youForgotToMakeTheDateScript
house
both of the sump pumps in my house are sketchy chinese junk. they are plastic models, not cast iron, their rated head is less than what they are actually doing, and the PVC piping connected to them wasn't properly installed and is leaking because of that.
one of them, the switch fails occasionally and gets stuck on- which leads to the pump running dry. there have been two instances of me coming home from work, and the pump was just constantly running dry LOL honestly, I cannot believe it hasn't burned out after god knows how many years of doing this.
there is also a 'backup' pump in the well that fills up more frequently- although the batteries it is connected to are extremely swelled and measured at 7 volts each so I believe the charger is broken and the backup pump probably would not do anything XD
at the suggestion of my very knowledgeable and experienced coworker- I purchased a Zoeller M98 1/2HP pump to replace both of these jank pumps. The MSRP is $349.99 and they typically run about $300, but amazon had four in stock at ~$125 "Open Box - Like New" and 'Unit is like new condition, minor packaging damage observed'.
so I was like ok sure I can handle minor packaging damage no problem! that's fine! ordered one
Turns out, amazon dropped the package, and the way the packaging is designed from Zoeller, if it is dropped on its side, the iron casting pinches the wire and cuts it like shown in this photo...
Knowing these are usually way more expensive, and that they also have warranty from Zoeller, I reached out to zoeller, and since they had a 3 business day response time, I ordered another used open box one from amazon for next day delivery (thankfully i live near a warehouse).
I got the next one the following day and...
So now i'm like come on, this is why they are so cheap. Probably half of them shipped have this issue because of zoellers poorly designed packaging. Clearly not meant to be shipped in a box... or maybe not even meant to be shipped at all. Thanks amazon...
Zoeller got back to me and told me they won't warranty it because it is packaging damage (stupid) so I just decided to fix it myself. I took the cap off the motor, stripped away some more of the insulation off the wire, pulled it farther into the grommet, and it looked good as new! (with 1" shorter AC power cable)
but for now I don't have time to actually install this, so I just set it downstairs by the sump pit and decided I am going to wait for there to be a catastrophic failure and THEN i'll replace it. just me being lazy and a little frustrated with Amazon......