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![]() You need grade control of laterals in the field - Often the outlet elevation is in that gray area of design where it is almost deep enough to use as a gravity outlet. Likewise, they should be turned off during snowmelt flooding situations. ![]() You need to control the amount of water that leaves the field - During the growing season, lift pumps can be turned off to hold subsurface water in the field. The outlet ditch fills with water after a large rain and stays that way for more than three days - If the outlet ditch is full, it will not let the tile drainage system drain at the design rate and the lower part of the field may stay saturated for a long time. The downstream water elevation is controlled by a culvert or road - Changing the outlet elevation by lowering the culvert or digging through the road may be possible so that a pump station is not needed however, local governance and adjacent landowners may object. The bottom of many road ditches is about 2 to 3 feet below field elevation, but the tile main at the outlet can be 6 to 7 feet below field elevation thus, the water from the main must be lifted into the outlet ditch. The outlet ditch is shallow - Often in flat topography such as the Red River and Souris River valleys, the only available outlet is a road ditch. Common conditions requiring a pump station are: If this is the case for your backup, nothing you do can will fix the problem and the system needs to be replaced.A pump station increases the investment in a tile drainage system significantly, but often it is the only option for moving the tile drainage water to the outlet. Just like many modern kitchen appliances that now rely on cheap circuit boards, such electronic components can and will fail eventually. Unfortunately, there are times when the unit simply has faulty electronics and the circuit board has failed. If this is the case, some battery backup systems have a button to reset the alarm for 24 hours. If you just had a power outage and your backup sump pump was running, the alarm may go off temporarily until power is restored and it can recharge. In this case, the voltage should be above 12.1 volts, but definitely not below 11.6 volts. Finally, you could also test the battery while the pump is running. If it’s any less than that, your battery is no longer holding a full charge and should be replaced right away. It should now be between 12.3 and 13.2 volts. Next, unplug the battery charger and wait a few minutes. If it’s below that, you may have a trickle charger problem. When the battery’s trickle charger is plugged in, the voltage should be around 13.5 volts on a standard 12 volt battery. You can do this using a multimeter or voltmeter. Check the floating voltage between the positive and negative terminals of the battery. Try resetting the circuit breaker or use a different outlet.Ĭhecking battery voltage. Inspect the battery’s trickle charger, the electrical outlet, fuse, and circuit breaker to ensure nothing is wrong with the power source. In some cases, the battery is fine, but isn’t receiving enough power to properly recharge. Either of these problems can trigger a false alarm, so check this first.Ģ. Make sure the battery terminals aren’t corroded and the wire connections are secure. There are a couple steps you can take to confirm your battery no longer holds a charge before you replace it with a new battery (or with the more reliable Water Commander ™ system).ġ. ![]() If the battery has low power levels, this will trigger the alarm. However, if you are using a more expensive maintenance free battery that does not require you to replenish the water (such as this one), you need to fasten the fluid sensor rod between the wingnut and the positive terminal to deactivate the water level alarm (per Basement Watchdog’s FAQ). (This Youtube video explains in more detail.) If it’s placed in the wrong cell, this would trip the alarm even if the fluid levels are correct. For Basement Watchdog systems, this would be the second cell over from the positive terminal. If you don’t, the alarm will sound once too much water has evaporated.Īlso, make sure the sensor is inserted into the proper cell. If you have a wet-cell battery, the most common type of battery for backup sump pumps, you need to regularly maintain the levels of distilled water in the individual battery cells. Filling battery cells with distilled water ![]()
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