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57 Posts
$h!t runs downhill. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool, and anyone who buys a house built on a different principle is also a fool. This makes me a fool.
I have a 7 year old home with a laundry room in the basement. The basement was also studded for a bathroom, but currently it is not there. The plumbing for all of this runs into a tank in the garage and is pumped up to the next level with an ejector pump. The whole setup looks like this:
A few weeks ago, after a load of laundry, we discovered a wet garage. So I don my work clothes and and get ready to pull the cover off of the tank, not knowing what to expect. When I loosened the black rubber coupling from the output pipe, it released pressure just like opening a coke bottle. "odd" I thought to myself (I should note that the pump had been running prior to me starting work on it, but non ejecting anything. I began this process expecting to find a clog of some kind.) I pull the one-way valve off and inspect it and the rest of the pipe for some kind of clog and don't find anything. I put it all back together, plug in the pump, and in about 5 seconds it pumps all of the "water" out of the tank. Mystified, I go grab a garden hose and fill the tank back up about 4 times and watch as the pump does its job just fine each consecutive time. The next day, the wife does laundry, I hear the pump come on and off several times. Life is good again.
Fast-forward another week, and we once again have water in the garage. Pump is running, nothing is coming out. I remove the rubber couple again, and it pops like a coke bottle again. For curiosity, I immediately put it back together, plug in the pump, and to my surprise, it pumps out all of the remaining water. Thinking that for some reason the one-way valve might be sticking closed, I remove it, take it outside, scrub it squeaky clean, and put it back in. Refill the tank with a water hose, and all works as advertised.
Fast-forward another week, and there is yet again water in the garage. Still suspicious that the laundry-only detergent water that goes through this tank might have somehow damaged the rubber-flapper-thingy in the one-way valve and cause it to basically glue itself shut when the pipe sits dry for a few days, I head off to HD and get a new one. Easy to install and once again everything is pumping as its supposed to. (the black rubber coupling also seemed to be under pressure when I opened it, even though I had unplugged the pump the night before since it was running and not getting anywhere)
Wait one more week (laundry days are always about a week apart) and we once again have water in the garage. At this point I'm at a loss. I removed the pump from the pit entirely and gave it a good visual once-over. I don't see anything that looks awry (although I'm no expert) Once I put it back together, the pump will empty the tank in about 5 seconds so it seems to be performing fine. I once again filled it with my garden hose several times to be sure. I don't see anything wrong with the vent. It all looks pretty straightforward. And its worked for years up to this point.
Anyone got any thoughts?
Again, $h!t runs downhill...don't let anyone tell you any different!
I have a 7 year old home with a laundry room in the basement. The basement was also studded for a bathroom, but currently it is not there. The plumbing for all of this runs into a tank in the garage and is pumped up to the next level with an ejector pump. The whole setup looks like this:

A few weeks ago, after a load of laundry, we discovered a wet garage. So I don my work clothes and and get ready to pull the cover off of the tank, not knowing what to expect. When I loosened the black rubber coupling from the output pipe, it released pressure just like opening a coke bottle. "odd" I thought to myself (I should note that the pump had been running prior to me starting work on it, but non ejecting anything. I began this process expecting to find a clog of some kind.) I pull the one-way valve off and inspect it and the rest of the pipe for some kind of clog and don't find anything. I put it all back together, plug in the pump, and in about 5 seconds it pumps all of the "water" out of the tank. Mystified, I go grab a garden hose and fill the tank back up about 4 times and watch as the pump does its job just fine each consecutive time. The next day, the wife does laundry, I hear the pump come on and off several times. Life is good again.
Fast-forward another week, and we once again have water in the garage. Pump is running, nothing is coming out. I remove the rubber couple again, and it pops like a coke bottle again. For curiosity, I immediately put it back together, plug in the pump, and to my surprise, it pumps out all of the remaining water. Thinking that for some reason the one-way valve might be sticking closed, I remove it, take it outside, scrub it squeaky clean, and put it back in. Refill the tank with a water hose, and all works as advertised.
Fast-forward another week, and there is yet again water in the garage. Still suspicious that the laundry-only detergent water that goes through this tank might have somehow damaged the rubber-flapper-thingy in the one-way valve and cause it to basically glue itself shut when the pipe sits dry for a few days, I head off to HD and get a new one. Easy to install and once again everything is pumping as its supposed to. (the black rubber coupling also seemed to be under pressure when I opened it, even though I had unplugged the pump the night before since it was running and not getting anywhere)
Wait one more week (laundry days are always about a week apart) and we once again have water in the garage. At this point I'm at a loss. I removed the pump from the pit entirely and gave it a good visual once-over. I don't see anything that looks awry (although I'm no expert) Once I put it back together, the pump will empty the tank in about 5 seconds so it seems to be performing fine. I once again filled it with my garden hose several times to be sure. I don't see anything wrong with the vent. It all looks pretty straightforward. And its worked for years up to this point.
Anyone got any thoughts?
Again, $h!t runs downhill...don't let anyone tell you any different!