Proper electric to outdoor sump pump basin more than 25’ from house

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webharvest

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I have a sump basin in my backyard that is 25’ or more away from the side of my house. Right now the pump is on a dedicated GFCI breaker. The wire is buried underground and it is not in conduit over to the basin. The wire goes to a outlet box that is mounted to the side of the basin at the top on the inside. The GFCI breaker in the breaker panel was tripped and we got a lot of rain so I looked in the basin. The water was filled up to the top of the basin and the outlet box was submerged. I ran an extension cord to a GFCI outlet in my bathroom and the pump ran just fine. I’m thinking the buried wire must have insulation that is broken down since it has been in the ground for 26+ years. I’m not sure how to test to see if that is the real problem, is there a way to do that? I’m thinking I should just rerun the buried wire and put it in conduit but how should I handle the wiring of an outlet at the basin for the pump to plug into? I don’t think it is to code to have an outlet in the basin but maybe that is okay? The only thing I could think of is put a post next to the basin and mount an outlet to the post above grade since the wires on the pump are only 10’ long. That will be kind of a pain for mowing but seems safer. Thoughts or ideas? Also can I run regular NM-B wire underground as long as it is in pvc conduit or do I have to use UF-B even if it is in conduit?

Sorry for all the questions just want to make sure I do the job right
 
Thank you it just didn't seem right to have an electrical outlet below grade, especially in a hole that is meant to hold water. Do you have any thoughts on how to figure out if the insulation is bad on the buried wire which is why the GFCI breaker is tripping? Not sure how long buried wire is supposed to hold up. I've got to think that is it since the pump runs fine on the extension cord running to the GFCI outlet in the bathroom.
 
ptonsparky said:
Remove the existing outlet that was immersed in water. Dry the wires. Cap the ends of the wires and turn the circuit back on.
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I will try that, thanks. The thing that has me scratching my head is why didn't the pump come on to begin with so the water level would have never gotten into the level of the outlet box to begin with.
 
webharvest said:
I will try that, thanks. The thing that has me scratching my head is why didn't the pump come on to begin with so the water level would have never gotten into the level of the outlet box to begin with.
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That's a good question. Also, how will you know if the breaker trips in the future? If this were my house, I think I would drive the coil of a NC relay and have that relay alert (sound an alarm or light a light) me that the breaker tripped. I guess there is probably a product that might send you a text that the power dropped off, IDK.
 
oldsparky52 said:
That's a good question. Also, how will you know if the breaker trips in the future? If this were my house, I think I would drive the coil of a NC relay and have that relay alert (sound an alarm or light a light) me that the breaker tripped. I guess there is probably a product that might send you a text that the power dropped off, IDK.
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I've been using the Marcell Pro product below for the last 6 months and have been happy with it. It gives alerts on power outages or if the temperature or humidity falls outside of a user definable range. I the case of the OP, plugging the unit into the same branch circuit as his pump would give alerts when the power was out due to that breaker tripping or from a more general outage. You can set up several phone numbers and email addresses for text, phone call, and email alerts. It uses one of your local wireless cell network providers for connectivity at $99/year, although you can get short term plans as well.
There are also several other products out there that use your local wi-fi network so they may have lower ongoing costs. In my case the cell network has been more reliable, and I can also take the unit anywhere with cell coverage.

https://www.sensoredlife.com/#/
 
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webharvest said:
I will try that, thanks. The thing that has me scratching my head is why didn't the pump come on to begin with so the water level would have never gotten into the level of the outlet box to begin with.
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I have run into some-one else’s installation very similar to yours. Only difference is that his was a sewage pit and putting a receptacle within the pit even at the top, experiences great amounts of water vapor and condensation that soaks the receptacle/plug causing a conductive path that can trip a GFCI. This is probably what happened to begin with, and why the pump stopped working and water was all the way to top.
Finding a way such as either placing the receptacle outside of the pit would help or use wet location cord caps within the pit (they last longer, but you will need to change the plug on the sump pump also with the wet location cord cap mate.)
 
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