Check out my new DIY power back up! (400k of pics)

Playfair, if your math is correct, that's just simply amazing. Now I'm going to have to build in a seperate cabinet in my new fish stand for 2 of those batteries. BABY I WANT TO RUN THE WHOLE TANK! LOL Well at least the pump and the Heaters.
 
UPS

UPS

Hi Playfair,

I've completed the entire project over the weekend. The only thing short on the list is to find a deep-charge battery. I managed to learn about differences between SLI and deep-charge batteries via 'Optima batteries' web page. It will be a tough quest to look for deep-charge battery in Singapore. Anyhow, thanks alot for your sharing on this DIY UPS. Without your contributions, I don't think I can come out with this idea cost-savings and effective method. Once again, thanks alot. Keep up the good work.

cheers,
 
Re: Re: fuse question for DIY backup

Re: Re: fuse question for DIY backup

Playfair said:
As far as the battery, last I checked, all deep cycle are rated in Ah... Yours sounds like a starting battery; not the best choice, as they do not like to be discharged, even if the capacity is adequate.
Click to expand...
Actually, it is a deep-cycle marine battery (says so right on the battery)... I got at at the "Baltimore Battery Warehouse"... where all they sell is batteries. I was surprised when the guy said they don't rate batteries in Ah's anymore too. They manufacture their own batteries, so maybe it's just them. Anyway, it's a deep-cycle marine battery.... so, I'm all good.

Thanks again for all your advice Playfair! My DIY battery-backup is complete, and works flawlessly. Just a few lingering questions:

Question #1: I have the battery maintained on the same trickle charger you do. I don't have a "heavy-duty" charger around to "overcharge" the battery every few months as you suggest. Do you think I could just hook it up to my car's battery and let the car run, so that the alternator will charge/"bubble" it? How long do you think I should let the car run?

Question #2: I haven't opened up the battery yet to look at the fluid level. How high should the level be maintained at? You top it off with distilled water, right?

Question #3: I'm really curious to see how long the powersupply will hold-up in actuality? Do you think it's a good idea to let it run all the way down, until the inverter shuts down (due to low voltage [i.e. battery is drained]), in order to see? Or, will this really kill the longevity/life of my battery?
 
I started this project by purchasing a 125ah marine battery, a Schumacher 375w Power Inverter, and a Deltran Battery Tender charger/maintainer. Now that I am commited, I am having dificulty understanding how to build the Transfer, and how to wire the inside of the outlet box in the cabinet. If someone could be kind enough to walk me through the wiring in a little more detail, I think I could do it. The inverter has a low battery alarm, but it has a built-in fan so I need to swith it like playfairs. Or if somone wants to build me a transfer, I would buy it from them.

Thanks, for any help.
Jeff
 
Re: Re: Re: fuse question for DIY backup

Re: Re: Re: fuse question for DIY backup

Russ said:
Actually, it is a deep-cycle marine battery (says so right on the battery)... I got at at the "Baltimore Battery Warehouse"... where all they sell is batteries. I was surprised when the guy said they don't rate batteries in Ah's anymore too. They manufacture their own batteries, so maybe it's just them. Anyway, it's a deep-cycle marine battery.... so, I'm all good.

Click to expand...

Russ, Check to see if it has a "reserve" rating should be 200min or something like that. this is how long the battery will last with a 25 amp draw and is another standard ration on Deep Cycle batteries. I am having a hard time finding amp hour ratings also..

so lets say the reserve is 200 min then multiply that by 25 and devide by 60 and you will have amphour ratings. I am looking at a "golf cart" battery which has a reserve of 440 min to make one for myself. This will power my mag drive 12 and a 250 watt heater for a min of 6 hours (if the heater is on constantly)


Steve
 
To quote Playfair from a short and to the point email....

"Thanks man, no problems here. The autobackup kicked in for an hour before I got home, then I got the generator fired up."

Just another day:)
 
Thanks for coming to the rescue, BT :)

Here's the updated scoop:
I sold my original 1 yr old DIY unit to a guy in my reef club, as the Mag 18 I am using creates pretty severe voltage spikes that damaged the inverter during testing. He has sinced used it several times over 6 months running with a Mag 7 and it's worked great. I figure it is good to at least a 9, maybe a 12. Someday I'll bring a scope home and see what the hey is going on with the pumps...

Anywho, I started looking around for components to make a new BIGGER and BETTER backup. In addition to a higher capacity inverter, I wanted a 3 stage battery charger. By the time I priced the components out, it was close to a commercial extended run UPS...

After MUCH searching, I picked up a Tripp lite APS512, and it's the nutz! It has the old technology transformer style inverter, which produces a cleaner waveform and surges to 1200 watts (500 continuous), as well as multiple battery capability. Price varies to over $400, so be careful. I don't recall where I got mine from, but the above link is the cheapest price I ran across today (Batteries not included).

So, if you have a reletively small system, my original backup is very cost effective and reliable. However, for larger pumps and demands, a commercial unit may be better.
 
