Decent Espresso

How to power your Decent Portable Rinser with a battery


Clean espresso ware — everywhere.

Sometimes you're making coffee somewhere that doesn't have great power — like a festival booth, a farmer's market, or friend's backyard. But you still want a functioning pitcher rinser.

Good news: the Decent pitcher rinser can run from a battery. And it's honestly not that complicated once you understand three pieces of the puzzle. Here's the step-by-step explanation.

The rinser wants 12 volts. Always.

Every pitcher rinser we've seen runs on 12V DC. That's it. That's all it wants. Like car accessory power. And speaking of which, you totally can power your pitcher rinser using your car's accessory adaptor.

When you plug it into the wall, the little brick on the cord converts your 110V or 220V power down to 12V, because the pump inside only knows how to drink 12V. So even when you're running it from a battery, you must feed it 12V.

Not 18V. Not 20V. Not “whatever your drill battery happens to be.” Just: 12V.

So why do people use 18V tool batteries?

Great question. It sounds silly: “Why buy an 18V battery when the rinser needs 12V?”

Here's why: Because nearly everyone already owns 18V tool batteries. Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee… These batteries are everywhere. They're rugged, they're easy to charge, and they last forever. If you already have one from your drill or grinder, boom — problem solved.

The only catch? Tool batteries don't output 12V. They output their full voltage: 18V (or 20V depending on branding). And the rinser will not be happy with that. So we add one more piece…

The “adapter” — the “magic voltage translator”

The adapter is not a charger. It's not a power bank. It's not a brick. It's a tiny device that clicks onto your 18V battery and turns this 18 volts into 12 volts for the rinser.”

The technical name is a “DC-DC step-down converter.” Sometimes it's called a “buck converter.” But you can just call it “the voltage adapter.” It takes 18V in, gives you 12V out. That's all it does. But it does it very well.

Some adapters output 12V through a little round “DC barrel” plug. Some output 12V through USB-C (because USB-C can do 12V, which is wild but true). Either type of output works fine.

Your countertop rinser has a little round plug — a DC barrel connector. These come in annoyingly similar sizes, but the most common one for devices like this is a 5.5 mm × 2.5 mm (male plug).

That “male” plug goes into the rinser's “female” jack. If your adapter already has a matching plug: great. If your adapter uses USB-C to output 12V: also great — you just buy a USB-C PD → 12V barrel cable (5.5 × 2.5 mm).

That's the entire cable story. Nothing fancy. This is not the same as plugging into a car or into Starlink. It's just a very common plug style.

What can go wrong (and how to avoid it)

Here are the only real “gotchas”:

  • Make sure the adapter actually outputs 12V. Lots of USB-C PD adapters do, but not all. Look for “12V / 3A” in the description.
  • Do NOT plug the rinser directly into the raw 18V battery. This will fry the pump faster than you can say “why does it smell like smoke?”
  • Use a cable with the right barrel plug (5.5×2.5 mm). 5.5×2.5 mm fits both 2.1 and 2.5 mm jacks, so it's a safe choice.
  • Keep the battery somewhere dry. Rinsers spray water. Batteries dislike water. Enough said.

Searching for the right gear online

These search phrases should always work, even years from now:

Search phrases for the adapter:

  • “Makita 18V USB-C PD adapter 12V”
  • “DeWalt 20V battery USB-C PD adapter 12V”
  • “18V to 12V DC-DC step-down converter”
  • “18V to 12V buck converter 5A”

Search phrases for the cable:

  • “USB-C PD to 12V 5.5×2.5mm cable”
  • “12V DC barrel cable 5.5×2.5mm male”

Put those into Amazon or Google and you'll find dozens of options.

What you actually need (the shopping list)

One 18V tool battery Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc. 5Ah is ideal.

One 18V → 12V adapter Could be USB-C PD or a direct 12V DC output.

One DC cable Male 5.5×2.5 mm on the rinser end. That's it. Three pieces. And you're off-grid and rinsing pitchers like a champ.

Final takeaway

If you can charge a phone, you can power a rinser. You're just giving it the 12 volts it wants — but you're getting that 12 volts from your drill battery instead of a wall plug. Once all the pieces are in place, you plug it in and forget about it. Nothing fancy. No engineering. Just rinse and go.

#rinser #pitcherrinser #market #portable #cleaning #mobile #documentation #howitworks



Updated 2025/12/04