Is your sump pump alarm going off? Here in the Mundelein, Waukegan, Schaumburg and surrounding IL areas, sump pumps are essential to keeping the lower levels of your home or business dry. Typically located in the basement of your property, your sump pump uses a motor to pump unwanted water out. When there’s enough water to activate it, you’ll hear the motor running, and may be able to see the water it is pumping out, depending on how you have it plumbed.
A sump pump failure, whether due to loss of power or an equipment failure, is a problem that no property owner wants to have – it can lead to large amounts of messy and destructive water intrusion into your home or business.
To help with awareness of this issue, most sump pumps are equipped with alarms. However, your sump pump alarm can also go off even when your pump is working well. Sounds confusing? In this article, we will explain what you need to know about sump pump alarms, and how you can protect your property from water damage.
What Is a Sump Pump Alarm?
The design of most sump pumps is a big part of why these alarms are needed. Sump pump chambers are submerged and often even sealed, so you often cannot see when there is a potential problem. Sump pump alarms monitor the water levels within the sump pump, and will go off when the water is getting too high, and beginning to overflow from the sump pump chamber.
Why Will the Sump Pump Alarm Go Off?
When your sump pump alarm goes off, it is alerting you that there is a problem with your pump, but it does not tell you exactly what the problem is – or how you can fix it. Here are four of the most common reasons that your sump pump alarm may go off:
Loss of Power
If the power is off at your property, whether totally or just on the circuit that powers your pump, your alarm will go off. If you can, go to the circuit breaker board and flip the switch that restores power to your pump. For a total power loss, perhaps during a big storm that also resulted in a loss of power for your whole neighborhood, you are in a tougher spot. Battery back-up systems can be installed to keep your sump pump working even in those situations.
Motor or other Pump Part Failure
If you haven’t lost power and don’t hear the sump pump working, it may have failed or gotten clogged, and needs to be repaired. Similarly, if you can hear your sump pump working, but it isn’t pumping water out of your basement, the motor may not be working properly.
Extreme Water Levels
Your sump pump alarm tells you when the water is too high in your sump pump system. This high water level means that your pump isn’t removing the water quickly enough. This often happens due to the reasons discussed above, like a loss of power or other part failure. The water level can also cause an alarm simply because the pump can’t keep up with the amount of water coming in. This can happen during situations like a flood or a severe storm. If this happens at your property often, you may need to upgrade your system.
Wet Sensors
The water sensors that cause these alarms to go off are usually located at the top of the pump. If they get wet from a malfunction or other water source, the system can alert you even when your pump is working well. Drying off the sensors can solve this problem.
What To Do When Your Sump Pump Alarm Goes Off
If a sump pump alarm works properly, you’ll get early notice that the water level in your home or business’s basement is getting dangerously high. It must be loud enough that you can hear it from anywhere in your home or business, and remote monitoring options are available for multiple or distant locations. Frequent alarms can be a sign that you need to invest in additional systems or repairs to help prevent basement flooding.
Sump pumps and their alerts can help prevent dirty, dangerous water damage. Here in northern Illinois, wet messy storms and floods can occur almost year-round, so make sure you have the equipment you need to prevent it, and the right partner to help you when you need it. A failed or overwhelmed sump pump at your home or business can leave a dangerous, costly mess behind.
Protect Your Investment From Water Damage With Help From McMahon Services & Construction of Hainesville, IL
At McMahon Services and Construction, we offer full water damage restoration services and clean up services. We have a 24/7 emergency line, and are always ready to handle any water damage issues, day or night. If your home or business experiences basement water damage, call McMahon Services and Construction to begin a safe, expert restoration process immediately.
We offer FREE inspections and estimates to residential and commercial customers in our Chicago, Arlington Heights, Berwyn, Des Plaines, Evanston, Mount Prospect, Grayslake, Mundelein, Libertyville, Oak Park, Palatine, Wheaton, Naperville, Waukegan, Schaumburg, Skokie, and surrounding IL service areas.