I have a basement sewer ejector pump that stopped working. It services one basement bathroom. I pulled the pump and it appeared to have some sort of rope wrapped around the impeller. I removed it and the impeller seems to turn freely. Now when you plug it in I can hear a humming but it still doesn't run. Does it need to be primed to run? It has an electric float as well, could this be the problem? My well is almost full and not sure what to do without replacing pump.

The pump may have some other debris wrapped around impeller after you inserted it to the pit or the motor is bad. Did you empty and vacuum the pit before you re-installed the pump ? The float switch should be OK. The humming indicates it allows flow of electricity to the pump.

Milo

No I didn't. Do I need to? Is there a way to test pump outside of pit? I was thinking of putting it in a large trash can and filling with water and plugging it in. Would this damage anything?rw

To test it: Remove pump from the pit, take it outside, insert pump into a bucket full of water and plug it in. Here, you have to be careful: pump will shoot water out of the bucket pretty fast - so make sure the electrical connection is not in a way of water. Also, position yourself so you don't get sprayed. If possible, attach large diameter hose to the discharge and lead it away from the pump.

You may have piece of nylon thread in the pit and that will stop propeller from functioning properly.

When we service sewer ejector pumps, we always remove all water from the pit, vacuum all debris and hose down the pit with clean water. When we re-insert and reconnect the pump, we always let clean water run into the pit and observe several pump actuations before we cover up the pit.

For a real quick test, you can just try and start the pump without any water to see if the impeller is turning. Make sure the impeller is not broken loose of the motor shaft. You do not need to prime the pump. I would also look to see if some debris has jammed the check valve as I have found flushed toys in them.

Where is the check valve located at? Should you be able to turn the impeller by had

You said the impeller turned freely. Look to see if the motor shaft is also turning. Some of the impellers have a key to lock the impeller to the shaft or are screwed on and can be stripped free of the shaft. The check valve should be on the exit side. It will be a white or black plastic or rubber device, looks like a bulged piece of pipe. Mine is 3 ft. off the pump, mounted to the 2" PVC with rubber couplings.

Our basement sewer pump was keeps running but no water was moved out. After unplugging the plug from piggyback float switch and plugging back in fixes it. Then it continues to work for couple of days before start doing the same thing, We have first installed a sump pump alarm that costed about $10 at home depot. This was very useful to prevent water overflow from sump pit. We have tried everything but could not fix it. Finally changed the pump and float switch and had the same issue.
The problem was broken check valve that was clogging the discharge line! This valve works if the broken piece of plastic is in a certain position!! So when we removed the plug and plugging it again fixes it sometimes. I hope this helps someone out there with the similar issue.

If you don't hear the check valve slamming when the pump stops the valve might be broken. Also you can hear the water flowing backwards to the sump pit from vertical discharge pipe.