So we have a bit of a weird setup for our septic system.
We have a separating tank, holding tank and ejector. So everything in the house goes into the first part of the tank, then grey water moves over to another side. That side then has a 1-1/4 poly pipe back into our basement to a Monarch BE-S33 ejector pump. This pumps the grey water back out to an ejector (basically just dumps the water on the far side of our acreage).
We had some issues initially due to some faulty floats. One those were replaced, we've been good for a while. I repositioned things slightly a few months back. After doing so, I was losing prime on the ejector. I retightened up all the hose clamps and we have been golden for a few months now.
Until yesterday. The pump was running for who knows how long (fairly hot to the touch) as it had lost prime and was trying to pump air. We had a little sewage backup in the utility room (oh joy). I reprimed it and it pumped everything out like a champ. Next day the same thing with losing prime. And again last night at 4AM. I checked everything for tight so I'm at a loss.
I am not the original owner here, so I'm not 100% sure on some things. From the best of my knowledge, there is no check/foot valve anywhere on the sewage side. From everything I've seen, there should be one on the discharge side of the system. I can definitely look at adding one asap, but I just want some more input here.
It kind of seems like we're relying on the little flapper valve thing on the front of the pump. When I open the See-Fil filter before the intake it will back flow some water from the pump. Seems like that should be a no go. I reallllly don't want an air leak on the intake pipe as it is in poured concrete and would be next to impossible to replace without major major costs.
Could it be a simple issue where there isn't an external check valve and the internal pump's check has worn out? Should I be pulling the front off the pump and checking the condition of that flapper? Would you recommend anything else?
I'm not opposed to replacing the pump either. It's only 1/3HP and I would probably step up to 1/2HP next time. It has to be a similar style pump (no submersible option unfortunately) so I'm stuck with the Monarch, Little Giant, Red Lion clones. Any other pumps out there better or which one would you consider?
I need this figured out pretty quick as my wife is due within a week and I can't come home to a sewage flooded house with a new baby. Thanks!
We have a separating tank, holding tank and ejector. So everything in the house goes into the first part of the tank, then grey water moves over to another side. That side then has a 1-1/4 poly pipe back into our basement to a Monarch BE-S33 ejector pump. This pumps the grey water back out to an ejector (basically just dumps the water on the far side of our acreage).
We had some issues initially due to some faulty floats. One those were replaced, we've been good for a while. I repositioned things slightly a few months back. After doing so, I was losing prime on the ejector. I retightened up all the hose clamps and we have been golden for a few months now.
Until yesterday. The pump was running for who knows how long (fairly hot to the touch) as it had lost prime and was trying to pump air. We had a little sewage backup in the utility room (oh joy). I reprimed it and it pumped everything out like a champ. Next day the same thing with losing prime. And again last night at 4AM. I checked everything for tight so I'm at a loss.
I am not the original owner here, so I'm not 100% sure on some things. From the best of my knowledge, there is no check/foot valve anywhere on the sewage side. From everything I've seen, there should be one on the discharge side of the system. I can definitely look at adding one asap, but I just want some more input here.
It kind of seems like we're relying on the little flapper valve thing on the front of the pump. When I open the See-Fil filter before the intake it will back flow some water from the pump. Seems like that should be a no go. I reallllly don't want an air leak on the intake pipe as it is in poured concrete and would be next to impossible to replace without major major costs.
Could it be a simple issue where there isn't an external check valve and the internal pump's check has worn out? Should I be pulling the front off the pump and checking the condition of that flapper? Would you recommend anything else?
I'm not opposed to replacing the pump either. It's only 1/3HP and I would probably step up to 1/2HP next time. It has to be a similar style pump (no submersible option unfortunately) so I'm stuck with the Monarch, Little Giant, Red Lion clones. Any other pumps out there better or which one would you consider?
I need this figured out pretty quick as my wife is due within a week and I can't come home to a sewage flooded house with a new baby. Thanks!