Zoeller 105-001 Automatic Drain Pump System -115V

Bought this Zoeller 105 pump kit to hook up to a laundry tub in our basement after relocating our washer/dryer. I couldn’t be happier with the product thus far. It’s a Zoeller model M53 pump for those interested. The “105” signifies the entire kit, including basin, fittings, valves, etc. Five member household here, so plenty of laundry gets done at our house. And this thing keeps up with the washer discharge no problems. I’ve read reviews from other pumps where the tub fills up halfway or more because the pump can’t keep up... not this one. I might get about 2-3 inches in the tub while the washer discharges, but it keeps up well. Improper venting could also be the cause of a slow drain. Keep in mind, definitely do not want to use the one-way valve auto vent devices with this system. I confirmed this with Zoeller support. Those devices allow air in, but not back out. As water enters the basin from your drain source, that water needs to push the air out somehow since the basin is sealed. So take the time and plumb it correctly. Obviously there are some smaller low profile pumps that can mount under the tub right onto the drain tailpipe. I considered these for size and ease of install, but it came down to quality and peace of mind in the end. Many reviews for those smaller pumps were indicating that any little bit of laundry lint could jam the pump impeller. That sort of defeats the purpose for my use case. Lots of laundry lint and dirt from cleaning shoes etc, make it down this drain and I’ve had zero issues so far. And I just hit the six month mark. I’ll update this review if that changes. I’m sure the other pumps do a good job, but I didn’t want to constantly worry about particles making it past the drain screen. This Zoeller pump according to the manual will pass 1/2” spherical solids without jamming impeller. The craftsmanship for other kit components also seem to be top notch. The basin is very sturdy, and this particular 105 kit comes with the check valve. Zoeller calls it a unicheck, due to the fact that it has the fernco-style slip fittings on both ends. This is especially useful if you have to pull the pump out for maintenance, etc. You are able to disconnect the whole basin from the plumbing discharge line. Keep in mind to also install a union on the vent line, for the same reason. I also opted to put a ball shutoff valve above the unicheck on the discharge line, just in case the check valve ever fails. Zoeller support also confirmed that this ball valve should NOT be used to restrict the discharge flow. Some other pumps recommend doing this to ensure the pump stays running the entire time while the water gets pumped away. (Limits pump excessively cycling on/off) Zoeller support advised against this, as it actually makes the pump work harder when you restrict the discharge line diameter. Should be 1.5” pvc, no more no less. I decided to do plumbing and install myself, and I’m no plumber! It wasn’t all that difficult. Getting the discharge and vent tied into your existing plumbing is the hardest and most time consuming part. All in all, this is a very well designed pump kit. Zoeller is just the standard when it comes to pumps in my opinion. I’ve used them for sump pumps also, and I’ve had them last 20+ years. If you had any doubts, let me put them to rest. I’d definitely recommend this pump system to anyone.

Works and pumps the waste water out of my sink to the sewer line above. I had a plumber install my utility sink with this pump. I'm happy it works and I have a sink now.

So now that I've had this for a while, I feel compelled to comment about it. 2 years ago I moved my laundry to the basement and naturally that meant using a pump to elevate that water. I didn't really give it a second thought from there: I used an all-in-one solution from the local "home store" (hint: store = depot) that promised me it wouldn't fail, and that it had an "internal check valve." Oh my poor naive 2-years-ago-self. Contained in the sump box was some imported pump made out of Chinesium, but it assured me it was good enough, like an activist second-string quarterback. "No coach, I won't let you down." Well, much like Kaepernick, and much like the 49ers playoff hopes, my pump was soon underwater and drowning and it was time to move on. "Internal check valve," my foot... Amazon searches led me here, and figuring it was too good to be true, I went to their website and found Zoeller is an American family-owned company. Their pumps ship with residual water in them because some American Patriot threw it in a bath after production to assure it works. I'm fully on board. I can work with this. Installation was straightforward and results have spoken for themselves. So now I'm left wondering, is this the Tom Brady of laundry pumps? Well so far, it has been quiet. It hasn't hiccuped under pressure. And the way my fiancee does laundry, this thing is never not in service. Challenging it further, let's throw a heat pump vent-less dryer at it? No problem. Run em both at the same time! Throw in a dehumidifier? No big deal Mr Goodell, "I got this." You might say, "Yeah but I mean, that's only like 3 devices draining, and it's keeping up. Maybe if you had a water softener draining into it... maybe then that'd be something MVP worthy." And I'd have some news for you, because my municipal water has more calcium than that precious California Happy-Cow milk. And the only way to avoid crusty pipes is to slap a water softener in the system and throw that brine at this pump like a blitz-hungry defense. Yup. No problems. Quietly throwing downfield, up-pipe, it doesn't matter. It's just there every day, working, especially on Sundays. This is the Tom Brady of laundry pumps. This is GOAT territory. Buy it already.

