Extension cord for pump

[Mr. Red Maple]

Hi. I have plans to run a 400 foot electrical wire then put plugs on either end. I will be drawing about 1.5 amps at the end of the line to a 12 volt battery charger and then into a battery. I understand I will have voltage drop and from my calculations i can run a 16 gauge wire and only have about 7 volts of drop. Will this work for a battery charger and do you guys have any suggestions or ideas? I am going to be running a battery maintainer that goes into a deep cell battery that then goes into a shurflo 4008 pump. Has anyone done a similar setup?

[maple flats]

Have not done similar. But, read the voltage inputs range for the maintainer, if the 7V drop is still in that range, you should be OK, if not, got to 14 ga which should make a huge difference. In either case, use high quality cord ends or you will lose more voltage. My guess (only a guess) is it will be OK, but check the specs to verify. Then run it, and get an in use voltage reading. For the test, have the pump moving water so it is under a load. Then see if the voltage stays good when the pump starts, or at least only a momentary surge drop in voltage.

[Biz]

It you have a battery, any voltage sag when the pump turns on will be absorbed by the battery, and won't hurt anything. Just have good heavy wiring between pump and battery, like 14-16 gauge. Doubt the AC input will move much at all. The long wiring will only affect the charger. Most AC devices (like battery chargers) can handle down to about 100V on the input so charging should be OK. Are you drawing 1.5 amps from the charger to battery, or is the charger drawing 1.5 amps from the cord? Like Dave says, check the AC voltage to the charger when it is at max charging current, that will be the proof. I do this kind of stuff for my real job FYI....
Dave

[wrushton]

How far is your battery from your pump ? 7 volt drop to the pump is not good if it even will power up .I do security stuff working with 12 volts ever day when we run long runs of wire to cameras with LEDS , the leds burn out quicker they require 1 amp .S0 with that said.when I run 1000's of feet wire normally 16 or 18 I will put a bigger transformer on 12volt 1.5 amp.A small volt drop will not hurt but low amps will .


Closer the batteries are to the pump means more current the better it is for the pump , your charger only puts in a small charge to keep your batteries up.