Suggestion on a power backup system

[phi delt reefer]

Originally Posted by ALang

daniella3d:
the said review was actually from the link that you have provided for me, under the 1800W (thanks, BTW). Quite a LOT of the reviews were bad, so I am not sure if they were human errors (Not plugging them in) or manufacture/ design defects.
Some people were using their units to power their home sump pumps and then finding out that it wasn't working after a few months.
Still there were a few that did great reviews, but of course the bad ones always seems to over-ride the good. But for the price, I think that I will do what you did, and rely on the 400W, when I can find one on sale. If it is just a couple of pwr heads and a skimmer, I think it'll do just fine.
Thank goodness that major power outage is very rare here, so if it is good for about a couple of hours, that should be great. Saves me from bucketing water to create flow! (Or worse if we are not home!!)

build your own...

Battery Backup Controller (http://autotopoff.com/custom/): (35 us but shipping is like 25 ) this piece will do the switching for you once the power outage occurs.

300w/600w peak inverter is like 40 bux on ebay. you can get a pure sine one for 80-100 bux but i dont know if anything electronic in the aquarium trade will benefit from pure sin power.

battery - your choice - you can go to a battery specialist store and price out one that meets your budget/needs. look to spend 60-200 dollars depending on what you get (you want a sealed deep cycle battery) these can be picked up at walmart as well but the options are limited. usually you can try to find a UPS battery replacement - they are the best from what i have been told but still cost a couple bux

float charger (NOT TRICKLE!) - ten bucks on ebay (shipped )