u/nogridbag

Hi, I hope this is not against the subs rules. We purchased a new construction home in the northeast in an area with a high water table around 2021 and our basement flooded during Hurricane Ida. Since then I've tried to become more knowledgable on how to mitigate the flooding and after hiring about 4 or 5 local plumbers I realize this is probably outside of their expertise. I've been turning to AI for advice - which I know can also get me into trouble. So that's why I'm here.

Here's our setup for context. The builders put two sump pumps connected via the interior perimeter drain on opposite sides of the house with the secondary pump sitting a bit higher.

The primary pump runs 24/7 and we've replaced it 3 times since we moved in. It sits in a standard 18x24" basin and pumps to the sewer. The secondary pump will only activate if the primary fails and it pumps to the storm drain underground. We also have a generator. There's 3 pipes going into the primary basin (I believe two from the interior perimeter drain and one from outside).

The plumbers and basement waterproofing companies who have looked at our situation all give contrary advise with some advising to set the primary pump at the extreme top of the basin right below the basement floor (where the pump may run continuously for 40+ minutes and be off for an hour) and others advising to put it all the way on the bottom (where it will be on for 10 seconds and off for 10 seconds - which they say will stop after 1 week).

I had forced the last plumber to install a Hydrocheck float switch which allows me to set the on and off points anywhere in the basin (we zip tied the Zoeller's float switch so that it's always on).

* Sump Pump: Zoeller M137 sitting on the bottom of the pit
* Off point: Close to the base of the pump and below all pipes in the basin
* On point: Completely above 2 of the inlet pipes and 3/4 up the 3rd inlet (the highest one).

When we first set this up the pump would run for ~6 minutes and be off for 12 minutes. But now it runs for 3.5 minutes and is off for 5.5 minutes which seems too frequent. Also, I noticed the drain from outside cannot fully drain into the sump basin as the Zoeller 137 pumps out the basin too quickly. And I feel we're in no better situation to handle a hurricane type storm than when we first moved in.

I thought installing a larger basin adjacent to this main basin would allow the primary pump to pump a bit longer while keeping the interior perimeter drains emptier. Zoeller sells a 30x36" basin and a 36x36" basin. And my idea was to connect this second basin with a 4" pipe at the bottom. Besides additional capacity, with the second basin I can have the pumps alternate to avoid burn out, or in the hurricane scenario, both run simultaneously. AI has advised against putting a deeper basin as it says I'll create a cone of depression where a greater amount of water will flow in at a higher rate:

>Google Gemini:
By deepening the pit, you increase the hydrostatic pressure difference between the surrounding soil and the empty basin. The water will rush in significantly faster, increasing the total volume of water your pump has to move without actually making your basement any drier.

Is AI right here? AI thinks I should go wider but not deeper with a second basin. No one makes a wider 24" basin so it would have to be custom. Local plumber friend thinks I'm overreacting and should leave it as-is. My wife thinks we should put a french drain on the outside and I'm open to that as well. If this was your house, outside of moving out, what would you do or who would you contact?

This may sound like a dumb question. I'm not really sure what's the best way to dock the robot manually when washing it. I always dock it with the "dock" button in the app, but washing it triggered the rain sensor and the dock button wasn't working (maybe because I manually picked up the robot and moved it while washing it). There was no error or anything when pressing the dock button. It just didn't do anything. So I figured I had to manually dock it.

I thought whenever I manually lift up the robot I need to power it off. So I powered it off, carried it over to the dock and shoved it in there. Once I had it docked under the garage, I realized I couldn't power it on and input my pin because I can't' see the screen. The ecovacs garage doesn't lift up unfortunately.

So I wound up powering it on, inputting my pin, lifting it carefully, and pushed it into the garage while it was on and unlocked. It seemed a bit dangerous.

I was just wondering what's the steps you all use to do this?

I've had the o1000 for about a month. The video feature suddenly stopped working. When I go to start the video it says it will start in a few seconds but then it never starts. It was working perfectly fine up until about a week ago.

I had the robot on "Automatic Update" enabled. So I'm not sure if it installed an update which caused the issue or if my phone received some update which broken it (Google Pixel). It looks like the o1000 is on 1.8.18. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Recently, Android Auto switched over to Gemini for me. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. Ideally, the assistant in the vehicle should provide short, concise responses to minimize distractions.

90% of the time, I'm using Google Assistant to play songs my kids request. It usually works reliably. Occasionally it randomly won't play a song and we'll just play something else. Sometimes my 5 year old asks questions I'm not sure about and I wish I had Gemini. So when it switched over to Gemini I was excited to try it out.

Day 1: Gemini in Android Auto follows up every prompt with a question.

Me: What would happen if Earth had no mountains? Explain to a 5 year old."
Gemini: [Very Long Response]. Does she have a favorite mountain she likes to look at?

Me: Can humans survive drinking liquids other than water?"
Gemini: [Very Long Response]. Do you have a favorite water bottle that you like to use?

Day 2-3: Gemini lies and lectures me on safe driving

Me: "play what could be better than this"
Gemini: Sure. Playing "What Could Be Better Than This?" from the Moana 2 soundtrack on YouTube Music. Remember to keep your eyes on the road and stay aware of your surroundings.
Nothing happens. I repeat prompt and similar result.
"Sure, playing "What Could Be Better Than This?" by Auli'i Cravalho on YouTube Music. Please stay focused on the road while you drive."

After 2-3 tries Gemini starts becoming very distracting. And now my Gemini history is full of all these nonsense prompts.

I did learn that it works more reliably if I follow the pattern: "play the song X" instead of "play X" even though Gemini responds similarly to both requests.

Day 4: It stopped warning me about safe driving, but keeps failing to play songs. It seems to work better if I restart android auto by unplugging my phone and plugging it back in.

My 5 year old yelled out "I WANT GOOGLE BACK!" to which I responded "THIS IS GOOGLE!". But she knows better. She keeps complaining the voice sounds different and it's not working good. I think that sums up the experience thus far. I know it will definitely get better and the experience seems to be changing daily. But thus far it's been a bit rough.

Hi, I picked up the Ecovacs goat O1000 LiDar. I think we have a good spot between our generator and HVAC units, but there's not much side clearance. The online videos say it requires 40cm on each side of the base station. Is anyone using any of the Ecovacs mowers where the base station has tight side clearance? Has it been an issue? How much space do you all have on the sides? Thanks