On our previous post, DG said “Can we go back to the sump alarm now?“
Be careful what you ask for.
To demonstrate the genius of my sump alarm system, I have recorded a test of the alarms.
How about that? Ain’t nobody going to sleep through that!
DG?
DG?
I think we’re gonna need a bigger bell.
We were digging around out in the yard, and we found this stone with an Easter Island face on it.
Pretty cool, hunh?
No, actually, not quite…. and we aren’t doing that gag again.
The funny thing is… here’s the actual size of the stone.
Oh, hush.
I have been working on my sump pump alarm.
The original alarm box was not loud enough to be heard upstairs, so I had added a louder alarm using a fire alarm bell.
Remember this?
Well I have added some enhancements. Look at this.
I added an on/off switch to make it not ring ever, and a test button switch to make it ring any time I want it to. When it is ringing, I can turn it off without having to unplug anything. And I can make sure that it all works any time I want to by pushing the test button.
Pretty neat.
Oh, and hey, if you think that is cool, look at this!
The bell didn’t seem loud enough either, so I added a new device with a klaxon horn that I can hook up instead. It also has an on/off switch and a test button.
Cool, hunh?
But then, the klaxon wasn’t loud enough either, so I build a relay panel so that I can trigger all of the alarms at the same time.
It has four relays, an on/off switch, a test button, and some really creative wiring. I like the orange wire nuts.
The relay panel is the best!
And…. last but not least, here is the whole setup wired together.
It makes a heck of a racket.
So, DG, what do you think?
Is this cool, or what?
Wanna hear it go off?
Hello?
DG?
DG?
Hmmm. I wonder where he has got off to now.
We got a stomach bug last week, so we have been feeling a bit sickly lately.
I thought I would show our readers how we have been feeling this past week.
OK. Sheesh. Such a grump. How’s this?
I try not to.
DG has been less than pleased with the contents of this blog since it began dealing with boring subjects such as my sump pump.
“Well, DG”, I said, “What have you got that is funnier than my sump pump?
OK. Whatever.
I have been working on my Sump Pump Alarm project again, and I have come up with the wicked awesome Sump Alarm Warning Loud Alarm Bell (SAWLAB) to let me know when the pump isn’t working and the basement is about to flood. Here is what it looks like.
Here’s how it works: When the sump hole fills with water, the Float Switch in the Sump Hole floats to the top, which causes the float switch to close the circuit to the battery pack, which sends 12 Volts to the bell circuit, which makes the Alarm Bell ring. Here is what it sounds like.
Pretty cool, hunh?
What? Of course everybody cares. Just look at how fast the hit counter has been going up recently.
Due to popular demand, I have annotated a photo of my sump pump rig to make it more obvious how all of this works.
As you can see, this is a sophisticated arrangement of technological equipment.
Thanks for asking.
Maybe so, but somebody out there was thinking of asking.
Hey, that’s my line.
After my recent post about our sump pump adventure, I realized that some clarification is required regarding my assistant.
My able assistant was my wife, not DG, who was taking a nap at the time.
Ya. Actually, you were. You were sitting in the easy chair with your eyes closed.
Ya. Sure. Go back to sleep.
So, it’s raining and raining and also it’s raining, so take a guess at what would be the worst possible event that you can think of that might happen during our wetter than normal spring.
Yup. Last night our sump pump stopped working, and the basement was filling with water.
So…….. find a plumber on Friday evening?
Fortunately, because I am a dweeb, I had a backup sump pump that I bought years ago just to cover us for this sort of contingency.
Unfortunately, I am not a plumber, and the connections to the new pump are different from the connections to the old pump. Go figure.
So, I (and my able assistant) hacked something together to see if we can keep our basement dry. Does this look right to you?
Ahhhh. Maybe not.
Pay special attention to the string tied neatly in a bow.
Here’s a photo of the foul, filthy, failed <insert additional f word> pump that I pulled out of the hole.
Anyway, the new pump appears to be working for now. Next week I will get a real plumber to check out the proper use of the jute string. What could possibly go wrong?
Stay dry.
