Zoeller M53 Switch and Switch Arm Replacement

[Music] welcome to life with david i'm david and today i'm finishing the repairs to my sump pump as you might remember from a recent video the float switch on my sump pump started acting up on a weekend evening during a rain event i used an arduino to tickle the switch every hour to make sure the basement stayed dry until i was able to replace a switch which i just completed i've also updated my video editing software and i have to learn its new interface so i figured i'd kill two birds with one stone and put together a little video on my repairs so why don't you join me as we replace the switch on my zoller m53 sump pump i'd like to spend a moment on safety there's nothing more important than keeping you and your loved one safe be sure to read understand and follow the safety rules for your tools using your tools properly will greatly reduce the risk of personal injury and always use the appropriate eye hearing and respiratory personal protective equipment this time we're working with pumps dirty water and electricity nasty things can happen if you aren't careful you could chalk yourself or get some crappy water in your eyes or mouth also be sure you don't impede the normal operation of the pump you could cause flooding if the pump is damaged if you're following along you're doing so at your own risk and if you don't feel comfortable doing any of these activities then don't now let's get started as you can see the arduino and servo kept the sump level down now it's time to repair the switch i first removed the pump and noticed that the switch housing was warm i tested the resistance between the hot and neutral of the pump line cord and discovered there was about a 1300 ohm resistance with the switch in the off position there should be infinite resistance with the switch off so there must be some contamination i remove the float first by stretching the rubber float rod guide over the bottom of the float rod and then by turning the float rod 90 degrees and unhooking it from the switch arm assembly next i remove the four screws that hold the switch housing to the pump after they were removed i tapped the switch housing lightly to pop it off the pump end oh yuck it was full of water what a mess that's not good let's get it cleaned up first i'll remove the wires between the switch and the pump and between the line cord and the switch [Music] next i'll get rid of the water clean the switch housing and dry it out [Music] [Music] i removed the old switch and cleaned the top of the switch housing i also removed the old rubber gasket since the new one came with a switch repair kit [Music] [Music] [Music] i gently cleaned the switch arm seal with a soft brush and found that it had deteriorated a bit which is how the water got into the switch housing normally the switch housing is not under water but about a year ago we had a long power outage and the sump got really full this is probably what led to the switch housing filling with water in an attempt to keep the switch housing dry i added a little silicone sealant around where the switch arm seal contacts the switch arm i have to be careful not to use too much since the switch arm needs to move freely while the sealant dried i cleaned the mating surfaces of the switch housing to prepare for the new gasket i used files and honing stone to get them as clean and flat as possible [Music] uh [Music] about this time i started to suspect that the switch arm itself was causing the problem since it wasn't moving as smoothly as i thought it should i didn't have a replacement so i had to continue installing the new switch and hope that it would work well enough until i got a new arm of course i just couldn't wait for a new part i needed to get the sump pump back in action since the sump was slowly filling with water the switch repair kit included a new switch a stabilizing bar a couple screws and a new pressure test plug i installed the new switch using the stabilizing bar to support the switch as shown in the instructions [Music] [Music] [Music] it worked but how well i won't know that until i try it out i added some blue hilamar gasket dressing between the switch housing and the gasket then i reinstalled the wires between the line cord switch and pump and fitted the switch housing top to the pump making sure there were no wires in the way so [Music] [Music] [Music] after tightening the four cover screws i checked the resistance across the plug with the switch off it was an open circuit just like it should be then i lightly pressurized the switch housing and used some soapy water to check for leaks so far so good so i installed the new test plug and reinstalled the pump [Music] unfortunately the sticky switch arm proved to be a problem i needed to reinstall my arduino switch tickler so i could keep the sump empty until i received a new replacement switch arm i would suggest to anyone doing this that they replace the switch arm at the same time they replace the switch i'll fast forward to replacing the switch arm i removed the switch housing and switched just like the last time then i used the punch to drive out the old switch arm i cleaned the switch arm mounting area of the switch housing of old sealant and crud using a rat tail file i noted the proper direction for mounting the switch arm and then applied new sealant around the outside of the switch arm mounting flange and inside the switch housing [Music] i used a small piece of pipe to drive the switch arm home first making sure it had the proper orientation [Music] so [Music] [Music] like previously i reinstalled the switch gasket wires and then reinstalled the switch housing i reinstalled the float and float rod then i reinstalled the pump into the sump the moment of truth as the water level slowly rises the pump snapped on and then snapped off at the right level success thanks for joining me today i replaced the float arm assembly and switch for my zoller m53 sump pump i'm looking forward to at least five more years of service before i have to worry about it again plus i got more familiar with my new video software if you like this video or you think someone else might please give it a thumbs up if not give it a thumbs down the more likes this video has the more youtube will recommend it to others also please leave a comment or suggestion for things to do i hope to do more of these videos so please subscribe and click on the bell for notifications of new videos let's get together next time for another day in life with david see you soon [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Life with David

Views: 15,788

Keywords: Zoeller M53, Float Switch, sump pump

Id: 5WEx7o5CVwM

Length: 11min 58sec (718 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 09 2021