Sump Pump Not Draining

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

I have two sump pumps. I don’t have any idea how the sump pump works. We are having very heavy rains right now. One of the sump pumps holes is filled with water and I can hear the pump running but it is not draining. The other sump pump has taken over. Do I need to do anything to the other pump, unplug it, or should I just leave it alone? There is a great deal of flooding in my backyard also. Could this be part of my problem? Thank you in advance for your help.

[Ken ZoellerParticipant]

You may have an air lock on the pump running but not pumping. There needs to be a 3/16″ diamiter hole in the discharge pipe just above the outlet of the pump but below the floor line if there is a check valve in the line and the pump is a bottomm intake unit. What happens is… air gets into the pump case and air binds the impleller. The hole in the discharge line will let the air out and allows the pump to prime. If there is a check valve in the line, it could be stuck shut or the flapper in it could have come loose and is stopping the flow. The line down stream could be stopped up some way. UNPLUG the unit before you handle it or touch the discharge pipeing for safety sake and do not forget to plug it nack in. Go to http://www.SSPMA.org more info.

[jwigginsParticipant]

Hi, I believe that I have the same or very similar problem. We just moved to our house and it has a sump pump for what appears to be the drainage of the surrounding basesment area. We have a sump pump pit which has two pipes inside it. One small pipe on a downward angle appears to be the outtake. At the bottom of the pit is a larger say 5″ diameter pipe. If I get the water out of the pit I can tell that the water must be coming in from this larger pipe. No water appears to enter from the smaller pipe. The sump pump doesn’t appear to be able to pipe the water out anywhere. It’s a submersable pump with I would guess a 3/4″ flex hose attached. Should this hose be attached to the suspected outtake pipe ? I have tried having the water go up that port but it doesn’t get removed and it just comes back down the small pipe. I am suspecting that the check valve is having problems possibly this air lock issue. If that is the case does this required venting in the outtake pipe happen outside the pit or inside. Sorry I have never done this before. If I can fix this trap maybe the call to the plumber won’t be required. Should I try and dig outside of the house where the outtake pipe would go ?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Jeff.

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