Can you wire a Bilge Pump to outlet?

jvan

Full Member
Sep 30, 2014
149
201
Placerville, CA
Detector(s) used
Gold Hog Raptor Highbanker, Fisher Gold Bug 2, Fisher F70, Bazooka 36" Sniper, Gold Cube, Gold Vac Pac, Pans & Pans
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I am sick of bringing batteries to my claim and they keep dying just after maybe a hour of use, so I must be draining them...

Was thinking just to take my 1100 watt 20 pound generator down to my claim so I could just run my 3700GPH bilge pump to the outlet on my generator.. Question is can this be done as the pump only has the positive and negative wire?

I already have a plug, just don't know if this can be done, and would the black(negative) wire go to the neutral spot in the plug or would it go to ground??

Sorry guys I know this does not have GOLD in the topic, but just wondering if anyone else has ever done anything like this??
 

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Yeah I got my gas pump working but other problem & why I was asking is the plug on the gen is shaped kinda like a V and I don't have a plug like that so that is what through me off... Anyhow thanks winners58! :)

With this new info and to answer your original question...Yes, you can plug the 12 VDC bilge pump into the V shaped 12 VDC outlet on the generator. Keep in mind that it is probably rated at 10 amps but may be rated as low as 5 amps. Consult your manual or post the model of the genset here for more info. Finding the male end of that plug may be a challenge, start at a RV dealer or other store that sells gensets.
You will need to determine polarity, if you get the wires backward the pump will spin backward and you will have less than half the pump capacity.
Also, bilge pumps are designed to run intermittently and under water. If you run them for a long while with the motor end exposed to air, they will overheat, melt and die.

Don't worry about the verbal wrassling on here, cabin fever is rampant but temporary :thumbsup:
 

Devils in the details and would have saved a lot of problem mate. No one here reads minds... but we do have a dowsing forum ;) Just put all the tech details out next time. Saves three pages of yak and some hard feelings. Glad you may have found a solution.

As to the rest~ blow it off *all off ya in my opinion*. Not worth the knot in ones knickers. Nuff said.
 

Thanks Winner58, DDancer & Bonaro... Was helpful yeah the v shaped dc outlet on my gen says 10amp...

With this new info and to answer your original question...Yes, you can plug the 12 VDC bilge pump into the V shaped 12 VDC outlet on the generator. Keep in mind that it is probably rated at 10 amps but may be rated as low as 5 amps. Consult your manual or post the model of the genset here for more info. Finding the male end of that plug may be a challenge, start at a RV dealer or other store that sells gensets.
You will need to determine polarity, if you get the wires backward the pump will spin backward and you will have less than half the pump capacity.
Also, bilge pumps are designed to run intermittently and under water. If you run them for a long while with the motor end exposed to air, they will overheat, melt and die.

Don't worry about the verbal wrassling on here, cabin fever is rampant but temporary :thumbsup:
 

Was thinking just to take my 1100 watt 20 pound generator down to my claim so I could just run my 3700GPH bilge pump to the outlet on my generator.. Question is can this be done as the pump only has the positive and negative wire?

I already have a plug, just don't know if this can be done, and would the black(negative) wire go to the neutral spot in the plug or would it go to ground??

Yeah I got my gas pump working but other problem & why I was asking is the plug on the gen is shaped kinda like a V and I don't have a plug like that so that is what through me off... Anyhow thanks winners58! :)

So you have a plug then you don't, no big because the plug isn't dependable. The Honda plug shown can be bought at Camping World or any number of places but we don't know what generator you have and the Honda plug is a T shape, not a V. I have one of these "T" plugs and the problem with them is that even with the green light on the 12vdc charging system showing you that it is in operation, it doesn't give you any meter to show you how much it is charging. So I stopped using my cord because it wasn't charging the battery fast enough to do any good. I have a Honda 200I and it runs at idle with this cord so I can't tell if it is working. I prefer to use a 120vac to 12vdc charger with a meter that shows exactly how many amps are being transferred.

I prefer this charger over the few that I have used because I can set the charging amperage to my generator speed.

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SS...sr=8-2&keywords=automatic+car+battery+charger
 

did you look in the box
from product page;"12v DC output Charging cable is included with the unit. It is a 12v 10amp output"

Try it and let us know so if it comes up again we will have an answer.
.
 

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Yeah that is what it says on the gen


did you look in the box
from product page;"12v DC output Charging cable is included with the unit. It is a 12v 10amp output"
.
 


The gen in the pic shows polarity so hooking up the bilge pump should be a breeze with the included plug/cord
On 12v systems the black wire is ground. Do not confuse this with 120v systems where the black is hot
If your generator is identical the the pic then the black goes to the left slot on the v shaped outlet.

That gen is 2 stroke. You may discover that your gasoline powered pump is far better than the gen/bilge setup because that 2 stroke will be loud and may really eat fuel
 

Now I feel dumb, The gen is brand new only opened it up and looked at it for a second, did not know until I just read your comment and looked in the bottom of the box there is the plug already in there..lol...

