PC Battery Back Up

Neo Jeo · Apr 19, 2019

Hello Reefers!

I finally got my tank covered for upcoming storm power outages.

I did not want to custom make a battery cell set up so I bought a 1500 VA Cyber Power and will only run the return pump. That will IMO give me enough time I hope to get home or before the power comes on. With my reef octopus DC 1095gph on 4/5 power level I get 335 minutes that’s around 5 1/2 HRS of run time. Normally power will be back on in 4hrs. That’s covered.

These should not be installed under a stand. The humidity will ruin the housing. Also for “ aquarium “ us the warranty is void. “Up to you on what you used it for.”

My tank is in the middle of the house. The temp should stay more stable. But in the winter that’s a different story. I would have to run the generator anyways for the furnace. I’m in the cold of Michigan, Least during the summer it’s covered.

If you don’t have something I would recommend this at least! You never want to say I should have but you rather want to say “I’m glad I did” thanks Neo Jeo

Pics below:
1. Battery Back Up
2. Location. I have a bird cage that will cover it.

Any other advice or tips. Post below!
Happy Easter!

JasonK84 · Apr 19, 2019

Have you tested the run time? I have the exact UPS and only get 2.5 hours out of it with only running my return pump. I have the Current USA 6011 (3170 gph) dc pump and max is 80 watts. I tested at 50% power.

Neo Jeo · Apr 19, 2019

JasonK84 said:
Have you tested the run time? I have the exact UPS and only get 2.5 hours out of it with only running my return pump. I have the Current USA 6011 (3170 gph) dc pump and max is 80 watts. I tested at 50% power.

I ran it on battery for 10min and the estimate stayed around 330 minutes. Seems to be accurate. I have not ran it all the way down and test. Maybe I’ll do that in a few months to drain the batteries and test it.

JasonK84 · Apr 19, 2019

Neo Jeo said:
I ran it on battery for 10min and the estimate stayed around 330 minutes. Seems to be accurate. I have not ran it all the way down and test. Maybe I’ll do that in a few months to drain the batteries and test it.

I would test sooner so you know what kind of time you are working with. Just about a month ago I had a 6.5hr outage. At the 2 hour mark I knew I had to head home from work to fire up the generator. When I got home the UPS was finished.

JasonK84 · Apr 19, 2019

This is the runtime chart on the cyber power website showing minutes of runtime based on the wattage draw. At 50 watts the best it claims is around 175 minutes.

Neo Jeo · Apr 19, 2019

On the display it shows 330min those are normally accurate

JasonK84 · Apr 19, 2019

Neo Jeo said:
On the display it shows 330min those are normally accurate

Trust it if you wish. I’m giving you my tested results of the same UPS and the runtime chart from the manufacturer. If they would run longer don’t you think the manufacturer would proudly advertise this as a major selling point?

Neo Jeo · Apr 20, 2019

JasonK84 said:
Trust it if you wish. I’m giving you my tested results of the same UPS and the runtime chart from the manufacturer. If they would run longer don’t you think the manufacturer would proudly advertise this as a major selling point?

I appreciate the advice. Based on my pump I guess it’s at 330min. When I used these for my computer back in the day, the estimate was spot on.

What else am I going to do? Better then nothing IMO

JasonK84 · Apr 21, 2019

Neo Jeo said:
I appreciate the advice. Based on my pump I guess it’s at 330min. When I used these for my computer back in the day, the estimate was spot on.

What else am I going to do? Better then nothing IMO

All I suggest is testing to verify. The UPS isn’t designed to run for long periods. They are meant for higher loads for a short duration to allow time to properly power down a computer system during an outage.

The problem with them running longer is the power converter that is built in. The longer it runs the more that is consumed converting the power and the efficiency is greatly diminished.

Neo Jeo · Apr 21, 2019

JasonK84 said:
All I suggest is testing to verify. The UPS isn’t designed to run for long periods. They are meant for higher loads for a short duration to allow time to properly power down a computer system during an outage.

The problem with them running longer is the power converter that is built in. The longer it runs the more that is consumed converting the power and the efficiency is greatly diminished.

I see your point. What other means of battery backup would you recommend?

Neo Jeo · Apr 21, 2019

And my return was running at 0.036 kw so 36w. That chart was 175min at 50w so maybe that’s why I was getting better estimated time?

JasonK84 · Apr 21, 2019

Neo Jeo said:
I see your point. What other means of battery backup would you recommend?

I don’t have the answer for that. I get alerts when the power is out (sometimes) and at the 2 hour mark I leave work and head home to fire up the generator so I can have it up before the UPS is drained or shortly after. My father in law is working on a system that will work along with my UPS and a raspberry pi to send me text notifications when the power goes out.

I think BRS sells battery operated air pumps that run for long periods (days) and only turn on if the power fails. That would be good for in the DT but doesn’t keep the sump flowing. I guess you could run one in each the sump and DT. I think they sell on BRS for around $15 each. Others use the Ecotech marine battery backups to run powerheads and even the vectra return pumps. They are pricey though.

JasonK84 · Apr 21, 2019

Neo Jeo said:
And my return was running at 0.036 kw so 36w. That chart was 175min at 50w so maybe that’s why I was getting better estimated time?

