Review on 💪 Efficient and Reliable Little Giant VCMX-20ULST 554550 VCMX Series Automatic Condensate Removal Pump: 115V, 1/30 HP with Safety Switch by Bob Roberts

I have bought quite a few (6-7) condensate pumps over the last 30 years. Cheap ones don't last more than a year or two. When I first bought this one (after buying 4 or 5 others) I was impressed. I said finally someone made a good quality pump. Now five years have passed. My wife complained that it was cold so I looked at the thermostat and sure enough it said it was cold and the stove was on. The fan worked, but no hot air came out. I went to the basement. This pump has a handy feature that allows you to move the float to ensure the pump is working. Nothing. The socket worked fine. The pump stays. The pump is easy to disassemble and the switch can be easily removed. There were some numbers on the counter so I looked for it. I have found several replacement parts but the price including shipping is 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a new pump. If the switch was really high quality it would be worth it. But then, if it was really that high quality, it wouldn't have broken in just 5 years. This is a maximum of several thousand cycles. So the "official" switch is too expensive, how about a replacement? I did some measurements and went to my favorite electrical component sources where there are tens of thousands of microswitch options (using parametric search). It turns out that this little switch really is something special. It has small quick disconnects (no problem) and custom hole spacing. All of my previous pumps failed because the pump itself stopped pumping. It seems like there is still a lot of life in it. But without the switch, it doesn't matter. So I gave up and ordered a new one. A new one arrived today. It was easy to use the old twist-lock connector (still attached to the water-filled drain line) and connect it to the new pump. The new pump fits perfectly on the bracket. So it was easy. But what to do with the old pump? I have ordered some very high quality switches that I will be using to troubleshoot the issue. The pump section looks like it will have many years of service and I will be using it in my heat pump water heater which currently drains into a 5 gallon bucket which I manually empty every few days during the warmer months. Switches have a faster connection so I had to buy some of those. They also have different hole spacing, so I need to modify an existing bracket or 3D print a new one. The amount I spent on new switches and quick couplers is about the same as the OEM, but I get 5 switches (much higher quality) and 50-100 quick couplers. This should last a lifetime! If they put in a better pump switch it would be a 5 star product but then I probably wouldn't have to buy another one.