Well now that I know this I will have a good backup option... My gas pump is running great right now, so this will be nice to know for backup...... Thanks All for the advice and help...

The gen in the pic shows polarity so hooking up the bilge pump should be a breeze with the included plug/cord
On 12v systems the black wire is ground. Do not confuse this with 120v systems where the black is hot
If your generator is identical the the pic then the black goes to the left slot on the v shaped outlet.

That gen is 2 stroke. You may discover that your gasoline powered pump is far better than the gen/bilge setup because that 2 stroke will be loud and may really eat fuel
 

I am sick of bringing batteries to my claim and they keep dying just after maybe a hour of use, so I must be draining them...

Was thinking just to take my 1100 watt 20 pound generator down to my claim so I could just run my 3700GPH bilge pump to the outlet on my generator.. Question is can this be done as the pump only has the positive and negative wire?

I already have a plug, just don't know if this can be done, and would the black(negative) wire go to the neutral spot in the plug or would it go to ground??

Sorry guys I know this does not have GOLD in the topic, but just wondering if anyone else has ever done anything like this??

Jvan, I see that you continue to edit your first post, you have change the entire wording to now reflect a entirely different question. If you read through the replies at the beginning your question was, could the black(negative) wire go to the neutral spot on the outlet. You see in DC as in DC batteries, bilge pumps the word NEUTRAL is not used, the correct word to have used would have been GROUND. Neutral is used in AC. You threw those that replied to you off that you were trying to hook the 12VDC pump up to the AC 120v outlet. You never mention the V outlet until later in this thread. A screen shot of the V outlet would have solved everyone the headaches cause it says 12VDC.

You just proved yet again that MAN never reads the manual, instructions, or looks in the box. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Pump.jpg
 

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Eh, just a little spending happy, alongside with not much wisdom - I can say that I have been in the same position many of times, and have also learned the tough way through it.


With self preservation, persistance and of course patience - the wisdom will sure follow

Heavy pans JV. I hope your next season explodes in pans of color
 

If I had a dollar for every dollar I ever spent on something I didn't need I would be rich :icon_scratch:
 

Thats exactly what I was hinting at myself.

However, the tumoltuous torrent of life will continue
 

If you have a trickle charger, plug it into your generator, and hook the leads to the pump. Cheap inverter, I am no a electrician, but do this at home all the time to run my cleanup sluice. No electrons were harmed in the typing of this message:laughing7:
 

Stick with the gas pump. A 15amp bilge pump run on a 10amp rectifier is just asking for the generator to become a smoke signal generator. If you are going to use it, use it wired in parallel with a battery which will keep the rectifier from being overloaded and the battery will provide the extra amps needed and this would increase your runtime.
 

You see in DC as in DC batteries, bilge pumps the word NEUTRAL is not used, the correct word to have used would have been GROUND.
Thank you, in following this thread, that's where I got throwed, too.
Just been lurken here, I'm no prospector like ya'll, or solar eggspurt, or electrician, :laughing7: but,
it did take both me and the Mr, to pass his on-line Hazmat course. :laughing7: Maybe I'll stay at a Holiday Inn one day, and be "certified". :laughing7:

I recco'd and linked this thread, down in the "are you living off the grid?" thread, there's good resources and learning, here.
Thank guys, didn't mean to intrude, cat out. GL & HH! :cat:
 

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Thank you, in following this thread, that's where I got throwed, too.
Just been lurken here, I'm no prospector like ya'll, or solar eggspurt, or electrician, :laughing7: but,
it did take both me and the Mr, to pass his on-line Hazmat course. :laughing7: Maybe I'll stay at a Holiday Inn one day, and be "certified". :laughing7:

I recco'd and linked this thread, down in the "are you living off the grid?" thread, there's good resources and learning, here.
Thank guys, didn't mean to intrude, cat out. GL & HH! :cat:

Yep the first post was missing so much information - we, I, all, had to read between the lines. My friend Barry (Clay Diggins) was the first in line to tackle the first post and Barry interpreted the wording just as others had. I know what I read and I too was thinking due to the wording of the post that Jvan was attempting to hook the 12VDC pump to the 120 volt outlet to the right of the 12VDC outlet, at least that is how it came across to the readers of this post. Then solar popped in and again Jvan was looking at going solar but the HF panel was not going to work.

As Jvan has said its all a mute point as he has his trash pump running. If his trash pump were to die he is still in trouble cause the munchkin generator (1100 watt) will not handle the load of the 3700GPH pump for very long. Not to mention these cheap generators most likely will not deliver the stated watts, but you get what you pay for.
 

Yea but you have to go to a dedicated electrical store to buy a rectifier. Can't pick them up just anywhere like I stated in third post. It's all good now he is running a trash pump.
 

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