Thread: portable pump and battery

Some places state that you get ~2 ft of lift (through a frictionless tube) for 1 PSI of water. The higher the flow, the better.

This 1.4 GPM, 100psi Shureflo pump works well for me.

As far as a battery, I just use a car battery, others suggest you use a marine battery because it lasts longer over time if it drains out - I've had mine for a year with no issue. Whatever you do, hook it up in line to your car circuitry so it charges while the car is running, but it disconnects from your car's system once the car is turned off. This will keep you from draining your car on the job.

The simple math for seeing how long that battery, on a full charge, will last you and your pump is as such: That pump above draws 8 Amps, if you have a 40 Amp-hour battery, that battery will last you 5 (40/8) hours.

I've thought about putting in a small motorcycle or jet-ski battery in a battery box (or a HD window washing bucket) with a pump (and probably some vent holes or a fan to cool the pump). You can modify the box to keep the battery side dry with a partition and some silicone. That battery is $48, has a rating of 18Amp-hours and will give you a continuous pump time of 2 hours and 15 minutes (18Ah/8A) on a full charge.

The beauty of that pump, and many others, is that they will stop pumping (and stop using energy) once the flow is restricted. So, as long as you conserve your use between windows and sides of the building, you should have no problem having that pump/battery last you a jobs throughout the day without needing to charge it.