Thinking about an automatic cover pump before I buy one

Started by Tom Brennan · · 2 replies
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#1
Twenty five seasons and I have always used a floating pump I check on manually after every rain, third week of April opening keeps that habit sharp. Neighbor two doors down just put in one of the automatic ones that kicks on by itself when water pools on the safety cover, says he does not think about it all winter. I am half tempted, my knees are not what they were for hauling the old one out every time we get a nor'easter. Anyone running one of the automatic units for a few winters now. Mostly want to know if they actually shut off clean when the cover is dry or if they run dry and burn out. Binder has three entries for the manual pump over the years, replaced the check valve twice. Would rather measure twice on this before I spend the money.

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#2
no winter cover situation here so cant speak to the automatic pumps at all, but does your neighbors unit have some kind of sensor that tells it the water level dropped, or is it just running on a timer that could still run dry between rains?
#3
We dont get real winters down here so I cant speak to a season long automatic setup, but we did have a similar debate when we got the fiberglass pool put in, whether to spend more on stuff with sensors vs just checking on things ourselves. Our SWG was the same kind of decision honestly, more upfront but I havent had to think about it since 2021.

Swamp_tylers question is the important one though, a timer running blind is basically the same risk as your manual pump just automated, it'll still run dry between rains if theres nothing telling it the water level actually dropped. Id ask your neighbor straight up if his unit has a float or sensor cutoff or if its just cycling on a schedule, because if its the second one youre trading knee strain for a burned out pump you dont notice till spring. Anyway hope someone with an actual snow cover chimes in.