I have a coleman powermate pmp400-t inverter 400w/800w will it power a sump pump? I tried it and it beeped and the fault light came on

I'm sure you can easily get a PDF manual on-line somewhere.
My guess is that sometimes these inverters will give an error if you do not have something plugged in creating an electrical draw

Try the coleman website

40 amp spade fuse

Try it bypass the pump and see if it runs, from what I understand it will run a while and then quit, I just replaced mine it was leaking $21.51 +s/h eReplacementParts.cm

Hi, no you don't. It is a four stroke engine and uses engine oil in the sump only. Regards Phil.

Make sure it getting the power it needs to run. Plug into another car while the car is running.

Your circuit breaker down or your UPS run overload.Some time the IC is crassed please change it

There are two possibilites: the first is the over 400W power draw, the other is how you have the inverter connected. Do you have the inverter connected directly to the battery terminals (the clips) not the outlet plug (cigaretter lighter)? This is needed for any load over 80W and under 400W. (the inverter can handle a load demand over the 400W limit but only for short periods (800W).)

What is the load that your PC pulls (Is it a laptop or a desktop)? The laptop in my home has either a 65W or a 90W load (depending on the battery and the AC adapter we are using). Desktops take much more power (usually).

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

if it has been submerged in water you wil not be able to start it, once water gets in it will corode the piston and rings and will never work good again,, but the carb is behind the little filter on the side next to the fuel line,, take off the filter and it will just be a little hole with a butter fly flap for the choke and a needle inside of it the needle is where the gas comes in and that adjust the fuel air mix,, csn you run an extension cord to the pump?

If you want to get more precise, figure out everything in terms of power (watts).

Basic electrical rule 1, 2 and 3:

voltage x current = power

or re-arranged:

current = power divided by voltage

or re-arranged:

voltage = power divided by current


For example, 12V X 2 amps = 24 watts.

or another example, 400 watts divided by 120 Volts = 3.33 amps

A 55W headlight that uses 12V would draw 55 /12 = 4.6 amps @ 12V

A 55 watt light bulb in a lamp at home would draw 55 / 120 = 0.46 amps @ 120V


As the previous post mentioned, inverters are not perfect when convertering 12V into 120V. If the converter consumes 1000W from the 12V battery, then a 90% effecient converter would generate 900W of 120V AC power best case. The other 100W is lost primarily as heat.

The other thing that gets tricky is that these ratings and the formula above are used for resistive loads, like light bulbs or hair dryers. Anything with a motor or transformer is considered an inductive load and can get much more tricky to calculate.

Consequently you need to give your self a safety margin when figuring out how big an inverter you need.

How does work in a practical sense?

Lets say you want an inverter for TV, DVD and Sat. Receiver. Look at the back of TV or in the manual. It should say how many watts it consumes. Lets say it is 400W. The DVD might be 100W and the Sat. receiver 50W - just as an example.

400 + 100 + 50 = 550 Watts. (just as an example)

You might think, well no problem, I'll use a 600 Watt inverter and have 50 watts left over. Depending on your inverter, that 600W might really be 600 x 90% effecient = 540 Watts of AC, less a 20% margin of error for the inductive transformers in the electronic of the TV, DVD and Sat. receiver 540 - 20% = 432 Watts.

Now you can see your 600 Watt inverter isn't big enough to do the job.

If we really need 550 watts of AC, add 10% to make up the effiency loss, then add a safety margin for inductive loads.

550 + 10% = 605 + 20% = 726 Watts.

Sounds more like an 800W inverter fits the job.

What does that mean in terms of wiring the 12V batteries to the inverter?

from the formula above:

current = power divided by voltage

In our example, we have an 800W inverter that runs on 12V

The current would thererfore be:

current = power divided by voltage
current = 800 watts divided by 12V
current = 66 amps.

That is important info because you can not use light gauge wire to carry 66 amps worth of 12V to the inverter nor could you use a 20A fuse to protect your inverter.

Now that's a lot of science for a guy who just wants to run a toaster on an inverter right?

800W / 120V = 6.66 amps

Using garryp's ratio 11:1, 6.66 x 11 = 73 amps.

That is a good ratio with a good safety margin.

This is all just MHO and should not taken as solid technical advise. In other words, don't blame me if you blow yourself up.