Sump Pump Control

Divcon has invested a considerable amount of time developing and refining our Sump Control algorithm. We originally developed this at the request of some of our best clients that were experiencing such sump control problems as:

Water Sensing Issues
Sticking / Binding Float

• Where the rod or stops stick and cause the sump to overflow or burn up the pump

 Electronic Probe Level Detection

• Where the level probes were not sensing consistently or getting coated with some form of film that caused them not to sense consistently

Pump Motor / Starter Failure
Pumps Failing

• Where the constant short cycling of the pumps cause the pump bearings, impellers and seals to fail

 Motor & Starter Failures

• Where the constant short cycling of the pumps cause the pump motors and starters to fail

In typical applications the level from start to stop is only 3,” which causes the pumps to be cycled 3 to 4 times in a ten-minute period. This equates to over 500 starts a day! 

After taking control the level from start to stop is now 25” and cycling once in 25 minutes, thus reducing the starts to less than 70 a day. That’s over an 88% decrease in the number of starts!

We all know that the first 10 to 30 seconds the sump pump is running it is not actually pumping fluid. This is when the majority of the wear on the pump itself occurs. The excessive wear on the pump motor and starter is even greater at over 500 starts a day.

Q:  WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THESE COSTLY MALFUNCTIONS AND RAPID PUMP CYCLING?

Additionally, there are BACnet products so sump pump control can become another system easily imbedded into your Building Automation System. Some of the numerous other benefits our system provides include improved operation maintenance and monitoring with features such as:
Custom programming with:

• User defined Lead start / stop set points
• User defined Lag start / stop set points
• Adaptive control to self tune for the optimum pump run times

Automatic Lead / Lag pump Rotation

• Any method you want from last on / off, runtime or custom requirement
• Auto failure alarm and automatic swap of lead pump

Run Time Totalizers that accumulate run time and number of starts
Auto alarming that can:

• Monitor the Ultrasonic Level Sensor and report failure
• Notify of Pump Status Failure
• Notify of Sump High Level
• Notify of Sump Low Level
• Notify of excessive Pump Run Time
• Notify when Service Inspection is necessary

Our Sump Controllers can be customized to meet your exact needs to include:

• One, Two, Three or more pumps as necessary
• Analog Current Sensors on the Pump Motors as to:
• Know if the pump is actually pumping water or just spinning the motor
• Drawing unusually high current (impeller is impaired or dragging or the bearings are failing)
• Controller only (for retro-fitting) or Complete built up panels
• NEMA, IEC Starters or Soft Starts / VFD’s