Michael

It's been a rainy week here.  The pump should run for 25 seconds.  The floater is on an up-and-down shaft, not the "floating ball on a cord".  It is totally submersed - it is not the tall flimsy looking style with a shaft.  Only the power cord is out of the water.  Every year or two I buy a new pump to fix this problem.  But surely there is a way to fix it.  Any idea what causes it to only run a few seconds?  Would cleaning the shaft help??

The picture shows an air-powered mobile waste oil pump I threw together.

The Rubbermaid bin it's sitting on is useful as a place to put the messy hoses.I'd like to attach the plywood base to the blue bin. But the plastic is sort of flimsy.It's more than strong enough to support the weight of the pump, but I will need to put some holes in it to fasten the plywood to it.I was thinking maybe rip a 3/8" board and jam an inch-wide piece under the lip, and screw deck screws from the top through the plastic into the board underneath.But that sounds messy and my aim probably isn't very good.If you've got a cleaner solution I'd like to hear it!This is a bit of a stupid question so I know I will get some of the smartass answers that YA is famous for. I welcome them if it helps people work through whatever they're going though lol

Uploading pics to yahoo answrs only works for me 30% of the time so hopefully this goes through.