Burcam Smelly upflush, help! Bur-Cam Pumps

[Dee Jay Tom]

We installed a BurCam easy flush system in our basement this past summer and it WAS working great, until we started getting a septic / sewer smell.

It overflowed once and seaped out beneath the toilet.
The plumber that installed unit made an adjustment to the pump so that the pump would activate with two flushes instead of six.
We then replaced the wax seals and thought we solved the problem.

We are still experiencing that awful smell which forces us to air out the basement all the time.
Could the wax seals not be working?
Does the pump need to run longer than a few seconds?

Help!

Tom

[athome7095]

Three years ago we purchased at Home Depot a Burcam Upflush Toilet System for our bathroom in our basement. The pump motor has recently burned out and was only warrantied for 2 years. We haven't been able to locate a replacement pump like the one that burned out. We asked Home Depot and they only sell this pump in their complete Upflush Systems. We just purchased a Zoeller Pump on the web and the float won't work. The stroke length on the float is 7" which is much too high for our system. We have Burcam Model Number 450475 Pump with MDI Inc. Vertical Switch Model No. SVS-5134R. How can we find a distributor for this Burcam Pump or will another pump work in this system? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[mwilliam]

I also have the same model. Did you try calling Bur-cam? Their numbers are (514) 337- 4415 and 1-800-361-1820

[easthajf]

I have a Burcam sewage pump installed for my basement bathroom. The motor inside the housing sounds like its is continously running...not pumping necessarily, just like motor is running but not pumping. Stops only when I unplug. When I flush/fill the tank, float kicks on when water reaches apprpriate level and the pump clears the waste normally, but the "motor running" sound continues (not loud, just continuous).
Can you advise what problem might be? I have unplugged except when bathroom is in use.
Thanks

[speedbump]

You must be hearing something else. If the float inverts and turns on the pump so that it's emptying the tank, the pump and float are working properly. Also if the pump were to run with no water in the pit, it would over heat and die in a short time. Like an hour or so.

I would start looking for the noise somewhere else.

bob...

[easthajf]

But it stops when I unplug so it's gotta be there.....

[thedood]

i have the same problem, it is definatly the pump
it overheats and is starting to smell like burning plastic, i've unplugged it on account of it seems dangerous. seems like the pump just cant turn off (even though its not actually pumping anything)
nothing on their website to help either, seems like we're probably SOL and have to buy better pumps

[cacher_chick]

A new switch could be installed, but if the pump is in anything less than good condition a new Zoeller pump would be a good choice.

Don't wait until the pump fails or you will be working elbow deep in the sewage.

[Stinkybasement]

Hi< I see nobody replied but thought i would add in my issue with the Bur-Cam pump. I too lost my pump portion as it was used to often by a contractor doing my deck and maybe too much toilet paper-its really not meant for "Heavy use" (LOL) and so after 2 weeks the motor gave out for whatever reason-maybe it jammed--the tristate switch first of all does not work correctly and every 10 or 15 rflushes it would begin to stop flushin, needless to say a party guest would go in and me not remembering to reset it by unplugging and pluggin directly then flushing it empty then re-plugging into the piggy back plug would reset the jammed tristate--the float sends a signal to it or something I dunno but it still does not work even though my handy man plumber guy put an all new better Ryobi motor in it.

The bigger problem is that when it was attached to the vent (well an existing pipe that should have been a vent) it has always had blow back into my utility room (we finished the basement and made the bathroom on our own and only were going to have my reaal builder's plumber pull the permit and I would pay him up to a grand to hook it all up and get me permitted-well NO the guy looks at all the work my brother and I did and says-this is not code that is not code-there was one water pipe that was fed by a kitchenette sink and bathroom sink that joined into a 1/2 inch pipe that code was 3/4 or something but since its not an apt. it would work fine and even if used would not have backed up...but anyway he was just mad that we "BEAT" him out of what he said would have been 4 or 5 thousand of work-like I did it myself as I am rolling in dough-plus i was willing to hook him up well for like a couple hours of work to connect the BUR-CAM. Nope--he said its not in the list of MA approved pumps-since when can a state dictate to you what brand you can use? I mean of all the BS they have a pull down list of vendors that they route business too. I know maybe the quality was betteer but this thing is not in violation of code other than since I had to get a journey man to set it up I am not sure its 100 percent kosher now.

The vent is hooked up rather than to its own vent running up to the attic (which could have been done right next to the radon pipe) it is hooked to an existing vent but that vent seems to be doubly used-NOT CODE_by the original plumber to let eh washing machine dump water down it--so not sure if other things also dump water into it but this "Vent' may not be a vent as in a proper vent and none of the pipes are labelled in my baesment in spite of drop ceilings everywhere for access and total access to the BUR-CAM unit in the utility room where you can get under the actual toilet. Tried sealing the unit box iteself, caulked it, then tried running a pipe up so that if it was gas from septic it might not travel up and down but the pressure when I empty a tub or shower is the only time it smells now but when people visit that is what will always happen-the worst time for your house to suddenly have sewer gas wafting up into the dining area-socrabliu.

