# Taking a car battery on a raft



## JDUKE (Jun 27, 2018)

-yes I know there are multiple posts of this type already on here and I’ve read through them all but I believe this situation might be a unique problem- 

All, wondering if anyone has experience with running the NRS blaster pump off of a battery. I need to run the pump far away from a car and so I want to take a battery with me in a pelican case on the raft. I need a battery that can run the 12v NRS pump pictures and also have the ability to charge phones/GoPro. I know there are plenty of external battery packs on amazon that can easily charge a phone but don’t have the ability to run a 12v pump like this with positive/negative terminal like a car battery would. I’d like to be able to get a battery from a local batteries + or the like maybe a lightweight lithium ion motorcycle battery. Thanks!


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

You seek a deep cycle sealed battery. One typical use in on a boat.


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## Will Amette (Jan 28, 2017)

I have a previous model of the same pump that has inflate and deflate options. 



I used to run it from a deep cycle battery when I wanted to inflate on my trailer since I leave it pretty soft for storage. I also would take that battery while in transit over mountains to easily add air as I descended. That battery was, I am pretty sure, WAY too big for this purpose. It's original purpose was running lights in our booth at a three-day festival in July. That battery no longer holds a charge.


Even when it did, it was big and bulky. I went to the battery and bulb store to price out a small gel cell or similar smaller SLA deep cycle battery. They were not initially any help; there were no markings on the amperage. I contacted NRS directly, and they weren't much help. They were able to tell me how many amps it drew. I can't find any notes, but I think the number was 13. That's a lot of amps, and I don't believe it. Maybe when it first starts, or if you get it all the way to 1.5 psi. The size SLA I would need to run it at that amperage was huge. I decided to wait.


I'm still waiting. I bet a bagel that a small gel cell would inflate several rafts before needing a recharge. Let me know what you try and how many cycles it will run on a charge. You definitely want a deep cycle though.


A friend uses a tiny jump start pack. He's able to inflate his raft from rolled up at least once with some juice left over. I forget what pump he was using. His jump starter has the same clamps as the pump does, so he just clips red to red for the connection. Really small and lightweight. They make jump starter packs in many different sizes and configurations. The bonus with that is you can keep it in the rig for other purposes. The little battery I want to buy to run my Blast won't run lights in our booth very long, so I'm no longer a provider of that battery, and I still won't be if I get a little battery.


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## Fly By Night (Oct 31, 2018)

The jump start packs have small motorcycle batteries in them. I am intrigued why you need so much air on the river. I have a Ryobi inflater/ tire compressor that works pretty well, but not as good as your blower, but the batteries are small and light.

If you need the amp draw on your inflator I have one I can pull out and measure if you'd like.


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## GeoRon (Jun 24, 2015)

Zach is correct! I used to have to do it for a boat I bought reconditioned. In about 1982 I bought my first raft. I thought reconditioned by the manufacturer and $600, had to be a great deal. So a buddy and I bought two, nonreturnable. I took mine out of the box and unrolled it. There already stencil in big white letters on both bows was the christening "SPLAT". True to that name it was not long before an on river blower and battery were necessary. Every few hours she required topping.

A word of warning. Such a boat is considered "mechanized" and I almost got a ticket on the Middle Fork since it is a wilderness. Since the rangerette caught us before we actually started reinflating, she looked at our situation, took pity, and issued a "warning".


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## LJPurvis (Apr 12, 2017)

Not sure about taking it on the river but a Lithium Ion motorcycle battery is about 75% lighter than a Lead Acid battery. Might be worth a look.

https://www.bikebandit.com/blog/tough-questions-answered-are-lithium-iron-batteries-really-better-than-lead-acid


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## k2andcannoli (Feb 28, 2012)

What's wrong with barrel pumps again?


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## MT4Runner (Apr 6, 2012)

LJPurvis said:


> Not sure about taking it on the river but a Lithium Ion motorcycle battery is about 75% lighter than a Lead Acid battery. Might be worth a look.
> 
> https://www.bikebandit.com/blog/tou...m-iron-batteries-really-better-than-lead-acid


I love LiIon batteries, but they're about 4x the cost for the same Amp-hours.

