DBR_Reef
Active Member
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I’m going to be showing you how to make a battery backup with a group 24 deep cycle marine battery, which cost roughly $80, and are rated at 75 ah. You might be asking yourself why such a large battery, when the standard 18AH battery can last 20 hours on a MP60, 36 on a MP40, and 72 hours on a mp10. A 75ah battery backup could power a single mp10 for 300 hours, or roughly 2 weeks, which is ridiculous. But if you have 2 mp60’s, a 18AH battery backup might not be enough, giving you less than 10 hours, and if you are running a Vectra pump off the backup, it probably won’t be enough. I have no experience, but it looks like a M1 might be expected to run around 2 hours at full power and a L1 around 1.5 hours, but 8 hours on this battery-- so this size battery definitely has it’s uses. But if you just want a cheap alternative to the ecotech battery backup to run a few smaller powerheads, I’ll show you how to do that as well for $60 or less
The ecotech battery backup consists of a battery, a float charger, and a few wires- so that is all we have to replicate
So for the battery:
I’ve got 2 options here a 75AH battery for around $80 which is what I’m going to be working with today, or 18AH battery for about $30, which is what ecotech uses, but you can choose any 12v sealed lead acid battery
https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP12180-Rechargeable-Battery-Bolts/dp/B00A82A3RK
We also need a box
You can buy battery boxes for $5-15. What I have here is a group 24 box that fits the big battery, but they also sell a size that will fit a 18 amp battery, or you could probably go to Walmart and find a snapware container to mount your battery in. Or, if you wait until we get to the charger part, I’ll give you another idea.
Group 25 box
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-HM300BKS-Snap-Top-Automotive-Batteries/dp/B004W5SFYW/
18 ah battery box
https://www.amazon.com/Attwood-Corporation-9082-1-Small-Battery/dp/B0000B12YQ/
or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004171MOQ/
Next we need to charge our battery
We can use float charger just like ecotech does, and these are about $12
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01822CSA2/
Or you can use an old UPS, which has the added benefit of providing a limited amount of 120v AC power- Just make sure you don’t plug anything in to the battery backup that is not critical or draws too much power- definitely not heaters- maybe a 50-100w heater if you have a nano tank and heat is very important. This one could probably run a 100w heater for 5 or more hours. Also, depending on the ups you choose, they can test the battery periodically, and some can even email you when you need to replace the battery or when you lose power. Ecotechs battery backup certainly doesn’t do that.
You can connect the UPS to a much larger battery, like I’ve done here, and this is what I run my modem, router and tunze powerheads off of. Or you can use the intended battery size for the UPS, but in order to match the power capacity of the ecotech it will have to be a larger UPS, like this one. The problem with many of the larger UPS is that they run on 2 12v batteries in series, so they are actually running 24v, which we can’t use. Unless you are running 2 identical powerheads, then you can run 1 off each battery. But you can’t draw the power down unevenly by say running only a mp40 off one battery. Otherwise when the UPS goes to recharge the batteries one will be dead and one will be fully charged, and you’ll damage the battery. You can find larger UPS that run off a single 12v battery, they are typically the older ones, so ebay will be your friend. But smaller UPSs that run a single 12v battery usually around 8ah are very common, and is what I’ll be demonstrating with- specifically this one, which is ugly and was going in the garbage anyway. By using the same size battery, we are going to be using the existing case, so no battery box is needed
Next we are going to need the connecting wires and plugs
Panel/Chassis Mount Female DC Power Connector 2.1mm X 5.5mm + Waterproof Cap
Panel/Chassis Mount Female DC Power Connector 1.35mm X 3.5mm + Waterproof Cap
5pair 12V 5.5x2.1mm Male + Female DC Power Socket Jack Connector Cable Plug Wire
Ecotech connecting wires with inline fuse
https://store2.ecotechmarine.com/co...p/products/fused-vortech-battery-backup-cable
or 12v to 36v booster
https://store2.ecotechmarine.com/collections/battery-backup/products/vectra-battery-backup-booster
Those are the parts you need. You’ll also need a few tools:
A drill and drill bit, a soldering iron and solder, wire strippers, electrical connectors, electrical tape/paste/heatshrink and some scrap wire- you can use an old power cord. And a multimeter is helpful.
Assembly: refer to video for these steps, but here is the short version.
If using a float charger, lop off the existing connectors and replace with a dc plug. Install the panel mount dc plugs in your battery box or UPS. Make battery leads using either spade connectors or terminal rings, depending on the battery. Solder or otherwise connect all positive connections within your box or UPS. Connect up your battery, float charger, and powerheads. That’s it!
