Battery Backup

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KQuillan

KQuillan

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Personally, I ordered the SeeDevil. Then I realized I just spent more on this than I did my regular (gas) generator. LOL.
I want to feel good knowing I have nothing to worry about. My generator can run fridge, tv, etc. Jackery can run modem and SeeDevil can run tank.

Thanks for all the feedback, information and help! Learned a lot.
 

B&CinB.C.

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They are both good in their own ways it just depends what you want.

Maximum runtime - the SeeDevil 1000 or 2000

If you are ok with less runtime but solar panels + more years from the unit itself then get the big blue. I run this one on my reef, 39 hours of run time is good for me, but your equipment is different than mine and might pull more or less power.
Sorry to hijack this thread but you seem quite knowledgeable about UPS's and would appreciate your opinion. We had a cyberpower 850va 510w ups that we had hooked up to the return pump on our im75ext tank . It would only run the return pump for about two hours . We have two tanks so we bought a 1500va 900w cyberpower UPS and two Tunze 6020 flow pumps for power failures . ( We have a Honda generator and just want the UPS's for some flow at night or if we're not home) . The 850va unit works fine , no problems .The 1500va unit the Tunze pump works fine under AC power but barely turns on the battery power . I figured the battery must be
no good so we exchanged the unit but the new one does exactly the same thing . Am I missing something or do you think I'm getting faulty batteries
 

GuppyHJD

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I dont know what you are talking about is a common phrase that can go away. You did.

For 600 use can get 150 aH of virgin lead deep cycle batteries and a few relay switches and have a much more powerful system. Only reason to spend on an all in one is you can not wire a relay.
Are you thinking AGM or lead acid? I don't want to deal with checking electrolyte and topping off water. I lived off grid with 1500ah AGM Lifelines and two 3000w inverters. For my tank I want a simple power solution to keep everything humming for the 10 sec power blips to 4 hr outages. Beyond that, it's time for the generator.
 

CoralNewb

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I just wanted to chime in that LiFePO4 is a a more stable chemistry than Li-ion. It is less like to experience thermal run aways. Personally, I would buy a battery system that uses LiFePo4 if using for backup power, for fire safety reasons. As for the Cyberpower, you can swap out the lead acid batteries inside with a LiFEPo4 battery pack made to adapt to your UPS. That way, you can use the case from your cyberpower, without having to buy a whole new battery system. Should last a good long while as well, and you won't run into the degradation issues that you see with Lead Acids.
 

B&CinB.C.

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I just wanted to chime in that LiFePO4 is a a more stable chemistry than Li-ion. It is less like to experience thermal run aways. Personally, I would buy a battery system that uses LiFePo4 if using for backup power, for fire safety reasons. As for the Cyberpower, you can swap out the lead acid batteries inside with a LiFEPo4 battery pack made to adapt to your UPS. That way, you can use the case from your cyberpower, without having to buy a whole new battery system. Should last a good long while as well, and you won't run into the degradation issues that you see with Lead Acids.
If you're replying to me the 1500va unit is new and I can return it , which I've already done once. I was wondering if it wasn't working for another reason
 

CoralNewb

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If you're replying to me the 1500va unit is new and I can return it , which I've already done once. I was wondering if it wasn't working for another reason
Ah I see. Yeah, those lead acid batteries in the cyber-power really are pretty unreliable. Also, certain converters have a lower operating efficiency if used on lower-power items. For example, the Cyberpower lists plasma screen TVs, computers, etc - those have a higher power draw, which actually translates to higher operating efficiency for the DC-AC converter. It might just be that your two pumps are drawing too little power, which means the converter is wasting a lot of the battery power as heat.
 

CoralNewb

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Ah I see. Yeah, those lead acid batteries in the cyber-power really are pretty unreliable. Also, certain converters have a lower operating efficiency if used on lower-power items. For example, the Cyberpower lists plasma screen TVs, computers, etc - those have a higher power draw, which actually translates to higher operating efficiency for the DC-AC converter. It might just be that your two pumps are drawing too little power, which means the converter is wasting a lot of the battery power as heat.
The two pumps you attached also may not be hitting the required minimum power draw for the UPS to kick on. There might be a certain threshold baked into the design of their 900watt units as they are probably meant to power desktops or low power servers.
 

B&CinB.C.

