DIY guideEjector pump
Listen for the ejector pump and test its alarm
Run water downstairs, listen for the pump to start and stop, press the alarm's test button, and check both are plugged in, all without opening the sealed lid.
- 5 to 10 min
- 7 steps
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Find the sealed lid in the basement floor with a pipe rising out of it, and the alarm box on the wall nearby.
Leave the lid sealed: this check never needs it open.Flush the basement toilet or run its sink for a minute, so the basin fills.
Listen at the basin: the pump should hum for a short while, then stop by itself.
You may hear a clunk from the pipe as it stops: that's the check valve closing.
Press the alarm box's test button. It should sound and its light should come on.
Check the pump and the alarm are both plugged in, and change the alarm's battery if it has one.
A pump that runs without stopping or won't run, an alarm that sounds on its own, or a smell: stop using water downstairs and ask Handyman for a plumber.
What you need
- Nothing but your ears
- A battery for the alarm, if it takes one
Call a pro if
- The pump runs nonstop or won't run
- The alarm sounds on its own
- There's a sewage smell downstairs
- The test button doesn't sound the alarm
Handyman says: Pump acting up? I'll find a plumber.
Free for every home. Handyman asks a few questions, then books a pro it trusts.
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