OP, go for something common--price is lower on more common sizes. I'd look for a wheelchair/motorcycle battery:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=electric...d+acid+wheelchair,aps,242&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_27


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## JDUKE (Jun 27, 2018)

LJPurvis said:


> Not sure about taking it on the river but a Lithium Ion motorcycle battery is about 75% lighter than a Lead Acid battery. Might be worth a look.
> 
> https://www.bikebandit.com/blog/tough-questions-answered-are-lithium-iron-batteries-really-better-than-lead-acid


This was the route that I was thinking of going down. Same amount of power with not nearly as much weight. 

I found this guy and it looks like exactly what I might need?


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## WillEChronic (Oct 4, 2016)

I bought the least expensive car battery at Walmart ($70-$80ish) and used it with that NRS pump and it worked really well. I wanted the convenience of not running my vehicle next to my duckies. I was amazed how long the battery would last before re-charging. I'm sure I took 10 trips with my 2 ducks before needing a re-charge. I normally would pump one side with the barrel pump and let the battery/NRS pump do the other side.


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## JDUKE (Jun 27, 2018)

WillEChronic said:


> I bought the least expensive car battery at Walmart ($70-$80ish) and used it with that NRS pump and it worked really well. I wanted the convenience of not running my vehicle next to my duckies. I was amazed how long the battery would last before re-charging. I'm sure I took 10 trips with my 2 ducks before needing a re-charge. I normally would pump one side with the barrel pump and let the battery/NRS pump do the other side.


Thats good to know, I am going this route as of right now. looks like a good candidate for AH/weight


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K8E4WA...vfrY-NgRJvOW5kEmseDM1mtfvXJLn3iuw3Nf37hQatHIc


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

Make sure to get a sealed battery. You don't want one that has caps that come off. Accident waiting to happen on a boat that may or may not stay right side up. Even in a pelican it could be bad news.


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## Will Amette (Jan 28, 2017)

Fly By Night said:


> The jump start packs have small motorcycle batteries in them. I am intrigued why you need so much air on the river. I have a Ryobi inflater/ tire compressor that works pretty well, but not as good as your blower, but the batteries are small and light.
> 
> If you need the amp draw on your inflator I have one I can pull out and measure if you'd like.



I'd kind of love to know. The battery and bulb shop had no way to test. I fried my multi-meter and haven't replaced it or the odd fuse, but I don't think it was rated to run that much draw. I'm really curious to know how long I could run the pump with a smaller SLA battery before I buy one. Super convenient.


My top-off pump is a K-100, so takes a long time to get up from a soft floppy boat, but is just fine for top off when needed. Super easy to push the button and fill 'er up. Before I had a trailer, it was nice to deflate, too.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Will Amette said:


> I contacted NRS directly, and they weren't much help. They were able to tell me how many amps it drew. I can't find any notes, but I think the number was 13. That's a lot of amps, and I don't believe it.


Its not actually that high for a 12v system. Since current is based on wattage divided by voltage, a 13amp load at 12v is only 156watts... so not crazy. If you were really wondering...you could put an amp clamp on. I don't have one of those pumps otherwise I'd do it.

A car battery can put out 400-700 or amps when needed...usually running a starter.

I kinda of wonder if you could figure out a way to use one of the 12v batteries that all the tool compainies are making now (Milwaukee and Makita for sure...probably Dewalt and others as well).

For me...I'd rather bring a battery leaf blower and then just top it off with a hand pump and then have separate USB battery banks for charging cameras and phones and such. Way less clunky then dragging a big battery out to the river just to run the NRS pump.


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## noahfecks (Jun 14, 2008)

k2andcannoli said:


> What's wrong with barrel pumps again?



