Sump Pump Short Cycle

[adawg]

Hello -

I am not a handy person...so let me get that out right off the bat

I live in Michigan and for the last 2 or 3 days we have noticed that every 3 to 5 minutes our sump pump will kick on for 5 or 6 seconds, shut off and 3 to 5 minutes later repeat the cycle.

I checked the pip outside the house where the water is discharged to the sewer and it does no appear to be backing up. I tried to look in the sump well, but due to where I live it is sealed for Radon reasons. The house is new construction and is about 1.5 years old.

Also, when I am in the basement I can hear constant water flowing into the well, not gushing, but it also doesn't sound like a trickle either. Can there be that much water being exacuated from around the house? We have had a strange winter here with some big thaws and refreezing recently...maybe there is just a lot of water in the soil??

Any thoughts or things I can do to check what is causing this are appreciated.

[adawg]

To reply to myself...my builder just responded to my e-mail message and said since we recently had a lot of rain and the recent thaw (although we refrove) that the system is working perfectly.

Still welcome any differing opinions.

[Dean]

If the switch is adjusted properly, the "ON" cycle depends on the volume of the pit and how long it takes water to fill it back up to the pump control's "ON" point.
The "OFF" cycle is dependent on how fast the pump can lower the water level.
Could possible be that the pit is so full of debris it is in effect creating less volume for water.

Another thought is a bad check valve in the discharge line can sometimes let water back into the pit after the pump shuts off causing the water level to rise and the pump to come back on sooner than usual.