110 to 12v

mytimetoshine

Bronze Member
Jun 23, 2013
1,574
3,370
El Dorado County
Detector(s) used
GRIZZLY GOLD TRAP - ANGUS MACKIRK EXPLORER- BLUE BOWL - GOLD CUBE, MINELAB PRO 25 PINPOINTER-
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All Treasure Hunting
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Asmbandits

Bronze Member
Mar 4, 2014
1,039
2,290
NorCal
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Fisher GB2, Bazooka Prospector 36", EZ sluice, Blue Bowl..
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Get a small 12v battery and run it with a small charger like 2 amp or more while running the pump, Thats what Im running currently with my blue bowl.
 

IMAUDIGGER

Silver Member
Mar 16, 2016
3,400
5,194
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The best way is free.
Computers run off of 12 volts DC and they can be power hungry.
The power supply is modular and they come in all different sizes.
Watts divided by volts equal amps.
Good ones have a cooling fan built in.

Your local computer shop might give one to you for free out of an old junk computer.
5B4AABD0-DC3C-4B7A-A9A7-F4694459E86F.jpeg
 

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Clay Diggins

Silver Member
Nov 14, 2010
4,883
14,251
The Great Southwest
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If you can live with 5 amp dc output this Wagan unit works well for me. Very well built and true output. Beware it took going through a lot of cheep plugin converters to find one where the output matched the specs and well built enough to sustain a constant draw.

IMAUDIGGER has a good idea in the computer power supply. Don't take one out of a cheap computer like an eMachine or an Acer - their cheap power supplies fail before anything else. Computer power supplies typically have a low tolerance for continuous full draw and some use a 24V tap instead of the 12V. Most are rated 2 amp continuous so look for something around 800 - 1000 watt continuous output if your pump needs more than 2 amp (probable).

Heavy Pans
 

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trdking

Gold Member
Feb 28, 2015
5,139
7,923
Fullerton CA
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Minelab CTX 3030
AT Pro
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I have a thousand (Literally) power supplies. PM me your address and the info on the pump and I will send you what you need. (Serious) Send a picture of the pump label and connection.
 

Bonaro

Hero Member
Aug 9, 2004
977
2,213
Olympia WA
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Minelab Xterra 70, Minelab SD 2200d, 2.5", 3", 4"and several Keene 5" production dredges, Knelson Centrifuge, Gold screw automatic panner
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Prospecting
A standard automotive battery charger should power a bilge pump with no problem and you probably already have one of those. I hook my pump to a car battery to buffer the load and and then connect the charger to keep everything topped up.
 

Jan 20, 2010
18
11
Greenwood, S.C.
Detector(s) used
White's XLT, MXT, TDI
Fisher F75
Garrett AT Pro
Minelab GPX 5000, Explorer SE
Shadow X5
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I just use my car jump start box to power my pump and it last for hours of constant running. I like the mobility it gives. Just plug it in to re charge when finished using. Don't think you can plug in 120 volt to recharge and still get the 12 VDC out the cables but I have never tried. Would think that it would have a built in interrupter switch of some sort that when its plugged into 120 AC the DC will not be available. Next time I am out in shop, I will have to prove that theory to myself.
 

brianc053

Hero Member
Jan 27, 2015
972
3,359
Morris County, NJ
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3
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Minelab Equinox 800
XP Deus 2
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Metal Detecting
A standard automotive battery charger should power a bilge pump with no problem and you probably already have one of those. I hook my pump to a car battery to buffer the load and and then connect the charger to keep everything topped up.
This is exactly what I have done in the past - using a charger to charge a battery, and power the pump from that battery.

I have a small 12v off-the-grid setup at the house (3 solar panels, 4 deep cycle batteries powering a 12v freezer) and in the winter I use a Battery Tender brand battery charger at night to boost the charge in the battery bank, so when I need to I also repurpose that Battery Tender unit to help run a pump for a blue bowl. I can say the Battery Tender products are good and the tech support is also very good.

- Brian
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
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1
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SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
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All Treasure Hunting
I would never make it as an electrician. how does everyone run there 12v stuff at home? All battery or is there a decent converter out there. Everything I see online is for cell phones etc. I want to be able to run the pump for my blue bowl straight from the 110 outlet. help


i just run a battery charger to a cheap small car battery .

Put alligator clips on the leads to whatever needs ran.

easy on off that way.

mosst new battwery chargers have to sense a battery to start.

The batter also stops powere surging if the charger cycle changes.

Abot the same as Awsmbandits set up, but with a bigger charger
 

Bodfish Mike

Hero Member
Dec 12, 2014
503
1,365
Bodfish and Marin county CA
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Garrett , Whites
keene puffer drywasher , Keene A51 Sluice
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Miracle Hot Springs?

Yes Miracle Hot Springs -- its about 10 min away , it has been rebuilt recently after the forest service knocked it down
and closed it a few years back.
New people at the FS now and they let a group of people rebuild.
Nice spot to go on a cold day
 

johnedoe

Bronze Member
Jan 15, 2012
1,489
2,239
Oregon Coast
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White's V3i, White's MXT, and White's Eagle Spectrum
Cleangold sluice & prospectors pan, EZ-Gold Pan, and custom cleanup sluice.
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Other
I have a 13 Amp battery charger that I hook up to a deep cell battery and run off that.
 

QNCrazy

Hero Member
Sep 30, 2013
537
961
Motherlode, CA
Detector(s) used
Gold Bug Pro
I used to have a battery charger that I used (until someone left ir out in the rain). Now I just use jump starters. I purchased a few of them for the club's equipment trailer. Or you could just purchase a pond pump and plug it into the wall.
 

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