UPS battery backup question

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by shiftline

I'm debating just hooking up lather batteries to my ups to increase run time. I may also have to install additional fans for cooling to balance out the extra heat on then electronics

Unless you have some knowledge of power supplies, charging systems & various battery types, you may get yourself in trouble trying to modify a UPS unit designed around a certain battery capacity by using a larger or different battery. Basic components of a UPS are power supply, charging circuit, battery, relay & inverter. These components will all be designed to operate safely as a unit & are approved as such. Messing with any one of those blocks opens you up to possible problems & invalidates the original design. The manufacturers don't build a lot of overhead with regard to safety buffers on these units. They need to make money, so they don't use components any larger or with more capacity than is necessary.

You may need to do more than simply add a cooling fan or two. If the wire size for charging the battery or in other parts of the circuit is insufficient for any increase in current flow, a fan isn't going to do much, sooner or later the circuit will cook or catch fire.

[shiftline]

Well my theory is the unit will charge a larger battery of the same chemistry fine.. But just take longer. I would want to add a cooling fan to blow across the transformer and another above the heat sinks.

It wouldn't hurt to change the 10awg batter wires to 8awg

I think the only real issue would be extended run time loads overheating or melting the circuitry. A small load and cooling fans would hopefully remedy this


I could wire the mp40s and the Jabeo return pump directly too the batteries so there would be a very small load to run through the ups it self

[BC564]

I have a 1500va UPS, online type, on my display tank to protect my LED lights and equipment from power surges but also for the annoying power outages that last a few minutes....tested lastnight and it ran 4 LED AI sols, return pump, skimmer pump, a Jebao WP40 and a gyre 150 for 25 minutes. When I leave for Mexico it will only be on there to back up power for the gyre. The other equipment will plug into the surge protection only side.

[Coasting]

I think this is the most complicated topic I started
Wish I spoke electrical.


Those battery packs from CrappyTire wont work it seems, something about the on/off switch and not charging properly when its left on with stuff plugged in or something, cant remember what my dad said.

Most of the UPS have a 3yr warranty. I don't think the price is horrible for something thatll last 3 years potentially.
I just don't want stuff to start dying while people are at work because the power decided to go out the moment everyone leaves the house. While my shifts can run in excess of 14 hours, they are usually back within 8.

[hillegom]

I think one of the best things you can do in the case of a power outage is to create water movement, which is what u wanted to do with that 5W pump.
You might want to think about running a battery powered air pump.
Mine is plugged into 120V, the wall outlet. When the power goes out, the air pump starts automatically. D batteries run it for at least 24 hrs.
The air line goes under a rock.
Under $15

[BC564]

Really a UPS is a pretty cheap piece of equipment to buy. The surge protection itself is worth a lot as you know we have a lot of money invested in our equipment. The only reason I bought a 1500VA UPS was to run my basement sump in the event of a power failure during a heavy rain so not to flood my house. It worked but now its winter and put it on my display tank for the same reasons we are discussing. Check on ebay for one. I got mine on there for $98 US. Even if you only want to run one powerhead for water movement, you can still surge protect other equipment.

[Coasting]

Originally Posted by hillegom

I think one of the best things you can do in the case of a power outage is to create water movement, which is what u wanted to do with that 5W pump.
You might want to think about running a battery powered air pump.
Mine is plugged into 120V, the wall outlet. When the power goes out, the air pump starts automatically. D batteries run it for at least 24 hrs.
The air line goes under a rock.
Under $15

I have 4 or 5 battery powered air pumps actually, but none of them plug in.
Where do you find one that plugs in and runs off battery? That might work for my goldfish actually.... I cant STAND the constant splatter of salt water on everything that you get with an air pump in a salt tank so I don't think I'd be able to run an air pump all the time in there. Would drive me nuts. I even have foam at the water line for my drain lines in the sump so I don't get any down there either haha.

Originally Posted by BC564

Really a UPS is a pretty cheap piece of equipment to buy. The surge protection itself is worth a lot as you know we have a lot of money invested in our equipment. The only reason I bought a 1500VA UPS was to run my basement sump in the event of a power failure during a heavy rain so not to flood my house. It worked but now its winter and put it on my display tank for the same reasons we are discussing. Check on ebay for one. I got mine on there for $98 US. Even if you only want to run one powerhead for water movement, you can still surge protect other equipment.

I admit I wouldn't be upset if I had to replace some of my equipment due to surge loss, what I have honestly isn't that expensive LOL. Perhaps just my lights and skimmer are worth protecting....
Definitely an idea.
We still need to upgrade the house to whatever the modern standard is LOL
I've got so much crap plugged into a single outlet on that wall, I think I need to run a powercord from another outlet that's on a different circuit to disperse some of the load.

Either way I still have to settle on a UPS I like that suits my needs. CAD sucks right now, I don't think the price difference is worth it, but I can check. I do plan to head down to the states In January sometime once or twice for some light shopping.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Coasting

I have 4 or 5 battery powered air pumps actually, but none of them plug in.
Where do you find one that plugs in and runs off battery?

Search the net for Penn Plax Silent Air B11. It is a low cost Auto On Battery Powered Air Pump.

J&L have this version in stock, looks like an exact knock off:
http://www.jlaquatics.com/dry-goods/...-air-pump.html

I have 2 B11's on my 77 gallon sump-less tank, no UPS or any other sort of battery powered back up. One of these days I'll get around to building a battery backup for my VorTechs. Having never experience an outage here that lasts more than a few hours, I've become complacent in that regard.

Anyhow, with the penn-plax or aqua top, hook the flexible air tubing to a rigid line that will expel the air near the bottom of the tank when the pump senses an outage & switches on. The rigid air line is secured with a magnetic clip so it doesn't wander to the surface when air is on. Don't use an air stone. This set up creates larger bubbles that travel from the bottom adding O2 & creating at least a little bit water movement in the process.

There's actually another little gizmo you can build using rigid air tube & some pvc specifically designed to move water using an air pump. Don't recall the terminology at the moment, but it's essentially a pvc elbow at the top of a short piece of straight pvc tube. The straight tube is cut at an angle at the bottom & a hole to accommodate a length small diameter rigid air tube is drilled into the top of the elbow. The air tube is pushed through the hole in the elbow to just above where the angle cut starts on the straight piece. The assembly is attached to the side of the tank with the opening of the elbow half in & half out of the water. When air is pumped through the air line, it creates upward turbulence in the pvc tube which is transformed into water movement at the elbow opening. Would probably be the bees knees for your gold fish or any small tank, breeding tank etc. Just enough water movement, no splashing etc. I have some photos of this rig & built a couple, but have no small tanks atm so they're just lying around gathering dust. I'll post up a photo when I find it.

[mike31154]

Found the gizmo photo. It's called an air lift. I saw a post on a forum some years ago where a chap used a bunch of these to create a circular flow in a small tank.



I chose not to use these on my B11 backups since they are bulky & my sump less display already has enough gear distracting the view of what's important in there, so just use the small rigid tube. You could buy a hockey sock full of the battery air pumps for the price of a UPS & probably be fine with them during an outage until you got home.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airlift_pump

[Coasting]

Oh that's pretty cool. I didn't know ones with cords that only turned on when the power went out even existed. I know what I'll be buying!

I'm having trouble picturing how that pvc tube works.