Battery backup suggestions please.

[Bill Tune]

I have recently set up a battery backup system as I knew my mains power was going off for a few hours. I get about three hours operating with the heater & 2 filters running - not too bad I thought.

What I need now is an auotmatic switching device that will switch from mains to inverter (attached to te battery) when the mains power goes off, and back again when the mains power comes back on.

Anyone out there who has seen such a device or could build one for me?

[ILLUSN]

shoot a pm off to Tommo, he's a more than reasonable sparky, if such a device exists he'll know about it.

[Tommo]

shoot a pm off to Tommo, he's a more than reasonable sparky, if such a device exists he'll know about it.


LOL thanks :P


Yeah just replied to his question :).

[Bill Tune]

You guys should see what I can do with a bit of creative electrical wiring - considerring as how I am significantly colour blind!

What I see in Discus fish, noone esle can!

[Melsy]

Hi Bill,

Just out of interest Im wondering how you set up the battery back up system, power outages stress me to the MAX! Is it a simple device?

cheers
mel

[Bill Tune]

What I have done is simple - a bit too simple, but it got me through a three hour power cut.

I went to Battery World & bought a battery charger, deep cycle gell tech battery and an inverter.

I just hooked these up in a straight line, although I had to modify the end fittings on the charger so it would fit on the battery post, then plugged in a multi board to the inverter, and viola!

The big item is the heater, which pulls a bit of current - I run a 300W hydor ETH. The trouble I have is the system pulls power quicker than the battery recharges - in summer I could get much more running time before the battery discharged.

One piece of advice I have is to get a bigger charger, which is apparently the way UPS systems work anyway. Trouble is I like sophistication & want to develop an automatic switching device that will go between mains & battery.....

[Bill Tune]

A bit pricey, but what the heck!
I just bought a TN-1500 Inverter by Mean Well.
This device allows for a mains power by pass, plus solar &/or mains charging for a 12v battery (ie. car battery), plus if the mains &/or solar power is not available it automatically defaults to battery power & works as an inverter - thus using the power it has stored in the battery.
You can add more batteries for longer life & you can get a 24v version which will provide even more battery life.

I'm thinking I can use this setup for my heater & a standard battery charger & inverter for the two eheim filters......

Just google TN-1500 to see a diagram & specs.

[Greggy]

Personally I'd forget powering the heaters on the battery backup system and instead just keep the filters turning over. If your tank is big enough it will only lose a small amount of heat in the few hours the power is likely to be off, and Discus can certainly tolerate losing a few degrees of heat. If the power stays off for a long time (eg several hours) you'll definitely want the filters to keep running and not fail due to the heaters draining the battery too quickly.

In my opinion keeping your filter's bacteria colony alive is much more important than losing a few degrees of temperature.

Regards,

Greggy

[Bill Tune]

I tend to agree.....in which case I did not need to buy the TN-1500 as a standard battery charger, deep cycle battery & inverter would have been sufficient.

What I like about my new setup is it conserves battery power when there is a mains input available - it also charges from solar panels, so I could set up a solar charger as well.

Plus it looks rather spectacular - I will get some pics organised & put them up.

[Greggy]

I use an 'old' APC Back UPS 650Va device to power my Eheim 2250 and 2228 cannister filters in the event of a power failure. Just last week our mains power was off for approx 30mins - my filters didn't stop for a moment :)

But you have to be careful with the (cheaper) non true-sine wave UPS devices, because if you connect the filters to the UPS whilst the mains power is off (the UPS is already running on battery) sometimes the filter pumps don't pump but instead 'chatter' as they struggle to begin rotating with the incorrect AC signal. However this is not really an issue, because if the pumps are already running and then the mains power fails, the pumps continue running, totally unware anything is wrong - and I tested it like 30 times. It's only a problem when they start from a dead stop on battery, which is never really likely to happen, and even then they usually start after a few minutes of chattering.

A UPS device certainly simplifies & automates the whole battery, switch & charging system.

I think it's worth it on any serious Discus setup.

Regards,

Greggy

[Bill Tune]

The inverter I'm talking about actually produces a true sine wave, and works as a UPS, so I should be lookin good!