# battery backup / UPS



## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

anyone here using a battery backup / UPS for their filters? i just ordered one and was wondering if i should keep it or send it back. 
i know it is a little overkill lol


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## randy (Jan 29, 2012)

I had a power issue about 3 months ago, air pump, filters, everything was off for about 6 hrs, other than a few shrimps berried right after nothing bad happened. I guess UPS doesn't hurt, I probably won't get one myself but that's just me (cheap).


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

I had a few kicking around (usually I use them for backing up computers so that they can be safely shut down, etc), so I have one hooked up to my filter.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

good to know that im not the only crazy person to do this then. lol
i cant wait for mine to arrive.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

you are not until you got proper size. I found that Watts advertised on these things are BS.
I have 7APC Back-UPS ES 750VA and it just capable to support 10W Power head for just 1.5 hour.

but it is advertised as 450W

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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Also, I know this may be a given, but always have your UPS plugged in. I don't know about new ones, but typically they use lead-acid batteries where their charge capacity is permanently affected when you don't keep it charged.

I don't have one for my tanks, but I have it for my comp. It's saved me a couple times, although I should really find out why the breaker for that room becomes intermittent randomly like twice a year.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

splur said:


> I don't have one for my tanks, but I have it for my comp. It's saved me a couple times, although I should really find out why the breaker for that room becomes intermittent randomly like twice a year.


what do you mean "intermittent randomly"? do you mean the breaker trips once in a while?

could be a faulty breaker. could be something turning on and drawing a lot of current causing it to trip. could be a ghetto electrician in the past decided to run two circuits off one breaker (the second circuit could lead elsewhere in the home) without you knowing.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

chinamon said:


> what do you mean "intermittent randomly"? do you mean the breaker trips once in a while?
> 
> could be a faulty breaker. could be something turning on and drawing a lot of current causing it to trip. could be a ghetto electrician in the past decided to run two circuits off one breaker (the second circuit could lead elsewhere in the home) without you knowing.


Before I had the UPS, the light would kind of dim and stutter (I really can't figure out the right word to describe it!), then come back. But my computer would just full out shut off. It'd only last for a split second.

Whatever it is, I haven't taken the effort to look further into it. It's at my parent's house lol, the UPS helped though once we got it, it was bought for something else originally but we needed to keep it plugged in.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

sig said:


> you are not until you got proper size. I found that Watts advertised on these things are BS.
> I have 7APC Back-UPS ES 750VA and it just capable to support 10W Power head for just 1.5 hour.
> 
> but it is advertised as 450W


i was under the impression that 600watt meant i could run a 100w load for 6 hours but i was wrong. there is a whole other formula for calculating the battery runtime but the easiest way is to find the amp-hour rating of the battery itself. the one i have is 9AH so i can run a 1A load for 9 hours.

at least thats how i think it is calculated. i forgot everything i learned in school.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

splur said:


> Before I had the UPS, the light would kind of dim and stutter (I really can't figure out the right word to describe it!), then come back. But my computer would just full out shut off. It'd only last for a split second.
> 
> Whatever it is, I haven't taken the effort to look further into it. It's at my parent's house lol, the UPS helped though once we got it, it was bought for something else originally but we needed to keep it plugged in.


hmm it may very well be a faulty breaker. if the light and computer receptacle are on the same circuit and the breaker causes a flicker (which you would see in your light) then the computer's power supply would most likely shut off. i find that computer power supplies generally cannot handle a little flicker in the power source


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Which is why we need surge protectors on sensitive equipment like computers, because those little flickers may indicate a surge also.. which can ruin a computer, and these days, also your flatscreen TV, the stereo stuff, and quite possibly the microwave. Everything with a chip in it is vulnerable to surges, and almost everything has at least one chip in it nowadays.

For about $500., you can get a surge protector that you have installed on the breaker panel itself. In the event of something untoward, like a lightning strike,instead of having to replace every single one of your appliances, which would include not only computers and TVs but the fridge, stove, freezer, microwave, stereo, etc. and so on... instead you are only out the price of the surge protector. It is a one use only device, unlike the sort used for computers, but it is still cheap protection for a houseful of expensive equipment. Replacement might well be covered by insurance, since it would protect against a much higher damage claim for the insurance company.

We have brownouts here quite often, and frequent short power outages, which shuts down everything on the tanks as well as other things electrical. So far, everything starts up again afterward, but it worries me.

I'm glad I didn't have fish last year, when I got stuck in London for most of the year because first I was taken ill and then my Mom was and I ended being away almost 3/4s of the year. No friend, no matter how devoted, would have been able to cope with the tanks and livestock I have now, I'd have likely lost everything. Kind of worries me sometimes, but I'm not often away now, so hopefully I'm here if anything goes wrong.


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## tijuanatoad (May 17, 2010)

I've been looking at the Eaton whole house surge protector sold at Lowes and HD for $80. Its endorsed by Mike Holmes. So you don't have to spend $500 dollars. Any electricians on this forum have any comments on this product. Sorry for the hijack


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

tijuanatoad said:


> I've been looking at the Eaton whole house surge protector sold at Lowes and HD for $80. Its endorsed by Mike Holmes. So you don't have to spend $500 dollars. Any electricians on this forum have any comments on this product. Sorry for the hijack


cant go wrong with eaton products.


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