I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but modified sine wave inverters are not real good at running inductive loads like a motor. You usually get a lot of chatter and little, if any, water movement. The best inverters for this purpose are true sine wave, but they can be a little pricey. For my backup system that I built a couple years ago, I use multiple air pumps with 6" air stones. When the power goes out, the air comes on. Worked great twice this summer when the transformer on our block blew. We now have a new transformer. Modified sine wave inverters have no problems with air pumps and heaters. BTW, as a shameless plug, I have a 300 watt true sine wave inverter that I can sell for $100. I used in my camper until recently. It should work fine for large powerheads or small external pumps. I can test it on a large Otto powerhead and an Eheim 1060 if someone is interested. Email me if interested.
 
Total noob questions: How can I calculate what size inverter I will need to power a couple MaxiJets and a heater?

Follow up: If using my car battery as the source, how often will I need to start the car to power this load?

Thanks!
 
I'm glad this thread got a bump. I wish I had seen it it time to build one for H. Isabelle. But looks good for the next time though.

Mike
 
odenwell said:
I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but modified sine wave inverters are not real good at running inductive loads like a motor. You usually get a lot of chatter and little, if any, water movement. The best inverters for this purpose are true sine wave, but they can be a little pricey.
Click to expand...

Actually, IME the modified sine-wave pumps are pretty darn good. Most you can use with the inductive loads used in the hobby without much problem. They claim you can use them on TV and Hi-Fi's w/o interference, but I don't 100% believe that claim. I wouldn't use them to power expensive electronic equipement (i.e., that Pentium 4 computer), but STILL they probably make them a lot better now-a-days. I have a Portawattz, and it's given me no problems with 3 Maxi-jets1200's, a Mag9, an airpump, and heater -- a pretty big load.

Calculate your load by adding up how many watts each device consumes (usually listed on the back as Watts... Remember that [Power = Current * Voltage]... so if just current (Amps) is listed then you can still calculate your Power = Amps listed * 120VAC). Then buy an inverter that can handle 1.5 times your load. Seriously, modified sine-wave inverters aren't that expensive, so buy one that's over-rated for power.

Remember numbers you computed are just for everything once it's running. The START-UP power requirement is a lot more. This is because inductive loads draw a lot of "in-rushing" current when they first start up. Electrons rush into the motor's coil to energize it, and it's not until the coil starts turning that electrical resistance builds up across the coil to reduce current. Because the initial current is so high, the initial power drawn by the motor/pump is high [Power = Current * Voltage]. This initial power draw is called "surge power." So, be sure to by an inverter that's not only rated for 1.5 times the continuous operating power you calculated, but also is able to provide high surge current [Most of the time this will automatically be the case... but, you can see the rationale for buying 1.5 times what you need, as these inverters will also be able to provide higher surge power needed].

For the person who asked about car batteries... They really don't like to be deeply discharged (which is what will happen), and doing so may damage the car batterry. If you have a volt-meter, you can monitor the battery's voltage while it's running the inverter . [Personally, I wouldn't let it get below 10.7 VDC]. You could just leave the car running all the time [do this outside, not in your garage or any place fumes could gather and be dangerous]. Remember to keep the wires from the battery to the inverter short. The wires from the inverter to the pumps can be long. So, you'll need to use heavy-duty [15 Amp] extension cords (like air conditioner or refrigerator cords) to bring that power into the house! :)
 
I am in the process of purchasing my equipment for this project. I went to BatteriesPlus and got a 100AH AGM VRLA battery from Celltec. These are made for deep cycle, they're sealed (no fumes, no spill, no refill, no mess, no worries for indoor application, etc), but they're pricy. The battery was about $130. I also picked up a float charger there which can be continually powered on and will send ZERO charge to the battery when it's not needed. Most of the trickle chargers drop down to a very small amount once the battery is charged, but it still sends juice to it, reducing it's shelf-life.

I'll post pics and results of my project once I'm done!
 
when we buy a 3pdt relay..the bottom only states number 1 to 11 pin...how we know which to connect the wires to? really dumbfounded here
 
G'day Playfair (and anyone else that may be able to shed some light on the problem or possible solutions.)

I am from Australia, and I am desperately searching for a solution to when the power goes off at my place, for my fish.

I have located and built a system that is supposed to work. The link is below, however all the system seems to do is blow up inverters. Intermitently!

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/backup_power.html


I am thinking that maybe the inverter is somehow receiving 240 volts? I have built the system exactly as described! (I have no electrical knowledge unfortunately!)

From the home made switch box there is a cable that runs for about 10-12 meters, there it splits via a normal double adapter and heads off to two air compressors. When combined they are only rated at 80 watts (240 Volts)

The system seems to fail when switching from 240 Volt house supply over to the inverter powered circuit. The inverter generally starts screeming "output short", however paradoxically it keeps powering the circuit, until the inverter is turned off by a resumption of mains power or if I turn it off. Then the inverter fails to function at all.

Can you see any problems or solutions?

I would like to thankyou for your valuable time and any assistance that you may be able to provide. :)

Thanks again Matthew...
 
What is the voltage out of the inverter? If you don't have a multi-meter, drop by the hardware store and pickup something, anything. In the US, they are some dirt cheap ones ($10 or so) that are far better than staring at the wire and guessing. :)

Buying a good Fluke is something that I will never regret though- They last forever. I still have one that is about 15 years old.

Zeph
 
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