Frozen Sump Pump
joan_crystal said:
How does one safely thaw a sump pump? Between the extremely low temperatures we have had lately and not having heat in the house on a 20 degree day due to a dead thermostat my sump pump has frozen. The water level in the sump pump well is just below the lip of the well. Basement floor is dry thus far. Boiler is close to the sump pump well so this could become a serious issue when it next rains. Please advise.
Boil some water and pour on top, if you have room.
Or try a hair dryer.
yahooyahoo said:
joan_crystal said:
How does one safely thaw a sump pump? Between the extremely low temperatures we have had lately and not having heat in the house on a 20 degree day due to a dead thermostat my sump pump has frozen. The water level in the sump pump well is just below the lip of the well. Basement floor is dry thus far. Boiler is close to the sump pump well so this could become a serious issue when it next rains. Please advise.
Boil some water and pour on top, if you have room.
Or try a hair dryer.
Also, ice takes up more space than the equivalent water once melted, so you may have more space than you think to try this approach (or a combination of the two.)
Could one of the space heaters that the kids brought over be set up close to the pump?
I’m thinking about your original question, Joan. 2 days ago, was there a water level or an ice level just below the lip of the well? If it was liquid water, how did you know there was ice below, and that the pump was thus frozen? Could you see the ice through the water above, or could you feel ice below when you stuck your hand down into the water? Did you surmise the pump was frozen because you detected ice?
If ice filled the entire well, I think that would require a good deal of time to thaw out. And if the pump is activated by a float, and the well thaws out from the top down, then the float might be freed up (and rise), thus activating the motor (I’m assuming an electric pump) to try to pump out water (below) (which is still frozen, and unable to flow), thus potentially damaging the motor, which continues to try to pump. But maybe the motor is also frozen at this point, which might protect motor from “burning out”. Maybe.
Cutting power to the pump until the well is fully thawed might be the safest thing (for the pump). Did I mention I know virtually nothing about this topic? Someone who knows about this stuff needs to comment here.
Then again, maybe everything already thawed and the water is gone.
dickf3 said:
I’m thinking about your original question, Joan. 2 days ago, was there a water level or an ice level just below the lip of the well? If it was liquid water, how did you know there was ice below, and that the pump was thus frozen? Could you see the ice through the water above, or could you feel ice below when you stuck your hand down into the water? Did you surmise the pump was frozen because you detected ice?
If ice filled the entire well, I think that would require a good deal of time to thaw out. And if the pump is activated by a float, and the well thaws out from the top down, then the float might be freed up (and rise), thus activating the motor (I’m assuming an electric pump) to try to pump out water (below) (which is still frozen, and unable to flow), thus potentially damaging the motor, which continues to try to pump. But maybe the motor is also frozen at this point, which might protect motor from “burning out”. Maybe.
Cutting power to the pump until the well is fully thawed might be the safest thing (for the pump). Did I mention I know virtually nothing about this topic? Someone who knows about this stuff needs to comment here.
Then again, maybe everything already thawed and the water is gone.
I know the pump is frozen because the plumber told me it was frozen when he came to replace my dead thermostat. Visible water in the sump pump well is liquid not ice. He thinks the freeze is outside the house. Sump pump is unplugged. I tried plugging it in for ten minutes yesterday while I was on the phone with the plumber. Water agitated but level of water in the well did not decrease. As instructed, I then unplugged the sump pump and left it unplugged. Plumber is hoping to make it back tomorrow to deal with the situation. It does not appear to be something that a hair dryer or boiling water can easily address. As of an hour ago, water level has not changed from yesterday so I assume the problem still exists. Plumber thinks it will not be a problem until we have rain again (predicted for Saturday). Thank you so much for your follow-up and concern. Like you I am not knowledgeable in this area. Thus my earlier post.
Ok, So it sounds like maybe the drain line is frozen. The pump runs but that water can’t go anywhere so it just agitates in the sump well.
Joan does the drain line from the pump go outside your house and then down into the ground to where it empties? That could potentially be a spot that’s vulnerable to freezing.
That's what I think. The line goes underground and then empties directly into the storm sewer.
How does one safely thaw a sump pump? Between the extremely low temperatures we have had lately and not having heat in the house on a 20 degree day due to a dead thermostat my sump pump has frozen. The water level in the sump pump well is just below the lip of the well. Basement floor is dry thus far. Boiler is close to the sump pump well so this could become a serious issue when it next rains. Please advise.