PumpAlarm.com Knowledge Base
Below are some helpful resources to assist with the installation, setup, and use of your PumpAlarm.com products. If you have additional questions, comments, or concerns, please contact us at (888) 454-5051 or email us at support@pumpalarm.com .
Additional Helpful Pages
Table of Contents​
Basements & Sump Pumps
How does water get in my basement?
A sump pump is a small pump that sits inside a pit or basin below your basement floor to collect ground water from around the exterior basement walls and foundation. The build-up of water around your basement walls creates water pressure. This water pressure enables water to find it’s way through the tiniest cracks in your basement walls, and into your basement. A properly working sump pump system collects this water, thus relieving the water pressure from your basement walls, and then it pumps the water away from your home to a safe place. This collected groundwater is typically pumped into your back yard, a drainage ditch, a city storm sewer, or any location that keeps the water away from your basement walls and foundation. It’s important to always know your basement sump pump is working to prevent a wet or flooded basement.
If basements flood, why do I have one?
It’s because a basement is a very low cost way for a home builder to add space to your home. You can essentially double the useable square footage of a home by adding a full basement. The only area that’s as low cost to build as a basement is your garage! All other rooms cost much more to build. However, whereas the basement is low cost to build, if your basement is located in an area with a high water table, and many are today as builders build on more “marginal” lands as premium sites are increasingly rare, then the liability of basement water management is passed along to the home owner. Is this a huge liability? Not really. Buy a Pumpalarm.com alarm monitor and have the peace-of-mind that your basement sump pump is always working to keep your basement dry.
What is a sump pump?
A sump pump is a small pump that sits inside a pit or basin below your basement floor to collect ground water from around the exterior basement walls and foundation. The build-up of water around your basement walls creates water pressure. This water pressure enables water to find its way through the tiniest cracks in your basement walls, and into your basement.
A properly working sump pump system collects this water, thus relieving the water pressure from your basement walls, and then it pumps the water away from your home to a safe place. This collected groundwater is typically pumped into your back yard, a drainage ditch, a city storm sewer, or any location that keeps the water away from your basement walls and foundation. It’s important to always know your basement sump pump is working to prevent a wet or flooded basement.
When should I replace my sump pump?
YOU CAN’T TREAT A SUMP PUMP LIKE A LIGHTBULB AND REPLACE IT AFTER IT FAILS!
Homeowners, many times, treat a home sump pump like a light bulb, replacing it after it’s failed. Whereas, this is acceptable for a lightbulb that can’t physically damage your home when it doesn’t work, it’s not an acceptable maintenance or repair plan for a home sump pump. The sump pump is your last line of defense to prevent a flooded basement. If you replace it after it has failed, you end up with a flooded basement. Pumpalarm.com notifies you 24/7 of a pump failure so you can take action before you fill your basement with groundwater.
Why use a cellular alarm?
The PumpAlarm is the only cellular sump pump alarm on the market. Why? During a home power loss event, most people’s home Wi-Fi router no longer work (i.e. because they don’t have power). If you have an alarm system that uses this Wi-Fi, it’s no longer working. The PumpAlarm device is cellular, like your cell phone, and during a power loss event, it continues to notify you to a failed sump pump or high water condition using its cellular technology and back-up batteries. Also, Wi-Fi routers simply “lock up” at times, especially during power loss event.
What's the difference between cellular and Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi is the service that comes from your home Internet provider, and it typically provides internet service for PC web surfing, as well as your TV shows, and maybe even your home phone service. It’s also usable by alarm companies for monitoring your home alarm system. Cellular is the mobile wireless service that operates your cell phone. There are advantages to this cellular, mobile, wireless service. First, it makes for a great home alarm system. If your home Internet cable would be cut or disabled for some reason (all criminals know to cut your internet line before they enter your home), or your Wi-Fi router just locks-up (like they all do at times) your cellular signals continue to operate. The PumpAlarm device continues to work when your home internet, or Wi-Fi, is not working, and even works through power failure events from it’s back-up battery, making it impossible to disable during a critical event.
What do I do if I'm out of town and I receive an alert when I'm not available to fix my pump?
Give your plumber, neighbor, friend or relative your garage door code to investigate and repair. Is this ideal? No, but it’s much better than arriving home to a basement full of water!
Think about it…what else can you do? The best line of defense is a good offense. Make sure you can allow someone access to your home while away, and then big issues become small ones. Don’t have a garage door or front door electronic keypad? This might be a good time to get one! You can buy online or from your home hardware store, and then have easy access to your home for failed sump pumps, but also other home things.
How do I mount my PumpAlarm unit?
The easiest way to mount your product is to strap it about 5-6 ft. above floor level directly onto your sump pump discharge pipe. This is a convenient location, and easy to do. 2nd choice would be wall mount near your sump pit. This takes a little more work as you’ll need to install wall anchors to fasten it to your wall. There’s a final reason to mount the device to sump pump’s discharge pipe. The battery access panel on the PumpAlarm unit is in the BACK of the device, and when pipe mounted, the batteries are much easier to access. You can access the battery pocket when the device is wall mounted, but you’ll need to be sure the device is easily removable from the wall to access the batteries.
I plugged in the PumpAlarm unit and it doesn't notify me, what do I do?
This is a cellular device just like your cellular phone. Did you remember to activate it following the instructions in the supplied user manual? If so, and you’re still having issues, then please call our technical support M-F, 8am-5pm EST at 888-454-5051 for help!