I have toyed with just placing and exhaust fan in the basement base wood like where many other vents are- above the foundation but there are not too many quality exhaust exchange fans-one for about 200 bucks would be a work around as its also a dehumidifier and would help with any radon not that that is a problem as the radon system works great.

Anyway, I think what is happening as that a full tub of water and I have a large whirlpool tub, when emptied, or a long shower, after a person has done their business receently causes water to back up possibly into the actual box itself--there is a separeate line for the dirty water to exit the system and meets near the entrance to the septic but if the water does not exit all and backs up a bit due to the volume It seems to either be emptying water into the unit itself and forcing gas back out to either an unsealed shower vent (my brother may have forgotten to seal it now that its under tile-DOH) but more likely something is not hooked up right and the correct but expensive solution is to run an entirely new vent up to the roof. Is there any other chance of something wrong than this. Anyway, Bur_Cam is not a good co. They promiised to send me papers showing they met "US Plumbing Code" and never did in spite of me speaking to a supposed VP of marketing to all of Home Depot and forget Home Depot having answers or backing up the product-the motor broke just after the 2 year warranty of course and my poor journey man had to empty the container by pumping it out and then change the motor-but still no solution to the occasional stench and its really annoying to spend all that money and time only to get burned by an incorrectly vented system or one that just leaks smells from its container--i have yet to figure out where exactly the smell leaks from but I suspect its blow back into the container itself which is not firmly sealed in spite of caulking and scews tightened-changed for larger fitting bolts etc. Toilet base is wax sealed tight....I am no plumber and hate to add an exchange fan for 200 bucks plus a carpenter fee to cut the hole and seal it right-I am not very handy--but for now I am about short of any other ideas and in MA a licensed plumber will rat me out to the local authorities and have me declared a rogue installation and rip the whole bathroom out-which I only added for a parapalegic step-mother to visit by the way-no good deed goes unpunished. I am sure its fixable but I am very upset with the BUR-CAM and as soon as any hint of any problem with this motor will try the other brand people seem to prefer. As far as 4 inch exit-we have that--as far as the vent being 2 or 3 inches I agree with the plumber who said that 2 inches is fine and the 3 is a cosmetic issue--no way you need 3 inch pipe to vent this tiny amount of water flow....but I sure wish I could have put a pump under my floor even if it meant breaking concrete as the water table is too high and it would not be feasible-so we have to pump up--its a great bathroom--i do not like having to raise it but its a small sacrafice to save 7 grand on pumps and plumbing work but the end result is my house smells a lot and probably a lot of local MA master plumbers enjoying it for me trying to do it myself--I have never lived in a state so regulated as to make it that they will not allow anyone to fix their own home-you can do your own electric, but not your own plumbing-even to a self contained septic system-WHY? I could see if you were dumping to the town sewer but my town was too cheap to have these houses hooked up in spite of being in middle of town--and its not the town your thinking of inspector so do not get your hopes up--its somewhere between Lexington and Concord and Dedham-okay? Yeesh--the regulators are coming to get me--maybe there is a reason for the NH plates that say LIVE FREE OR DIE! I always hated them but MA is turning me libertariian in a hurry.Man cannot fix his own house while tens of thousands of old victorians and triple decker sit with frayed wires in walls etc. more likely to cause any issue than a home owner with a farily new home making an addition and following code pretty closely...any ideas are welcome but snide remarks from MA plumbers are not-I have not insulted them--just the fact they try to say which companies I can use for a pump that MEETS CODE....sounds almost illegal to me to have a list of cos. they say are useable--i mean who can prove that its on the up and up? It is not an area any professional group or union should be getting into-like if the local engineers said you could only use a MAC or PC and not a LINUX box by Red hat or something--its your house! Isn't it? Sure, safety is a concern but that is not the issue here...

Stinkybasment
P,S[-late edit-i see the guys post is from 2005 so since I see no replies I am thinking probably I am SOL..alas.maybe just maybe though--unless I missed the reply on another page...

Hope my added comments get you some help at least if not me (again maybe not since your post on odor is from 2005-that is when we put mine in-lucky thing i have a basement window and a fan that I have at ready whenever I know a bunch of showers are coming but its not a solutoin but a work around and it would send air into a ptotential guest bedoom if visitors were here...aarghh.

[mar3232]

I have a 1 1/4" drain that connects to my main drain that isn't being used and it runs maybe 4 feet or so. It has just one 90 degree turn and the whole pipe is above the main drain.

I need to get a toilet in a room about 20 feet away and at best the toilet drain will be horizontal but not flushing "up".

And of course, need the cheapest way out of this.

I saw this Burcam "easy flush" system
http://www.burcam.com/en/products?vi...710&sku=450475

-- does anyone have experience with this?

Any good? Think I could get by reducing to that 1 1/4" toward the end of the pipe run?

I'll assume this is just like a macerating toilet -- you just put your own conventional toilet on the base?

THANKS.