Sump Pump Back-Up Battery

[SMOKEYBEAR]

Might just need "more" battery. m24 or m27 AGM

Advanced Auto has these - I use 3 them in a 36v system on my trolling motor, They get abused and haven't flinched, year 4 now. They come in 24s and 27s too.

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

The old 250 HP 2 stroke and all the pumps /electronics I have on a separate battery. X2 Group 31 from Batteries plus, more $$$. 4 years old, hasn't flinched. 24s and 27s too

https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli31agmdpm

or the Odyssey equivalent..

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[D45]

If or when I upgrade, I'll probably get two batteries and connect them together for a longer burn time

Series or parallel?

 

[Higgins]

You have to review the performance curve of the pump at the installed head height. Most water powered pumps I have seen have low GPH ratings. My application has a head of 9-10'.

Ive been dealing with sub pumps for the past 50 hrs. The battery BU technology has improved over the yrs. however should not be concerned for long term water events!

Our house has a backup generator, and 3 sub pumps. One is for the exterior area behind the house, and 2 mail 2" pumps for the basement!

Our area does experience heavy rain events and the pumping system has performed well! However, April this yr were experienced a nasty storm and all was well. Wife woke up around 3 am and PUMPS were not working!
The two pumps in the basement were not working, and we had 13" of water in the basement ??? Neither pumps were working, moved the Sub Pumps to another circuit in the basement! Nothing ----Panic time ----
Got a spare pump from garage and ran a hose out to the street, pumping capacity was around 10,000 GPH so water wasn't getting higher..

Time passed as we were trying to determine what had happened! A number of other things were not running around the house. So I reset every breaker. There was one breaker that wouldn't reset!! hall bath. Several hrs later a friend of a friend came over with a replacement SP. Removed both pumps and got one running.

Over the next several hrs we determined we must have experienced some type of over voltage occurrence!!

Fast forward a week, we split the sub pumps so they both were on their own 20 amp circuit and installed a whole house 140KVA surge suppressor.
We then tested each circuit with a heavy load, turned off breaker and reset. The breakers that didn't want to reset, or were slow to reset were replaced!

What Happened:
both Sub Pumps in the basement failed and were frozen. Three CB in the house were slow to reset, or wouldn't reset!
Installed Whole House Surge Protection device.
Future"Looking into some type of water level detection system/devices in both Crocks."

Damage Finished Basement:
Removed wooded flooring, appliances, rugs, TVs, wet insulation, etc.
Clean Up:
Cleanup and removal of debris , washing down walls, using a Commercial Ozone Generator!!) Water remediation and mold removal Ozone Generator- was a week Estimated Total Coast was north of 50K

 

[dcg9381]

If or when I upgrade, I'll probably get two batteries and connect them together for a longer burn time

Series or parallel?

Context:
UPS that don't get frozen, MC's that don't get ridden.

I'm moving everything to lithium. Battery life is much longer. As long as they are not being charged while frozen, I'm done with lead "tech".....

Batteries are smaller, lighter, not adjusting the charge algorithms, you're at 80% and LiFe04 is way safer than the original lithium chemistry.

 

[D45]

Lithium batteries are a good idea, but I then wonder if my current Simer back up system and Simer charger are compatible........

 

[dcg9381]

Lithium batteries are a good idea, but I then wonder if my current Simer back up system and Simer charger are compatible........

I dunno what "simer" is, but lithium batteries have a higher (voltage) charging profile over lead acid. I have not found a situation (other than freezing) where lead acid chargers won't work...when I say "work" I mean charge to 80%.

 

[BombShelter]

Simer is a brand of pump.

If you're getting that much water in, I'd seriously look at exterior waterproofing, it's not normal to have a flooded basement every time it rains. Without even seeing the foundation I bet I could do a walk-around the outside and find cracks or mortar separation, usually near the downspouts. Other times it's old basement windows and the wood trim has rotted out, a little wood-picking and you'll find a big hole into the hollow blocks in that old window well with peeling caulk.

Drain tile/sump pumps are not infallible, eventually they'll fill up with sand and dirt and block up the system. Batteries have a short shelf life, especially when they rarely used, and even then can they keep up with the power hungry pumps? Expect to have a "end-of-life" event for your drain-tile eventually and they're not cheap to replace averaging $15,000-20,000 for a normal home cuz most companies don't want to do a blocked section, they'd rather do it all over again.

If your basement is finished I'd look into a generator, I've seen brand new big dollar finished basement being ripped out, after a hard rain event, many times.

 

[dcg9381]

If your basement is finished I'd look into a generator, I've seen brand new big dollar finished basement being ripped out, after a hard rain event, many times.

As someone who has done generators, my order would be this (with no financial self-interest):
1) multiple sump pumps
2) LiFe04 battery backups, sized for [average power drop] x 10x. Planned replacement @ 7 years.
3) Generator - a "manual" genset is a fraction of a cost of a "whole house" genset. (installed, not GJ style)

I can buy a 5kw Life04 battery for $900. That's a single, wouldn't trust it.
But a whole house genset here installed is $15k all day long...

Neither helps if your pump fails. So have a backup.

 

[SMOKEYBEAR]

If or when I upgrade, I'll probably get two batteries and connect them together for a longer burn time

Series or parallel?

Parallel - Increases AH ( run time) without changing the volts.

 

[D45]

I don't get alot of water in the basements single sump pit, but it does run especially during heavy heavy storms

The basement is not finished, half crawl and half poured concrete

Yes Simer is the brand of the battery backup sump system