My UPS - Do you have a UPS back up?

[Reefing102]

So thanks to my tax refund, I splurged a small bit on my set up and got a battery back up. After looking at a few and speaking with a few knowledgeable individuals, I ended up buying a Pecron E500 LFP battery back up system.

My main concern isn’t so much storms (though we do get them) but the power company is upgrading the power lines nearby causing multiple power outages of various lengths (anything from a few seconds to a couple hours at a time) however it’s really messing with my apex. So anyway, here she is plugged in:

All that is plugged in is the Apex, Dos, and a Jebao wavemaker. I have room to plug in a back up heater if it’s deemed necessary but the house shouldn’t be too cold as it warms up. There’s not much plugged into my apex either soo current output wattage is 12 watts total…lol

So my budget was right around $250. This one at full price is $359 but has a $110 coupon on amazon currently. This is it (I am not affiliated with the company at all and do not receive any compensation if you buy it or not) - https://a.co/d/0k8LfQE

Some nice things about this:

It has UPS functionality with a 8-20ms delay (couldn’t really find anything in my price range with much better).

It has an app. I haven’t explored it much but was easy to set up and covers the very basic information right on the main page of the app.

The option to wirelessly charge your smartphone. This wasn’t a selling point, but if I decide to change in the future and take this with me somewhere, could be convenient I guess? Lol

It has 576 watt hours, and 600w inverter.

Fast charging, only 1.5 hours needed.

Compact. Roughly 10x7x7.

The cons:

The fan, though overall quiet, is also a bit loud when it was charging (it was loud in the room it’s in when the house was quiet, but is quickly drowned out as the house woke up).

Only 2 AC outlets. I would have preferred more but as you can see I just used a splitter. On that same token, the outlets are sideways. Again not a deal breaker but the splitter would work better if the outlets were oriented upright.

 

[Timfish]

Power stations work really well for backups and they're getting cheaper all the time. I have a DIY 1200 watt one I put together for about $600 that has a 250 watt solar panel. It won't help much for very long for heating a big system but it'll keep water moving a long while. One of my clients has a 10KW backup that will run both a pump and a heater (200 watts) for a couple days if needed. Inexpensive air pumps with rechargable batteries are an inexpensive option as well.

 

[wvned]

I had the hard lesson. 4.5 days without power when it was 20 out and colder at night. In a cold room the heaters you have will not hold your system temp unless you way oversized them. And then there is summer which is worse because producing cold in a small area is difficult and expensive.
So whole house generator. Run everything including HVAC as long as necessary. The bonus of not renting a hotel room to take a shower ever few days is nice too.

I have gone to power strips. Splitters are great for 2 large amp draws but modern stuff seems to be mostly 10 plugs that draw less than 100 watts each plus your laptop and phone. How about a lamp so you can see?

I had 2 small UPS back ups for Hydros but they died of old age and my Hydros controllers have come back 50 times or more now and I trust them. It only takes 20 seconds or so for the collective to come back. In this time I haven't lost a smart pump controller or anything and the current tech for aquariums is very reliable IMHO.

 

[Reefing102]

So just an update, I don’t know if it’s just me, but this thing is junk. I guess the storm today fried it. It powers on but the AC outlets no longer work. I’m reaching out to the manufacturer to see if there’s anything I’m missing

 

[Reefing102]

Okay so another update, got off the phone with Pecron support. Based on the conversation, the inverter has gone bad. He advised it will likely need to be replaced (under warranty). I sent an email to them with a photo, video and order # and just waiting to hear back.

 

[Anemone]

I copied this from a thread I started over in the NTTH Forum. Easier than typing it all up again1

Anemone said:
If you’ve been in the hobby long enough, you’ve had a tank disaster/wipeout of some sort. Disease, mechanical breakdown, poisoning/overdosing and heater malfunctions can all take out a tank. In my 31 years keeping saltwater aquariums, I’ve experienced most.

The one situation you might notice that is missing above is also one of the most common – a power outage. A power outage is not a question of when, but if. There are several steps you can take ahead of time to help mitigate the effects of that power outage, when it arrives.

Most tanks can survive a power outage of up to several hours without any harm. The primary issue of concern is water oxygenation; without surface water movement, a tank’s oxygen levels can drop enough to kill your fish (and eventually, your corals). How long your tank can go without power depends greatly upon stocking levels (not that anyone in the hobby would EVER overstock a tank

).

So, what steps can you take to prepare for a power outage? One of the cheapest and easiest is to have battery-powered air bubblers available. Power goes out, drop the bubblers into your tank (and sump!), and they will provide water movement at the surface, helping to keep the water oxygenated.

Of course, this requires you, or someone else, to be home when the outage occurs. I’m a firm believer in Murphy’s Law – that anything that can go wrong, will. In this case, the “wrong” being the power outage occurring when you are away from home. I was vacationing several hours from home when I saw on the news there was a major outage in my area. I remember calling my house-sitter (a teenager) and trying to talk them through finding the bubblers and getting them into the tank.

There are a couple of ways of addressing this possibility. Penn Plax makes a battery-powered bubbler (the B11) that plugs in to an outlet. When power to the outlet goes out, the bubbler switches on. This is a relatively cheap insurance policy, and the batteries run the bubbler up to 48 hours! Of course, you do have to keep the bubblers in place in the tank (and sump!) all the time, and occasional maintenance is required (coralline or other algae can clog the bubble stone).

A bit more expensive is a battery backup system. Some hobby manufacturers make battery systems specifically for their systems (I have a Vortech battery on my two MP40s currently). You can also buy a computer backup battery and plug a small powerhead into it (pointed at the surface of the tank). This was my “go-to” in the mid 90s. This can keep your tank “running” for several hours.

Moving up the expense list, you can buy a generator. If you live in an area with frequent outages, I highly suggest you do so! I have a 2200 HP Honda generator (not cheap) that can run my tank and my refrigerators (an important fact to help sell the purchase to your spouse

). Of course, this also requires someone to be at home when the outage occurs.

Finally, moving up the expense scale to the ultimate back-up systems, are whole-house generators and whole house batteries. These are expensive options, but the most complete and “hands-off” solutions of all. Another plus is that these systems also address the temperature needs of the tank (heating/cooling), which can become problematic in protracted outages. Solutions to those problems are for another post.

Depending on the size of your system, you’ve likely spent thousands of dollars on your tank to get it to this point. But what have you spent to keep it from crashing in the event of a power outage?

Kevin

PS - good luck with the warranty repair - I hope it works out!

 

[wvned]

32 kilowatts

 

[Guygettnby]

Guess i have been lucky for the most part. I normally always had a generator. Never lost anything, Not much down time besides hurricane Ian, which pretty much killed everything in 2 tanks.

In this new house, I bought a big enough generator with the ability to automatically switch on if the power goes out. 2 hurricanes later and still have yet to really use it. Battery back up is never something I invested in and would have been useless for Ian anyhow. That's what I get for living in florida though.