About a year ago my pump went out. I had one of those vertical ones that had about a 4-ft float line. So The tank filled up about halfway before it kicked on and then it ran for a while. But it only ran once or twice a day given time for the ground around the sprinkler heads to dry out.

Long story short, I went harbor freight cheap and bought the one below. The float lifts up about 8 in before it kicks on. Causing the pump to run about 12 times a day. Anytime you take a bath, or flush the toilet. The ground stays wet 24/7.

In theory, if I was to extend the little arm that I have circled in red, would that cause the float to have to float higher before it kicked on?. I think it would, but maybe I'm underthinking it.

This post was edited on 7/20/25 at 8:57 pm

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Posted by WhiskeyThrottle

Weatherford Tx

Member since Nov 2017

6931 posts

Posted on 7/21/25 at 9:42 am to SportTiger1

I did not know Hazard Freight had effluent pumps. I'm putting in a septic system on a shop right now and was trying to figure out what I could do if my lateral lines don't work the way I've engineered them. Gonna have to keep this one in mind.

I think extending the metal arm would give you more room but how far can you extend it? Seems like you're buying somewhat of a negligible amount of room unless you extend it by several feet. Do you have room in your gray water tank for that?

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Posted by southern686

Narnia

Member since Nov 2015

1021 posts

Posted on 7/21/25 at 10:08 am to SportTiger1

I wouldn't extend the arm. I'd imagine it would just collect debris on it until it became permanently held down.
You could just buy a normal float switch and install it to the right height. The ones you typically see with a sump pump that plugs in first then the sump pump plugs into it at the outlet.

The integral float will float first, sure, but the new float still wouldn't allow power to the pump until it reaches the height at which you've set it at.

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