# Dry-Well Sump Question



## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

OK, so I am on septic, which is OLD but works fine. Drain from house to septic tank, then overflow to dry well which is where the sump pump lives. When ground water etc acclimates to high it is pumped to the ditch. Yes it is legal as it is grandfathered in. 

Problem, well is ~30ft, cord on pump is ~7. It was connected to power by an extension cord. The end of the extension cord was cut off and the wires were directly attached to the plug of the pump. This cord was then brought up the remainder of the well and plugged into yet another extension cord and plugged into the power. 

The middle cord has malfunctioned. I feel this is a rather bizarre way to wire anything. anysuggestions on how to fix this. 

I was thinking of getting a couple of pieces of pvc pipe. Running the cords into the pipe and sealing the bottoms somehow to keep it waterproof.

Suggestions?


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

poly electrical conduit (grey color) - not regular water PVC pipe .... gasket sealed junction boxes on both ends of the power run .... cord set to the sump pump is run inside a flexible poly conduit for protection .... use a waterproof cord grip connector for the pump cord set ..... you'll never have electrical problems again


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

IlliniWarrior said:


> poly electrical conduit (grey color) - not regular water PVC pipe .... gasket sealed junction boxes on both ends of the power run .... cord set to the sump pump is run inside a flexible poly conduit for protection .... use a waterproof cord grip connector for the pump cord set ..... you'll never have electrical problems again


Thank You, what is a "waterproof" cord grip. The rest I understand


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

Take the pump to a Electrician and ask them to replace the 7 foot power cord with a 30 foot.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

If you want to do it yourself, replace the chords with Romex(waterproof) and put waterproof heat shrink over the connections to the sump.

That is pretty standard for submersible water pumps and can be done fairly easily by most people.

If you dont feel comfortable doing that - do what TheLazyL suggested.

Edit: All Romex is waterproof but some is specifically made for use with submersible pumps.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

IlliniWarrior said:


> .... use a waterproof cord grip connector for the pump cord set .....


Any of the above are good answers.

We used the waterproof cord grip connector aka water poof plug in environments like this for the simplicity of changing out the motors. Your sump pump will go bad eventually so you might want to factor in future maintenance. This plug comes as a two part unit, male & female, just like the ends on your extension cord. These ends mate up and then a rubber hood is rolled over to form a water tight seal.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Caribou said:


> Any of the above are good answers.
> 
> We used the waterproof cord grip connector aka water poof plug in environments like this for the simplicity of changing out the motors. Your sump pump will go bad eventually so you might want to factor in future maintenance. This plug comes as a two part unit, male & female, just like the ends on your extension cord. These ends mate up and then a rubber hood is rolled over to form a water tight seal.


Thank you Now to see if I can find these things


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

TheLazyL said:


> Take the pump to a Electrician and ask them to replace the 7 foot power cord with a 30 foot.


IMMEDIATELY the warranty is voided on the pump .... an electrician should be able to tell you this ... will he? .... he might not care and just wants the $$$$$

and if he screws it up and it shorts out .... you get the screw


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

Caribou said:


> Any of the above are good answers.
> 
> We used the waterproof cord grip connector aka water poof plug in environments like this for the simplicity of changing out the motors. Your sump pump will go bad eventually so you might want to factor in future maintenance. This plug comes as a two part unit, male & female, just like the ends on your extension cord. These ends mate up and then a rubber hood is rolled over to form a water tight seal.


if it was something like a basement .... ya, I agree ... but it's a well with a column fill and when the pump fails the plug in will be submerged .... you need a waterproof box down there .... it's a little more pain to replace the pump - but safer overall


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Thank you everyone that replied
After reading all the replies, I think I am going with the Romex. This seems to be able to accomplish what I need, I understand it, and I "should" be able to do it myself. In any case it will be better than what was there that failed.

I am also going to have "someone" install a box out by the well, and put it on its own circuit, so I don't have a hundred feet of cord running across my yard.

