Zoeller Basement Sentry Issues

I have a Zoeller Basement Sentry 507 installed as my backup sump pump. On Monday I replaced the deep cycle battery with a new Interstate deep cycle SRM27 battery and let it charge overnight. Based on a test of the charge it looks fully charged.

Last night (Tuesday) I tested the pump by unplugging the main pump and letting the sump pit fill up. The 507 turned on when the float switch lifted. I actually had to lift it since the water coming in the sump flowed back into the foundation drains, possibly another issue. The pump did not actually move any water. The battery was still hooked up to the charger at the time.

Based on Zoeller's troubleshooting guide they say it could be a low battery. Based on everyone's experience since the charge on the battery looks good, what else could it be? Is the battery (SRM27) the right size?

You guessed it... I've got water in the sump after 10+" of rain here in Northern VA!

Thanks, Mike

Tell me how you knew the pump didn't move any water. Do you have a check valve on the main pump B4 the 2 drain lines meet?

It does sound like the battery is low on charge, and sometimes when you install a brand new battery it could possibly take up to two weeks for the charger to get the battery up to a full charge of 14.2 volts.

That Interstate battery is the wrong battery for any of our back up pump systems due to the fact that it is not a true deep cycle battery. We have had numerous discussions with Interstate about their batteries and they have recently changed the design of the battery to make it more of a "hybrid" type of battery, meaning it is designed to start motors and deep cycle. When they did this, it actually changed the plates inside the battery a little bit and we have seen numerous amounts of batteries being burned up anywhere from 8 - 16 months.

The batteries we use are made by Crown battery. The correct battery you would need to look for is a size 31 with a 200 minute reserve capacity and no cold cranking amps (CCA's) or marine cranking amps (MCA's), this is for a wet battery. If you are looking for a "gel"type of battery, then the only difference is going to be a size 27 battery and the rest stays the same.

If you have any other questions about this feel free to call our tech service at 1-800-928-7867 ext 6.

Zoellerpump - Thanks for the advice. I talked with one of ther service techs this morning and he was also helpful. I'll check on getting the Aquanot battery instead.

Cass- I could tell that the water was not moving due to nothing was getting drained and I could not hear anything in the drain line. I theink the check valve is above the pump.

Thanks, Mike