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Wayne CDU800 Submersible Sump Pump Review: The Best Pump Under $150

We recently reviewed the Wayne CDU980E, which we’re convinced is the best sump pump under $200 currently on the market. However, if you don’t need 3/4 horsepower or are on a smaller budget, you might want to consider its slightly downscaled sibling, the Wayne CDU800. It goes by a lot of names, but you’re likely to see it referred to as the Wayne CDU800 1/2 HP Submersible Cast Iron and Steel Sump Pump With Integrated Vertical Float Switch. Whatever it’s called, it’s one of the best budget sump pumps out there, and we’ve yet to find a better sump pump consistently under the $150 price point. If you’re ready to buy it and just need a final confirmation that it’s a good deal, we’ll save you some time: it’s a good deal, and you can buy it here. For more details, keep reading.

Key Features of the Wayne CDU800 Sump Pump (60 Second Summary)

The Wayne CDU800 sump pump is a submersible sump pump with a 1/2 horsepower motor, a 4,200 gallon per hour maximum water flow rate, and a 3 year limited warranty. It’s 14″ tall, 10″ wide, and 10″ deep with a maximum pumping height of 22 feet and a switch-on/switch-off height of 4″ and 9″ respectively. The aforementioned pump switch is vertical. It draws 10 amps, doesn’t come with a battery backup, weighs 18.5 pounds, and has an 8 foot-long power cord. Although the discharge flow can reach 4,200 gallons per hour at 0 feet, it drops to 3,150 gallons per hour at 10 feet, 2,100 gallons per hour at 15 feet, and 500 gallons per hour at 20 feet. The working temperature spans 40-120 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s self-priming and housed in cast iron and stainless steel, and the sump pump outlet diameter is 1-1/2″ NPT. It’s designed to be used with sump pits (sump basins) at least 11-inches in diameter.

How Does the Wayne CDU800 Compare to the CDU980E Sump Pump?

Comparing the CDU800 and the CDU980E gives you the impression that Wayne first designed the CDU980E and then progressively removed features from all of its lower-priced siblings. Compared to the CDU980E, the horsepower is cut from 3/4 HP to 1/2 HP (2/4 HP), the max discharge flows are reduced at every step (e.g., from an absolute max of 4,600 GPH to 4,200 GPH), and the maximum pumping height drops from 26 to 22 feet. The high end working temperature also drops by 20 degrees from 140F to 120F. Essentially, the CDU800 is a less powerful machine. The warranty is the biggest difference in our books, however; the 5-year warranty on the CD980E is unfortunately chopped to 3-years in the CDU800, which makes us steadfastly recommend the CDU980E to anyone whose top priority is maximizing maintenance- and worry-free ownership. We’d estimate a 4-8 year lifespan for the 980E and a 3-7 year lifespan for the 800.

Our Short and Long Term Experiences Installing and Using the Wayne CDU800 Sump Pump

Installation only took us a few minutes (keeping in mind the fact that we do this for a living). At 1/2 horsepower, we find it’s a good match for homes in average draining conditions in our area (the Midwest), and a good upgrade to houses struggling with 1/3rd or (perish the thought) 1/4 horsepower sump pumps.

One of the most frequent questions we get from clients involves noise levels. It’s understandable, as having a noisy sump pump is both annoying (try watching a movie in the basement or even on the ground floor when you hear what sounds like a muffled bowling ball dropping every few minutes) and unnerving (see above reference to the muffled bowling ball). Fortunately, the CDU800 is a quiet machine; most of our clients let us know that it’s either completely unnoticeable or far quieter than any other sump pump they’ve ever had. We’d personally rank it as ever-so-slightly quieter than the CDU980E, which makes sense when you keep in mind the fact that it runs less water per minute. It’ll make your Flotec sound like a circus cannon, and it’ll put any pedestal pump to shame (submersible pumps are almost always inherently quieter).

Other than that, it’s hard to think about what else to say about the CDU800. It’s a reliable machine, and it’s a rather plug-and-play design. We’ve had a number of landlords personally thank us for choosing this model for their installations, as they’d been facing numerous tenant complaints due to the gunshot-like kicks of their existing sump pumps. We’re always happy to bring people’s plumbing needs into the 21st century; sump pumps have come a long way.

