The sump pump in your Drexel Hill, PA home works non-stop to remove any excess water that might seep into your basement. To prevent water damage, it is important that your sump pump is working properly, especially when there are extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rain or snowmelt.
While a professional Drexel Hill plumber should inspect your sump pump on an annual basis, along with other plumbing equipment in the home, you can help by making sure that the pump itself isn’t corroded and that the water stays clean.
Call the plumbers at Wm. Henderson Plumbing & Heating Inc. if you have further questions or would like more maintenance tips. Meanwhile, here are some common repair needs and how you as a homeowner can prevent them from happening.
For submersible sump pumps in basements, the pump is situated inside a well that is cut out in the floor and catches excess groundwater. The pump itself is turned on and off by a float switch, which looks just like the floater in the back of your toilet. The float switch in a sump pump works the same way.
When the water rises to a certain level, the float switch rises and automatically turns on the pump, which then removes excess water from the well. Once the level goes down, the pump turns off again. You should be able to hear the pump when it is on.
Because of the pump’s location in the basement, bits of leaves, root fragments, dirt, and other solid matter can accumulate around the floater arm inside the well. Sometimes when debris gets trapped underneath the float switch it will get stuck in the on position, which causes the motor to run constantly.
If your motor runs continuously, it can overheat and eventually burn out. Your plumber can unplug the pump and try to clear out the debris from underneath the floater arm. Important note: Do not touch any electrical wiring if there is standing water in your basement.
While it may not be worth fixing a severely corroded pump or a pump with a failed motor, we install and service many sump pumps in the Drexel Hill area, and we have the experience to ensure that the job is handled correctly.
Our plumbers will also inspect the other components in the sump pump system, such as the condition of the sump pit, the adjustment of the float, and the condition of the outflow line, to make entire system is functioning properly.
When you need a repair for your plumbing in Drexel Hill, PA, the plumbers at Wm. Henderson can quickly diagnose the problem and give you an honest assessment of how to resolve it.