Sump pump question

[jpr62902]

My sump pump is doing weird stuff. At the end of the pump cycle, it shoots water straight up into the air, right through the gap in the sump crock cover. I pulled it from the crock, and tested it outside in a bucket of water to see where this geyser was coming from. It was coming from a fitting at the base, with an inside allen key aperture and a hole in the middle. What da heck is this for? There's already a weep hole in the outlet pipe to pevent vapor lock. Pic attached

 

[chowderman]

it's to ensure, should the outlet piping be blocked, the pump can circulate some water and not over heat.
check the float - it may have leaked/cracked/whatever, allowing the minimum water level to decrease to the point the outlet hole is above the water level and can spurt.

my ~50 years experience with sump pumps , , , , it's the float, it's always the damn float.
I use a an encapsulated mercury switch pendent float.
like

https://www.amazon.com/PumpSpy-Sump-Tethered-Float-Switch/dp/B093TMRTZZ

 

[jpr62902]

it's to ensure, should the outlet piping be blocked, the pump can circulate some water and not over heat.
check the float - it may have leaked/cracked/whatever, allowing the minimum water level to decrease to the point the outlet hole is above the water level and can spurt.

my ~50 years experience with sump pumps , , , , it's the float, it's always the damn float.
I use a an encapsulated mercury switch pendent float.
like

https://www.amazon.com/PumpSpy-Sump-Tethered-Float-Switch/dp/B093TMRTZZ

Thanks for replying. If you could indulge my ignorance a bit more, you mean the water level in the crock, not the outlet? How far above this thing should the water be when the pump is done cycling?

 

[jpr62902]

Thanks for replying. If you could indulge my ignorance a bit more, you mean the water level in the crock, not the outlet? How far above this thing should the water be when the pump is done cycling?

It's interesting, in that later models of this pump don't have this feature: https://www.amazon.com/GLENTRONICS-...&qid=1660415394&sprefix=cis-33,aps,297&sr=8-1

 

[chowderman]

it's the water level in the sump pit (((?) crock))

when the pump "quits" the water level around the pump must still 'cover' the bit that is jetting upward.
as your testing revealed, if there is no water level above the jetting hole to prevent the spurt, spurts happen.

"later models" . . . no surprise. manufactures move to increasingly lower costs, and such "back up/safety features" go out of existence.
"If it burns up, be sure to buy another."

 

[tommu56]

that hole is so it can't get air bound as sump fills air leaks out the hole so pump has water in it centrifugal pumps cant pump air.
it probably rusted out too big it shouldn't be over 1/8 inch in diameter remove it put a brass plug in it with a 1/16 hole in the plug it should be fine.