Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all, was going to make myself and monya a power fail relay box, complete with 12v SLA battery and charging circuit, then realised that it would end up costing twice as much as a UPS

So.........i went and bought one for $95

It is rated at 750VA / 300W and will power a 300W load for 10 minutes.

I made sure to charge it for the full 8 hours as recomended, and started my test at 9:25pm, with it running my Electromagnetic air pump, rated at 10 Watts and 30 Litres per minute (fairly big )

I estimate the UPS to run it for approx 4 to 6 hours............(miscalculated earlier, thoguht it would last 2 hours) and now that i have started the test soo late, i'm going to have to set my alarm every hour or so to check on the bloody thing!

The 30 litre per hour was the only form of airation in my 200 Lt aquarium that used to house approx 20 silver perch before the power went out and killed them all. It now houses 6 jades and 1 silver.

IMHO 30L/hr of air being pumped into and though the water for 10W of electrical power is a fair effort UPS's used to power devices like this will be a feasable option as usable operation times can be expected.

Just hit the 30 minute mark.....................its going to be a long nite

Will keep you posted

it will be interesting to hear how long it lasts, do we get to guess or bet?

My guess is it last 5 hrs

Does this one beep? my brother got one for his computers a while back, and when he stopped using it i borrowed it for my aquarium. It beeped every minute or something, and i didn't really need it to keep the fish alive, so i gave it back.

Yes, it beeps, its giving me the shits ATM, 1 beep every 4 seconds then 1 beep every second when batteries are almost exhausted.

I'll start a poll

sounds like your going to have a great night

beep beep beep

was just chatting to someone via Skype, and they said it sounded like i was in a hospital...............

10w seems very low for 30litres per minute Steve. You have done well there.

lol, if your lucky it will beep all night and into the morning

Nice work Steve, I got my 1000VA UPS out last nite and charged it. This morning it showed full charge, I unplugged mains and the thing failed after a couple of minutes without even anything drawing power from it.

I need to grab the other (bigger, 2000VA from memory) one which is at the back of my spare room behind a heap of boxes and junk I haven't sorted out since I moved into this place. Now that I know it will be worth my while I reckon I will dig it out on the weekend.

I'll put $5 on 4 hours, but for Steve's sake I hope it's not that long.

Dan usually the alarm goes off when the power in to the UPS isn't within it's set input range, Aust. default might be say 230-250V before it switches to battery. Am I right in thinking that most of them will also filter and trim to a required voltage also, so for example if your input voltage is lower than 240V it will supply the rest?
Was yours plugged into mains power properly? Did your bro have it set so that only a small fluctuation in input power would trigger battery failover?

Steve, you can usually disable the audible alarm, check the manual if you get sick of it.

Honestly Simmo, i cant remember. When my stocking densities get abit higher i might check where it is and check up on that

S77, yep, they correct slight over and under voltages.

Sounds like the SLA is dead in your 1000VA.

RE: the pump, yep, once you go away frm the shitty aquarium style diaphragm pumps they can get quite efficent, and last a LONG time.

I have a cheapo that flows like 1.5L per hour and takes 5W

Tjis one has been running cont. for two or three years, 6 moths of that in a 60C ambient indestructable! i think it cost me about $100

This noise is getting too much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

how you going to know when it stops? you staying up all night?

i think its more it will keep him awake until it stops

yeh, i know, this is my dillemma now i'll have to set the alarm every hour and check it damn fool

S77 yes, i have used ones that you can disable the alarm...........the instructions for this one have been poorly translated form chinese.......i think one of the fault solutions was to take a bath........... (not really )

I have found that a sharp utility knife works magic on PCB tracks to the buzzer

I've voted for 6 hours, not because I think it will go for that long, but I hope it will and you have to stay up all night.
Why dont you experiment in the day time?