Tunze backup

brad

brad

Active member
I just lost everything in my 270 from a power failure. I want a battery backup for my Tunze 6105. $50 for the safety connector seems ridiculous. Several posts on here mention just using a car battery and relay, but I am not sure if anyone actually did this or what type of relay to use. Do I need to splice the wire to my Tunze? Can I leave a trickle charger on the battery? How do I know when to replace the battery?

Thanks!
 
I am truly sorry for the loss of the tank.

Weighing the difference in all of the contents of your tank and a connector, $50 seems like a good deal. I am sure someone has done a DIY connector but I don't think $50 is outrageous.
 
Sucks to hear this.

How long was your power out for? I always feared the same thing for years, until recently I installed with a standby generator. You can have the battery load tested yearly to make sure it's good.
 
I have no idea how long the power was out. Normally, I have 2 circuits, the main pump on 1 and the Tunze's on a 2nd. I moved both temporarily to the same circuit as my washing machine (which also has a GFCI) to redo some electrical in the basement, and never switched it back. Something tripped the GFCI when I was gone.
 
Weighing the difference in all of the contents of mytank and a connector, $50 DOES NOT seem like a good deal for a $3 relay. Especially when I have 4 Tunze's, and the length of time I can run without power is limited on how much I am willing to spend on batteries.
 
slief said:
Here is a link to a circuit diagram for one. It's in Slovene. If you understand schematics, it should be straight forward, if not use a google translate.
http://www.sloreef.com/bojan/ZasilnoTokovanje/ZasilnoTokovanje.htm
Click to expand...

Any idea why the Slovenians used a 24 V DC relay instead of whatever the main house current is there (in USA I'd use a 120V AC relay). Putting the relay off the main lines has the advantage that you can use this with any pump that can run off 12 VDC (for example, in case I change the jumper on the Tunze). It also prevents whatever voltage drop there is from the relay taking away from your pumps power. I guess a 24 V DC relay is safer, and maybe uses less electricity.



slief said:
Here is a good overview of the circuit in the Tunze Safety Device. It's a fairly complx circuit.
http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=226738&start=0
Click to expand...

I am planning on buying (not building) a relay. Under that assumption, it is a fairly simple circuit. The Tunze has a fuse, but I would rather leave that off. An accidentally blown fuse killing my tank is a more realistic fear than my battery magically putting out more than twice its rated voltage and killing my Tunze.
 
brad said:
Any idea why the Slovenians used a 24 V DC relay instead of whatever the main house current is there (in USA I'd use a 120V AC relay). Putting the relay off the main lines has the advantage that you can use this with any pump that can run off 12 VDC (for example, in case I change the jumper on the Tunze). It also prevents whatever voltage drop there is from the relay taking away from your pumps power. I guess a 24 V DC relay is safer, and maybe uses less electricity.





I am planning on buying (not building) a relay. Under that assumption, it is a fairly simple circuit. The Tunze has a fuse, but I would rather leave that off. An accidentally blown fuse killing my tank is a more realistic fear than my battery magically putting out more than twice its rated voltage and killing my Tunze.
Click to expand...

It's because the power source is 24V DC and not AC. Remember, the Tunze's are powered by an AC Adapter which provides them with a 24V DC power source. Not 110 AC let alone 220V. There will be absolutely no AC current going through the device.

In all honesty, if you are worried about a fuse taking out your tank after having already lost everything once, I can't understand why you are going to experiment with your tank further by making your own backup power circuit. Especially without a good working knowledge of how this stuff works and why there is a DC relay and not an AC one. I'm not faulting you, I just don't think this is a prudent decision on your part especially after having lost all of your livestock once. There is an old saying.. "Penny wise, pound foolish".

If I were you and have already lost my tank once because of ill preparedness, I would bite the bullet and buy the real and proven Tunze device instead of experimenting with my tank further. I realize the cost of the Tunze backup device may seem expensive but it sounds like that device would have cost a fraction of what you have already lost. If you are so worried about a fuse failure, bypass the fuse with a solder trace. While I wouldn't suggest doing that as that fuse is there to protect your expensive power head from a catastrophic failure, bypassing the fuse it is an option though not a smart one. A word of advice, keep the fuse. Batteries don't do very well let alone last long when they are not cycled. Normally when the fail, they wont support a load as they loose cells. The typical failure will not result in a dead short but it is always possible. The biggest concern for the short would be the cheap trickle charger going bad and if it shorts, that fuse will come in handy. I don't think there is any reason to worry about arbitrary fuse failure. That is very unlikely and rest assured you will be replacing your batteries long before the fuse fails which in all likelihood will never happen.



Is this experiment worth risking your tanks livestock again? For me, it would not be.
 
Last edited:
Allmost said:
why not just one of these back up battery things ?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7660256&CatId=234

you get 10 outlets ...

I would NOT follow some diagram on the net for a DIY back up battery, it can do more bad than good. the circuits are correct and would work, BUT, you would need a good understanding and back ground in the area .... not worth it, it can burn down the house if used incorrectly,
Click to expand...

I concur. A UPS is cheap and effective and would run the Tunze for hours and hours. Just have to monitor and test the batteries every so often. Also, bare in mind that not all 10 outlets on battery back up protected. 5 have battery backup protection while the other 5 are just surge protected.
 
Last edited:
yea we use these at work for our servers even ! the one we have in our colocation has a web page as well, which you can check activity online ... not sure if the APC one has that.
 
It is extremely inefficient to convert AC to DC to charge a battery, convert DC to an AC outlet, then convert back to DC to run my pump again!

slief - there is no requirement to have both the circuit controlling and controlled by the relay to be the same. I also don't buy your assumption that Tunze's solution is either better tested or more reliable than anything else available to me.
 
But if a problem occurred with your setup, it would also void warranty on the pumps. At least you know that with their design it is tested and known to work. Could you make better? I am sure you could...but how much are you really going to be saving? 25 or 30 bucks?

It's just $50, compare that to the loss of livestock you just had. You also only really need one to run just to keep the water moving.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MLOPEZ
Remove stylo. Colony
Replies
3
Views
192
Jimbob
Jimbob
kharmaguru
  • Sticky
How to update Euroquatics A1/A1P
9 10 11
Replies
217
Views
13K
griss
griss
Anemone
Power Outages
Replies
3
Views
1K
alton
alton
R
Confusion About Raspberry Pi Camera Pinout – Need Clarification
Replies
1
Views
2K
oreo57
oreo57
T Diddy
Car battery for emergency power?
Replies
10
Views
1K
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Back
Top