Mine requires bacon or piggly wiggly's to recharge but it's pretty reliable and can move a lot of air if necessary


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## raymo (Aug 10, 2008)

*this may work for you.*

I keep this in my SUV. I keep it plugged into the back cigarette lighter to keep it fully charged or you can charge it with regular 110 house current. It has heavy duty jumper cable's, cigarette lighter plug in, USB port, tirer inflator(tires, pool or river inflatables) and flash light. I take it up hunting and car camping, works great to recharge phones or batteries through USB port when in the tent, charge sat-phone with cigarette lighter port, etc., jump start your car, you can even plug a cigarette 
lighter into it to light a cigar or what ever. I have never taken it on a river trip though, a friend has a similar one and has taken it down the GC to charge battery's.


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## Sharkness (Aug 5, 2009)

Buy a barrel pump and a $15 usb charge bank like everyone else. 

There's a reason that everybody floats with a simple, reliable manual pump packed in an accessible place.


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## jonseim (May 27, 2006)

Here's what I bought for inflating at put in/top off/ducky/little raft/inflate after pass up and down.
Works great, light weight, re-charged it twice in two years. 

Think it's for kids cars or something like that.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A82A2ZS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_bia_widget_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## dsrtrat (May 29, 2011)

I use this 26 amp hour Absorbed Gas Mat (AGM) sealed lead acid battery to power my electric water filter. I also have it set up with a 12volt lighter plug that can be used to charge devices. It fits in a deep 1300 Pelican case with room on the side for the pump accessories.These batteries are pretty cheap online. Weighs 16 pounds. I have used it with my LVM pump to inflate rafts at put ins. I use a barrel pump on the river as this battery is dedicated to the water filter. 

Batteries are group rated for standard sizing. This one is a group 12260. Deep cycle lead acid batteries should not discharged more than about 50% of the rated amp hours to get maximum battery life. There are also different charging voltages and schedules suggested for AGM vs flooded cell batteries to maximize life so if you buy a charger get one rated for AGM batteries. Keep these batteries charged with a trickle charger.


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## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

I got this jump starter so many years ago I forgot the date. It is still working great and I do not expect it to go out any time soon.

I keep it in my truck on river trips. It will inflate many rafts up to firm pressure before it goes out. Plus I have jump started many trucks at take outs or while driving to from river trips. Yup, it is expensive and heavy, I would not take it on a raft. But, it has been bullet proof for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Clore-Automo...e+jump+starter+battery&qid=1582034344&sr=8-37

PS forgot I use the little NRS 12 volt inflator most of the time but have used other 12 volt inflators even a 12 volt winch to pull raft on to the trailer


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## Fly By Night (Oct 31, 2018)

Will Amette said:


> I'd kind of love to know. The battery and bulb shop had no way to test. I fried my multi-meter and haven't replaced it or the odd fuse, but I don't think it was rated to run that much draw. I'm really curious to know how long I could run the pump with a smaller SLA battery before I buy one. Super convenient.



I ran some tests today

The NRS Blasts draws 17.5A blowing unimpeded and 14.5A dead headed. 

I also tested an Airhead high pressure blower, retails for $20 (poor boys special!). It draws 20A open ended and 15 dead headed. 

AIRHEAD High Pressure Air Pump, 12v https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OF92KA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_bCntEbXQ376WJ

Both of these tests were taken off my truck battery with a resting voltage of 12.4.

I suspect amp draw while blowing up a boat will move from the open ended figure to the deadheaded. Splitting the difference should get you close to the average draw over a cycle of airing a boat.


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## Amoon (Jun 5, 2018)

Just to add a little color....

A few posters have hinted heavily at how little power is actually needed to inflate a raft if you are using a low power draw pump. Or in other words, Simply Moving Air Requires Very Little Energy (pressurizing is what takes all the energy). And pressurizing is what a manual top off pump does very well.

That is 100% true.

The story:
My kids got a “Wubble Bubble” toy years ago (basically a big thin walled rubber balloon that stated out the same as a standard party ballon but inflated to about an extra large beach ball). It came with an inflator that ran off of 4-D size batteries and fits in the palm of your hand (like an old large flashlight). The wubble bubble popped in a matter of days. A couple years later I need to inflate our 15’ raft and didn’t have an electric pump at the house. One of the kids produced the old wubble bubble pump. I didn’t even replace the batteries and it inflated the entire raft. Yeah, it was slow (but still way faster than hand pumping), and yeah it only got it up to full shape but without any pressure or stiffness, and sure it’s not ideal. But the fact is those four “D” cell batteries in the wubble pump inflated the raft. After that I threw it in a dry box (the thing literally weighed as much as a large flashlight and was about the same size). I ended up using it two more times on the same batteries because I didn’t want to hand pump a totally empty raft. I’d then top off with a hand pump for stiffness.