Troubleshooting and Installation Tips to Get Your Wayne CDU800 Working Sooner

When installing the CDU800, you should be fine if you’ve installed a sump pump before or have access to someone who has; you basically drop it into the sump pump (not literally) and connect the power as well as a main discharge pipe. The check valve is already installed at the pump base. Keep in mind that the manual isn’t the most detailed, but it’s at least written in English and accurate enough. Just know that it’s generic enough to apply to pretty much every sump pump Wayne makes.

This might seem like a bit of obvious advice, but be prepared to cut and glue some PVC piping, depending on your particular existing sump pump configuration. Similarly, because the power cord is only 8 feet long, if you have a basement with only one outlet (which, naturally, will be located on the opposite end of the house from the sump pit), be prepared to need an extension cord. Remember that the CDU800 draws 10 amps.

Wayne CDU800 Sump Pump’s Pros, Cons, and Value Comparison

In conclusion, while the CDU800 isn’t the best sump pump out there, or even the best on the market for less than $200 (that award easily goes to the CDU980E), it’s the best sump pump we’ve consistently found for under $150. The 3-year warranty is decent, its flow rates and horsepower are strong enough for small-to-medium-sized basements, and it’s essentially a scaled down version of one of our most frequently-turned to sump pumps. If you’re looking for an upgrade, we recommend the CDU980E. However, if volume is a priority and you don’t need a fantastic flow rate, it’s hard to go wrong with the CDU800.

You can buy the Wayne CDU800 sump pump here on Amazon. You can buy the Wayne CDU980E sump pump here on Amazon.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.

Wayne CDU980E 58321-WYN3 Submersible Sump Pump Review: The Best Pump Under $200?

We’ve had the good fortune of being in business for more than 10 years in the Chicago area, and over that time, we’ve seen more sump pumps come and go than we care to remember. In principle, a sump pump’s a rather simple thing. You want it to flush out standing and stagnant water from your basement and around your house (or swimming pool if you’re fancy) before it gets somewhere you don’t want it to. But it’s hard to find a sump pump that a.) does this well, b.) does this well for a long time, and c.) doesn’t cost an arm and a leg (or worse, ten hours of plumber labor on a weekend). As a result, we hesitate to recommend any fly-by-night brands or flash-in-the-pan models. In many respects, you get what you pay for, and we only like to pay once.

Wayne’s been doing this for more than 80 years, and they tend to be one of the manufacturers we turn to most on sump pump installations. Today we’ll take a look at one of their most popular models and one of our most frequently recommended choices at the $200 or under price point: the Wayne CDU980E 58321-WNY3 Sump Pump. Specifically, it’s known on Amazon as the Wayne CDU980E 3 / 4 HP Submersible Cast Iron and Stainless Steel Sump Pump With Integrated Vertical Float Switch. If you’re in a hurry and simply want to know whether or not to buy it, yes we recommend it, and you can buy it here.

Key Features of the Wayne CDU980E Sump Pump (60 Second Summary)

The Wayne CDU980E sump pump is a submersible sump pump with a 3/4 horsepower motor, a 4,600 gallon per hour maximum water flow rate, and a 5 year limited warranty. It’s 14″ tall, 10″ wide, and 10″ deep with a maximum pumping height of 26 feet and a switch-on/switch-off height of 4″ and 9″ respectively. The aforementioned pump switch is vertical. It draws 10 amps, doesn’t come with a battery backup, weighs 20 pounds, and has an 8 foot-long power cord. Although the discharge flow can reach 4,600 gallons per hour at 0 feet, it drops to 3,500 gallons per hour at 10 feet, 2,550 gallons per hour at 15 feet, and 1,100 gallons per hour at 20 feet. The working temperature spans 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s self-priming and housed in cast iron and stainless steel, and the sump pump outlet diameter is 1-1/2″ FPT. It’s designed to be used with sump pits (sump basins) at least 11-inches in diameter.

