Replacing the battery on Ecotech battery backup...

[SchnitzelReef]

It was super easy, and cost me around $37. The battery was $34, and the machine screws were like $1.50. I was going to buy a brand new one, and then I realized that would be a huge waste of money. The power supply works fine, the battery inside the backup was just toast. After a little research I bought the new battery on amazon and i spent about 15 minutes changing it out.

Of course Ecotech rivets the case shut, probably hoping you won't try to replace the battery yourself. Drill the rivets out, replace the battery and then use some 6-32x3/8 machine screws. Just tested it and it works great.

Here's a few pics.

Original battery

New battery

FYI my backup was from 2013. Battery lasted about 5 years. Not bad

 

[saltyfishd]

Nice work. Awesome to know there is no need to buy new backup when you can just switch out the battery inside.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[macdaddynick1]

Replacing the battery on Ecotech battery backup...

Is there a way to just buy the parts and put together your own batter backup without the metal casing ? Or are there certain parts that cannot be sourced from elsewhere ? I.e some type of motherboard inside of the case. It just seems like there's nothing special inside of the case except the 4 wires.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Is there a way to just buy the parts and put together your own batter backup without the metal casing ? Or are there certain parts that cannot be sourced from elsewhere ? I.e some type of motherboard inside of the case. It just seems like there's nothing special inside of the case except the 4 wires.

Absolutely. There are plenty of diy videos on YouTube. All you need is a battery, a trickle charger, and a cable to plug into the Vortech controller. There are guys using car batteries powering their return Ecotech pump, and all Ecotech powerheads. Apparently it will power them all for days. I'm not worried about powering my tank for days, just need to power 1 Powerhead in case of a power outage. Honestly I think your best bet is finding a used or old Ecotech battery backup and just putting a new battery in it like I did. Just looks cleaner imo.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BV14qU48I8w

 

[minus9]

Nice!

 

[dodgerblew]

I have one in my garage still in box I bought brand new 2 years ago or so. Will that battery be bad now?

 

[bblumberg]

Be careful with those cheap sealed lead acid batteries. I bought 16 for APC SU2200 UPS (which takes 4 of each) (exactly same battery size as yours) in my lab and they swelled so much after a couple of years that I had to scrap the units because the batteries could not be removed. One of the UPS actually started smoking until we noticed and shut it off. Luckily it was during the day when people were in the lab. Only 1 of the 4 units is now usable and I just ordered Powersonic batteries for it. Panasonic SLA batteries are also very good, but they cost nearly $70 in that size.

 

[Minhdanh]

Nice...

Thanks i almost threw out the dead bb the other day.

Ecotech really gonna hate you for this.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Be careful with those cheap sealed lead acid batteries. I bought 16 for APC SU2200 UPS (which takes 4 of each) (exactly same battery size as yours) in my lab and they swelled so much after a couple of years that I had to scrap the units because the batteries could not be removed. One of the UPS actually started smoking until we noticed and shut it off. Luckily it was during the day when people were in the lab. Only 1 of the 4 units is now usable and I just ordered Powersonic batteries for it. Panasonic SLA batteries are also very good, but they cost nearly $70 in that size.

Thanks for the heads up. I figured it wasn't much cheaper than the sealed lead acid battery that came with the battery backup. It lasted nearly 5 years and I never had 1 issue. Unless you know something I don't, Are "œLong" batteries considered a high quality battery?

 

[SchnitzelReef]

I have one in my garage still in box I bought brand new 2 years ago or so. Will that battery be bad now?

I'm not a battery expert, I just watched a video on YouTube and boom it worked. Lol. I would try plugging it in and see if it holds a charge. Worse case, $36 for a new battery.

 

[macdaddynick1]

Absolutely. There are plenty of diy videos on YouTube. All you need is a battery, a trickle charger, and a cable to plug into the Vortech controller. There are guys using car batteries powering their return Ecotech pump, and all Ecotech powerheads. Apparently it will power them all for days. I'm not worried about powering my tank for days, just need to power 1 Powerhead in case of a power outage. Honestly I think your best bet is finding a used or old Ecotech battery backup and just putting a new battery in it like I did. Just looks cleaner imo.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BV14qU48I8w

Thank you for this. Didn't even know you could do that.

 

[bblumberg]

Thanks for the heads up. I figured it wasn't much cheaper than the sealed lead acid battery that came with the battery backup. It lasted nearly 5 years and I never had 1 issue. Unless you know something I don't, Are "œLong" batteries considered a high quality battery?

My only experience with these batteries is in UPS. Several different brands of cheap-o SLA batteries (I wish I had kept a list of the bad ones) have given the serious swelling effect whereas none of the Panasonic SLA batteries I have been using do (all of my smaller UPS use the Panasonic).

People on the web claim that Powersonic batteries are supposed to be good in addition to Panasonic. If the batteries are made in Taiwan or Japan then probably good, if China then it is less certain - some good, some not. I'd check the battery once a year or so for signs of swelling. You might not have a problem with swelling like I did with UPS because space is confined in there and if battery swells, it is not coming out.

 

[keepLearning]

ExpertPower-EXP12180-Rechargeable-Battery

 

[keepLearning]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWEFcCwfJpM

 

[marioensf]

Is there a way to just buy the parts and put together your own batter backup without the metal casing ? Or are there certain parts that cannot be sourced from elsewhere ? I.e some type of motherboard inside of the case. It just seems like there's nothing special inside of the case except the 4 wires.

It's a very basic unit, no boards or electronics to deal with; parts should be available anywhere and you can make a case out of scrap acrylic.
As a side note, the battery backup units for AT&T U-verse units are nicer than the Ecotech/older IceCap; not only they can be found for cheap on craigslist but they have an electronic circuit that lets you know of any faults of the battery or it it has reached the end of life plus they are easy to swap by opening the cover held in place by two tabs.

 

[marioensf]

Belkin is the manufacturer of the U-verse battery backup units, forgot to add.

 

[five.five-six]

Love the "œthumbsup" LOL

 

[macdaddynick1]

Belkin is the manufacturer of the U-verse battery backup units, forgot to add.

I just looked those up. They look good too.