tonight did nothing different watching TV all of a sudden the sump pump got real loud and stayed running for 20 minutes, it shut off for 5 minutes ,then again and is still running and very loud ,I live ,recently moved into a older home in the bsmt what do I do ,is it dangerous as its near the hot water/heater tanks?thanks jayne

Hi Jayne and welcome to The Plumbing Page at AskMeHelpDesk.com.

is it dangerous as its near the hot water/heater tanks Not to worry! No danger here!
It does sound like a faulty float switch and the loud noise could be the pump running dry. Shut the power off to the pump and have the float switch checked out. Good luck, Tom

Have you looked in the pit to see if the pump is running dry?

My sump pump float was getting caught on the ridges on the side of the pit, so I slipped a smooth piece of aluminum between the float and the side of the pit and no more getting stuck! Now it only runs when the water gets high enough.

Hi Sharon and welcome to The Plumbing Page at AskMeHelpDesk.com.
Thanks for the input. Good tip and we'll pass it along. You might just have solved Jaynes problem. Thanks, Tom