Tag Archives: sewage pump

Liberty Pumps LE51A LE50-Series Submersible Automatic Sewage Ejector Pump Review and Zoeller M267 Comparison

If you’re in the market for a sewage pump, you’re going to need to decide whether you want a sewage grinder pump or a sewage ejector pump, and if you’re going to buy the cheapest pump you can get away with or if you’re going to spend more to get better performance and long term liability. We’ve spent enough time in manholes and sewage pits to hopefully provide some convincing answers to these questions. To put it bluntly, a grinder pump is the better option if your family, tenants, or employees use your toilets as wastebaskets, while a regular sewage pump will work well if the people who use your drains only flush human waste down them. And it’s always worth spending more on a good sewage pump than on whatever you’ll find in your local box store.

If you want a good sewage grinder pump, go with the Liberty Pumps PRG101A and say goodbye to clogs for the next decade and a half. But if you don’t need a grinder and just want high reliability and the ability to pass solids, you’ve got several options to choose from. The Zoeller M267 is always a safe bet, but today we’re going to take a look at the Liberty Pumps LE51A Submersible Automatic Sewage Pump. It’s one of the best sewage ejector pumps on the market, and we’ll explain why below. You can buy it here.

Key Features of the Liberty Pumps LE51A Sewage Ejector Pump (60 Second Summary)

The Liberty Pumps LE51A is an automatic submersible sewage ejector pump for residential and light commercial applications. It features a  1/2 horsepower electric motor, a 9,600 gallon per hour maximum flow rate, a  24 foot maximum pumping height, and the standard 3 year Liberty Pumps warranty. It is 12 inches tall, 10.9 inches wide, 7.5 inches long, and weighs 43  pounds. The motor is housed in class 25 cast iron.

The LE51A’s thermoplastic impeller is  capable of passing 2 inch spherical solids. Its motor is oil-filled and thermally protected. It runs on 115 volts single phase AC and draws 12 amps at maximum load with rotors locked at 22.5 amps. Thermal overload occurs at 221F.  By default, the LE51A includes a 10-foot quick disconnect power cord; the LE51A-2 is an otherwise identical model that includes a 25-foot power cord. The maximum liquid temperature is 140F and the pump includes an automatic mechanical wide angle float switch with a piggyback plug. It uses a 2 inch FNPT discharge.

The maximum pumping speed of 9,600 GPH at zero feet drops to 7,140 GPH at 10 feet, 3,360 GPH at 20 feet, and shuts off at the max head of 24 feet.

How Does the Liberty Pumps LE51A Compare to the Zoeller M267, Liberty Pumps LE41A, and PRG101A?

Compared to the Zoeller M267, the LE51A is the faster ejector pump (9,600 GPH vs 7,680 GPH) as well as the pump with the larger max head (24 feet vs 21.5 feet). Warranty coverage of both pumps is the same. The LE51A is capable of handling hotter fluids (140F vs 130F) and has the option of a 10-foot or 25-foot power cord. Both are capable of passing 2 inch spherical solids and both are equipped with 1/2 horsepower motors. In our experience, the Zoeller has a greater reputation for long term reliability, and we’d expect an up to 20 year lifespan for the M267 vs an up to 15 year lifespan for the LE51A.

Compared to the Liberty Pumps LE41A, the LE51A is again the faster pump (9,600 GPH vs 8,700 GPH) as well as that with the greater max head (24 feet vs 20 feet). Both have the same warranty coverage, fluid temperature limits, and power configurations. Both are capable of passing 2 inch solids. However, in addition to being faster, the LE51A also has the stronger motor (1/2 hp vs 4/10 hp) and reputation for being significantly more reliable than the LE41A, to the point where we would not recommend the LE41A if it were at all possible to buy the LE51A.

Compared to the Liberty Pumps PRG101A, the LE51A will pump more quickly (9,600 GPH vs 2,760 GPH), but that and price are its only advantages. The PRG101A is simply a superior sewage pump. As a grinder pump, it’s not going to stop the first, second, or hundredth time a feminine hygiene product is flushed down a toilet. It won’t clog on diaper wipe after wipe, it won’t choke on towels and rags. It’s designed to handle things that shouldn’t be flushed down toilets but are. If that’s a priority, don’t try to save money with the LE51A. The PRG101A also comes with a far more powerful motor at 1 hp and more than twice the max head at 50 feet instead of 24 feet.

Our Short and Long Term Experiences Installing and Using the Liberty Pumps LE51A Ejector Pump

Installation is more complex than a typical sump pump installation, but not more complex than your everyday sewage pump setup. You’ll either want to hire a plumber, have a lot of experience in sewage pits and septic tanks, or have someone nearby who does. The main thing to keep in mind is that you’ll want to have all of your accessories (and extras) at hand before beginning the project, as there’s nothing worse than needing to stop in the middle of everything because you broke your only check valve and all the stores are closed until the following day, and you’d promised everyone running water that evening (we’ve seen it happen). We recommend buying (and using) a good wet / dry vacuum for the installation. Unlike yards of PVC, cement, couplings, and attachments, it’s not required, but it’s guaranteed to come in handy.

