Possible back up power solution?

[Rob13]

Hi everyone,

I have gotten to the stage where I am ready to add livestock to my tank however, I would like to ensure that I have some back up power for approximately 4 hours before I add any livestock. Thankfully the area where I stay is not hit by load shedding too often (touch wood) but I do still need some sort of back up.

First and foremost, electrical/technical knowledge is not my field at all so please excuse my ignorance.

The tank is 1200mm x 600mm x 500mm. I am wanting to be able to run my return pump and my two flow pumps. This works out to approximately 120W to run all three.

I have been quoted on the following unit:
"A SSPRO 1100L with 2 x 12V12Ah batteries. This unit will deliver a pure sine wave 230VAC 800W for a minimum of 30 minutes".

Has any one ever heard of or used one of these? Am I being silly and missing some other obvious solution? Being a student, I do not have a massive budget but will do what I can to ensure the tank gets the best that I can afford.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Bendor]

You should try and get a deep cycle 12V, 105 amp hour battery and an inverter that produces a pure sine wave, that starts automatically when the power stops and charges the battery when the power is on.

I bought my battery from Mr Battery or similar and the inverter from Matrixwarehouse. They had a special about a year ago.

 

[LCornelius]

Are you sure on the 12amp batteries?

They will not work, you will at least need 105amp batteries.

If I may ask, how much did they qoute?

 

[Rob13]

I bought my battery from Mr Battery or similar and the inverter from Matrixwarehouse.

@Bendor do you have any vague price estimate for this?

Are you sure on the 12amp batteries

Quote definitely says 12 amps yes... Not knowing enough about these sorts of things I know I am opening myself up to be taken for a ride by retailers that's why I thought that I should check with more knowledgeable people.

The quote I received was for R6500...

 

[Bendor]

Battery around R1400 and inverter R180. Best price for an inverter by more than a R1000 at the time. Don't know if matrix made a mistake with the special.

First inverter/charger from ACDC cost R1800 and gave nothing but problems. Really poor after service as well. Eventually gave it away.

 

[Bendor]

That price is ridiculous.

Why do you want to run your return? What's in the sump that needs flow? If no DSB you could run 1 flow pump aimed slightly up to agitate the surface for oxygen exchange and flow and also an air stone if you have a bio cube bom. One 105ah deep cycle battery should last you a whole day.

 

[Bendor]

@dallasg has his fingers in some inverter pie I think. Maybe he can help.

 

[Toolboysa]

As I understand it. You need your total W to choose the inverter so I your case 120w but you need to double that number for startup load. So min W inverter should be 240w. So I think 800w inverter is abit overkill. Deep cycle batteries are rated over 20hrs. So if your equipment is pulling 5.25A it will take 20hrs to drain the 105amp/h battery

Ive got the 1200w ellies inverter 24v system. So needs 2 batteries just to work. Its got 2x 105amp/h batterries. I run my dc return pump and my tv and rasperry pi very easily through load shedding

 

[Andre@ReefAquatics]

Simple way is to work out your watthours. So for e.g you have a 300w heater that will be on during 2.5 hours load shedding(hypothetical speaking). Your whours are 750wh. Then if you use 12v battery 62.5ah with battery inefficiency 1.5 =93ah So using 1 x 105ah battery should be fine.

We are waiting for about 10 awesome on grid invertors soon. From 1000w to 2500w. We have selected the full function pure sine wave auto change over and charger included. Looking forward to that.

 

[Quintus]

I would suggest you guys refrain from the pathetic 105ah 3 year lifespan of the deltec or royal batteries, instead opt for the sealed lead acid solar DEEP CYCLE BATTERY 10 YEARS DESIGN LIFE, these go for literally 2% more in price than the deltec of royal batteries.

 

[Dexter]

I bought a 105ah battery and inverter from communica.co.za. for half the price you were quoted two weeks back. Very simple to use. Send me pm if you would like more info.

 

[Andre@ReefAquatics]

sealed lead acid solar DEEP CYCLE BATTERY 10 YEARS DESIGN LIFE

where do you suggest the best place to buy these ?

 

[Toolboysa]

I find these guys prices are quite reasonable Solar Batteries for Sale in South Africa | Info Prices - Sustainable.co.za

 

[Toolboysa]

On the left side you can specify the type of battery

 

[Quintus]

where do you suggest the best place to buy these ?

RA12-100AD - BAT SLA 12V 100A 328x172x222

 

[Nemos Janitor]

I would suggest you guys refrain from the pathetic 105ah 3 year lifespan of the deltec or royal batteries, instead opt for the sealed lead acid solar DEEP CYCLE BATTERY 10 YEARS DESIGN LIFE, these go for literally 2% more in price than the deltec of royal batteries.

Will one have to change the UPS? or will the ones that charge to deltec be OK.

I am close to replacing my 5 deltec and will look at this option if i don't have to change the UPS.

 

[Nemos Janitor]

Whilst we are on batteries. Can one get the Deltec batteries reconditioned? If so, is to worth it?

 

[Toolboysa]

Whilst we are on batteries. Can one get the Deltec batteries reconditioned? If so, is to worth it?

Not sure. You will have to phone one of those battery repackers

 

[Rob13]

Why do you want to run your return? What's in the sump that needs flow?

I've got bio cubes in the sump that are attached to the overflow pipe (actually gives me more flow this way than with an airstone) as well as about 3L of matrix... Wanted to run the return to ensure that bacteria stays alive and kicking as well as to provide additional flow (water displacement).

We are waiting for about 10 awesome on grid invertors soon

Do you have any idea of when this would be?

So for e.g you have a 300w heater

On this example, is it suggested that I try and buy a big enough UPS/inverter to be able to run a heater? I was told to focus on flow and that heaters do not really do well on UPSs?

Thanks so much for all the replies... I do have to be honest that trying to read up on this hasn't helped me too much, I feel very much out of my depth... I know there is no such thing as a quick plug and play option but it seems that the quote I did receive will not be very helpful and that I should try some of the options suggested on this thread...

 

[rhox]

Tagging along. This seems to be the way to go.