What are some suggetions for battery back up for power outages?

infinite0180

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Yes I have the 12VDC out always plugged to the vortech aux power, so the MP10 doesn't stop in case of power outage, based on my calculations it should last about 48 hours.
Did you need to make a wire so it fit the vortech controller? Do you leave the charger connect all the time as well?
 

Difrano

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Did you need to make a wire so it fit the vortech controller? Do you leave the charger connect all the time as well?

It comes with 2 cables, but the tip on the vortech side is to big so I replaced it. I only plug the charger when I am travelling for work.
 

cjgibson

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I have a Ecotech battery backup im selling currently if you have the ecotech vortec pumps
 

cjgibson

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Have you happened to use the battery backup to run one of the ecotech pumps. I am curious what the runtime is for them. Specifically the M2.

Honestly i haven't. It gets tested for about 5 minutes every 6 months during my tank clean. I haven't actually let it totally run my tank and tested that.
 

Rudzbrewski

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Honestly i haven't. It gets tested for about 5 minutes every 6 months during my tank clean. I haven't actually let it totally run my tank and tested that.
I would only be using it to power a single M2 to keep the water oxygenated and circulating in a power outage until I could fire up my generator. I originally thought they were only for the powerheads, so it was a pleasant surprise when I found out it would power the M2 and potentially alleviate my need for a UPS that appear to be less efficient based on BRS investigates segments.
 

Greybeard

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Another vote for the Tunze safety connector. My Tunze 6040 will run for over 24 hours on a SLA battery that I picked up from Amazon. Got a cheap trickle charger, plugged into my Apex, so that the battery is charged for 3 hours once a week... keep it fresh.

A very inexpensive, effective, and customizable solution.

Outages longer than a day? I'd have my generator up and running by then.
 

blstravler

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In NJ we were with out power for 6 days last week. While I agree small generators are a good idea - you really have to keep up with their maintenance - including starting them monthly to ensure they work and actually being home to start them. Also remember that most gas stations don’t have back up generators to pump gas so make sure you have some on hand. It amazes me how many people I’ve seen posting in NJ and the surrounding area that lost everything this past week. Spending 5-10k + on tanks and livestock and it’s all gone. After Sandy we put in this and it’s been a life saver. Not sure I’ve ever seen a build thread that included A back up power plan. Don’t care what it is everyone should be prepared for an extended outage for your reef - not just a couple hours.
 

BackToTheReef

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Tesla PowerWall. If you just power the reef and not the rest of your house, your significant other will kill you :)
Curious if anyone has solar to help offset some of the costs of running a tank and tie it in for back up. One of my goals is to set up a self consuming system with solar/wind much like the power wall. With any luck it just offsets the cost of running the tank and acts as a back up for at least a little while.
 

Back where it all began

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In NJ we were with out power for 6 days last week. While I agree small generators are a good idea - you really have to keep up with their maintenance - including starting them monthly to ensure they work and actually being home to start them. Also remember that most gas stations don’t have back up generators to pump gas so make sure you have some on hand. It amazes me how many people I’ve seen posting in NJ and the surrounding area that lost everything this past week. Spending 5-10k + on tanks and livestock and it’s all gone. After Sandy we put in this and it’s been a life saver. Not sure I’ve ever seen a build thread that included A back up power plan. Don’t care what it is everyone should be prepared for an extended outage for your reef - not just a couple hours.
Yea, it still sucks here in New York, 10 days after the storm.
 

Ionclad

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I use the ice-cap and it is good for about 36 hours to keep tank circulating.
 

bonefish

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Lost power for 45h from a storm this week. Ecotech backup on MP10 ran seamlessly. Power indicator just beginning to creep down from 100% when power came back on. Best $150 I spent for tank 2.5 years ago.
 

mfollen

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Any advice or links out there for tutorials on auto transfer switch setup to provide more options to reefers?
 

walloutlet

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I use cyberpower 1500 pure sine UPS. Only have my vortech connected. When there is an outage. I get a good 2+ hours. Also have pure sine generator honda 2000i for chiller and heaters. A good alternative would a solar generator or a cheap sealed lead acid or some kind of 12v battery with a pure sine wave inverter

I have the exact same setup! Agree works great, when I’m home to deal with the outage. Luckily I work from home! :)
 

Blue Spot Octopus

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blstravler, I take it that it is natural gas burn, do you have a natural gas stove? If you are running the generator and turn on the gas stove one burner at a time, does the flame diminishe at all?
 