What the prior resident had done was, remove the end from a mid weight extension cord, and wrap those wires into the holes on the plug of the pump. This connection was not wrapped in any way just wire to metal. That extension cord was then plugged into the one that ran to the power. I know it has been that way, and functional, for at least a year, but it has now failed. I wasn't comfortable, or stupid enough, to recreate that situation. 

Why can't you just buy a sump pump with a long cord... seems it would solve quite a few problems.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

IlliniWarrior said:


> IMMEDIATELY the warranty is voided on the pump .... an electrician should be able to tell you this ... will he? .... he might not care and just wants the $$$$$
> 
> and if he screws it up and it shorts out .... you get the screw


Evidently in my part of the country the Electricians are more trustworthy then in Chicago?


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> Why can't you just buy a sump pump with a long cord... seems it would solve quite a few problems.


Zoeller sells them!

http://www.zoellerpumps.com/en-na/category/3-sump-effluent-dewatering


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

OK, latest problem. Went with the Romex way. Hard wired the pump to romex 12-2 (removed the plug and just wired the two together), then put a plug on the end of the romex. Then blew the fuse to the circuit. Matched wires from the pump cord to the romex (black/black, white/white, green/ground), and wired the plug with white to silver, black to bronze, ground to ground. What did I do wrong. I left enough to be able to put the plug back on the pump, I just want to learn what I did wrong.

Thanks,


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Did you run the wire from the same place? 120V or 240V? Could you have a locked rotor? Have you tried plugging in a light to see if your new cord works?


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

I'm guessing that the pump had a problem that fried your original wiring (the weak link).

You replaced the weak link and now the pump problem trips the circuit breaker.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Caribou said:


> Did you run the wire from the same place? 120V or 240V? Could you have a locked rotor? Have you tried plugging in a light to see if your new cord works?


It is 120, nothing changed to where it is plugged into. I probably could have "locked" anything although I did confirm the pump was functional prior to changing things up. I can't plug anything in to my new cord as it is directly wired to the pump. When I plug that in it trips the breaker. I would assume the problem has to be one of two things; the romex as it is the new piece in the equation, or the fact that it is direct wired to the pump.

Regardless, it will have to wait to Mon when I return from Omaha.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

grakita said:


> ...the pump was functional prior to changing things up.....


Was the pump remove from the pit to test?

If Yes, then when the pump was lowered back into the pit debris jammed the pumps impeller.

If No, then does the new Romex have a nick in it (short) or one of the new connections is shorted.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

TheLazyL said:


> Was the pump remove from the pit to test?
> 
> If Yes, then when the pump was lowered back into the pit debris jammed the pumps impeller.
> 
> If No, then does the new Romex have a nick in it (short) or one of the new connections is shorted.


Yes, the pump was removed from the well and is still sitting on my deck, so it isn't jammed. I don't see any nicks in the romex. But you did just solve the problem..... you are a genius...and I am stupid. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.


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## grakita (Dec 13, 2013)

Thanks to TheLazyL I believe the problem is solved. When I wired the romex into the pump I used the little crimp wire connectors with the heat seal plastic over the top. By his asking the question it dawned on me the each connection has to be sealed independently, I just can't put them together and seal..... they touch and will short. I believe this will solve the problem. Went back and corrected connection, now wrapped individually with elec tape, tested.... IT WORKS.

You guys (and girls, can't tell from user names) are great.... Thank you so much

Please don't think I am stupid, normally my husband and I would have worked on this together and caught the problem, and I actually do know better, with his passing I am having to learn to look for some of the details by myself. This forum is great, my pump works, I had some great suggestions, and I learned an important lesson it attention to details. Thank You.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

grakita said:


> normally my husband and I would have worked on this together and caught the problem, and I actually do know better, with his passing I am having to learn to look for some of the details by myself. This forum is great, my pump works, I had some great suggestions, and I learned an important lesson it attention to details. Thank You.


We need more people like you in this world!


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

grakita said:


> ...corrected connection, now wrapped individually with elec tape, tested.... IT WORKS..


Igor! It's alive! It's alive!


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