UPS backup power

[untamed]

Originally Posted by Chin_Lee

they provide electricity via batteries in the event of a power outage. Depending on the size of battery and power load will determine how long these devices will provide electricity. Most people keep one or two powerheads running just to keep the circulation.

I'm laughing...OK, maybe I exagerrated just a bit when I said that I knew very little about UPS. This much..., I did know.

I was hoping someone with some electrical background and experience with UPS's could confirm that this is an appropriate unit for our uses. I've heard some about the different types of power delivered being hard on pumps. If you look at the apcc website, they make many, many models...most of which were designed to power computers, not pumps.

[DiscusZ]

Thats the same one I have right now (not on my tank though) its on my file server in the basement. bought it usedd as well..

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by untamed

I was hoping someone with some electrical background and experience with UPS's could confirm that this is an appropriate unit for our uses. I've heard some about the different types of power delivered being hard on pumps. If you look at the apcc website, they make many, many models...most of which were designed to power computers, not pumps.

Hmm, I do know a little bit about UPS systems and that sounds a little strange to me. There are 4 basic parts in a regular UPS, a battery, a charger for the battery, a relay and inverter that modifies the DC power from the battery back to 120v. When the power is interrupted to the system the relay trips and power is drawn from the battery via the inverter. Basically the power provided by the UPS is the same as it is coming out of the wall. You can build one of these with a car battery for under $100.

A continuous UPS is a better unit and if I'm not mistaken these units are continuous. In this case the power coming into the unit is run though a transformer and to the batteries then through the inverter and to whatever you are running off the UPS. There are 2 advantages to this, there is no millisecond drop when the unit switches to battery in the case of an interruption and because the batteries need very "clean" power the transformer must provide an almost perfect wave and constant voltage. You won't get any of the little dips and spikes out of a good UPS that you get from mains power, I can't see that being bad for a pump.

Unless there is something I don't understand about pump motors I don't see where any damage could result.

[jgoldsney]

some inverters don't put out a true sine wave AC signal. This can cause issues with some electronic equipment. I have some portable flash units for my camera and I looked in to running these off of an inverter but I would have had to purchase a more expensive inverter to avoid equipment dammage.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by jgoldsney

some inverters don't put out a true sine wave AC signal. This can cause issues with some electronic equipment. I have some portable flash units for my camera and I looked in to running these off of an inverter but I would have had to purchase a more expensive inverter to avoid equipment dammage.

This is true but the units in question are do put out a true sine wave.

[Kronk]

Fortunately i left my Oscilloscope back in University but on the spec sheet you will see several references to its sine wave characteristics and quality of output

output voltage distortion = < 5% full load
crest factor = up to 5:1

one often overlooked feature of a UPS is its ability to sheild equipment from surges not sure how that relates to aquarium equipment but why not protect it its worth more than most compys

Now for an update i was only able to get 4... 4... only 4... and one of them is a 1250model i was ****ed the dude told me he would hold them for me but what can you do anyways i can get a ton of POWERWARE PRESTIGE model UPS's. They are a quality brand name but i cant find the spec sheet for them yet. They were used for the same purpose as the APCs and the voltages are the same however there are 6 batteries in them rather than 2 like the APC dont know how that will affect the pricing. I am waiting for a call from a distributor about the batteries. Next week i will really get on there case as i am out of pocket on these 4 as it is...

Man with those last few posts this is turning into a tech forumn not a reef forum shall we discuss Light Emitting Diodes too, i just found a wicked easy circuit to wire up moonlights to 120VAC.

Cheers,
Ken

[Redrover]

This is a friend of Marc...Ron's the name from Abbotsford
For sure I'll take One
Contact at caus@shaw.ca

[SuperFudge]

Originally Posted by Kronk

Now for an update i was only able to get 4... 4... only 4...

Ken

looks like about 4 were forsures....

Marc.

[Squiddy]

I just put new batteries in a UPS that is rated for 240Watts and tried running my Seio powerhead off of it today (with all of the snow) and had issues. As soon as the UPS went from line power to battery power, I could hear the rotor clanking around so I immediately turned it off. I can't remember but I think I have tried running my recirc pump on a UPS before and had trouble.

I'll have to play around with it because I'd love to have the tank backed up.

EDIT:

We have tried a UPS on both Fluvals and Eheims and discovered the Eheim coped well but the Fluval wouldn’t keep going. Something to do with the motor design and the fact that the power from the UPS is not an exact replica of true mains voltage, which is a sinewave shape.

This quote is from http://www.fnzas.org.nz/articles/technical/ups/. Looks like other people have tried this and had trouble. I have also read that AC motors run hotter with modified sine waves. Not sure how good this would be for the pumps...

Then again, you hear of lots of people using generators to power aquarium equipment during power outages. Generators create the same kind of modified sine wave that inverters do. I guess I need someone that uses a UPS for this purpose to come out and settle this.

I just plugged the minijet 606 in my girlfriend's 6 gal nano into my UPS and it is working fine running on battery power... mind you it is only 6 watts.

[untamed]

That's exactly the kind of thing that I was originally concerned about.