Battery backup

rferraro21 · May 3, 2017

I've had an APC UPS 600 battery backup now for about 2 or 3 weeks. I have by skimmer, pump, power heads, and LED light plugged into it. All of a sudden tonight I heard a pop and everything stopped working. I checked all my breakers and nothing there, unplugged the unit and plugged it back in. This lead to another pop and sparks shooting out of it. I unplugged it and plugged everything in to a regular power strip for now and everything seems fine. Has anyone else experienced this or have a recommendation for battery backup. This is supposed to help in emergencies not cause them. Lucky I was home when it happened.

Reef2zach · May 4, 2017

Is it surge protected? Might be shorting out. Or have moisture in it. From what I've read on the battery backups their not very usefully for fishtanks since in a power outage situation they'll only power your tank for about 10 to 15 minutes. More for computers so you can save your work quick before your comp dies

rferraro21 · May 4, 2017

Reef2zach said:
Is it surge protected? Might be shorting out. Or have moisture in it. From what I've read on the battery backups their not very usefully for fishtanks since in a power outage situation they'll only power your tank for about 10 to 15 minutes. More for computers so you can save your work quick before your comp dies

Ohh that makes sense. It is surge protected. I was hoping it could run the essentials, pump, LED, power head, maybe skimmer

Tim Ly · May 4, 2017

I had the same APC UPS 600. Mine burn out in about a months. It was a loud pop and a burnt smell. I think it is pretty useless and a fire hazard. I got it from Amazon, told them what happen and they refunded my money.

rferraro21 · May 4, 2017

Tim Ly said:
I had the same APC UPS 600. Mine burn out in about a months. It was a loud pop and a burnt smell. I think it is pretty useless and a fire hazard. I got it from Amazon, told them what happen and they refunded my money.

Do you use a backup still or just regular power strips?

Tim Ly · May 4, 2017

Just regular power surge. Going to get a portable battery power air pump. I'll use it if the power goes out. It will at least give the tank some oxygen until the power come back on.

rferraro21 · May 4, 2017

Tim Ly said:
Just regular power surge. Going to get a portable battery power air pump. I'll use it if the power goes out. It will at least give the tank some oxygen until the power come back on.

Could you possibly explain that process? How would you set up the air pump?