I’m going to be showing you how to make a battery backup with a group 24 deep cycle marine battery, which cost roughly $80, and are rated at 75 ah. You might be asking yourself why such a large battery, when the standard 18AH battery can last 20 hours on a MP60, 36 on a MP40, and 72 hours on a mp10. A 75ah battery backup could power a single mp10 for 300 hours, or roughly 2 weeks, which is ridiculous. But if you have 2 mp60’s, a 18AH battery backup might not be enough, giving you less than 10 hours, and if you are running a Vectra pump off the backup, it probably won’t be enough. I have no experience, but it looks like a M1 might be expected to run around 2 hours at full power and a L1 around 1.5 hours, but 8 hours on this battery-- so this size battery definitely has it’s uses. But if you just want a cheap alternative to the ecotech battery backup to run a few smaller powerheads, I’ll show you how to do that as well for $60 or less
The ecotech battery backup consists of a battery, a float charger, and a few wires- so that is all we have to replicate
So for the battery:
I’ve got 2 options here a 75AH battery for around $80 which is what I’m going to be working with today, or 18AH battery for about $30, which is what ecotech uses, but you can choose any 12v sealed lead acid battery
https://www.amazon.com/ExpertPower-EXP12180-Rechargeable-Battery-Bolts/dp/B00A82A3RK
We also need a box
You can buy battery boxes for $5-15. What I have here is a group 24 box that fits the big battery, but they also sell a size that will fit a 18 amp battery, or you could probably go to Walmart and find a snapware container to mount your battery in. Or, if you wait until we get to the charger part, I’ll give you another idea.
Group 25 box
https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-HM300BKS-Snap-Top-Automotive-Batteries/dp/B004W5SFYW/
18 ah battery box
https://www.amazon.com/Attwood-Corporation-9082-1-Small-Battery/dp/B0000B12YQ/
or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004171MOQ/
Next we need to charge our battery
We can use float charger just like ecotech does, and these are about $12
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01822CSA2/
Or you can use an old UPS, which has the added benefit of providing a limited amount of 120v AC power- Just make sure you don’t plug anything in to the battery backup that is not critical or draws too much power- definitely not heaters- maybe a 50-100w heater if you have a nano tank and heat is very important. This one could probably run a 100w heater for 5 or more hours. Also, depending on the ups you choose, they can test the battery periodically, and some can even email you when you need to replace the battery or when you lose power. Ecotechs battery backup certainly doesn’t do that.
You can connect the UPS to a much larger battery, like I’ve done here, and this is what I run my modem, router and tunze powerheads off of. Or you can use the intended battery size for the UPS, but in order to match the power capacity of the ecotech it will have to be a larger UPS, like this one. The problem with many of the larger UPS is that they run on 2 12v batteries in series, so they are actually running 24v, which we can’t use. Unless you are running 2 identical powerheads, then you can run 1 off each battery. But you can’t draw the power down unevenly by say running only a mp40 off one battery. Otherwise when the UPS goes to recharge the batteries one will be dead and one will be fully charged, and you’ll damage the battery. You can find larger UPS that run off a single 12v battery, they are typically the older ones, so ebay will be your friend. But smaller UPSs that run a single 12v battery usually around 8ah are very common, and is what I’ll be demonstrating with- specifically this one, which is ugly and was going in the garbage anyway. By using the same size battery, we are going to be using the existing case, so no battery box is needed
Next we are going to need the connecting wires and plugs
Panel/Chassis Mount Female DC Power Connector 2.1mm X 5.5mm + Waterproof Cap
Panel/Chassis Mount Female DC Power Connector 1.35mm X 3.5mm + Waterproof Cap
5pair 12V 5.5x2.1mm Male + Female DC Power Socket Jack Connector Cable Plug Wire
Ecotech connecting wires with inline fuse
https://store2.ecotechmarine.com/co...p/products/fused-vortech-battery-backup-cable
or 12v to 36v booster
https://store2.ecotechmarine.com/collections/battery-backup/products/vectra-battery-backup-booster
Those are the parts you need. You’ll also need a few tools:
A drill and drill bit, a soldering iron and solder, wire strippers, electrical connectors, electrical tape/paste/heatshrink and some scrap wire- you can use an old power cord. And a multimeter is helpful.
Assembly: refer to video for these steps, but here is the short version.
If using a float charger, lop off the existing connectors and replace with a dc plug. Install the panel mount dc plugs in your battery box or UPS. Make battery leads using either spade connectors or terminal rings, depending on the battery. Solder or otherwise connect all positive connections within your box or UPS. Connect up your battery, float charger, and powerheads. That’s it!