Only way to know for sure is to unplug the UPS from the wall and let the return pump run on backup power as long as it can.

Neo Jeo · Apr 21, 2019

JasonK84 said:
I don’t have the answer for that. I get alerts when the power is out (sometimes) and at the 2 hour mark I leave work and head home to fire up the generator so I can have it up before the UPS is drained or shortly after. My father in law is working on a system that will work along with my UPS and a raspberry pi to send me text notifications when the power goes out.

I think BRS sells battery operated air pumps that run for long periods (days) and only turn on if the power fails. That would be good for in the DT but doesn’t keep the sump flowing. I guess you could run one in each the sump and DT. I think they sell on BRS for around $15 each. Others use the Ecotech marine battery backups to run powerheads and even the vectra return pumps. They are pricey though.

I’ll look for that. I don’t know if I want a air stone in the DT. I don’t have a Ecotech equipment so I can’t use the battery backup.

JasonK84 · Apr 21, 2019

Neo Jeo said:
I’ll look for that. I don’t know if I want a air stone in the DT. I don’t have a Ecotech equipment so I can’t use the battery backup.

Also Harbor Freight sells the little 900/1000 watt generators for between $99 and $109 its what I use when the outage is longer than the UPS can manage. Only problem there is you have to be able to get home to hook it all up and start it.

Neo Jeo · Apr 21, 2019

JasonK84 said:
Also Harbor Freight sells the little 900/1000 watt generators for between $99 and $109 its what I use when the outage is longer than the UPS can manage. Only problem there is you have to be able to get home to hook it all up and start it.

Thanks! I have a 6000 watt generator. I’m just looking for things when I’m not home

garbled · Apr 21, 2019

So, I have a bunch of computers. I kinda have a mini-datacenter's worth here at home, because crazy.

Point being, I own about 10 UPS's. A few APCs, a few cyberpower, a few other ones. All of them have one issue, which means I will *never* put them on my aquarium.

Eventually, sometimes without any warning, the UPS decides, "this battery is dead, so even though I'm plugged in to a perfectly good supply line from the wall, I'm just going to power off, hard, and not let you power me back on, and you had a load attached? well too bad for you buddy, I'll sit here like a brick until you replace the battery. Maybe I'll beep, maybe I won't. Eat it."

I've had every model of UPS I own do this. Had it happen like 6-10 times. It's obnoxious. You want this thing to protect you in a power outage, but instead, when power is just fine, some day, it will power your whole tank down. Not ok.

Neo Jeo · Apr 21, 2019

garbled said:
So, I have a bunch of computers. I kinda have a mini-datacenter's worth here at home, because crazy.

Point being, I own about 10 UPS's. A few APCs, a few cyberpower, a few other ones. All of them have one issue, which means I will *never* put them on my aquarium.

Eventually, sometimes without any warning, the UPS decides, "this battery is dead, so even though I'm plugged in to a perfectly good supply line from the wall, I'm just going to power off, hard, and not let you power me back on, and you had a load attached? well too bad for you buddy, I'll sit here like a brick until you replace the battery. Maybe I'll beep, maybe I won't. Eat it."

I've had every model of UPS I own do this. Had it happen like 6-10 times. It's obnoxious. You want this thing to protect you in a power outage, but instead, when power is just fine, some day, it will power your whole tank down. Not ok.

I liked your story!

That’s crazy tho. I have a few of these on my PCs and never experienced that. I hope it doesn’t happen

KadeSirin · Apr 21, 2019

So I'm an network and infrastructure guy, and the first thing I have to point out on using a UPS for the pumps and systems here is to make sure you use a Pure Sine Wave UPS. Your pumps efficiency will go way down with anything but that, they'll run harder and draw more wattage.

Secondly, you should ensure the UPS is on a battery maintenance cycle. Most do a self-test, but you should also test their capacity at least monthly and replace their batteries bi-annually.

I'm still setting up my tank, but I've been running my Nero 5 pump off a UPS for my salt mix for a while.

JasonK84 · Apr 21, 2019

garbled said:
So, I have a bunch of computers. I kinda have a mini-datacenter's worth here at home, because crazy.

Point being, I own about 10 UPS's. A few APCs, a few cyberpower, a few other ones. All of them have one issue, which means I will *never* put them on my aquarium.

Eventually, sometimes without any warning, the UPS decides, "this battery is dead, so even though I'm plugged in to a perfectly good supply line from the wall, I'm just going to power off, hard, and not let you power me back on, and you had a load attached? well too bad for you buddy, I'll sit here like a brick until you replace the battery. Maybe I'll beep, maybe I won't. Eat it."

I've had every model of UPS I own do this. Had it happen like 6-10 times. It's obnoxious. You want this thing to protect you in a power outage, but instead, when power is just fine, some day, it will power your whole tank down. Not ok.

That’s would be a problem. Nothing is ever a sure thing. That being said, the only thing I have plugged into the UPS is the return. My powerheads would still be running in this event and keep things moving at least up top. Would turn the sump into an ammonia bomb though.

Glad you shared. Now time to come up with a work around for that.

How about a small pump running as a secondary return not hooked through the UPS that will keep enough flow going through the sump just to keep it alive in case that happened?