# Rig a 110v sump pump to marine 9v battery? (fast answers most welcome)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 13, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744 "2013-09-13T03:42:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/1 "2013-09-13T03:42:19Z")
So I’m in Lyons CO (do a google search or look at [cnn.com](http://cnn.com) to see why that is relevant right now). We are dry and have power right now …but the sump pump is gong non stop in the crawl space and I’ve heard a rumor from a couple sources that power may not last…but I have a pretty charge up marine camper battery in the garage. I have a bunch of regular electronics inverter / power supplies but no 9v to 110 inverter that you just plug things into.
Anybody think they can help me Apollo 13 some sort of system together that I can hook up if the power goes out. If it is oing to be hard or there is potential for dangerous side effects / electrocution. Then never mind, let’s just let the downstairs flood.
Sorry for spelling and grammar errors. I’m really tired.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/2 "2013-09-13T03:58:01Z")
First of all, most inverters expect 12v. If your battery is 9v, you are already in trouble.
Secondly, if you don’t have such an inverter (or a computer UPS), there’s really no way to make one in a short time, with chewing gum and bailing wire…
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### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/3 "2013-09-13T03:58:42Z")
Okay, thanks. Going to go watch the 10:00 news. If downstairs floods that is the way it goes.
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### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/4 "2013-09-13T04:00:17Z")
Think I’ll pull the Jazzmaster to the second floor though.
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### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/5 "2013-09-13T04:12:02Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> First of all, most inverters expect 12v. If your battery is 9v, you are already in trouble.
> Secondly, if you don’t have such an inverter (or a computer UPS), there’s really no way to make one in a short time, with chewing gum and bailing wire…
And Duh. of course it is a 12v battery. Did I mention that I’m tired? Also I have a thing is a male 110 plug on one side and a cigarette lighter socket on the other. Shouldn’t I be able to do something with that? It seems sort of the opposite connectors that I want but correct input and output in reverse. Maybe that screws it all up. Where is a EE when you need one. Oh wait probably right here on this board.
Oh, and I think I _do_ have a computer UPS (that doesn’t work) in the same crawl space as the sump pump. but that doesn’t work maybe because the battery is kaput. Do they use 12V batteries as a rule?
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/6 "2013-09-13T04:17:41Z")
> [@retsin2000](#):
>
> And Duh. of course it is a 12v battery. Did I mention that I’m tired? Also I have a thing is a male 110 plug on one side and a cigarette lighter socket on the other. Shouldn’t I be able to do something with that? It seems sort of the opposite connectors that I want but correct input and output in reverse. Maybe that screws it all up. Where is a EE when you need one. Oh wait probably right here on this board.
Yeah, that’s going the wrong way - from 110v to 12v.
Unfortunately, such a device isn’t reversible - you can’t get 110v out by putting 12v in…
(Not that it’s any help, but you _actually_ can do this with a transformer, but that’s an AC-AC conversion, and you want DC-AC).
ETA: Yes, almost all UPS use 12v batteries.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/7 "2013-09-13T04:18:38Z")
a pump won’t run long on one marine camper battery.
the inverter would have to have a rating larger than that of the pump.
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### Author:  [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/8 "2013-09-13T04:18:47Z")
> [@retsin2000](#):
>
> And Duh. of course it is a 12v battery. Did I mention that I’m tired? Also I have a thing is a male 110 plug on one side and a cigarette lighter socket on the other. Shouldn’t I be able to do something with that? It seems sort of the opposite connectors that I want but correct input and output in reverse. Maybe that screws it all up. Where is a EE when you need one. Oh wait probably right here on this board.
No, you can’t run that in reverse. It sounds like a power supply that takes 110V AC in and produces 12V DC (probably consisting of a transformer, rectifier, and capacitor(s), or a switching power supply). Plain transformers work in either direction (AC in / AC out), but you can’t feed DC into that and get AC out.
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### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/9 "2013-09-13T04:41:03Z")
Thanks guys!
Still have power and we have moved the stuff we really care about upstairs or at least in the case of a giant steamer trunk up on a couch. The sump pump has gone from running nearly constantly to taking an 8 second breather between emptying so that seems a good sign.
I’m going to go see if I have the old UPS. This battery has run the pump on a pop up camper for many days with no problem. That is obviously different than every 10 seconds but it also serves other functions. I think I’m going to give it a sot.
Has to be less work than replacing all the drywall in my downstairs and should be easy if I have the UPS.
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### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/10 "2013-09-13T04:52:36Z")
Dan. UPS isn’t down there.
Good news is it is almost completely dry in there right now. Just going to have to hope we continue to have power.
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/11 "2013-09-13T05:39:44Z")
Good luck…
Floods suck … er, … well anyway
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2013, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rig-a-110v-sump-pump-to-marine-9v-battery-fast-answers-most-welcome/668744/12 "2013-09-13T07:52:18Z")
Don’t want to be a downer but that pump is going to run that battery down very, very quickly and you’re gong to need a fairly beefy inverter. If keeping water out is mission critical a gas powered generator would be a much better solution.
[Here’s a normal sump pump with elec specs](http://www.ridgid.com/tools/sp-500-sump-pump)
> [@](#):
>
> Specifications
>
> Product Type Sump
> HP 1/2
> Amp Rating 3.8
> Power Type 120 v
> Cord Length (Ft.) 8
> Suction Location (Bottom, Top, End) Top
> GPH @ 0’ 4860
> GPH @ 10’ 3720
> GPH @ 15’ 2100