Used Batteries.

[vertigo01]

I have 2 used batteries that came out of a child's Gator 4x4.
As the batteries are good ( the Gator didn't make it ) could I use them as a battery back up of some kind or should I just recycle them?

My hope is that seeing as they are made to discharge at a slower rate over a longer time period that they would be good for a back up of some sort?
Any DIY plans for a reef battery back up? Post em if you got em.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

solar panel charger and switcher. Its genius.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Maybe for the lights... any lights ))) Or Like DC Power Supply!!! )))

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

If it was a power wheels car, you probably have sealed lead acid batteries. Even though they are not branded as deep cycle batteries, they get used in that type of service with the children's cars.

If you wanted to get fancy, you could tie them to. an inverter, buy yourself a 120vac relay and make your own UPS

 

[vertigo01]

If it was a power wheels car, you probably have sealed lead acid batteries. Even though they are not branded as deep cycle batteries, they get used in that type of service with the children's cars.

If you wanted to get fancy, you could tie them to. an inverter, buy yourself a 120vac relay and make your own UPS

Thats what they were used in.
The only legible info that I can find on them is, HGL 12-12, 12V12AH.

As I am jo electrician, what could I run with these.
My Return pump will be a DC of some sort.
I also have a Gyre150 for flow.
Lighting will be 3, Radion XR30 Gen 3's.

 

[erictorres0311]

Tagging along I have one of my sons battery I could use as well lol

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

ugh. multiple post. my bad

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

You won't be able to run all of those things. 12Ah is not a lot of energy. My Jebao dct-6000 return pumps uses 50W, so a 12Ah battery could run the pump at full speed for just under 3 hours. However, battery performance is imperfect and you would get less run time.

The nice thing about the DC pumps is that you can slow them down to increase run time. However, those gains would be partially offset by the need for an inverter to convert the DC to AC to run the control unit.

If it were me, I would focus on a setup that keeps pumps and an air pump running in the event of a power outage.

 

[vertigo01]

Thanks all signs.
My intent was to contrive a way to use them to power an airstone and a small powerhead as a safety precaution in the event of a power outage.
I figure I can run them in paralell to increase my usage time and AH.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

You can also get a small trickle charger to keep the battery topped off in between outages.


If you wanted to get fancy, you could wire in a relay that automatically switch the battery on when the power goes out.

 

[cope413]

You won't be able to run all of those things. 12Ah is not a lot of energy. My Jebao dct-6000 return pumps uses 50W, so a 12Ah battery could run the pump at full speed for just under 3 hours. However, battery performance is imperfect and you would get less run time.

The nice thing about the DC pumps is that you can slow them down to increase run time. However, those gains would be partially offset by the need for an inverter to convert the DC to AC to run the control unit.

If it were me, I would focus on a setup that keeps pumps and an air pump running in the event of a power outage.

That's not quite right.

Your pump is taking AC, and converting it to DC. The draw on the system is 50w/110-120v - or .416amps

If you have an inverter (takes DC and converts it to AC), then a 12ah battery could power that pump for ~28 hours (ideal - 20-24 is probable)

The issue is that cheap inverters don't put out a true sine wave. It's modified, and modified sine waves can put a strain on electronics if used for extended periods of time.

I have 8 12v-18ah AGM lead acid batteries (very high quality) hooked up in parallel and connected to one of these.
It's an inverter and UPS, so it senses when it loses AC power and kicks on the batteries. It also charges the batteries when on AC power.

That gives me 144ah. My system's full draw is around 4 amps when the heater isn't on, and 6-7 when it kicks on. That would give me 36+ hours of battery backup if I ran everything.

I only have my return pump, wave makers, heater, and dosers hooked up to the battery backup, so I have 3+ days of battery power in the event of an outage.

If those batteries are in decent condition and haven't been cycled a ton, they can definitely be used to cobble together a battery backup system that would give you a good amount of run time in a power outage.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I'm sorry, but that's not correct. Watts are watts. A 60W load will draw 0.5A @ 120VAC, but the same load will draw 5A @ 12VDC. There are a couple of assumptions at play here, but they only serve to muddy the water.

If the device is a DC device with a power supply (i.e., wall wart) of some sort and has a load of 60W (like a Jebao DC pump with a speed controller), the 120VAC outlet will see a draw probably a little higher than 0.5A due to AC/DC conversion inefficiencies. Assuming the power supply provides exactly 60W power @ exactly 12VDC, then the current provided to the load will be 5A DC.

Now, if this same AC device (with a DC power supply) is powered from a battery with an inverter, the 12VDC battery will indeed see more than 5A current draw due to transmission losses and power conversion inefficiencies. A 12Ah, 12V battery would theoretically last around 2.4 hours. Now the truth is that the battery is imperfect and does not deliver a constant 12VDC during the entire discharge cycle, and the battery also does not fully discharge all of the stored energy before the voltage falls below some useable limit, so true run time on the battery is probably less than 2 hours. The inverter is also not perfect and has inherent inefficiencies as well.

The point is that the minimum amperage draw from a battery can be estimated by taking the device wattage and dividing by 12VDC. True current draw is higher, but this is a quick way to estimate. Taking the battery capacity in Ah and dividing by the amperage will yield the maximum theoretical run time in hours. Actual run time can be considerably less, depending on the specific set up and current draw.