Paulsiu
Member
In the 8 years I lived in the house, the sump pump has failed to keep up 3 times. The issue tends to occur during times of heavy rain where I have notice that water coming in as faster than what the pump can pump out. The pump would run continuously as the pool slowly fills up. This only seems to happen when there is heavy rain storm and not when the snow is melting.
Under normal rainfall, the sump pump goes off only periodically. The problem only manifest if there is heavy rain for a few hours. The problem occurs when the rain gutter gets clogged because I am surrounded by trees. I have been pretty good at keeping the gutters clean, but sometimes there is a lot of leaves in a short period of time and I couldn't get to it between the rainstorms. Sometimes one of the second floor gutter gets clog and I have to employe someone to clear it because I can't reach it with a ladder.
The house is about 1500 square feet with steep roofs. It has a standard 18x24 basin. I do not know the total head, so I am assuming it's the standard 10 feet since the basin is in the basement and the discharge is right outside on the ground level. The discharges goes to a drainage pipe that outputs to the yard that runs downhill so water isn't going back to the house. I have Hydromatic DA-1 10 1/3 hp for primary and a Zoellar 507 as backup. The DA-10 is rated at 38 GPM at 10 feet and Zoellar 507 is rated at 15 gpm at 10 feet.
Is the main issue due to the rain gutter clogging then? Should I replace the pumps with a higher capacity unit such as a Zoellar M98 which rates at around 61 GPM at 10 feet in the event that the gutter clog or would that cause short cycling?
Update:
I just tried timing the time it takes to pump out the water. I dumped in 5 gallon of water, which is still below the inlet. 5 Gallon is enough pressure to trigger the main pump. The water was pumped out in about 20 seconds.
5 gallon / 20s = 0.25 gallon per second or 15 gpm, which seems low for the pump. Do pump lose their pumping capacity as they age. The pump appears to be 8 years old.
Update2:
15 gpm is the pumping rate for the Zoeller 507 backup. As an experiment, I dumped 4 gallon of water into the empty well and trigger the 507 manually. It did pump at 15 gpm. I must have dumped water on the triggering mech and set off the backup.
I disconnected the backup pump and dump water in until the primary pump triggered, which was at 8 gallon. It took about 20 seconds to pump, which works out to be 8 gal / 20 sec = 0.4 gps or 24 gpm, which is better than 15 gpm, but still below the rated capacity of the primary pump.
Paul
Under normal rainfall, the sump pump goes off only periodically. The problem only manifest if there is heavy rain for a few hours. The problem occurs when the rain gutter gets clogged because I am surrounded by trees. I have been pretty good at keeping the gutters clean, but sometimes there is a lot of leaves in a short period of time and I couldn't get to it between the rainstorms. Sometimes one of the second floor gutter gets clog and I have to employe someone to clear it because I can't reach it with a ladder.
The house is about 1500 square feet with steep roofs. It has a standard 18x24 basin. I do not know the total head, so I am assuming it's the standard 10 feet since the basin is in the basement and the discharge is right outside on the ground level. The discharges goes to a drainage pipe that outputs to the yard that runs downhill so water isn't going back to the house. I have Hydromatic DA-1 10 1/3 hp for primary and a Zoellar 507 as backup. The DA-10 is rated at 38 GPM at 10 feet and Zoellar 507 is rated at 15 gpm at 10 feet.
Is the main issue due to the rain gutter clogging then? Should I replace the pumps with a higher capacity unit such as a Zoellar M98 which rates at around 61 GPM at 10 feet in the event that the gutter clog or would that cause short cycling?
Update:
I just tried timing the time it takes to pump out the water. I dumped in 5 gallon of water, which is still below the inlet. 5 Gallon is enough pressure to trigger the main pump. The water was pumped out in about 20 seconds.
5 gallon / 20s = 0.25 gallon per second or 15 gpm, which seems low for the pump. Do pump lose their pumping capacity as they age. The pump appears to be 8 years old.
Update2:
15 gpm is the pumping rate for the Zoeller 507 backup. As an experiment, I dumped 4 gallon of water into the empty well and trigger the 507 manually. It did pump at 15 gpm. I must have dumped water on the triggering mech and set off the backup.
I disconnected the backup pump and dump water in until the primary pump triggered, which was at 8 gallon. It took about 20 seconds to pump, which works out to be 8 gal / 20 sec = 0.4 gps or 24 gpm, which is better than 15 gpm, but still below the rated capacity of the primary pump.
Paul
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