JFJ

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Curious if anyone has solar to help offset some of the costs of running a tank and tie it in for back up. One of my goals is to set up a self consuming system with solar/wind much like the power wall. With any luck it just offsets the cost of running the tank and acts as a back up for at least a little while.

I installed a solar system consisting of 18 x 365 watt solar panels connected to 2 x 5 kw inverters with 2 x 4 kw batteries. I do stay in South Africa and we experience an insane amount of what the power utility calls "Load Shedding" where they cut your power between 2 hours 30 min up to 10 hours every day to protect the grid from overloading due to their inability to continuously supply enough power (Discussion for another day).

The cost of the system, in $, was around $7500. I did not do the instillation with a reef-tank in mind but rather to get rid of the inconvenience of the load shedding.

The stability of my power, after the installation, allowed me to enter the hobby. The batteries only gets charged by sunlight during the day via the panels that also supply 100% of my homes consumption during sunlight hours, including the water heating system. I still use power from the grid during non sunlight hours to spare some capacity on the batteries to use during load shedding at night or cloudy day's, that is few and far between in South Africa.

The system works well and I have never been out of power and just smile when I hear the generators starting up, from the neighbors, every time load shedding is initiated.

Converting your home's electricity supply partly to solar or any other renewable energy source may save you money on your monthly bill but I am not convinced it will result in savings in the long term taking the initial cost and replacement cost of the batteries into account when it becomes due. It is however worth every penny knowing that you will not run out of power when you are on a business trip or vacation etc.
 

Dburr1014

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In NJ we were with out power for 6 days last week. While I agree small generators are a good idea - you really have to keep up with their maintenance - including starting them monthly to ensure they work and actually being home to start them. Also remember that most gas stations don’t have back up generators to pump gas so make sure you have some on hand. It amazes me how many people I’ve seen posting in NJ and the surrounding area that lost everything this past week. Spending 5-10k + on tanks and livestock and it’s all gone. After Sandy we put in this and it’s been a life saver. Not sure I’ve ever seen a build thread that included A back up power plan. Don’t care what it is everyone should be prepared for an extended outage for your reef - not just a couple hours.
This option would be great if you had natural gas or propane plumbed into your house. If you Rely on a tank, good luck trying to fill it up if the phone lines are out or roads are blocked as they were last week. ATT towers were down in my area so people couldn't call to order gas and most houses in rural areas are not plumbed with gas.
I rely on my gas generator. True, if power is out gas stations can't pump. I can just drive a little farther until one is open. (and hope they have gas)
I didn't run mine 24/7. I am understocked in fish and went 7 hours every night and while I was at work with no power. I ran only a total of 11 hours daily and had no losses. I own a 7500 generator and it will run "most" things in my house. I run it every 6 months to make sure it all works and change the oil.
 

ichthyoid

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In NJ we were with out power for 6 days last week. While I agree small generators are a good idea - you really have to keep up with their maintenance - including starting them monthly to ensure they work and actually being home to start them. Also remember that most gas stations don’t have back up generators to pump gas so make sure you have some on hand. It amazes me how many people I’ve seen posting in NJ and the surrounding area that lost everything this past week. Spending 5-10k + on tanks and livestock and it’s all gone. After Sandy we put in this and it’s been a life saver. Not sure I’ve ever seen a build thread that included A back up power plan. Don’t care what it is everyone should be prepared for an extended outage for your reef - not just a couple hours.

So, how many hours will this run between oil changes?
 
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