Once installed, you can expect somewhere between 7 and 15 years of reliability, although we’ve seen pumps last significantly longer and have unfortunately seen some give out long before they were due. If multiple decades of unstoppable reliability are a high priority, save your money and get a sewage grinder pump instead of a sewage ejector pump; by design, the PRG101A is going to be more resistant to break down than the LE51A.

Troubleshooting and Installation Tips to Get Your Liberty Pumps LE51A Working Sooner

The main issues you’re likely to run into with the LE51A at startup include the pump not running, the pump not turning off, and the pump running without pumping.

If it doesn’t run at all, you’re either dealing with a power issue (a blown fuse, poor voltage), a stuck switch (due to a physical obstruction), not enough liquid in the pit to activate the switch, or a defective switch.

If the pump doesn’t turn off, the switch is either stuck open due to a physical blockage or defective.

If the pump runs or hums but refuses to pump sewage, you’re either facing a blocked or clogged discharge, a backwards or closed check valve, a closed gate or ball valve, too much lift for the pump, or a jammed impeller or plugged volute casing.

All of these issues are readily fixable, but most will require you to open the pit and physically inspect the pump.

Liberty Pumps LE51A Sewage Pump Pros, Cons, and Value Comparison

In conclusion, if you need a fast, powerful, and reliable sump ejector pump, the Liberty Pumps LE51A should be on your short list. It has very few competitors in its price range, with the most serious one being the Zoeller M267. If you aren’t dealing with a residential or commercial environment where people are flushing trash down the drain, either of these pumps should be able to handle appropriate sewage for years to come. On the other hand, if you are managing a home or business where there’s a significant risk of things like feminine hygiene products or sanitary wipes ending up in toilets, or if you simply can’t afford to have any downtime in your sewage system, you’d do well to upgrade to a grinder like the PRG101A. In the end, the answer depends on your clientele, your budget, and your tolerance for risk.

You can buy the Liberty Pumps LE51A here on Amazon or the LE51A-2 with a 25-foot cord here. You can buy the Liberty Pumps PRG101A here.   You can buy the Zoeller M267 here. You can buy a good wet / dry vacuum here. You can buy a silent 2 inch  check valve here.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can support our relentless reviewing of every sump pump on the market by shopping via our Amazon link for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.

Liberty Pumps PRG102A ProVore PRG Sewage Grinder Pump Review and PRG101A Comparison

If you’re buying or installing a sewage pump, perhaps the most basic choice you’ll need to make involves whether to pay less but more often or whether to pay more for long term stability. We’ve spent far too much time cleaning up sewage from cheap ejectors that failed within months or a few years to ever recommend them. The older we get, the more we want things to just work, and to work for a damn long time. This is why these days, we typically only use and recommend sewage grinder pumps for any sewage work in residential or commercial-grade settings. Cheap sewage pumps are a very poor investment in time, money, and peace of mind.

We’re not saying you can’t buy a reliable sewage ejector pump for your home, AirBnB, restaurant, office, or small business. Sewage pumps like the Liberty Pumps LE51A or Zoeller M267 will do a great job and last for years while handling everything that’s supposed to be flushed down a toilet. But people don’t always follow rules, and if there’s a risk of difficult solids like towels, disposable wipes, rags, towels, and feminine hygiene products being flushed down the drain, you’ll want a pump capable of shredding them instead of simply getting clogged by them. That means a good grinder pump for when you don’t have good tenants, conscientious employees, or do have dearly loved but careless family members.

We recently reviewed several solid grinders from the Liberty Pumps PRG series, including the automatic PRG101A and the manual PRG101m and PRG102m pumps, and found them excellent choices below $1,000. Today we’ll review another automatic ProVore, the Liberty Pumps PRG102A ProVore PRG Series Automatic Residential Grinder Pump. If you’re in a hurry, it’s the same great pump as the PRG101A with 230V requirements, and you can buy it here. Our full review is below.

Key Features of the Liberty Pumps PRG102A Sewage Grinder Pump (60 Second Summary)

The Liberty Pumps PRG102A is an automatic residential sewage grinder pump. It will also work in a range of situations requiring a standard sewage ejector pump. It features a 1 hp electric motor, a 2,760 gallon per hour maximum flow rate, a maximum pumping height of 50 feet, and a 3 year Liberty Pumps warranty. It is 7-1/8 inches deep, 11 inches wide, 17-5/8 inches tall and weighs 58 pounds.

