Need battery backup ideas after Irma

[glb]

I lost power with Irma and so far, my 40g b is ok temp wise. I would like to hook up my return pump to a backup battery but it would need to be a setup that I can get my hands on in Miami right now? Could I use a small car battery? What kind of inverter would I need. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[moseley75]

You should use a deep cycle battery they last longer. Get the most powerful one you can find.
Any true sine wave inverter will work. As long as you have enough watts to overcome the motors lock rotor amps. My Sicce 2.0 Silent uses 68 watts and will run on a Cobra 300 watt inverter.

 

[glb]

You should use a deep cycle battery they last longer. Get the most powerful one you can find.
Any true sine wave inverter will work. As long as you have enough watts to overcome the motors lock rotor amps. My Sicce 2.0 Silent uses 68 watts and will run on a Cobra 300 watt inverter.

My pump is just like a Sicce 2.0. Is that kind of converter available at a hardware store?

 

[ChiCity]

APC

 

[glb]

You should use a deep cycle battery they last longer. Get the most powerful one you can find.
Any true sine wave inverter will work. As long as you have enough watts to overcome the motors lock rotor amps. My Sicce 2.0 Silent uses 68 watts and will run on a Cobra 300 watt inverter.

You mean a pure sine inverter?

 

[redfishbluefish]

An APC won't last very long, and costs $400++ and up, and if you're still without power, the APC would have died yesterday, or sooner. If you're not considering a generator, and only wish to run re-circulation, look into an inverter you could attach to your car. At least you could recharge the battery, or simply run your car every so often. Some not very expensive....$40-$50.

 

[glb]

An APC won't last very long, and costs $400++ and up, and if you're still without power, the APC would have died yesterday, or sooner. If you're not considering a generator, and only wish to run re-circulation, look into an inverter you could attach to your car. At least you could recharge the battery, or simply run your car every so often. Some not very expensive....$40-$50.

Is that something I could find at a car parts store? Everything I see on Amazon is back-ordered until the 20th.

 

[Greybeard]

Short term? I've got a battery powered air pump and a couple of air stones that I can toss in to keep water moving for gas exchange. If the power drops for an hour or two, that's good enough for me. Long term is another matter entirely.

We get storms that down powerlines around here fairly regularly. I'm rural... very rural... and have had to deal with power outages as long as 11 days. Thankfully, that was once, and a decade ago... I hope to never do that again. Anyway, a decent gas generator was really my only option. Natural gas is not available here, and with the price fluctuation that propane is known for... gas it is. My 6000 watt generator is mounted to a small trailer, can be towed out of the garage by my four wheeler, stationed under the car port in front of the house. A few extension cords, and we're as comfortable as we're going to be. It's not an ideal solution, rather inconvenient, when we need it, but it works for us. I have a pellet stove in the living room. Plug that into 110, and it will keep the front half of the house nice and toasty, the back half livable, if a bit cool. The only thing I run on my tank would be the return pump and heater. System can live without skimmer, lights, ATO, etc. for quite some time. As long as the flow keeps flowing, and the temperature stays reasonable, it'll be fine.

If I lived in town, where natural gas was available? I'd have a natural gas whole house generator with an automatic transfer circuit installed in a heartbeat. Yes, it's going to cost you some money, but knowing that you can get on with life as usual during a power outage is one heck of a warm fuzzy feeling.

 

[moseley75]

Yes pure sine inverter.

 

[moseley75]

My pump is just like a Sicce 2.0. Is that kind of converter available at a hardware store?

I got mine at the local truck stop. I would think you could get one at Home Depot or Lowe's.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@bif24701 has probaly the sweetest backup I've seen so far.

Kinda wish there was a build thread on it in the diy section. (SUBLTE HINT)

 

[glb]

I got mine at the local truck stop. I would think you could get one at Home Depot or Lowe's.

Ok. I'll try to find a HD that's open. Right now the tank is holding at 77-78 degrees. I agitated the surface when I went back to the house.

