Powerheads with battery backup

[Pntbll687]

Hey everyone,

We had a power outage for just about 24hrs, from Thursday 730pm to Friday 5pm. Everything worked out fine, all my livestock survived. I ended up at Walmart buying some car batteries and inverters to run while I had to go to work (I have a gas generator but want comfortable leaving a for open all day to run the cord inside while no one was home).

I need some help setting up some powerhead with an automatic battery backup. What options are out there? Here's the kicker, I can't use mp powerhead from ecotech because the tank is so close to the wall they won't fit. It is a peninsula tank so I would prefer to have the pump on the side by the wall, see pic below. The only other option I'm open to is a gyre on the open end, but the power cord would need to run across the top of the tank and down by the wall.

I was actually looking at the Nero 5 but couldn't find if it is compatible with any available battery backup.

 

[AZMSGT]

You can't use Ecotech... Bummer... Unless you go with a computer style battery back up with a powerhead plugged into it. there are no others at this time. My understanding is the Icecap battery back up has been discontinued. Speculation is a new version is coming. The Icecap was designed to work with the Maxspec Gyres.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Get an APC “Back-UPS” and plug whatever you want into it. Won’t last 24h but will get you through smaller outages. You can also get battery powered air pumps which can automatically switch on when power goes out.

 

[Quietman]

You can really use any pump and battery backup as long as you understand the limitations and design. The computer backups in my opinion aren't really an option as they do not last anywhere near long enough to be effective. The smaller outages really don't need flow and they won't last for the longer outages when you do. (They are excellent for allowing your computer systems to gradually shut down and keep your internet devices running).

There are many DIY battery backup designs and OTS backups. Look at the "off the grid" type forums and videos. I'm very partial to the some of the "ammo box" backups with Li batteries but then I went and bought a MP-10 so removed the need for a DIY project.

But if you have a generator and inverter now, I would think you could easily get the information (from electricians) on setting up a robust backup system with a few more components.

 

[BrandonS]

If you already have the car batteries and inverter you can always make a nice container for them and add a trickle charger. When powers on batteries will always be topped off. When power off batteries take over. Basically what any off the shelf battery backup will do.

Or if you want to bypass the inverter in efficiency then get a battery pack or make one that is same DC voltage as what you want to run. The bypass the power brick and tie straight to the battery, add a trickle charger. That would save you on the power loss of converting from dc to ac. Which is why you don't get the best duration from a UPS.

 

[Pntbll687]

If you already have the car batteries and inverter you can always make a nice container for them and add a trickle charger. When powers on batteries will always be topped off. When power off batteries take over. Basically what any off the shelf battery backup will do.

Or if you want to bypass the inverter in efficiency then get a battery pack or make one that is same DC voltage as what you want to run. The bypass the power brick and tie straight to the battery, add a trickle charger. That would save you on the power loss of converting from dc to ac. Which is why you don't get the best duration from a UPS.

Funny thing is. I bought a trickle charger as well!

I'll be looking this up to make sure I have it set up correctly. I'm only going to run a single powerhead off of the battery during outages.

 

[BrandonS]

If you run it in line then it will just run off the inverter all the time. That way kicks in automatically during an outage.

 

[Gareth elliott]

Tunze pumps have the option to run on a tunze inverter, where you pick your own battery, like a car battery.

 

[Brian_68]

I use a battery backup air pump by cobalt, works great for a 125 to give enough air exchange. A bit noisy though. Just used it for a 12 hour outage and kicks in automatically.

https://www.marinedepot.com/usb-powered-dc-air-pump-single-port-cobalt-aquatics

 

[Sshannon]

I use a battery backup air pump by cobalt, works great for a 125 to give enough air exchange. A bit noisy though. Just used it for a 12 hour outage and kicks in automatically.

https://www.marinedepot.com/usb-powered-dc-air-pump-single-port-cobalt-aquatics

I like this model, however, it won't stop pumping air after an outage, even if the power comes back on. You have to manually turn it off again.

 

[Brian_68]

I like this model, however, it won't stop pumping air after an outage, even if the power comes back on. You have to manually turn it off again.

Yep, mine as well but minor inconvenience for me, and not an issue if it runs for days after the outage.