The PRG102A features a cast iron shell and impeller as well as a stainless steel cutter and cutter plate. It includes an oil-filled and thermally protected motor that runs on 230 volts single phase,  draws 6 amps at full load, and features a locked rotor amp draw of 23.7 amps. Thermal overload protection is set at 221F. The 102A includes a 10-foot quick disconnect power cord; you can buy the PRG102A-2 to have an identical model with a 25-foot power cord. It can handle liquids up to 140F and features an automatic mechanical wide angle float switch and piggyback plug. The discharge is a 2 inch NPT connection.

The maximum pumping speed of 2,760 GPH at zero feet scales down to 2,610 GPH at 10 feet, 2,220 GPH at 20 feet, 1,680 GPH at 30 feet, 960 GPH at 40 feet, and shuts off at the max head of 50 feet.

How Does the Liberty Pumps PRG102A Compare to the Liberty Pumps PRG101A?

The only difference between the PRG102A and the PRG101A is in electrical requirements. The “101” models draw 115 volts single phase, 12 amps, and 47.5 at locked rotor state; the “102” models draw 230 volts single phase, 6 amps under load, and 23.7 under a locked rotor. Additionally, the “m-2” variations include a 25-foot power cord instead of the standard 10-foot cord.

Our Short and Long Term Experiences Installing and Using the Liberty Pumps PRG102A  Grinder Pump

To install the PRG102A, you’re either going to need a plumber or someone who was one in a former life; it’s not any more difficult to install than any other sewage pump, grinder or ejector, but by definition, whenever you’re working in or around a pit or tank used for sewage, you’re going to have more work on your hands. A sump pump installation is far easier and cleaner. We’d suggest buying a good wet / dry vacuum if you’re determined to install it on your own, as well as every potential accessory you might need ahead of time. Time wise, you’ll want to budget at least a full day (a weekend would be even better) so you don’t feel pressured to rush things, because this isn’t a job you’re going to want to have to repeat the following day because you skipped steps or did shoddy work when trying to finish quickly.

Once done, you can expect a good amount of reliability from the PRG102A; like other members of the PRG series, 15 to 25 years of active service should be a reasonable expectation, although nothing is ever guaranteed. Most owners we’ve come across have been highly satisfied, especially those who have dealt with failing sewage pumps in the past or who simply have wanted to be proactive to avoid getting into such situations.

Troubleshooting and Installation Tips to Get Your Liberty Pumps PRG102A Working Sooner

When installing the PRG102A, besides experience, you’ll also want to have patience and a number of accessories (PVC pipes and cutters, cement, check valves, and lots of couplings and adapters) handy so you don’t need to make trips to the store while covered in filth. Here are some basic troubleshooting guides to keep in mind. As always, any handling of the pump or adjustments should only be done with the pump disconnected from any power source (whether at the pump or at an outlet).

If the pump isn’t running, you’re likely either dealing with a lack of power (make sure it’s plugged in), a blown fuse, the wrong voltage, an obstruction keeping the switch from moving into an on position, not enough liquid, or a defective switch. If it’s an electrical issue, besides making sure it’s plugged in, you can also call an electrician to check your wiring, connections, voltage, and capacity. If it’s a blocked switch, you’ll want to make sure it can move clearly in the pit or tank. If the switch is bad, you’ll need to swap it out, and if your liquid is low, you’ll need to make sure it can rise enough to trip the switch.

If your pump won’t turn off, it’ll be switch issue again–either the switch will be physically blocked due to the side of the basin or something similar or the switch itself will be burned out. If it’s an obstruction issue, move the pump or switch (after disconnecting power, of course). If the switch is bad, you’ll need to remove and replace it.

Liberty Pumps PRG102A Pump Pros, Cons, and Value Comparison

In conclusion, much like with the PRG101A, the PRG102A is easily one of the best deals in sewage grinder pumps to be had below the 4-figure price point. There’s no question that it’s going to cost you more than you’d spend on a good sewer ejector pump like the LE51A or M267, and you might have some trouble justifying the extra dollars at first. But when you price out the cost of even a single plumber visit on a weekend or a holiday (because Murphy’s law dictates that this is when you’re going to have a sewage emergency), you’re going to come out ahead by putting in a sewage grinder like the PRG102A (or PRG101A) from the start instead of after one too many things that should have gone into the wastebasket three feet away from the toilet went into the toilet instead. Take it from us; if you have a business to run, tenants to manage, or simply a household to keep happy, having a grinder in your tank or pit is one of the best investments you can make for financial and psychological peace of mind.

You can buy the Liberty Pumps PRG102A here on Amazon, or buy the PRG102A-2 with a 25-foot cord here. You can buy the Liberty Pumps PRG101A here.  You can buy the Liberty Pumps LE51A here. You can buy the Zoeller M267 here. You can buy a good wet / dry vacuum here. You can buy a silent 2 inch  check valve here.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can support our relentless reviewing of every sump pump on the market by shopping via our Amazon link for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.