be 100% bullet proof then you do a natural gas whole house generator with a double sump pump system. This will require a bigger/deeper sump pit. One sump pump will be on the bottom of the pit and the other pump is raised off of the bottom and it is a back-up if the other pump fails.
A work colleague had his pumps set-up so that they could run off of his car battery. He had electricians install an outlet in his garage that was wired to his pump in the basement. If he was home and the power went out he would go out to the garage, manually open his garage door so he doesn't gas himself, and connect wire leads, more or less jumper cables, from his car battery to the terminals in the outlet. Then he would start his car and let it run. As long as he is home and has gas in his car, he is good to go.
Click to expand...

Well, shoot. For that price, I'll get two.
 
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Easy, just bail the water into your neighbors yard. Never needed a sump pump in my life.
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BillBrasky4Cy said:
I don't have a backup and I should... My neighbor put in a pump a few years ago that uses your homes water pressure to empty the pit so if you lose power you are fine.
Click to expand...
I have one of those back-ups that uses water pressure. I haven't lost power since I've had it but I do test it every 6 months by unplugging my regular pump and dumping 15 gallons and it seems to work great.
 
mramseyISU said:
I have one of those back-ups that uses water pressure. I haven't lost power since I've had it but I do test it every 6 months by unplugging my regular pump and dumping 15 gallons and it seems to work great.
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In Ames, you have to get a licensed pro to test your water pressure pump annually. Costs me $75.
 
Cycsk said:
In Ames, you have to get a licensed pro to test your water pressure pump annually. Costs me $75.
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I don't know. Maybe they put a lien on the house so that it must be paid before you can sell the house. And not having it tested might void your flood insurance.
 
Cyclonepride said:
Or what?
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I'm guessing it might be a backflow test, to make sure water that's pumped out of the pit doesnt backflow back into the city lines. Same thing you have to have every year for a sprinkler system.

Its probably per-city what they'll do, Ankeny will send a letter threatening to shut off your water service if you don't do the annual test.
 
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