Just an example that simple moving air (not pressurizing it) requires extremely little energy. A lot of the solutions posted here seem like overkill by many orders of magnitude. But...I’m sure they do inflate the raft way faster than a kids wubble bubble pump.


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## Pine (Aug 15, 2017)

Last time I bought a motorcycle battery, it was more expensive than a car battery.

Some of the lithium ion USB auxiliary battery packs also have jumper cable attachments, and apparently have enough amperage to jump start a car. Might be worth checking into. It would be a lot lighter than lugging a car battery around.






JDUKE said:


> -yes I know there are multiple posts of this type already on here and I’ve read through them all but I believe this situation might be a unique problem-
> 
> All, wondering if anyone has experience with running the NRS blaster pump off of a battery. I need to run the pump far away from a car and so I want to take a battery with me in a pelican case on the raft. I need a battery that can run the 12v NRS pump pictures and also have the ability to charge phones/GoPro. I know there are plenty of external battery packs on amazon that can easily charge a phone but don’t have the ability to run a 12v pump like this with positive/negative terminal like a car battery would. I’d like to be able to get a battery from a local batteries + or the like maybe a lightweight lithium ion motorcycle battery. Thanks!


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## jeffro (Oct 13, 2003)

I'd go with this (especially if you own dewalt batteries):
https://www.dewalt.com/products/sto.../20v-max-cordedcordless-air-inflator/dcc020ib


Add this if you want to charge electronics:
https://www.dewalt.com/products/acc.../batteries/12v20v-max-usb-power-source/dcb090


Unplug the USB from the battery when it's not in use due to parasitic power draw.


Or use a barrel pump and turn off the phone...



Don't bring a flooded lead acid battery on the river.


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## waterdude (Apr 20, 2017)

Save yourself the hassle of choosing a battery and just get an AG Micro-Start XP-10-HD. It many not be _handsome_, but it's _handy_ for many situations and will power any 12v air pump with aplomb.


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## Uncle Steve (May 2, 2013)

A Moon's post reminds me that I once had a little rechargeable inflator purchased at WalMart (weighed 3# & cost $20). Would inflate 3 15' rafts on one charge. It pushed plenty of volume, but needed a top off from my 4" beach pump.


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## DarrylH (Mar 10, 2015)

*Battery box*

JDuke - After a couple of friends rotted holes in gear from exposure to batteries, one welded a set of tent poles (almost starting a fire), and I was assigned 'newby' duty of hauling the battery boat-to-boat 40 years ago - I decided to build a portable battery box.
This is my creation: I sacrificed an old small cooler - bought a smallish deep-cycle sealed battery - and attached an electrical box with large bolts (different colors) to attach pump clips, rotary on-off switch with short lanyard, and an indicator light. 
It's really easy to transport - I don't worry about something coming into contact with it - you can haul it boat-to-boat a LOT easier than trying to get my boat near my vehicle (and you become pretty popular when a guy with a hand pump spots you) - I or my kids use it a ton outside of the boating world. It's really easy to grab the battery box and my padded bag with electric pump accessories (I also made up a 20' heavy-duty 12v extension cord). The battery is good for extended use - I've yet to come up wanting for juice.
It's shore duty only - I've never hauled it on my boat - once inflated, I carry a K-pump.
GeoRon's story reminded me of the only time I'd wished I'd brought it and the electric pump. We'd taken a large group of kids from church down the 'A' section of the Green River below Flaming Gorge. A friend of mine bought two 18' bucket boats from a guy in Moab, "They'll hold air"... yea, like maybe 15 minutes... It took us hours to go 7 miles...pump...paddle...sink...pump...


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