battery backup options?

nemofish2217

nemofish2217

New member
I live in an area that can occasionally be hit by ice or storms that can knock out the power, so I think I need to look for some type of battery backup. Is there any that you guys can reccomend? I know Vortech makes one but is there any other options? Thanks
 
The question is, for what? I don't see any system details, so it's hard to tell what exactly you're looking for. Main system size, sump, heaters, pumps used, etc all matter.

Long story short, if you have ice storms that knock out power, you're out for days. Your answer is a power inverter for you car (dependent on your tank size and/or necessities), or better yet a generator.
 
xylem, yes you can, other than the fact they can damage most pumps out there and they only last an hour or two at max ;)

If you want a UPS, inverter, etc, it really should be a true sine wave for safety sake unless your hardware is DC. The marine batteries work well from what I've heard, but I honestly use my generator for long term outages. Short term I have some APC SmartUPS's and IceCap battery backup for my Vortech's.

If you run a search, there are a LOT of threads on this topic.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14108922#post14108922 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by swearint
This is what I use: http://www.tripplite.com/EN/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=314&EID=14617&txtModelID=2938

Just hook up a marine deep cycle battery; it switches to battery whenever AC power is lost and recharges the battery after power is restored. I have just the main pump on the unit to maximize the run time.

Todd
Click to expand...

I was thinking of the same set up. Question, is there a switch for the outlets on that inverter? What if you actually want to just turn the device off? Is there a way to do that besides having to unplug it?
 
I don't see one, but I don't see any reason you couldn't plug in a 4 port American DJ toggle switch (or 8 if you're running low enough wattage devices that it won't overload).

But to be safe, truly I would assume you need to run a GFCI after the inverter unless it has one built in.
 
I've had this topic on the back of my mind as well as I slowly stock up my tank and have more invested. The tripp-lite looked good until I saw the price :eek1: I guess it's all relative though, I only have a very lightly stocked 55.
 
yeah, i am just thinking about all i will have invested. the tank is a 75 and i would just want something to hopefully run a heater and powerhead or something...
 
I use a few APC battery backups like for a computer. I know there not cheap....BUT think of how much $$$ you have into the tank.

On my smaller tank I have the lights plugged into the SURGE ONLY outlets..Dont need the lights all the time.

The pumps are on the Surge / battery back up.

The heater is on the Surge / battery backup

NOW....it will depend on how big of battery/backup that you buy.....This will tell you how long the pumps will run.

If I have a power outage & I'm not home, I know that my pumps & heater will run for about 6 hours. Hopefuly by then the electricty will come back on.
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14109645#post14109645 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by will16
I was thinking of the same set up. Question, is there a switch for the outlets on that inverter? What if you actually want to just turn the device off? Is there a way to do that besides having to unplug it?
Click to expand...
I was just about to PM you and ask you if you ever ended up installing something. My new tank is going to be here in a few days, and we've been having crazy winds here. I keep waiting for the power to kick. :rolleye1:

Anyway, I lost all my original links I had saved regarding battery backup systems.

So the link that was provided... would something like that be all you would need to run your whole system if the power went out... or would you need to run a crippled system... no lights/skimmer... etc in order for it to work?

The electrical side of the hobby is not my strong suite to say the least. So any info anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. As I'm looking for alternatives to a generator.
 
Hey tswifty, yeah I've been dragging my feet on this as well. The tripplite is the inverter/charger. You will need a battery to go with it. I believe you can connect 2 batteries to that unit. How much you can drive for how long really depends on your batteries. My plan is to run the return pump and a heater on that. I have a seperate backup batter for the vortechs. I definitely would not run everything on it.
 
Yeah I just picked up a VorTech a month or so ago, and the battery back-up is my next purchase. Soon... real soon. :lol:

Gotcha... I'd probably do the same, and be running an Eheim 1262 return pump and a heater (250w) on it.

I seem to remember a few different models of the Tripplite as well?
 
get a portable honda generator with built in inverter, it's small enough to carry around and will run your system on a tank of gas for at least 15 hours
 
Does anybody have any ecperience with the generators that will run on gas, propane or natural gas.

It seems like it would be nice to be able to hook it up to natural gas for a few days if needed.
 
If you have the money and shop around, you can get a natural gas generator for about $5K that will run your whole house, and kick on automatically when the power goes out. I live in an area that has 'issues' and my neibour that has one never even notices it (I keep saving.. but always have some need for the $$$). I've never lost gas service in the 10 years I've been here.

That being said. I have a home made mess that would send any inspector running in terror.. involving recycled car batterys and inverters... but its never failed me yet... just don't smoke around it.

It does give me 12 hours or so, which is time enough to get home and fire up the diesel...
 
Let's say you have a sumpless setup, wouldn't some kind of battery be able to at least run a powerhead and a heater to keep stuff alive for a day or two?
 
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