Backup Battery?

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 8, 2016

reefkeeperCOL said:
what about the one that sells fish-street.com for DC pumps and vortech pumps?

This unit would be nice but won't give you the performance of either UPS listed above.

Eienna · Jun 8, 2016

Oh. 80 minutes. -_-
OK, umm....

AllSignsPointToFish said:
Why do you think you need that one? The one I posted has more capacity at nearly half the price.

Which one did you post? I don't see any link.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 8, 2016

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups/intelligent-lcd/cp1500avrlcd#section-runtime

ebulldog · Jun 8, 2016

What about the Jebao or the EcoTech battery backup? These will give you more run time than a UPS I believe. 48 to 12 hours depending on the powerhead or pump.
I have the Jebao backup on my MP40wQD.

michaels2408 · Jun 8, 2016

I lost power for over 15 hours once. Limb fell on my line and ruined the weather hood on the roof. Had to run out and buy a generator. Have thought long a hard about a back up source since.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 8, 2016

ebulldog said:
What about the Jebao or the EcoTech battery backup? These will give you more run time than a UPS I believe. 48 to 12 hours depending on the powerhead or pump.
I have the Jebao backup on my MP40wQD.

Unfortunately, this is only true on the lowest speed, if you read the Jebao literature.

I have heard that the Ecotech product has better longevity, but I can't vouch for this firsthand.

Amp-hours are the key. Fewer amp-hours equals less runtime.

ebulldog · Jun 8, 2016

But it will still give you more than a UPS will. Everything I have read on UPS units are minutes not hours. All I wanted is something that turns the water if the power goes out when I am not home
in case of an outage. Anything going on more than a few hours and the generator comes out.

tomstrange · Jun 8, 2016

I have the ecotech b/u and it will run for a good while but the vortechs switch to running at lower speed when on the b/u... but they keep the water moving.

tom reilly · Jun 8, 2016

Do you need to run a pump or do you just need to aerate the water? Maybe set up to move the water 15 mins each hour while running an air stone in tank and one in sump? Same thing with heat.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 8, 2016

ebulldog said:
But it will still give you more than a UPS will. Everything I have read on UPS units are minutes not hours. All I wanted is something that turns the water if the power goes out when I am not home
in case of an outage. Anything going on more than a few hours and the generator comes out.

I seriously doubt it just based on the actual battery capacity. Make sure you really do your homework before buying a high priced product with less capacity.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 8, 2016

tomstrange said:
I have the ecotech b/u and it will run for a good while but the vortechs switch to running at lower speed when on the b/u... but they keep the water moving.

THIS is why it works. The unit automatically extends runtime by lowering pump speeds as the battery is drained down. If you don't have the right pumps, it's just a battery backup that will not perform any better than another. It still boils down to battery capacity and the ability to conserve power in an outage situation.

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 8, 2016

ebulldog said:
But it will still give you more than a UPS will. Everything I have read on UPS units are minutes not hours. All I wanted is something that turns the water if the power goes out when I am not home
in case of an outage. Anything going on more than a few hours and the generator comes out.

Nevermind. I stand corrected. I finally found the ecotech specs and the unit has an 18 Ah battery. They must be using lithium ion battery technology or something pretty good to get that performance out of a backup unit.

Klcan · Jun 9, 2016

I have a CyperPower 600/340 watt battery backup that I got from Walmart a few years back. It was just sitting in my garage still in the box, my return pump, lights and heater are hooked up to it.
Now I am down here in Texas and with all of the storms we have had recently it hasn't failed me (I better go knock on some wood). Last week we had several power surges and last year a storm passed though that knocked our power out for about 40 minutes everything was good to go so for a cheap backup $65 I have no complaints

Eienna · Jun 9, 2016

I think I'll go with the linked one

AllSignsPointToFish said:
https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups/intelligent-lcd/cp1500avrlcd#section-runtime

I'll give it one trial to see how long it actually runs with my pump. If I decree it too short I'll hook it to one or more of my powerheads instead. There is also the option of using it intermittently if I have reason to believe it will be a longer outage.

ebulldog · Jun 9, 2016

Unless I am reading the chart wrong for the Cyberpower, an MP40 that uses 38 watts max, the Cyber power will only operate for maybe 2-1/2 - 3 hours.
The Ecotech backup will last for a least 36 hours depending on the load. The Ecotech is cheaper than the Cyberpower.

Eienna · Jun 10, 2016

Unfortunately, I couldn't possibly afford the Vortechs.

Eienna · Jun 12, 2016

I just scraped the crud off my powerhead labels and good news - they're only 8 watts each. If I put one in the sump and the bigger of the two up so it agitates the surface more, things should be fine, and I can buy a less expensive unit. Wheee!

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 12, 2016

Or you could get longer outage coverage with the same unit

Eienna · Jun 12, 2016

AllSignsPointToFish said:
Or you could get longer outage coverage with the same unit

Yeah, I could conceivably do that too XD

Eienna · Jun 12, 2016

AllSignsPointToFish said:
Unfortunately, this is only true on the lowest speed, if you read the Jebao literature.

I have heard that the Ecotech product has better longevity, but I can't vouch for this firsthand.

Amp-hours are the key. Fewer amp-hours equals less runtime.

Oh, thank you for reminding me about the amp-hours! I knew that because my dad worked as an Edison electrician, but it slipped my mind.