The Basement Watchdog Big Combo CONNECT Preassembled Primary & Battery Backup Sump Pump System - WiFi-Capable w/Add-on Module (CITS-50)

This pump was simple to install in the pit, connect to the discharge pipe and connect the wires. The instructions were great. The instructions provided the height of the pump and instructions for accurately measuring the length of PVC to connect the pre-existing discharge pipe to the pump (measure from bottom of pit to the preexisting pipe and subtract 19 inches). This made for a quick and easy install as I had water coming into the pit during the install. I have lived in my house for just under two years and I think the old pump was about 8 years old. The old pump was discharging lots of water every 2 or 3 minutes for weeks. It just recently slowed to every hour or so. I was afraid if it failed, I would have a mess in a finished basement. I looked at alarms, but figured even if I was home when the alarm sounded, ran to home depot, bought a new pump and installed it all the same day I would have still have a mess to clean up. I thought of buying a new pump and keeping the old one as a standby. Then I saw this "dual pump", I decided how ideal this was for my situation. I was more concerned with the pump failing from age than a power outage, but bought the battery anyway. The pump is extremely quiet compared to the old one. My pit is 4 feet deep and my ceilings is 10 foot high. I am very happy with its power and "lift" performance.

This is the second time I have purchased this same unit. The first time was 5 years ago and that one is still running as of today but has gotten corrosion on the metal external parts. This new one is setting right next to the sump hole ready to replace the first one when it gives up. 5+ years of use in a heavily wet area is well worth it to me. Easy to install, love the battery operated back up feature, highly recommend going with a maintenance free deep cycle battery, the unit can monitor the acid level in a standard battery and alert you when to add distilled water but its so much easier to use a sealed battery.

Installation issues were due to my particular set up. 1. This system was to replace a Wayne dual pump system that was much shorter vertically. My sump plumbing is contained within the sump and the outlet pipe runs under the concrete floor (no slack). To get this system in place, the new pumps had to sit directly on the bottom of the sump. A 90degree PVC elbow was glued onto the pumps discharge pipe and it just matched the height of the sump outlet connection. 2. To get the main pump wire through the sump cover, I had to take the float assembly off, enlarge the hole through the sump cover to 2.5 inches and feed the float assembly down through the hole and reattach to pump assembly. This was due to the large size of main pump controller and no disconnect in the wiring. The other wires were no problem getting up through the cover hole. Once all of this was done, the pumps worked perfectly. 3. Too soon to comment on reliability and service life. A test button would be nice (Wayne had one) as it is not practical to test the system by raising the floats once the assembly is down in the sump.

Best DIY product to save money. I just love products that are well engineered and well thought out. I needed to replace my sump pump system and had recently received a quote for $1400 to replace it. I decided $1400 was to much an instead choose to take the risk with this system for around $400. It was so easy to install and when it was done I felt so empowered and $1000 richer. Every thing is modular and you can upgrade the unit when you are ready and as new needs occur, such as second battery for long runtime, or WiFi alerts. Plus one more bonus, I will never pay someone to install another sump pump again!

Highly Reliable! This unit replaced another Basement Watchdog after 15 or so years of service. We have a lot of ground water at my home and the prior unit took a beating. After the main pump went out the backup pump and battery took over and kept the basement dry until this new unit arrived and installed. The install was easy. Remove the old and connect the new unit in a plug n' play fashion. The backup battery and pump was on-line for about 5 days. The installation took about 45 minutes doing it carefully and slowly. A plumber could get it in and operational in 30 minutes. I also appreciated that the unit came with a battery box which made the install very easy. The charger unit sits on top of the battery box and is essentially plug and play. I also checked with Customer Support at Basement Watchdog and got great advice on replacing the old unit with a new updated unit. I will add the WiFi connectivity later. Highly recommended. I will purchase again in 15 or 20 years.

Worked fine for about 2 months, then started having daily issues where the main pump would not activate and the backup pump would come on. Each morning I was able to reset the main pump, fix the issue, and get the main pump turned on again, only to have this problem repeat itself the next morning. It seemed like a problem with the float assembly, but eventually fixing the floats no longer fixed the problem. After a few days of this, the main pump stopped coming on entirely and now sits in my sump pit dead. Pretty unbelievably poor quality for a product designed to last years, which instead last less than 3 months.

Bought this to replace a Cast Iron brand pump my contractor installed, in order to add an integrated battery backup. The overall package is impressive. Primary pump is quite a beast, heavy (as it should be) but extraordinarily quiet. It was nice to have it all pre-assembled in one way. Just wait for a dry spell, clean out the sump, and drop it in. Only thing is, even with a modern, really large sump-pit, the prior installation's geometry might make it difficult--- in other words, if this was the original pump, the plumbing locations might have been different. I made it work--- just barely. It was a "finagle." I probably could have altered the geometry of the pre-assembled pump if I couldn't squeeze it in, but that would have sort of defeated the purpose. And there were no directions about that. That cost the review a star. There is a weep-hole in the anti-siphon valve that spews a good deal of water for a few seconds when the back-up pump is about finished with its cycle. That was a concern, and required a call to Customer Service (which was quite good) for reassurance that such was normal. Again, would have been nice to have that documented in the "testing" section to indicate it's an expected behavior. Final nit-pick is that when you go to register the pump and the battery after installation, they demand the serial numbers. Well, if they think that I'm going to open everything up all over again on my hands and knees in order to give them something beyond "9999999," they've got another thing coming. Put the s/n on warranty-cards or on the box. Overall, though, this package gives me added peace-of-mind, and with the WiFi module added, even more so. EDIT: Adding a star for steller (ahem) customer support. US-based, customer-focused. This device has now run through some really substantial rain-storms. It's about half as loud as the old, high-quality, pump, and really does the job.

This is a pretty quick and easy install. Everything is already put together, so you literally just have to drop the unit into your pit and connect you pipe to the via the rubber gasket sleeve which just requires a screw driver to tighten the bands and you're good to go. The replaced my old watchdog unit of the same type so that I could use the new maintenance free batteries, as mine was still using the old acid batteries that you had to fill with acid and periodically top off with distilled water. I'm really looking forward to not needing to mess with all of the again with this new battery.