I have had a zoeller pump in my crawl for almost 20 years with no problems. My spouse was replacing his Lowe's pump every year in his rental. It could have something to do with the disintegrated check valve, but nevertheless, every year the pump would go out. This time the crawlspace filled up. So, I bought this pump, and the zoeller check valve which is amazingly built to last, and drilled a ton of holes in a five gallon bucket, bought cheap plastic hoses from Menards and connected them so that they would reach to the sewer ditch in front of our house (about 200ft). I put this pump in the bucket and lowered into the crawlspace and it pumped the entire thing out in less than a day. It required some supervision to make sure the float didn't get stuck, and I had to hold the float up when the water was getting low and not rushing into the bucket as fast, but it worked beautifully. You will burn a pump up if you leave it running without water flow so you must watch it. It is quiet in comparison to the last ones, and doesn't vibrate the whole house. It's extremely powerful as well. We have gutters that drain into our sump pit so our pump works a little more than others. This thing is amazing. It's only been a few months, but the quality was immediately noticable. DO NOT BUY HOME IMPROVEMENT STORE PUMPS OR CHECK VALVES. I reviewed the zoeller check valve as well and it's such great quality. I'll never buy another brand. Instead of rubber insides, it contains a large, metal flap. This pump is less than I paid for the Lowe's pump last year. Do yourself a favor and get zoeller products.

I had one before that lasted 15 years with no problem. That one died on a Sunday afternoon, when the only open store was Home Depot. I had water coming in, so I had to replace it with a FloTec. That pump lasted two years, so I'm back to Old Faithful. Durable construction, powerful and pretty quiet. The reason for four stars is the requirement to drill a 3/16" hole in discharge pipe to prevent airlock. My pit is uncovered, and it's impossible to position that hole so that narrow shooting stream doesn't splash a little outside of the pit. A lot of manufacturers integrate that relief hole into the pump housing. Apart from that, I'm happy.

This pump replaced one just like it that lasted for 17 years and (I believe) was a victim of sabotage when it died. It suffered through numerous dimwitted plumbers and lulled me to sleep on rainy nights knowing it would keep my basement dry as long as I could hear its motor running.
My new plumber bought first one model and then another by another maker at a local store and he finally pointed to my computer and asked "Do you think you could find the same model as the old one?" Two minutes later I found it at Amazon and they delivered on a holiday, free two day shipping. My plumber adores me, he thinks I have a lot of clout at Amazon and that I have a good understanding how plumbing works unlike his other customers. (He actually said that). What does he expect from a quality European import.

Best Sump Pump that you can buy. Nothing can stop it from working. One small problem is that the metal air hole in the pump will inevitably get clogged with gunk or rust so you need to drill a small 3/8th inch weep hole in the outlet pipe about 8" above the base of the pump and before the
One Way Check Valve. This weep hole will allow any trapped air to escape and allow the pump to self-prime. If you get a large enough air bubble, the pump will run continuously and burn itself out while failing to pump out any water. Weep holes are needed for all sump pumps, no matter what brand.

So let's frame the situation here...I built my house about two years ago on top of what apparently is a natural spring that produces more water than the entire nation of Guam. Seriously, it seems to do better than my well. Constantly filled up my sump, and the humidity of my basement was super high. As an added plus, my water is really high in salt. I could take a bunch of lobsters and throw them in my sump and eat like a king for years to come. They would live and breed, develop their own tunnel system, own culture, maybe worship me as their god....who knows. Anyway, the water is awful. I had a Harbor Freight pump I bought in a pinch, and that sucked lasted a whole month before it couldn't take it anymore. It would have gone out for a pack of smokes and not come back if it could have, but since it couldn't, it just froze up and died. Not a good death either. Think about it, it was basically running on a treadmill for 12 hours a day in a salty pit of horrors for a month. AND THATS WHEN THIS THING CAME ON THE SCENE. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I had a big problem on my hands, so I had a few beers and bought it. Not a single regret. This thing has been a complete champ. It runs around 10-12 hours a day and that has been for a little over a year. Nonstop. In fact, the reason I decided to finally write this review is because it stopped working. I was prepared to get all pissed off and order another one....and to my surprise, the thing had sucked up a bunch of rocks and clogged the hose. I cleared it out and it is running perfectly again. Unbelievable. I poured a beer in my sump because I figured the little guy deserved one, and now here I am writing this. Highly recommend.