OK, so I am pleaing ignorance here. I have been a home owner x 4 and 2 of my homes have had these devices on the basement called "sump-pumps" or something like that...

I moved to the new house about a month ago or so and I have noticed that the device makes a noise every so often....a noise that resembles that of the air brakes on a truck..."ratatatat...poff!" - - that is the only way I can describe it.

Here are my questions:

1. Is this normal?

2. What exactly is happening when i hear the "truck/semi" brake?

Thanks!

I have always found the answers to my questions on S2K so this was worth a shot....

 

The sump pumps that I come across are float activated bilge pumps that pump out water when it gets to a certain level. Is it possible this is what's happening? It's a bit difficult to guess with the info you've given.

 

what's happeneing is the float is lifting a bit, and the pump is pumping the water out the drain. Since there is not much water to pump, the pump shuts off quickly. That's common. If you didn't have it, you'd notice the basement floor being damp or standing a water in the low spots. If you had more water, the pump would run longer, and the noise would be different, as it would be full of water and muffle the noise.

 

The water around your house is trying to fill in the area used up by your basement. If you had a dirt floor the water level would rise in your basement to match the level in the surrounding soil. Instead, you have a drain field under the concrete floor slab that collects water and directs it towards the pump. When the water rises high enough, the pump is activated to bilge out your house.

If you have some serious extended rain it can overwhelm the pump capacity and you can still end up with water in the basement. The pumps can also fail. If you ever suspect pump failure you can open the trap door and pour a couple buckets of water down their to see if the pump activates and is working correctly.