Simple, Effective, Expandable Battery Backup

[dingodan87]

What charger are you using? If your using the JR model I had the same issue. The .75 amps isn't enough to maintain a charge and keep the inverter powered in standby. I stepped it up to the larger Battery Tender Plus model which is a 1.25 amp charger.

http://www.2xpower.com/12V-Battery-Tender-Plus-by-Deltran_p_143.html

If you're interested I would sell you mine as I'm currently tankless for a while. $40.

Oh nevermind i didnt read that properly. I am using the plus model and still gtting the same issue

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[CuzzA]

Hmm. Can you explain your exact setup? Something is going on where you're not charging enough to power the inverter. I wonder if your charger is bad.

 

[dingodan87]

Hmm. Can you explain your exact setup? Something is going on where you're not charging enough to power the inverter. I wonder if your charger is bad.

All same equipment. High capacity deep cycle marine battery (motomaster nautilus its a cheap brand dont know if that factors), battery tender wired directly to battery with included wires, inverter wired directly to battery with 14awg wires (no fuse atm but i was having this issue before i removed it), 14awg extension cord plugged into inverter out to transfer switch. Battery terminal connections are solid. I know the 14awg inverter to battery wires are slightly undersized but i dont see how that affects it) i notice the battery tender charge light will only come on if the inverter is turned off. That must be the issue but why is that happening

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[dingodan87]

All same equipment. High capacity deep cycle marine battery (motomaster nautilus its a cheap brand dont know if that factors), battery tender wired directly to battery with included wires, inverter wired directly to battery with 14awg wires (no fuse atm but i was having this issue before i removed it), 14awg extension cord plugged into inverter out to transfer switch. Battery terminal connections are solid. I know the 14awg inverter to battery wires are slightly undersized but i dont see how that affects it) i notice the battery tender charge light will only come on if the inverter is turned off. That must be the issue but why is that happening

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Ok i just turned the inverter back on and the tender charge light remains on. Ive charged it before though with the inverter off for a couple days then turn the inverter back on and by the end of the day the inverter alarm is going off again

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[dingodan87]

Storm coming..like to figure this out..any ideas?

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[CuzzA]

Storm coming..like to figure this out..any ideas?

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I'm wondering if it's the battery or the charger.

I had zero problems with my setup and I know several others have duplicated my setup without any problems.

I used an AutoCraft deep cycle marine battery from Advance Auto Parts. I wired everything up and used a Battery Tender Junior only to discover it was not strong enough. I got the same beeping noise you reported. When I switched to the Battery Tender Plus everything was fine and whenever the power would cut out my power heads didn't skip a beat.

Sorry you're having trouble with this. You're going to have to go through the process of elimination to find out what piece of equipment is wrong. I suspect it's the battery.

 

[dingodan87]

Ok just tested voltage on battery last night 13.1 volts. So it is charging its just either charging very slow or losing charge very quickly. Cheap battery is my first guess but ill have to do further testing. Thanks for your help

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[dingodan87]

Put a fresh battery on and hours later the alarm is going off again. I doubt the inverter would be pulling that much so i dont think its the tender or battery now. My guess is either the inverter is broken or the transfer switch is broken causing the pumps to run off the inverter rather than the utility when both are connected. There needs to be a way i can test this as i dont want to buy a new inverter if its not broken. Storm is here praying for no power outage

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[CuzzA]

Are you sure the Battery Tender is charging it? I'm betting that is it. There were some knockoffs being sold. Big lawsuit, etc. Deltran was replacing victims chargers for free. I'd call them.

Unless you have the transfer switch wired wrong and what ever your powering is running off the battery and charger and not AC power.

 

[dingodan87]

Well i put a fresh battery from my boat on it and have the same issue. Even if the battery tender was broken id think the fresh battery would last more than a couple hours. Also turned off the inverter and checked old battery few days later with a multimeter showed 13.1 volts. Double checked the switch wiring today i have the "load" wire to my pumps and have "utility" wire to the wall outlet. Is that not correct?

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[dingodan87]

Actually even if the switch were broken... 2 large batteries wired in series both tested at 13.1 volts runing a mag drive 9...should last more than a couple hours no?

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[CuzzA]

So, not all batteries are created equal.

You have to calculate the amp hours of the battery and convert it to how many watts your appliance is pulling.

In the original thread (link on first page) I posted on the national board, I included a link to a website with a calculator.

Personally, I would focus on powerheads, especially DC powerheads, because they will provide oxygen to your tank and consume far less power than a return pump.

To answer your question, yes. Wiring 2 batteries will combine the amp hours and extend the time to provide power to the appliance.

The Battery Tender should provide enough power to keep the battery topped off and power the inverter in standby mode.

Given your problems it has to be either the charger or the inverter taking a false reading from the battery and raising the alarm. When the alarm goes off is the battery actually dead? If not, that tells me there's something wrong with the inverter. If it's dead, then that suggests the charger is not providing enough power to maintain the battery and power the inverter in stand by mode. The inverter consumes very little energy so this should be achieved with the Battery Tender Plus.

A cheap battery may have a higher discharge rate and unable to maintain a charge for an extended period of time. If that's the case then a higher quality battery would be the fix or buying a bigger charger to offset the cheap batteries ability to maintain a charge.

I suppose it's possible the transfer switch could be bad, but I think that would be the least possible scenario. It should be easy to test too. Just unplug the utility ac power and see if it switches to the battery and vice versa.

What storm are you talking about? Where are you located?

 

[dingodan87]

Success. I think. Replaced the inverter all seems well. Im in bc so far not much of a storm but we have alot of trees doesnt take much to down a powerline

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[dingodan87]

Thanks again for your help

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[CuzzA]

You're welcome! Glad to here you fixed it.