Not sure how often a sump should cycle. I have a battery backup installed in case of a failure and it has adequate flow to keep up. The pump runs for 10-15 seconds about every minute after a rain. In the picture you can see how much water is flowing in to the pit id say the rate is equivalent to a sink facuet at 1/2 to 3/4 open.
I did replace the check valve as i read that could cause it but the water isnt coming back in from the discharge pipe.
Is this to frequent? Where should i start looking?
Best Answer
Sump pumps normally have some type of water level monitoring sensor. Very typical is that this is some type of float mechanism that activates one or two switches. The idea behind this sensor system is to turn on the sump pump when the water rises to a certain level. Then the pump should run until the water level falls to some lower level. The better units will have two switches in the sensing mechanism, one which monitors the upper turn on level and another that monitors the lower level. Other cheaper units only have one switch to turn on the pump at the upper level and then use some other scheme to decide when to shut off the pump. That other scheme could be a flapper device, a timed cycle or just hysteresis built into the single sensor switch itself.
If your sump pump is turning on and off in rapid short bursts is probably means one of three things:
From your question details it sounds like the most likely scenario in your situation is the item 1) above.