watchdog Big Combo Sump pump and battery backup install

[@denislafrance84]

Great video, thanks

[@jdubya54]

That worked great. Note. If you didnt have the thread on connector use a marker to mark the pipe placement dry fit then glue it using marks

[@absdrmr81]

Thanks for the video. I had the power go out in my house and sure enough had my basement flooded. Saw this at the big box store and will be picking it up.

[@dave_adamson]

Thanks for watching. I had the fuse blow while away which is why I got this. Lesson learned don't keep putting it off. Been a year no issues and just went through a very rainy few weeks.

[@curiosity2314]

I have a Watchdog model that I'm thinking is 25 to 30 years old, replacing it with the big combo WiFi. Around 2015 I got rid of the original battery that had come with it and purchased a large deep cycle marine battery from Sears at the time. It does not loose water and I disabled the water check. Better to double up on a set of deep cycle batteries then to buy the Watchdog brand. Maintenance free batteries don't loose water over time why are theirs? Something I would like to see from Watchdog also is better wire management right from the get go. Yeah good video on the installation.

[@dave_adamson]

All good points. I got lucky and didn't get low on water. They have a maintenance free battery now. I moved but was planning to upgrade when the battery needed to keep being filled

[@ricardoavelar1803]

Well done. I just replaced mine the other day.

[@chrisz8334]

Hey Thanks for video. Trying to decide between this and Wayne system. I like the shelf you have created to keep stuff off floor. I will be making one of those. I have all my stuff on floor and had an issue in past with power out for a few days and battery did not last that long and cord was laying in water. Good idea to get all above floor.

[@dave_adamson]

Thank you! I don't know much about the Wayne system unfortunately. I thought the same about the cords and battery. I used 8in brackets so far no issues

[@deej19142]

This is a follow up, I did order two of those pumps, and they both came damaged so I ended up sending them back. Not only because they were damaged, but, there were proprietary components that I didn't want to try and source later down the road.

[@dave_adamson]

Sorry to hear that. I had it locally so was able to inspect before I bought. Good to know there are proprietary parts

[@AlexPerez-fc3ov]

For the watchdog with liquid type you have to watch the fluid in the battery every couple of years. I got tired of doing that and got the the newer system with the maintenance free battery.

[@dave_adamson]

I thought about it but was trying to keep the cost down. I will switch to a maintenance free battery eventually

[@deej19142]

Looks good, I am getting ready to order the same unit. One suggestion is to stiffen up that battery shelf. I see that thing moving and that's just a disaster waiting to happen.

[@dave_adamson]

Thank you! It's been almost a year and been working great. Haven't had any issues. Once I moved the battery towards the wall it's pretty sturdy but I can see the concern if you have kids

[@pauleichner8831]

The only question I have is, why is your outlet only 6 inches off the ground. It might be a good idea to move that up the wall a couple feet. Based on where it is located, if you happen to get a leak in any of those pipe fittings it will be spraying water all over your outlet, just makes me nervous for you. Good info and nice job on the install.

[@dave_adamson]

Thank you. Honestly just never moved it from when I moved in. I see the concern. I Will have to put it on my list of things to do around the house.

[@wusty23jd]

This looks like a great system. Thanks for posting!

[@dave_adamson]

Welcome! So far it's doing well with the decent amount of rain we have had since I put it in

[@wusty23jd]

@@dave_adamson I just moved into a new build and noticed our sump pump was running every 3-5 minutes. I live in Michigan, so it's normal to have it run fairly regularly. However, I just noticed that the plumber never finished installing the PVC outlet tube into the drain tile corrugated hose.

[@dave_adamson]

@@wusty23jd that's not good. Definitely should have them out sooner than later to get that done. Don't want water dumping along the foundation

[@AngeloR674]

It has quality issues!! Performance of main pump is not good!

[@silverS70]

Quick question....the Big Dog back up kit comes with 2 pre-installed check valves...did you leave those on in addition to the Quiet Check Valve? Or did you remove them? On page 3 of the installation instructions its says to discard the existing check valve. Seems like to leave them, others remove them. I can't seem to get a straight answer if 2 checks valves is okay or simply redundant. Thanks.

[@dave_adamson]

I left it in. I did some testing and ran it with and without the quiet check and it ran the same. The pre installed checks are required otherwise it won't run right as it would push the water back through the opposite pump. So the quiet check you could remove.

[@colinrobert-kv2up]

Upper pump above air pressure systems Incorporated,,pull,than push.

[@macdawg6403]

Nice Vid

[@georgemihaylov6888]

Their instruction say that the system comes with a check valve and that another one is not needed, just connect system to exit pipe with a 1 1/2 inch coupling . Did you decide to skip installing their check valve or this model didn't have one included?

[@dave_adamson]

I left their in. It's needed for when the backup kicks on. The white one is a quiet check so no banging when it closes. I also like if you need to service anything there are unions

[@scottybscott]

How long did that take from full start to finish? Removing old primary-up and running. Thanks

[@dave_adamson]

It was right around an hour and a half I want to say to be completely running and everything mounted. If you are doing it on the fly probably could get it done a little faster. You have some time depending on how much drain tile it has since it will start filling that before it overflows

[@daveyboy8907]

Any alarm going off problems??

[@zackangel8260]

I just bought this, there appears to be a jet of water shooting out the side, is that a built in weep hole?

[@dave_adamson]

Correct! it's to prevent the pipe from getting air locked

[@Group.B]

@@dave_adamsonholy crap I thought something was wrong with my pump I almost returned it.