I purchased and returned the item before installing it. Pump is quite heavy and seems well made and am sure it would have worked well. Reason i did not install is simply because of the use i needed it for did not match the function of the pump. And also because it would have taken up half of the kitchen cabinet. My kitchen drain was poorly build, with very little slope and 1-1/2 drain size, so it clogs up frequently with kitchen sludge. It works fine for a while after unclogging it but it needs unclogging every 6 months or so. A royal pain. I hoped this pump, or any pump for the matter, would have solved my problem but it does not and cannot. These pumps are not recommended for kitchen drains where coffee grinds and oily residues are presents. The pumps is designed to shot off drained water after it reaches a certain level within the pump but that does not mean it will clean the drain pipe in doing so. And I imagine a lot of kitchen residue will build up inside the pump reservoir. Bottom line is that if you need to use this pump for a kitchen sink were the drain is simply not sloped enough, you may want to re-think the function of the pump. While if you just need to drain a basement sink/laundry to a higher drain , then it may work very well. This review is really not about this pump in particular but hopefully it addresses a question you may have and save you the hassle of installing it and later discover the problem was not solved.

This is a simple system to install to handle the gray water from our house. I ran a 1.5" PVC pipe from the washing machine down to the basement, then added a T to allow the basement utility sink to flow to the same pipe, which entered the basin on the side connector. This unit came with a back flow preventer which I installed on the output pipe about 18" up from the basin, then there was an additional 6' of 1.5" pipe up to a 90 degree elbow and over to a sweep T to connect to a pipe connecting the bathtub drain to the septic main line. Added a 2" PVC pipe to the vent connector on the top of the basin and topped it off with an air admittance valve. (Not included, but found on Amazon) Powered it up using a GFC plug nearby. Had to run water through it a couple times to get enough water in the lines to work but once it started running, it has been working right ever since. All things considered, took a day to draw up and buy the pipes, connectors, etc. needed, but then I had everything installed in about 4 hours. Simple solution to resolve a rather silly code which our township thinks makes sense.

Ok this is the first review I have ever written on amazon, I tend to find them cumbersome and honestly, other people have said the same things I have thought about the different products. That being said, I have to write this one. I have to say this pump is awesome! Story time, I installed this pump in my window well because well my window well tends to get water when It rains allot, I have tried to fix the problem, but I have had trouble, so this seemed like the best fix. Last night my GFI that the unit was plugged into failed, its an old GFI and it had a wasp nest in it, so I don't blame the pump. That being said, I baled the window well, and then re-ran the cord to another GFI on the outside of the house. The pump started to work, and emptied out the entire well, great. I went out this morning to check on it, and to see what I needed to do to replace the GFI, and i noticed that the pump was very HOT, like extremely hot. A rock had wedged itself up under the float and the pump wasn't working. I checked the GFI it seemed to work. O no I burned up the pump. I took the pump out (the check valve worked perfectly and emptied) I let it sit and cool, put it in the a bucket and put some water in it, plugged it in to another plug, and it purred to life not an issue one. I am impressed, I couldn't touch that thing it was so hot, and now its working like a charm after running dry all night. (golf clap) Great product

