Real time Battery backup test!!!!

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

So when I first got into reef tanks I had no idea how devastating a power outage would be to a reef tank . And ended up loosing my whole tank. That was 4 years ago. I was devastated and quit the hobby . Now fast forward to the new tank I went nano this time and if I can successfully run it for a year or so I will go bigger. This time I put alot of thought into setup. I have an 8000 watt generator just in case we get one of those long two day + power outages. But that's not even the cool part . I purchased a 1200 watt pure sine wave power inverter with a built in transfer switch powered by a deep cycle marine battery hooked to a tender. So I woke up today to the wife panicking saying hon the power is out is your tank going to be ok? I go check and why yes my tank is fine my 2 return pumps never skipped a beat my heater and ato are also hooked to it and should run 24hrs uninterrupted. Never touched a thing it's doing its job and my tank will live and no full panic trying to save my little reef

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

My back up system for my MP60. It's critical, over looked, and only missed when you don't have it or maintain it! Wouldn't go with out automatic battery backups!!!!!

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

bif24701 said:
My back up system for my MP60. It's critical, over looked, and only missed when you don't have it or maintain it! Wouldn't go with out automatic battery backups!!!!!

It is definitely something that gets overlooked. I couldn't believe how fast things went critical . It was a matter of hours to total loss of whole tank. How long will your tank run with the dual battery set up? I am just running a single yellow top optima and the math says it should run 24-36 hours

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

cnason3 said:
It is definitely something that gets overlooked. I couldn't believe how fast things went critical . It was a matter of hours to total loss of whole tank. How long will your tank run with the dual battery set up? I am just running a single yellow top optima and the math says it should run 24-36 hours

Mine will run double that. I have considered wiring the batteries in series doubling voltage, this would allow the pump to run normally for at least 24 hours, however the current set up can go a whole weekend if I'm away.

tomtom2245 · Sep 17, 2016

That's awesome, glad it worked out for you! Would you guys mind posting some more details about how you constructed your backups? I currently don't have any type of automatic backup but do have a generator should things get bad.

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

Mine is very simple.
Two Red top optimal wires in parallel with 8 gauge cables and marine battery terminals with wing nuts.
BatteryMinder 2012 added for automatic charging and maintenance.
I simply just ordered the battery backup cable from Echotech, cut off the battery end and added a terminal to each wire, positive has the fuse on it. Then plugged into the MP60. The controller automatically sense power lose and switches to battery mode/power.

That's it.
Questions

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

tomtom2245 said:
That's awesome, glad it worked out for you! Would you guys mind posting some more details about how you constructed your backups? I currently don't have any type of automatic backup but do have a generator should things get bad.

Sure with my system I used a power inverter with a built in transfer switch you should use one that puts out a pure sine wave or pumps could be damaged. Then this is hooked up to a good deep cycle battery and a power strip to plug in the equipment I want to run when the power goes out. You will also need a good battery tender to keep your battery charged and ready

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

Here is a picture

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

My pump runs directly on the 12vdc, no need for an inverter and no wasted power.

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

Tunze pumps can also be set up very similar to my set up with their own cable. Directly to the battery.

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

bif24701 said:
My pump runs directly on the 12vdc, no need for an inverter and no wasted power.

I wanted to be able to run my heater and ato plus my return pumps are small they only pull 7 watts each. But your right there is power lost using an inverter. On a larger tank I may have gone a different route but at this time I am only running a 20 gallon and wanted things to stay as stable as possible

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

bif24701 said:
Tunze pumps can also be set up very similar to my set up with their own cable. Directly to the battery.

That will be my next purchase. I plan on picking up a tunze nanostream with controller

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

cnason3 said:
That will be my next purchase. I plan on picking up a tunze nanostream with controller

I just ordered a 6105 to add to this 180. Problem is the Tunze battery cable is ~50$! The Vortech battery cable is $1.50, not kidding.

cnason3 · Sep 17, 2016

bif24701 said:
I just ordered a 6105 to add to this 180. Problem is the Tunze battery cable is ~50$! The Vortech battery cable is $1.50, not kidding.

That's crazy. Still comes in a little cheaper at least compared to the mp10 the 6040 is $126.00 and the mp10 is $235.00 so still only be into it for $175.00

bif24701 · Sep 17, 2016

cnason3 said:
That's crazy. Still comes in a little cheaper at least compared to the mp10 the 6040 is $126.00 and the mp10 is $235.00 so still only be into it for $175.00

Oh yea, for sure. If you have an APEX you can get all the control also, like me. Just need to do some programming. I'll be controlling my 6105 via APEX, BRS sale this week 10% off its 100$ less than an MP40, with about the same flow range.