[@poolplayerbrian]

Just ordered one of these combos from lowes, i have a finished basement and actually sleep downstairs. This demonstration was very loud with the gurgling, is this typical for this pump? I get a loud hum with my current single pump which I can deal with though my wife has some issues with it. The gurgling sound is going to drive her insane. Our sump pump goes off very often when it rains. Can you give any and info on this? thanks

[@dave_adamson]

The gurgling was because I had to add a vent outside. Mine was directly piped to the city storm sewer. It was really quiet once I did that.

[@poolplayerbrian]

@@dave_adamson Finally installed the pump today. its a lot quieter than the previous one but it does gurgle once the water is near the bottom. I wish the float switches would kill the pump with some water still in the sump, but both pumps operate as advertised. I got the maintenance free battery. I would have wasted more money in the long term dealing with recurring battery servicing and I don't want to store acid with small children in the home and it would be more thing to have to keep up with..

[@Joshlynch11]

Why is there a priming hole on the secondary pump but not the primary? I have water shooting out of the priming hole on the secondary but nothing like that on the primary pump? only one required because it’s all piped together?

[@dave_adamson]

I'll be honest I'm not sure why they did that. I ended up drilling the hole myself as I was getting some gurgling and that stopped it

[@Joshlynch11]

@@dave_adamson so you drilled a hole in the primary yourself? And one came from the factory on the secondary?

[@Joshlynch11]

@@dave_adamson can I ask where you drilled the hole? Below the check valve on the primary pump somewhere?

[@dave_adamson]

@@Joshlynch11 correct it was right below the check and I tried to angle it so it shot more downward

[@zafarsyed6437]

Good work. But I've got to ask, how come no GFCI receptacle near the sump pit?

[@dave_adamson]

Didn't add it yet. Also I have seen one trip on a new build causing the basement to flood. But it is code here

[@danbratten3103]

Dave, what are your thoughts on this sump pump system now that you've been using it for almost a year now?

[@dave_adamson]

It's been great! Haven't had any issues. got through spring last year and after not running for months because it was dry kicked on and ran with no issue.

[@danbratten3103]

@Dave Adamson Thank you Dave. I'm looking at putting this in at my house and was impressed with your installation video. And now that I know that it has been working well for you, that makes it a lot easier for me to go get one. 👍🏻

[@ricardoavelar1803]

Dan - I bought two of these about 9 years ago. I installed one 9 years ago and the other was in the garage during this time. The installed one ran just fine for about 5 years. The batter needed to be topped off with distilled water and it ran for another 4 years without issue. About a couple of months ago, I noticed that it was getting louder when it ran. Maybe a couple of seconds slower too to empty the well or pit. I replaced it with my backup of the basement Watchdog and it was very convenient that I was replacing with the exact same unit. I shouldn’t have to touch this thing until 2028. I’ll just mention too that I hav3 a crawl and not a basement. My pump rise is only about 12” and not 10 feet like this guy.

[@alberez9605]

How come the water spits out the side when the battery activates the back up pump?

[@dave_adamson]

Its the weep hole, helps keep the pump from getting airlocked.

[@alberez9605]

Thanks for the quick reply. I just installed it. The weep hole confused me, my old pump didnt have anything like that. It pumps the water out nicely but then its followed by what sounds like the remaining water coming back down. I have a check valve but it doesnt sound like it is doing much

[@daveyboy8907]

Do u think I could use a lifepo4 battery?

[@dave_adamson]

I can't say for sure as I never tried it. I don't see why not though

[@daveyboy8907]

@dave_adamson I think it will work just not sure about the built in charger.those battery need to charge to 13.1 13.5 and lead acid is 12.5 or so.i might try it and use a different charger.

[@dave_adamson]

Yeah that might be the only issue. Other than checking what the output of the charger is.

[@markatkinson9963]

Can you provide a link to this system please?

[@dave_adamson]

www.homedepot.com/p/Basement-Watchdog-Big-Combo-Connect-1-2-HP-Primary-and-Battery-Backup-Sump-Pump-System-with-Smart-Wi-Fi-Capable-Monitoring-Controller-CITS-50/314159827

[@nickgraziani1166]

Instructions say not to use the emergency standby battery with that system

[@dave_adamson]

This kit comes with the battery backup in the box from the manufacturer. I don't think they would put it in the box if they didn't want you to use it. It has two separate pumps. Not sure if maybe you have a different model.

[@blackheart50815]

@@dave_adamsonhe’s talking about the red battery. That’s the smallest battery they have (won’t last long with a lot of rain due to the amount of power it holds. They recommend the maintenance-free AMG (all-black) & the Big Wet Cell (black top white body).

[@mikespeed3928]

How much does a setup like this cost?

[@dave_adamson]

With the battery, battery acid and fittings It was around $600

[@mikespeed3928]

@@dave_adamson thank you soo much. A plumber is charging me $1200 to have a Zoeller installed. Do you think he's overcharging me? I personally do think he is

[@mikespeed3928]

@@dave_adamson it's one of the battery back up sump pump but $1200 seems kinda high

[@dave_adamson]

@@mikespeed3928 that's not too bad actually. Zoeller pumps are more expensive than these so actually not too bad

[@mikespeed3928]

@@dave_adamson okay thank you

[@bobtreiber8556]

Do not order a zoller backup sump pump from Zoller waiting over 3 months to get unit.

[@dave_adamson]

Good to know! Thank you

[@charlierijo8651]

Brand and model please

[@dave_adamson]

Brand is watchdog and model is big combo. I got it at a local home Depot