Reef Discussion

[Luke]

Hi all ,
Im looking into the possibility of a battery backup for the tank ,
Im thinking either a large deep cycle battery under the house , Connected to an inverter , then the return pump connected to the inverter , Also i would have a trickle charger on the battery .
Is this feesable ? problems you see ? will the inverter be ok running all the time ?
Any is ideas ?

Or maybe a UPS connected to a / some deep cycle batteries ?

Thoughts either way , I would like to run these under the house , Was thinking a genny , But i think one of these would be better When i go away , If the power isn't off for too long

 

[jashay]

it wouldnt need to be on all the time, only when you go away as a precaution. the deep cycle battery connected to a trickle should be fine just test it to make sure it works as sometimes when connected to chargers a battery wont operate like you think.
if you just have it there for when you went away it should work fine mate, if you could set it up so that the deep cycle only switches on when a power outtage happens would be the way to go.

 

[MTG]

hey luke. i just bought a cheap UPS for my tank it does the jobs. firstly what do you want to kick in when the power go's off just a powerhead or two?

 

[BooY]

UPS would be ideal, using a battery with an inverter will do the trick, but make sure you get a decent qual inverter that has a true sine (its still not true but its close) wave curve, many don't and your motors on the pumps will not like the power curve given. They will still run, but you will be doing slight damage to the windings of the motor and eventually they will fail faster.

On the other hand if your using tunze/vortex etc, which are already dc elv you should be able to make up a deep cycle battery as a bat backup for either of them that will run them for a good 12-24hours depending on there power usage and for a power outages your circulation is most important

 

[MTG]

i bought cheap 1800VA UPS, has the plug holes in the back so you can plug the pumps straight into it. im hoping for 5 hour up time with 2x small tunze pumps. was nice and cheap to

 

[Luke]

Thanks guys ,It sounds like the UPS is the preferred method ?
I would of liked to run the return pump, But as it is 210w , I'm better off running a couple of power heads

 

[VaultBoy]

I picked up a UPS for free yesterday its a 75oVA but I think the batteris might be shagged. In which case I will be buying a pair of big deep cycle batts for it. I want to be able to run my return pump and 1 or 2 of my powerheads for at least a couple hours.

 

[MTG]

i am trying to work out how to make my ups stay on. when it kicks in once the powers cut it turns off after 5 mins of being on battery, must be settings but im not sure how to change it???

 

[MagicJ]

What is the make/model Matt. I assume you haven't had it long - has the battery been fully charged?
Sometimes 'nice and cheap' is not necessarily good especially where batteries are concerned as good batteries are not cheap ;)

 

[MTG]

sp3180 1800VA, ups

 

[MagicJ]

Does the buzzer alarm sound when it turns off?

 

[MTG]

yep. and it kick into battery straight away. it just turns the UPS unit off after 5 minutes?

 

[MagicJ]

Auto shutdown, beep once per second and red light on display are an indication of low battery.

Did you buy this new or secondhand? Try charging it for 48 hours and see if the result is the same.

Sealed lead acid batteries are a bugger to keep in top condition.

 

[MTG]

brand new? it doesent show any battery warnings on the pc software

 

[BooY]

what ups did u get matt

 

[MTG]

sp3180 1800VA, think its called a powerware or powerwave,

 

[MTG]

its no good for running 240v pumps off. tunze has a spit when it kicks in and wont turn over. should be fine for the low voltage 9v or 12v pumps tho ?

 

[MagicJ]

That is probably because the output is a bit variable.



Backup Output Capacity 1800VA/800W
Voltage Regulation 220Vac±10%
Frequency 50Hz±5%

Frequency 50Hz +/- 5% is probably what is causing the problem - Tunze works on a range of 50-60Hz.

 

[MTG]

found the issue. when theres only power heads attached to the battery backup it doesent think that anythings on and turns off. as soon as you have some load like say 50w, it works perfectly hmmm

 

[VaultBoy]

can anyone recommend a battery supplier or brand that is good value for money? My ups has 2 12v 7ah sealed lead acid batteries in series(24v) and I think they are stuffed, or at least mostly. I looked at some 12v 100ah deepcycle sealed lead acid batteries and they were nearly $300 each :eek: and for $600 I could do alot more than a battery backup.

If 2 12v 100ah batteries are conected in series do the AH ratings double up or does it become a 24v 100ah batt pack?