Our Short and Long Term Experiences Installing and Using the Wayne CDU980E Sump Pump

 We found the CD980E straightforward to install (keeping in mind the fact that we make around 300 house calls a year). One of the most significant changes we notice whenever putting one into a sump basin is how much more water it moves compared to the typical 1/4 to 1/2 horsepower sump pumps found in most homes. 3/4 horsepower is 50-200% more, and that translates into a lot more water moved per hour.

However, we’d also recommend being careful about moving to 3/4 horsepower if your current sump pump provides 1/4 horsepower or less and your sump pump piping is connected to additional drain connections. The reason behind our thinking here is that we’ve seen this pump push so much water through systems designed for much weaker sump pumps that it’s sent water back into other pipes that drained into the same system as that connected to the sump pump. This shouldn’t be a problem in newer (<15 years) homes, but it’s something to watch out for if you’ve got other drains that connect to the pump’s line while replacing a much smaller (e.g., 1/4 HP) small pump.

We were particularly impressed by the sold design; it feels solid without being overly heavy. There aren’t lots of frilly extensions (read: things that break or get worn away after months of exposure to cold water and cold temperatures) around the body. Similarly, the pump suction intake is located slightly above the base of the sump pump; this means it’s placed at a level where gravel and other stones don’t constantly get sucked into the pump, rendering it useless at worst and shortening its lifespan at best. Similarly, the inlet is tiny enough to keep stones from being vacuumed in. The fact that a handle is included on top means you don’t need to fish it out of the sump through the power cord (though even if a handle weren’t included, this still wouldn’t be a good idea).

Noise levels are acceptable at this price range; to our ears it’s relatively quiet, while we’ve had numerous clients tell us that it’s so quiet that they can’t even tell when it’s on.  Furthermore, If you’ve got a house with an external sump pump (e.g., one next to your kitchen or laundry room), or if you’ve got a home on a slab, you’ll be very happy with the CDU980E; it works well in basements but we’ve received thanks from people in tears who’d dealt with repeatedly flooding kitchens or ground floors until we installed this. We’ve also noticed a trend of people who’ve called us in to replace Flotecs; if you have the FPZS33T, we’d recommend you save time (and repeated floodings) and just upgrade straight away to the CDU980E.

Troubleshooting and Installation Tips to Get Your Wayne CDU980E Working Sooner

If you’re installing the CD980E on your own, you’ll want to add a sump pit cover in order to avoid the dreaded “sump pump water” smell; it’s not quite as bad as raw sewage, but it’s a close cousin, and you won’t want to spend time in your basement (or as the smell gets worse, near any source of water in your home) if you don’t seal the basin. The sump basin cover should be airtight; we recommend using silicone caulking and bolting the cover itself to the floor.

In general, when your current sump pump starts short cycling, that’s a sign that you’re going to want to replace it soon; don’t wait until the last minute because years of experience installing sump pumps tells us that your sump pump’s going to fail when you least need it to (e.g., during the heaviest rain fall of the year. Which will also be on a weekend. Of a national holiday).

Remember to also order a sump check valve if necessary for your specific installation case. Similarly, remember to drill a 1/8″ relief hole (i.e., a vent) in your discharge pipe (see the instructions) so water beneath the pump’s check valve will be able to return to the sump.

Above, we noted the inclusion of a handle above the sump pump to make it easier to retrieve from the sump basin. We’d go a step farther and attach a plastic or metal chain to the handle so you’ll have even less trouble removing it from the sump pit.

Wayne CDU980E Sump Pump Pros, Cons, and Value Comparison

Overall, we’re hard pressed to recommend a better sump pump on the market right now at the sub-$200 price point. It’s not perfect (we wish the power cord were longer than 8 feet, although we’re happy it’s extendable), but it’s hard to fault it at this price range for how much power it delivers and how reliable it is. Whether you’re doing gut renovations for flipping properties or just a simple homeowner tired of flooded basements, at $200, this is everything a sump pump should be.

You can buy the Wayne CDU980E sump pump here on Amazon.

If you find our work at PumpThatSump helpful, you can put our relentless reviewing of every pump and fixture on the market to the test by shopping via our links above for whatever you need to make your house a home. Despite being self-employed, we promise not to spend it all on health insurance.