JamesRR
New Member
[reposting / moving from the Plumbing forum]
I recently had new sump pumps installed by a licensed plumber. He's someone I've used for several jobs - at the higher end of the price range, but he does meticulous work and does it right. So I had him do the sump pump install - basically, installing an electric pump, connecting drain, etc - and simultaneously install a Liberty SumpJet backup, including all plumbing, back flow preventer, etc.
It all looked good. Few weeks ago I decided to test the backup pump, so after a rain I disconnected the electric and waited for the backup to kick in. It never did. Water got to the top of the pit before I had to intervene and re-activate the electric one. From what I observed, he installed the SumpJet backup too high - essentially, as the water rises, it back flows into the surrounding French drain, FILLING IT, before it fully surrounds the SumpJet's activation float. And at that point, there's not enough pressure to raise the float - so it never went on (The SumpJet does work, as I manually lifted the float to test).
I sent him pictures and explained the situation, and he is giving me the runaround, saying, 'it's supposed to be like that and it will go on when the water reaches the proper level.' He won't respond to calls, etc.
Does anyone have experience with these installs, and agrees with my assessment? Not sure what to do - I could fix it myself but I don't have the experience to solder new Copper, but I think I've figured out how it could be lowered. I attached a photo to show how high it got yet still hadn't activated.
I recently had new sump pumps installed by a licensed plumber. He's someone I've used for several jobs - at the higher end of the price range, but he does meticulous work and does it right. So I had him do the sump pump install - basically, installing an electric pump, connecting drain, etc - and simultaneously install a Liberty SumpJet backup, including all plumbing, back flow preventer, etc.
It all looked good. Few weeks ago I decided to test the backup pump, so after a rain I disconnected the electric and waited for the backup to kick in. It never did. Water got to the top of the pit before I had to intervene and re-activate the electric one. From what I observed, he installed the SumpJet backup too high - essentially, as the water rises, it back flows into the surrounding French drain, FILLING IT, before it fully surrounds the SumpJet's activation float. And at that point, there's not enough pressure to raise the float - so it never went on (The SumpJet does work, as I manually lifted the float to test).
I sent him pictures and explained the situation, and he is giving me the runaround, saying, 'it's supposed to be like that and it will go on when the water reaches the proper level.' He won't respond to calls, etc.
Does anyone have experience with these installs, and agrees with my assessment? Not sure what to do - I could fix it myself but I don't have the experience to solder new Copper, but I think I've figured out how it could be lowered. I attached a photo to show how high it got yet still hadn't activated.
