Zoeller 98-0001 115-Volt 1/2 Horse Power Model M98 Flow-Mate Automatic Cast Iron Single Phase Submersible Sump/Effluent Pump …

Solidly built. No issues.

After looking at a myriad of sump pumps online, I decided on the Zoeller. I asked a couple different plumbers what they recommended and they both said Zoeller. They have been around forever and are considered tops in the market. I can’t imagine having a flooded basement, so I spent my money on the Zoeller along with a battery backup system. It installed nicely and was a pretty quick and forward job. 15 minutes is all it takes, I had to shorten my pipe by a couple inches that was it. The backup system took about another 15 minutes. The plumber wanted $500 for a 15 minute job, talk about highway robbery! Worse than mechanics. Once you pull the old one out, it’s just a matter of loosening the pipe clamp and swapping units. This pump is heavy duty, cast iron and looks to be built well. Tried and true. I am glad I didn’t cheap out on this one. I have peace of mind now and the money I saved doing it myself paid for the battery backup setup with an AGM battery.. I feel good about that as well. Solid pump, recommended by me and a couple of plumbers.

I bought this on recommendation from a professional and don't regret it. It is whisper quite, heavy and does not vibrate. A 1000 times improvement over the previously installed big box product.Setting up and installation was a breeze. It is a fairly heavy product, almost 35 pounds. However the packaging is bad. I mean really bad. It is a flimsy cardboard box with a foam support in the bottom which means it should only be handled upright. There are instructions to that effect. Guess what, once that is re-boxed into Amazon box - which as flimsy as flimsy could get, and looses the 'this side up' note.The holes you see in the picture are where the electric cable meets the metal body of the pump. Cable is rubber and plastic - not designed to handle to rough and tumble. The product I received has the cable stripped. Fortunately, it sits above water level and a little electric tape came in handy. It is a potential disaster - that I will deal with when it happens.

The half horse pump itself works very well, is well made, has a metal cast iron painted upper body for the motor housing and top of the impeller. The bottom impeller housing uses a fairly thick reinforced plastic material. I like that the pump uses a side water intake as opposed to the bottom intake model my older pump from a different manufacturer used. The design, I think, will prevent the pump from most of the bottom silt that accumulates in the pump well.I had to get a replacement model on the first shipment because the pump is packed very poorly in flimsy cardboard - just a pair of folder cardboard supports to hold the housing centered. My first shipment arrived with a cracked plastic bottom due to rough handling - the side of the box had a hole where the pump clearly was jerked around - but that's due to very poor protection in the box. When I opened the container, two of the plastic feet were broken off a 1" chunk of of the reinforced plastic was lying a the bottom of the box - the rest was cracked - looks like it fell. It's a cast iron pump so heavy.Install was relatively easy - I had to shorten my outflow pipe because the pump's base was higher than my previous model.The replacement arrived double boxed with lots of padding which worked well. Zoeller should really look at improved packaging to protect the bottom of the pump more during shipping.So far, so good - the pump is quiet and effective, pleased with my purchase.

Zoeller 98 is a workhorse of a sump pump! Peace of mind when the heavy rain and flooding hits. Great quality and American Made!

I've had a couple of these M98's along with a few of the smaller M53's. I learned early that Zoeller switches stink. They fail both on and off and it happens in the 1 to 3 year period! If they fail on, you can at least add an auxiliary switch to turn the pump on an off. That's assuming you figure out the pump is stuck on before it burns up. If it fails off, you are dead. In fact, the last couple Zoeller pumps I've bought, I've immediately attached a piggyback switch and tied the Zoeller pump switch permanently to the on position. The tilting switches work pretty well and for years.Now my last two M98's have failed differently. The switch is still working, as I can hear the switch click and can hear the electrical current 'buzz' attempting to turn on the electric motor, but it won't turn on. It's as if the motor is flat spotted and won't rotate when current is applied. This last pump is only a little over a year old. Maybe this is an issue with 1/2 HP motors as the M53's seem to only have the basic switch problem and not this stuck motor problem. In this case, an auxiliary switch won't help becuase the pump simply won't turn on when power is applied. I'm checking to see if I can get warranty coverage - we'll see.When the pump works, it is powerful and moves a lot of water but it's too risky. I think the M53 motor is more reliable although it has still the same crappy switch. I think Zoeller is actually a switch company, not a pump company, and makes money selling crappy switches. If you replace a switch, it's the same crappy switch, and your repair is probably not better than the factory installation so get ready for another switch failure.Update: Forgot to mention I eventually learned that the motor start capacitors fail in these M89s - and fail early! The second pump failed within a year and I got a refund through HomePerfect (pretty smooth with that company)(got the refund because who would want another ones of these?) I had kept the first failed pump and disassembled it. The capacitor looked like it had blown up inside! Thus the switch clicking but the motor not turning on.