Zoeller 508-0005 Aquanot 508 Battery Back-Up System

Replaced two older model Basement Watchdog units with these Zoellers. They work with regular and maintenance free backup batteries. The control unit is wall mounted so you don't have to kneel down to check things. The alarm is quite piercing....you'll hear it even a floor above. I spoke with plumbers that install this brand and they gave me very good reviews on the capability of the unit.

I recently bought a house with finished basement in the Chicago area and I want to make sure that the carpet stays dry. One of the first things I did after moving in was to replace the old sump pump (manufactured in 1985) with a Zoeller M53.We had a bit of rain/snow recently and I noticed that the M53 pump was running for 15 s every 20 min or so, which means that it's pumping out ~30 gallons/hour. It would not take more than 3 or 4 hours for the sump pit to overflow if power went out or if the primary pump failed, so I decided to go ahead and set up a backup system. After reviewing options (including water-powered backup pumps) I decided to trust Zoeller again and I purchased the Aquanot 508 system. Amazon shipped next day for $10. The packaging was quite poor (there was barely any packing material inside the Zoeller box and the parts were boucing around inside the battery case). At the very least Amazon should have packed the rather thin Zoeller box in a bigger carboard box. Fortunately everything arrived safe and sound.The backup pump works as advertised and the installation was quite straightforward. I hooked it up to an Interstate maintenance free AGM battery.My only complaint with the pump is that the instructions did not help me figure out if a vent hole needs to be drilled somewhere between the primary pump's check valve and the backup pump. I have an external check valve located above the sump pit and the water/air would get trapped in the discharge pipe if there was no vent hole. Maybe it's not a problem but I don't know for sure.The controller/charger seems quite basic but it does a good job at triggering the alarm when the backup pump kicks in, which hopefully will never happen. I am looking for a way to hook up the controller to my alarm system (which has a 2GIG control panel) so I can receive notifications through alarm.com when the backup pump is active. Does anyone know if a z wave device compatible with this alarm system can be hooked up to the Aquanot controller's dry contacts? I would also be interested in monitoring the primary pump's activity but I can't think of any easy/cheap way to do that.This backup system (including the battery) cost over $550 so it's definitely not cheap, but It should grant me peace of mind for the years to come. Also it's less expensive than my home insurance's deductible. Well worth the investment in my opinion.

Well made equipment, installation made easy with wires that each have their own slot on the control box.The fit of the parts was perfect, everything water tight. Motor is quiet. Well done Zoeller.

My husband's review after installation:This kit integrates very well with a Zoeller M53 primary pump. The instructions were done well including clear diagrams. The charger/controller is fairly sophisticated and is a true float charger (not trickle) which should dramatically increase the life of the 12V deep cycle battery. Really only two minor complaints/suggestions:1. The instructions show the discharge pipe solvent welded to the discharge tee. For repair and maintenance, it would be better to use male/female trap adapters (with a short piece of pipe for a close couple on the tee side) which would allow the discharge pipe to be easily removed from the tee without cutting. Zoeller used slip joints or threaded joints everywhere else for ease of maintenance/replacement; it should be done here also. If you look to the left of the 12V float switch in the photos, you can see this is what I did (adding my own trap adapters).2. The power leads from the controller, pump, and float switch should be a bit longer from where they branch out from the overall jacket/sleeving. As you can see from the photos, this was not an insurmountable problem but it's a little tighter than it should be.

Pump leaked water into the motor and it sized up, blowing the fuse. Upon disassembly, I found the pump bottom metal plate which seals against the motor housing had corroded around the O-ring sealing surface. The metal is not compatible with submersion in a sump pit. Would not buy again.Although it lasted several years, it should have lasted many more years for the price of this pump. As a backup pump, In total the pump only had 148 cycles in it's lifetime as reported by the controller.

Very good performance! Install was easy and fit nice but tight in my 18" basin. Great compliment to the Zoeller M53 main pump. I decided to test it out today during a heavy day of rain and it works like a champ. Quiet and efficient. Being that I have the only sump in a 3 unit building I noticed a need for a backup pump due to the basin filling very fast during heavy rains. Only took 5 minutes to reach the backup activation level. Highly recommended product!

Product arrived in time and was able to fit into the primary pump. The only disappointment was that in the picture, it is shown are reassembled, but had to assemble manually. Even the attachment pipe was not provided. Hence giving four stars.

The pump came later than promised and the box was very beaten up. It also was not assembled as I expected but assembly is not difficult. But I don't believe that there is a better quality back-up system. It works well and is very quiet. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

It was fairly easy to install and set-up. I did it yesterday so no long term review here. One chafing point: the fittings required to mount the pump as per the instruction are made of PVC. PVC is not commonly used in Canada for indoor waste/drainage application, everything is ABS up here. It would be nice to add a 6 in. straight PVC pipe so that a rubber sleeve could be used to transition from PVC to ABS. These small diameterPVC pipes are not available in hardware store here. I had to buy a $10 can of a special transition cement to do the ONE joint I needed to do. I'll give the rest of the can away or dispose of it as HHW, what a waste.

easy to install, very good flow rate at beginning. hope it run well in future.

Great pump. Can't go wrong with Zoeller.

This unit fit smartly above my Zoeller cast iron submersible sump pump and was a cinch to install. The charger interface is intuitive and informative (24hr alarm reset, run count, remaining voltage etc). It's a relief knowing it's there.These DC pumps will suffer from little use - please remember to test it monthly; minimum once a quarter.