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Ah I see. Yeah, those lead acid batteries in the cyber-power really are pretty unreliable. Also, certain converters have a lower operating efficiency if used on lower-power items. For example, the Cyberpower lists plasma screen TVs, computers, etc - those have a higher power draw, which actually translates to higher operating efficiency for the DC-AC converter. It might just be that your two pumps are drawing too little power, which means the converter is wasting a lot of the battery power as heat.
They are small pumps , I think 3 watt. The frustrating thing is they work fine on the 850 va unit
 

Kooma

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I have a UPS on the tank for return and heater. For me a 500VA will last a while, but you could run a 1500VA or higher and add runtime. Its also a bonus for your high end gear, they usually clean up the power.

Schneider APC is what I prefer.
 

VintageReefer

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Sorry to hijack this thread but you seem quite knowledgeable about UPS's and would appreciate your opinion. We had a cyberpower 850va 510w ups that we had hooked up to the return pump on our im75ext tank . It would only run the return pump for about two hours . We have two tanks so we bought a 1500va 900w cyberpower UPS and two Tunze 6020 flow pumps for power failures . ( We have a Honda generator and just want the UPS's for some flow at night or if we're not home) . The 850va unit works fine , no problems .The 1500va unit the Tunze pump works fine under AC power but barely turns on the battery power . I figured the battery must be
no good so we exchanged the unit but the new one does exactly the same thing . Am I missing something or do you think I'm getting faulty batteries
The cyberpower 1500va is the model I had a few years back. I had it connected to a eheim 2215 on a freshwater tank. I had one or two minor outages over 4 years, it would say it would last 1-2 hours. These outages lasted 30 min or less.

Then in year 4 I had a prolonged outage. The 1500va predicted 60 min runtime. In reality it lasted 11 min. Useless. The unit was barely used as anything more than an outlet splitter and almost never was actually needed to run off battery, and the battery was now useless. It never was great to begin with but it was good enough for small outages, and now couldn’t be used for anything. That’s when I switched to lithium based power stations with ups vs just a regular ups
 

B&CinB.C.

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I have a UPS on the tank for return and heater. For me a 500VA will last a while, but you could run a 1500VA or higher and add runtime. Its also a bonus for your high end gear, they usually clean up the power.

Schneider APC is what I prefer.
Thanks . The 1500va I have wont run the small tunze wavemakers I have when the power's off
 

B&CinB.C.

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The cyberpower 1500va is the model I had a few years back. I had it connected to a eheim 2215 on a freshwater tank. I had one or two minor outages over 4 years, it would say it would last 1-2 hours. These outages lasted 30 min or less.

Then in year 4 I had a prolonged outage. The 1500va predicted 60 min runtime. In reality it lasted 11 min. Useless. The unit was barely used as anything more than an outlet splitter and almost never was actually needed to run off battery, and the battery was now useless. It never was great to begin with but it was good enough for small outages, and now couldn’t be used for anything. That’s when I switched to lithium based power stations with ups vs just a regular ups
The 850va Cyberpower I have will run my 2650 gpm dc return pump set to 60% for about two hours . I was hoping I could get hours of run time with a small pump in case I wasn't home or at night to allow time to get a generator running . It seems to work fine with the 850 but the 1500 wont run the small pump when there's no AC power
 

B&CinB.C.

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If it makes any difference it is trying to run the pump but it barely turns the propeller . You can actually see the prop turning. I will try adding more load . Thanks again for your help
As a test, put more load on it and then add the pump in and see if it works
 

Malcontent

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The 850va Cyberpower I have will run my 2650 gpm dc return pump set to 60% for about two hours . I was hoping I could get hours of run time with a small pump in case I wasn't home or at night to allow time to get a generator running . It seems to work fine with the 850 but the 1500 wont run the small pump when there's no AC power

Is the 1500VA a pure sine wave model?
 

VintageReefer

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Is the 1500VA a pure sine wave model?
FYI the cyberpower 850 is approx 95 watt hours and the 1500 is 108 watt hours

If you want to calculate a runtime duration you need to know the watt hours

Then the formula is

(Ups watt hours x .85) / watt load of devices

If using the $200 cyberpower 1500 and you have a 25w pump then the duration is
(108 x .85) / 25 = 3.6 hours.

If using the $210 ecoflow river 3 plus
(286 x .85) / 25 = 9.7 hours

If using the $350 big blue cellpowa 600
Which comes with a solar panel for free at this time…
(600 x .85) / 25 = 20.4 hours

The $400 seedevil
(1132 x .85) / 25 = 38 hours

The $600 SeeDevil
(2131 x .85) / 25 = 72 hours

You can pick what you need and can afford but there’s is no reason to pick the cyberpower over the ecoflow river 3 plus for only 10$ more
 

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