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Humidity from the basement sump

C

chriscolt

John

Do you notice high humidity in your basement due to the sump being there? I have my extensive EXPENSIVE Lionel antique (some pieces are 75 years old) getting a rust like coating on the steel, copper/ aluminum- tarnishing - etc... Even my window glass has moisture buildup on the inside glass? Are you running any kind of exhaust fan to the outside in your basement? I am currently running a dehumidifier - I am concerned with the trains but also the electronics that control my computerized HVAC, cable modems, and tank controllers (Neptune, Milwaukee, Pinpoint etc..) - Have you experienced this? Any solution?

Chris
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Big dehumidifier (70 pint). Runs nearly constantly. Would be less of a problem if we had walls around the fish room.
 
C

Carlo

Chris, how big is the room and what size dehumidifier to you currently have? Do you happen to know the relative humidity level in the basement?

It really sounds like the room is to big for the dehumidifier you currently have or there is just to much moisture (same thing really) there for your current dehumidifier to handle. Either way it sounds like you have a problem that needs to be addressed as that much moisture is going to cause you problems.

You could try adding an additional dehumidifier and/or try putting some type of cover on some of your tanks. It would probably be a good idea to pick up some type of Hygrometer http://www.radioshack.com/sm-indoor-outdoor-thermometer-with-hygrometer--pi-2049773.html so you know what the relative humidity is and can take steps to address it.

Carlo
 
C

chriscolt

The basement is the size of the house - I guess 40' x 60'? I have a dehumidifier 70 pint - it runs constant at the 35% humidity setting - fills in just a few hours - need to plumb it directly to the sump pump with a garden hose (bypass the container)- my fear is that it will run constantly, mold buildup, I need to get the humidity sensor to determine ambient humidity and plumb the unit for container bypass so it runs without stopping to see how it does after a day or two of constant dehumidify cycle, to your point. If I can get it down to 40% I think that would be OK

The basement sump does cure the heat problem even with over 500 Watts of T5 and 1200 Watts of Metal Halide - the tank never goes above 80% so long as I keep the house no hotter than 75 to 77 degrees, this morning the tank was down to 74 degrees (too cool) so I lowered the fan I have over the sump (little fan) to low setting. The basement still around 63 to 66 at night and no more than 70 in the day - but we will see this week with temps in the 90's all week

Chris
 
B

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Hey Chris,

I noticed you said that you were planning on running your drain for the dehumidifier to your sump pump. I was advised against doing things like that, because if your sump pump fails you may cause a flood.

Just something to think about.
 
E

Erich

Use an auto top off. It will drain into your sump when it hits a certain level and turn off if it drops below a level. JBJ has a real nice system, which I just bought. Works great.
 
C

chriscolt

We are talking two different kinds of Sumps - an aquarium sump (ala the top off system) and a basement runoff sump (french drain sump) which pumps basement water to the main drain stack or, legally, outside the house. You are correct that if there is a power failure then there is a possibility that the the sump for the basement may overflow - although a power failure would also cause the dehumidifier to stop working so the only threat is if something goes wrong with the sump motor, circuit etc,,, which is a rather low chance but definitely possible - thanks

Chris
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
We don't even have a pump in our sump hole and we run our 6g a day into it. Haven't had a problem yet... knock on wood :)
 
B

Brian

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Instead of power failure, I think I meant to say sump pump failure...lol sorry.

I would be way to nervous running it somewhere it has the possibility to flood... I've caused enough floods ::)

I wonder how much water the dehumidifier can pull out of a tank....I've always been curious about that.
 
C

Carlo

I've got 2 dehumidifiers running in my basement. I have a small hose in each one feeding the french drain (1" around basement slab). I did the same thing with my RO/DI unit discard line. I also empty/pump my QT tanks the same way only this goes directly into the sump and not the 1" gap around the slab.

My only worry is the amount of salt water I manually dump there. I don't know if it will hurt the sump pump or not. At least with the RO/DI water and dehumidifier water it will help keep any salt deposits from forming or clogging.

My sump goes directly out into the street. I constantly have a large puddle in front of my house and driveway. The birds seem to like it. :)

Carlo
 
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