 

[glb]

Short term? I've got a battery powered air pump and a couple of air stones that I can toss in to keep water moving for gas exchange. If the power drops for an hour or two, that's good enough for me. Long term is another matter entirely.

We get storms that down powerlines around here fairly regularly. I'm rural... very rural... and have had to deal with power outages as long as 11 days. Thankfully, that was once, and a decade ago... I hope to never do that again. Anyway, a decent gas generator was really my only option. Natural gas is not available here, and with the price fluctuation that propane is known for... gas it is. My 6000 watt generator is mounted to a small trailer, can be towed out of the garage by my four wheeler, stationed under the car port in front of the house. A few extension cords, and we're as comfortable as we're going to be. It's not an ideal solution, rather inconvenient, when we need it, but it works for us. I have a pellet stove in the living room. Plug that into 110, and it will keep the front half of the house nice and toasty, the back half livable, if a bit cool. The only thing I run on my tank would be the return pump and heater. System can live without skimmer, lights, ATO, etc. for quite some time. As long as the flow keeps flowing, and the temperature stays reasonable, it'll be fine.

If I lived in town, where natural gas was available? I'd have a natural gas whole house generator with an automatic transfer circuit installed in a heartbeat. Yes, it's going to cost you some money, but knowing that you can get on with life as usual during a power outage is one heck of a warm fuzzy feeling.

We could be without power for up to 10 days. I agree that a generator is best. We're thinking about a solar one because there's no gas or propane to be found in Miami after a hurricane.

 

[Greybeard]

We could be without power for up to 10 days. I agree that a generator is best. We're thinking about a solar one because there's no gas or propane to be found in Miami after a hurricane.

Gas is, indeed, a concern. Having a sufficient stock, and rotating it properly, is critical. I keep a couple 5g cans of diesel (a small tractor is the only diesel equipment I own) and several cans of gas, full, cycling through them as I use it in various equipment. #2 treated with Sta-bil in the diesel cans, premium (no alcohol) in the gas cans. Fill up your vehicle tank, when you hear bad things are coming, as well. I haven't needed to, but siphoning that out to run in a generator is always a possibility.

Don't neglect maintenance, either! All gasoline engines need to be maintained! Run half a gallon of gas through it a couple times a year, keep the oil changed, fuel filter and air filter clean, change the plug every other year or so, carb kit as needed, keep a few spare fuses around... it'll last for many years. Stick it in the corner of your garage and let it collect dust for a couple of years, and it is NOT going start when you need it.

 

[miPapareef]

Truck stops and auto parts stores have inverters in the 200-1000 watt. Like this one example.
http://www.autozone.com/12v-products/power-inverter/powerbright-power-inverter/87323_0_0

Return pump on a 40 gallon breeder is probably sub 50 watts continuous.

 

[glb]

Truck stops and auto parts stores have inverters in the 200-1000 watt. Like this one example.
http://www.autozone.com/12v-products/power-inverter/powerbright-power-inverter/87323_0_0

Return pump on a 40 gallon breeder is probably sub 50 watts continuous.

This is what I have. It says it runs 16w. If I could run the skimmer too that would help, as I was using Nopox before the power went out.

 

[glb]

Truck stops and auto parts stores have inverters in the 200-1000 watt. Like this one example.
http://www.autozone.com/12v-products/power-inverter/powerbright-power-inverter/87323_0_0

Return pump on a 40 gallon breeder is probably sub 50 watts continuous.

So this would be plugged into the cigarette lighter of my car? I need something that would run off some sort of battery. Would this work?

 

[Katrina71]

So this would be plugged into the cigarette lighter of my car? I need something that would run off some sort of battery. Would this work?

Looks like it can do either.

 

[shiftline]

Diy one

 

[DMan]

You've kinda put the cart before the horse. From what you have said. Getting an inverter for the car is limited because no gas, generator also no gas. Deep cycle battery and an inverter would be good as long as the battery comes fully charged.
I think at the bare minimum getting a battery powered air pump will be your best chance to get up and running right away.