Great quality product Just replaced my old one that was 25 years old. Everything I needed for it came with it to install. The install went perfect and Amazon got it to us very fast. Will definitely recommend and/or buy again if needed. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It took a few hours to install this under the bar sink of our finished basement. The most time consuming part is due to the fact that we're new to plumbing. It took us 3 trips to the hardware store to get all the parts correct. We took the lid and directions with us, and that helped. The additional trips were necessary only to fix problems with our existing plumbing. Other than that, the truly hardest part, as others have mentioned, was getting the seal between the lid and basin even. THE KEY is to barely tighten each screw a little at a time. Make about 2 full turns on each nut, and go around the basin about 15-20 times. (More? We lost count.) By gradually tightening each screw, at the same rate, it allows the seal to stretch evenly. Once we figured out that method, it took less than 10 min to get the seal on. We didn't use the check valve because we're only raising water 4-5 feet (and there really wasn't space in the cabinet.) The weep hole on the included white, output pipe is in the wrong location. It's near the bottom of the pump, not the top. But we did assume research, and we don't believe this makes a big difference. I don't know if this was mentioned in the instructions. But make sure that the power cord has a droop in it before it reaches the outlet. This prevents water from dripping down the power cord and running into the outlet. It runs fairly quietly. It's definitely heavy. But still easy enough for 2 person to manage. It seems well built. So we expect it to last a LONG time with proper maintenance! WE'RE VERY PLEASED!

We hesitated to move the washer and dryer down to the basement because of the pipes leading to the septic tank, which are located on the basement ceiling, just under the kitchen on the first level. They were taking an awful lot of our kitchen space. After reading many reviews online and specifically on Amazon, we took a chance with the Zoeller pump. We had a plumber install it for us, since we are more comfortable with a keyboard than a wrench. It is doing exactly what it is supposed to do; the washer empties in the sink we have between it and the pump, then the water goes up to the exit pipes. The pump works wonders and is a lot less noisy than the plastic one we have for the toilet. I recommend the Zoeller pump to anybody who doubts this set-up can work, which was our case. We are now set-upping extra shelving in the kitchen, thanks to our brand new pump! 😉

This is a pretty sturdy unit, and does what I expect of it - pump the laundry water! I had a zoeller m53 (same pump unit as this) as my primary sump pump for the past number of years and it has been nothing but stellar, so I expect the same of this one. I ended up rearranging the setup to use the 1.5 in pipe as air vent, the other 1.5 pipe as sink drain and the 2 in pipe as the laundry water pipe. This has worked fine so far. Make sure to secure the outlet pipe securely, this unit pumps water with intensity! I'd recommend putting this on the same circuit as your laundry machine so if the breaker pops, the laundry machine also stops throwing water at it. I guess you can also throw the water in the sink per the instructions, but then your sink is always dirty with laundry water, and you can't use it to soak clothes while you do laundry - I tend to do laundry stuff while doing laundry, like probably most folks.

This is a good solid unit. It is made in the USA, so I expect many years of dependable service. The instructions are lacking detail in some areas, but if you can't figure it out, you probably shouldn't be installing this yourself. It pumps the water out much quicker than what flows in from the washing machine, so there is absolutely no concern on my part that I will ever have a flood. I am absolutely satisfied with this purchase.

You can save money some places in your life, don’t save it on a basement drain. This is a perfect setup and will work for many years. I am years into mine and it’s working amazing still. Zero hitches. Add a tiny bit of bleach once in a while to get rid of the smell.

I purchased this system after my Flotec Laundry Tub gave out after 13 months of operation. From online reviews, this is supposed to be the most reliable pump, so I specifically got this one. What one notices immediately is that the pump is very heavy and made of cast iron - so it feels very solid. Second thing is that the float actuator seems to have a metal bearing (inside the rubber gasket) and good action, as compared to the Flotec whose float had some play on it at the plastic handle. Third thing I noticed is that the pump is very quiet. It is hard to hear it except when you hear the water running, and the Flotec I could hear it from upstairs. Fourth thing I liked about it is that it comes with a check valve. My other tub did not come with a check valve. Fifth thing is that there is only one power cord, my other pump had two power cords, the float would turn on the power, which would turn on the pump, and this one having only one is more compact and seems to have fewer points of failure. Overall, from the look and feel of it - I would say the reviews are correct this one is the more reliable pump. The things I don't like about it: a) the instructions were slightly cryptic and not as clear as they could be. The diagram is difficult to decipher. b) the adhesive strip on the foam gasket was quite difficult to remove to the point I was doubting that it was an adhesive strip and the instructions don't spell it out. c) the check valve does not have enough clearance over the bottom, it fits there but with the hose clamp it becomes more difficult than it should - had they given an additional quarter inch on the white pipe to clear the top, it would have been perfect - however it still works. I am not giving this 5 stars because I don't know how reliable it is, as I have only been using it for a few weeks. My expectation is that it should last 7+ years. However, on the basis of what I have seen so far, it seems to be a good pump.