Float Switch

[PRinFairfax]

I am a newbie - forgive the ignorance.  

 

Anyway, I want to protect my return pump in sump from burning out in the event my overflow to the sump stops.  

 

I am looking for a recommendation/link to something low cost (return pump was only $35).  If any wiring is required probably it's not for me.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Patrick

[WheresTheReef]

I would look at an aquarium controller. There is usually some used ones sold on here at reasonable prices. You can also post a WTB. A controller such as a reef keeper (with the correct modules) could give you what you want plus a lot more. For example, I had a heater fail ON which would of be disastrous but my controller cut off power to the heater and alarmed me when it exceeded 78 degrees.

[Origami]

I am a newbie - forgive the ignorance.  

 

Anyway, I want to protect my return pump in sump from burning out in the event my overflow to the sump stops.  

 

I am looking for a recommendation/link to something low cost (return pump was only $35).  If any wiring is required probably it's not for me.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Patrick

 

Good... thinking about reliability and failure scenarios. I like that.

 

In the event that your overflow is plugged but your return pump is still operational, you will have two concerns:

 

1) Your return pump pumps so much water up to the tank, overflowing it and causing potentially thousands of dollars in damage to floors, carpets, walls, etc. and possibly starting a fire if equipment gets wet with salt water.

2) Your return pump pumps its sump chamber dry, overheats and possibly seizes (in your case, causing a loss of a $35 pump).

 

First, a good overflow design has redundant drain paths or an emergency overflow that is dry (and therefore clear) in normal operation. Done right, this redundant path can be made to drain water back into the return pump chamber to keep the pump cool. At the very least, when the pump chamber goes dry, there's a certain amount of water sloshing back and forth in the return pipe that can be used to keep the pump cool (or, at least, to slow its overheating). The more water volume that's in the return pipe, the more protection that you'll have. Of course, if your pump or the power fails (more likely than your overflow clogging, by the way), the water in the return pipe will descend back into your sump and, if the sump does not have enough capacity to accomodate this extra water, it could overflow. (!!) A check valve inserted here can save you from this but it also prevents the water sloshing that could protect your pump.

 

Finally, you could add an ATO-like control (either using an aquarium controller or another product) to detect low water in the return pump chamber and to disconnect your return pump if the water level falls below that level.

 

I've mentioned two failure modes that I suggest you plan for. One you've already mentioned: Drain pipe is clogged or overflow stops working. The second is, what happens if my pump fails, or the power goes out, or my return pipe is clogged? In both cases, you need to understand where the water will accumulate and plan to have enough extra capacity there to where you keep your floors dry.

[madweazl]

I just stumbled across the AutoAqua water level sensor today; might be worth a look. Be sure to use Amazon Smile if you go that route

[PRinFairfax]

WOW!  great responses - appreciate the time taken.

 

I want a controller to monitor temperature but it has to be plug and play or run on Mac/iOS.  researching

 

Changed my amazon to smile.amazon.  Buy a lot so should ring up some $ for wamas.org

 

Really I should be worrying about the bigger problem of a blocked overflow ($15K damage v. $35) - working on that starting tomorrow