Sump Pump, PROSTORMER 3500 GPH 1HP Water Pump with Build-in Float Switch

Worked fine through hurricane Milton. Here it is about 9 months later had a big rain and it did not automatically start up. I tilted it and it started right up. The float was not rising to the top to activate the switch. There was an air pocket in the front float area so I removed the float area cover and drilled 4 small holes in it to release any air that may get trapped in the chamber around the float. Started filling the pit with water and the pump came on automatically. Tested 4 times, looks like the issue has been resolved. The cover that is around the float was set in there so tightly that no air could escape. Just in time for the next hurricane season.

Purchased this pump to manage standing water in backyard during Southern California Winter 2024. This unit worked great in auto-shutoff mode and I was able to leave it plugged in for over a week to remove accumulated water.I used this inside a 12" catch basin connected to a 75-foot 2 1/4" corrugated pipe from Harbor Freight to push rainwater to the street. The only concern with this unit is it has a taller intake so you won't be able to suck up all the water...you will leave about 1/2" before too much air cuts off the suction.PROS- Super powerful 1hp motor that easily moved water from 13" catch basin through 75' (yes, feet) of collapsible tubing on mostly flat ground.- Auto-shutoff mode worked very well when leaving unit plugged in for over a week during California Winter 2024 storms.- Has adjustable internal float switch where you can increase the depth of water when using auto-shutoff mode.- Comes with lots of fitting attachments to meet different applications.CONS- Has minimum clearance of about 1/2" and will leave about 1/2" of water regardless of auto or manual mode. I had hoped for only about 1/4", but this is not a big deal.- So powerful, the unit jerks a little when turning on in auto mode. For my application, I could have gone with smaller horsepower, but the auto-shutoff mode worked great.

The media could not be loaded. I have had this pump for less than a year and up until recently it had been performing great. I have only used it to pump my hot tub out twice and a neighbor's tiny kid pool out once. 3 days ago we were hit my a huge storm that put down a TON of rain and everyone's window wells were filling up with water. I had water 8 inches up on one of my basement windows as well as my next door neighbor. We grabbed this pump to help us bail water put of our window wells and in the middle of all this it quit working reliably. It let me down when I needed it the most. We ended up having to toss it aside and just bucket out the water. I works for a while then it slows way down to where water is hardly coming out as if it's just chu chu chugging. Then finally it will slowly pick up the pace and and within less than a minute it slows way back down to barely any output and chuggs for a bit then will speed back up. I tried recreating it using a bucket in this video and and it shows it chugging and then finally ramping back up. Then it almost tipped and sprayed me. Sometimes when I trial it in a bucket, the bucket will be almost all the way full before it starts to even put out water. Kind of frustrating in the middle of a flash flood that was basically flooding our entire neighborhood.

Initial Observations: works great, needs a check-valve. Easily fits in a 11" (28 cm) diameter sump. Pumps quickly, turns on/off as expected. Would be 5-stars if it came with a check-valve or at a minimum easily accepted a check-valve. I had to use a "clean-out" and a FTP adapter to use a store-bought check-valve.

I have worked with many many pumps over the years, so many different kinds and types I have lost track. This is the strongest pump I have ever used (in this specific category), I am very impressed and I don’t impress easy. Please make sure to use as thick of a hose that you can! The quality of the pump is great and it has weight to it. I highly recommend this pump. Also the seller is great, we ran into a technical issue and they are super responsive and helpful and fully resolved our issue. Big plus for excellent customer service! Also the price is unbeatable, I thought this was going to be a throw away pump because of the price and then, after receiving it and seeing the quality and then using it for hours and hours on end, I realized this a long term pump.Edit:Also I’ve read other reviews here where people claim it’s cheaply made and that’s just not true. I so many pumps from Home Depot and other pump stores, expensive and cheap, they’re all the same, a motor in a plastic housing lol. You can tell once you turn it on if it’s a good pump or not. What makes the Home Depot one for $200 any better quality? I have both and I prefer this one. To me it primes and pumps easier.

In auto mode, this worked really well for a couple hours. The bucket in the hole would fill with water, the pump would start and the bucket and hole was mostly empty within 30s. I was going to order a second pump, then I noticed the pump is doing nothing while completely submerged. It now only starts pumping when I poke it with a stick and jiggle it a little bit. This makes it pretty useless unless I want to stay up all night babysitting a sump pump.I think the problem is the pump has to be perfectly level to turn on/off automatically, and as the pump starts and stops it jiggles the whole setup and eventually stop working. I originally gave this two stars but have changed to three stars. When this is steady it really rocks.Another note: if you plan on using a garden hose with this you probably should consider a smaller 0.5hp pump. I use a 1.5" discharge hose and it makes a huge difference. I think a big pump and a small hose will just waste power.