Spring will be here soon in Colorado, meaning we’ll soon be dealing with snowmelt and then periods of heavy rainfall. All of this moisture can be a major threat to your home since it can seep through the ground and potentially cause substantial flooding in your basement or crawl space.
This type of flooding can damage your belongings, walls, and flooring or lead to mold growing inside your house. Serious electrical issues can also result if the water comes into contact with parts of your electrical system. One of the biggest concerns is that you can end up with cracks and other major damage to your home’s foundation.
Having a working sump pump prevents these problems since the sump pit catches all of the water. The sump pump then pumps the water out of the basement or crawl space to avoid any flooding. The only concern is that sump pumps don’t always work when you need them to, which is why it’s important that you test and maintain your sump pump before spring to make fully certain it’s ready to work as needed.
How to Test That Your Sump Pump Still Functions
Testing a sump pump is something you can easily do on your own in just a few minutes. Before doing so, however, you want to go outside and make sure the drainage pipe isn’t clogged with dirt or debris. The next step is to fill up a bucket or two with around five gallons of water and carry it to the sump pit. You then want to take the lid off of the pit and look inside to make sure there is no debris that could clog the intake on the pump when it starts running.
At this point, the pit should be dry or only have a tiny amount of standing water. If there’s quite a bit of standing water in the pit, it tells you that your sump pump isn’t working, and you need to hire a plumber to inspect it.
To test the pump, start by slowly pouring water from the bucket into the pit. If the pump has a tether float or a vertical float, you’ll need to add enough water to raise the float and trigger the switch that turns the pump on. If the pump has a diaphragm switch or an electronic switch, it should start running almost immediately when you start pouring water into the pit. If you have a pedestal pump where the motor sits above the pit, you need to be careful not to slosh any water on the motor as the motor can get ruined if it gets wet.
Once the pump starts running, continue slowly pouring the rest of the water into the pit while listening to make sure the pump isn’t excessively loud and doesn’t make any strange sounds. You also want to make sure the pump empties the pit quickly and then shuts off immediately. If the pump doesn’t shut off, it’s also often a sign that the device has a malfunctioning float or switch. If the pump turns on and off as it should, it’s a good idea to test it once or twice more just to make fully certain everything is working properly.
What Can Cause a Sump Pump to Not Work?
One common reason a sump pump won’t turn on is that its float or switch has failed. In this case, a plumber can usually fix the problem just by replacing the switch. It’s also possible that the pump’s motor has failed, which can happen as a result of the pump not turning on for a prolonged period or just due to age. That’s part of the reason why it’s a good idea to test your sump pump a few times a year just so that it gets a bit of use and you can make sure it’s still working.
Depending on the model of your sump pump, you can potentially test if the float switch has failed on your own. Some sump pumps just have a single cord that connects the pump to a nearby outlet. Others have two cords. One cord runs from the outlet to the pump and plugs into the back of a second cord that runs between the pump and the float or switch.
If the pump has two cords, you can test for float switch issues by first unplugging both cords. You then want to take the cord that runs into the outlet and plug it directly into the pump. This bypasses the float, meaning the pump should immediately turn on once you plug it in. If it does, it means the float switch is bad. If it doesn’t, it means the pump itself needs to be replaced.
Other Important Tasks for Maintaining a Sump Pump
There are also a couple of other steps you should take once or twice a year to make sure your sump pump is properly maintained. First of all, you want to take the pump out of the pit to inspect it and clean everything off.
All sump pumps have a screen on the water intake that prevents debris from getting sucked inside and damaging the pump. As the pump runs, dirt, rocks, and other materials can sometimes get stuck to this screen. A clogged screen is a serious concern because it can prevent the pump from sucking water out of the pit or at least make it not pump quickly enough to prevent the pit from overflowing and your home from flooding. Even worse, a submersible pump will burn out extremely quickly if it runs and isn’t drawing in water. That’s because the water works to cool the pump’s motor down and prevent it from overheating.
With a pedestal pump, all you normally need to do is check and clean the screen as necessary since the main part of the pump is outside the pit. If you have a submersible pump, it’s a good idea to take it outside and use your hose and a brush to clean the entire thing. Submersible pumps often get coated in iron-eating bacteria that can weaken the body of the pump and eventually result in water getting inside the motor and destroying the pump. Cleaning a submersible pump once or twice a year also helps to prevent it from rusting and corroding as quickly, thus potentially extending the pump’s lifespan.
If your submersible pump is already showing fairly significant rust and corrosion, we’d recommend replacing it before spring. If not, the body could end up rusting through, resulting in the pump being destroyed and suddenly not working when you need it to.
When you need a plumbing service you can trust in the Denver area, Horizon Services is the name to call. We’ve been providing expert residential and commercial services for over 25 years and are here to take your call 24/7. Our plumbers are experts in sump pump repairs and installation and can also help if you need assistance maintaining or testing your pump. To get help fixing a sump pump that isn’t working, contact us today.
