You're 4 days from wheels-up and your new sump pump (and battery back up system) decide that they take a little hiatus - together!
If you're not from the area and perhaps don't follow the Philadelphia area weather, we are having an exceptionally WET few days. Our home is in a naturally low spot and we have a lot of pump activity in heavy rains.
Oh yeah, and we just finished our basement over the late summer - the carpet just went in a few weeks ago!
Anyway, as I type, I am taking a short break from babysitting the sump pump situation in the basement. 30 minutes ago, the backup pump alarm was going off, the pump seemed to be pumping but no water was discharging out (into the drain line), the battery appeared to be draining, and the water was rising (not quickly, but rising nevertheless.)
Luckily, as I was rigging up the shop vac, just in case, I was able to speak with our basement construction contractor. (Thanks for calling back so quickly, Rick.) From the series of alarms He diagnosed a float switch problem.
I put the phone on speaker, near where I was working, and with his guidance, I began to fumble around in the 2-foot deep murky sump water. The solution he described was a little technical, so bear with me...
"Reach in... find the float switch -- and jiggle it. Move it around a little to free up the float."
(Slow down, Rick...did you say "jiggle it"? You almost lost me there.)
Not one to improvise in a situation like this, I jiggled it. It worked. The main pump kicked on. The waters immediately began to recede.
I will keep any eye on it for a while longer until the sump drains, but so far, it's all good. I may as well just run back & forth down the basement stairs for the next few hours, I wasn't planning on doing much of anything else - except SLEEPING of course!
Rick will be by the house tomorrow to reset the system and fix the float.
And they all lived happily ever after.
More shortly - gotta check that darn pump!
Be back in a few moments.
C
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