# How to 'convert' 12 volt pump to 110?



## oz in SC (May 13, 2002)

Found a 12 volt pump to use for our camp shower but it is 12 volt,how would I go about converting it to 110?
Would a battery charger work??

This is the pump:

http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp?pcID=4&paID=1034&sonID=158&page=1&productID=1916


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## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

Buy a 110 one instead?


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## oz in SC (May 13, 2002)

fantasymaker said:


> Buy a 110 one instead?


Find me a 110 volt on demand pump for under $50.


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## freeinalaska (Jan 21, 2005)

Go to Radio Shack and buy a 110VAC to 12VDC converter. I could not determine what the current (amp) requirments were for the pump, but a 6A 110VAC to 12VDC converter runs around $35 to $40.


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## idahodave (Jan 20, 2005)

If you have a small charger hooked up to an old car battery it would work. But I wouldn't run out and buy a charger and battery. 

Old RV's may have a power converter that could be salvaged.


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## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

If you have a battery charger hook the pump and charger to your battery. Just don't leave the charger running all the time as it will over charge your battery. We run radios like this all the time. Sam


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Look around your home or garage sales. All these converters that pug into 110-120v for things like radio and telephones have different voltages that they convert to. Many are 12v. Once you locate one, you need to determine wich wire is the positive wire. Most have on wire with a strip and one is solid. I think the stripe is positive, but not sure. Once you have done all that, wire it up and plug'er in. If you find something over 12v but under 15v it should work ok. The problem you are going to run it to is the AMPS. I would say most of those plug in converters don't handle many amps. You might put (in line) a fuse that is rated at the max amps of the converter. 
I would just use a 12v battery.


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## Hammer4 (Oct 13, 2005)

I go with the small 12v battery to run it off and a 110 volt charger to keep that battery topped off.


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## hoofinitnorth (Oct 18, 2006)

The converters you're looking for are probably also called inverters.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

oz in SC said:


> Find me a 110 volt on demand pump for under $50.


Sure can't find you one under $50, but by the time you plunk down another $35-40 for a 110 to 12 volt transformer/converter, you could get this new 110-volt pump from H-F:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2955

Dunno the quality, I am a dedicated Jacuzzi pump man myself. Anyway, cheap is cheap...got a store near you? Saves the shipping!


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

hoofinitnorth said:


> The converters you're looking for are probably also called inverters.


AC to DC - Inverter
DC to AC - Converter
DC to DC - Converter
AC to AC - Transformer


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

12volt is smart Oz. If you know a place with old campers many of them had converter's in them. Otherwise they have inexpensive battery chargers and a battery. 

Nice thing: Works when the power is out. If it's out for an extended time, throw the battery in your car to charge it.

Got a link to the one you are looking at buying?


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## Boleyz (Sep 7, 2004)

Who bathes when they're camping anyway?

Go swimming at the lake with a bar of soap...

Oh wait...you just bought a place....that may be diferent it you're living there for an extended period of time...

I'll tell you this:

I have an un-powered cabin in W. KY. and I also have severe sleep apnea which requires a CPAP machine (110v) for me to sleep every night without stroking.

I take an eveready marine deep-cycle battery (fully charged) and use a 175 watt power inverter.

I've used it for 6 nights in a row and never run the battery down.

ALSO....Look at this from harbor freight...it's a COMPLETE solar panel charging rig...45 watt! $199 + Shipping...that's CHEAP...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90599

If you had that solar rig and 2 deep cycle batteries, you could charge one while using the other, and have PLENTY of power to bathe all day.

Get a 1000 watt inerter, and you can also run lights and TV...HF has them really cheap too...


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Our household radiant heat circ pump is 12VDC. I have a trickle charger going to a deep-cycle RV battery that the circ pump is connected to.

Also our electric fencing is hooked onto that battery.

When we lose power, I may not be able to get on-line but we still have heat.


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## artificer (Feb 26, 2007)

How often do you intend to use the pump? If its only intermitent, just get a longer cord, and use your car/truck battery. If you use it for more than 15-30 min., make sure you run the engine to keep it charged.

If you want to use it for a stationary location, get a cheap battery charger, which you should have anyway. The shallow well pump is a nice simple solution if you don't have the charger, and don't want to get one.

I've made a portable shower system with a propane water heater, a pump like the one mentioned, garden hose, and kitchen spray nozzle. 50-100 people used it at a campsite, and they loved it. Hot showers where they normally had been cold.

Michael


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

I run a 12 volt "sprayer" pump on a adaptor from a Colman power cooler.
Piced up cooler/adaptor at rummage sale for 30 bucks.
Only use the adaptor when running the pump, then back to the cooler.

Pumps water from a rain catching 55 gal plastic drum, to a 2-1/2 gal water heater, to a sprayer w/shut off.


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## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

I use RV pumps for everything. (12 volt) The Surflo I use pulls around 4-5 amps when they start pressuring up. At free flow, (during a shower) it pulls around 1-2 amps..

A 10 amp power supply (converter) would run it with ease..

http://buyreliant.com/psupplies/ps12.htm


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## oz in SC (May 13, 2002)

Thanks for all the replies.

After thinking about it more it occurred to me that I was(as usual) making it WAY more complicated then it needed to be....

We are going to use a 110 volt pond pump we already have and see if that works,if it doesn't we will buy this pump from TSC:
www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp?pcID=4&paID=1034&sonID=158&page=1&productID=1916
And simply hook it to our truck.

Sometimes it seems I try and make things harder than they need to be...


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