battery question

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bcbouy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 3, 2011
Messages
1,394
Reaction score
0
Location
british columbia canada
what i've done is built a camp shower out of a 500 gph. bilge pump and a flexable shower line and shower head that goes in a 5 gal. bucket.i'm wondering what is the smallest batt. i can use that will power the pump? does an atv batt come in 12v or 6 v. and should i use a switch or gator clips ? the wife will be nervous playing around with a battery,i just know it. thoughts?
 
It all has to do with amp hour rating for the pump then divide this into the amp hour rating of the battery this will tell you how long the battery will last or at least an educated guess. The one atv battery I looked at was only 9 ah, I guessing a pump uses more than that.

I would wire the pump directly to the battery using wing nuts I would then put one of the keyed plugs in line so the battery can be removed with ease. I would also add an off/on switch for convience.

Another thing you need to consider if you haven't already is find how high the pump will pump, I believe this is called head. which means that if it's rated at 48" then it will not pump over 48" very well if at all.
 
Another thing to think about is the fact that a 500gph will empty the 5 gallon bucket in short order
 
head will be about 36" at most.and a 5 gal bucket will shower 2 people.i had a coleman pump that ran on 4 d cells and a foot switch, but kept breaking.i ran it to test it off my truck battery and it pumped a little more than the coleman,but not by much.it goes from 3/4" down to 1/2" about 8" from the pump. i have an inverter wired into my truck to run my batt. charger so i'm not worried about killing it,just trying to make it as portable as possible.if i can fit it all into the bucket and carry it it will be good.
 
I built a camp shower 3 years ago. I originally used (2) 6v lantern batteries wired in series to test it. It worked fine. But since the battery in my truck was 5 years old, I replaced it. The old battery still works fine for the shower. The larger the battery, the longer you can go between charges. I also used a 500gph pump. It is connected to the battery with clips and also switched so I can conserve water. (The water and battery are on the outside of the shower.) The water is heated within 10 minutes with a turkey fryer. I have had no issues with pressure pumping it up about 5 feet. I used pvc pipe cut into sections and everything is stored in the pot.
 
I used a toggle switch with a plastic housing and wrapped the terminals with electrical tape.
 
You hang that bucket full of water up about 7 ft and you could let gravity provide the shower. Once when camping in nice weather we just uncoiled a 50ft black garden hose, let the sun heat it up and we had nice hot water for a quick shower, no problem.
 
the only reason my wife tolerates a month in the mountains is if i make it as civilized as possible,hence the shower,inverter power for her vac. sealer for her smoked trout,queen size bed (with folding frame) fold up dressers,and so on. the shower is priority one. :LOL2:
 
bcbouy said:
queen size bed (with folding frame) fold up dressers,and so on.
\

Ok I was going to say the bed is nice but foldup dressers??? wow it seems like you should just get an RV...

See I got my wife to tent camp with skunks around. Now she thinks our pop-up camper with AC is livin it up...lol...actually thats the only way she will go with me.... :( so be it...
 
my truck can't carry a camper and all the extra gear i need. its an f 150 fx4 lariat with tow package. 1000 lbs.payload,and i don't think a camper would survive the places i go. seriusly, fold up dressers :LOL2: my camp looks like a resort when i get it all set up.
 
bcbouy said:
my truck can't carry a camper and all the extra gear i need. its an f 150 fx4 lariat with tow package. 1000 lbs.payload,and i don't think a camper would survive the places i go. seriously, fold up dressers :LOL2: my camp looks like a resort when i get it all set up.

They do make a pop-up camper that has beefed up suspension and higher ground clearance. Saw it at the local RV shop last season. You need to post a picture of your campsite.
 

Latest posts

Top