Review on Basement Watchdog BWC1 Switch Controller by Mitchell Watson

I have purchased and installed two of these units in two different locations. They fail when overheating internally and try to keep up when it's raining heavily and you need them most. The first unit worked for 21 months and then broke down like others where the pump worked constantly. Luckily I heard the pump run dry before it melted. I replaced this switch with a regular float switch. During the storms of the past few weeks, my pump with the float switch turns on for 23 seconds and off for 4 seconds, but typically during a large storm it turns on for 25 seconds and off for 25 seconds. The second unit failed in exactly the same way - the timer keeps the pump running until the pump burns out. It cost me a pump and about an inch of water in the basement. It would be even worse if I didn't have a sewage pump in another area and the floor drain didn't allow me to measure water in feet. There have been no power outages and I keep the pumps connected to surge protectors. I was expecting a much more reliable switch for my 1/3 hp pumps. Get a float switch - they're cheaper and hard to keep free floating, but you don't have to worry about replacing the $200 pump either. I plan on replacing the float switch every 2 or 3 years to be on the safe side, or I'll design my own. If one of them doesn't turn off and you unplug the device and then plug it back in, it will work properly for a few cycles and then lock again. If you have one that hasn't failed and is dependent on it, replace it before it fails. If it were possible I would give this product negative 5 stars. When I bought a replacement pump last weekend, the store I went to had a number of new pumps with this unit under the original and different tags. I bought a floor pump as I will no longer have that switch.