Battery backup

I read through another thread, but didn’t want to hijack it. After reading I think I am going to go with the APC BR1500G to power my Apex 2016 and 1 extra power bar 8. My plan is to only use the battery to power my 2 Maxspect xf230 gyres which run at 35 watts each at full power (I run them at 50%) and one jebao 8 that would only power on at the loss of power to circulate water in my sump. I’m not sure what the wattage is on that but I would asssume pretty low as I’d have it set to just break the surface to circulate the water. I would then through programming like to turn off the remaining outlets as soon as the apex senses a power outage. I would have the main apex energy bar plugged into a backup outlet on the ups. Plugged into that bar would be my maxspect gyres, jebao backup, 2 bulbs of ATI Sunpower light fixture (39 Watts each bulb not sure how much power fans use or any other power it may use), AC adapter for ATI fans, carbon doser, 150 watt heater, skimmer, and return pump (85 Watts at max usually runs at 75%). My add on energy bar would be plugged into a non backed up outlet and have the other 6 bulbs of the ATI sunpower light, backup heater (150 watts), dosing pump, ATO, and refugium light. With that setup how long could I expect this particular ups to last if I had have everything other than the apex, the maxspect gyres, and the emergency jebao wavemaker programmed to shut down? I would eventually add the add on battery to the ups unit. My other question is when I put the apex in feed mode will it think it has lost power and shut down everything and start to run off the ups? Next question is that I see that this ups is recommended even though it isnÂ’t a pure sine wave, is this ok? If I also connect the icecap is there a way to trick the battery into not thinking power isn’t lost during food and maintenance modes? Or am I stuck with many]halls turning off the gyres each time? Thanks in Advance.

That will run for about 3 hours give or take.

Feed mode will not effect the UPS in any way.

It's fine that it's not pure sine because that model is pure sine when it has wall power and changes to 6 pulse only when power from the wall is lost. Since you are only powering the apex through the EB8 which has a good power supply and DC pumps that is fine.

I don't know how the ice cap battery will react to feed mode. You will have to test and find out. If you don't already have the ice cap battery, you may be better served by the extension they sell for that UPS and use that to extend runtime instead. You could use a VO to run all three for a few hours and then if the outage persists longer shut off one of the Gyres and also the jebao. Doing that with the expansion battery would give you about 12 hours of runtime.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

Thank you. Ideally, i would like to only run the one gyre but both gyres are controlled by one controller and one transformer. I do not think only one can be run. I will know more tomorrow. The Apex 2016, Maxspect gyres, icecap, and ups are all new and all coming tomorrow. I will have to watch some videos and see how virtual outlets work. I haven’t played with them. I only have the junior with basic programming. Thanks. I may return the icecap if it turns on every time I enter feed mode. The icecap says it will supply 17 hours for each of the two gyres at 30%. The add on battery may give me a little less total, but it may be worth the sacrifice. Unless you can recommend a better backup solution?

Not turning off for a feed (excluding maintenance) is not necessarily a bad thing. I set my pumps on a low intensity pulse during feed because it suspends the food in the water column better than off completely and food moves slow enough they can easily catch it.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

I have both the ups and the icecap battery hooked up. I programmed all the outlets to turn off when the apex loses power. I tested by tripping the gfi and it worked great. I think the gyre automatically draws from the icecap. Is there a way to make it draw from the ups first the the icecap? The only other issue I noticed was when I reset the gfi my ATI did not want to turn back on. I had to cycle the outlet a few times for them to light. I thought I somehow blew the ballast. Seems ok now though.

Remove the if power line for the gyre and it won't pull from the battery until the UPS is drained.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zombie

Remove the if power line for the gyre and it won't pull from the battery until the UPS is drained.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

---

That’s the only outlet I don’t have the If power statement. Why I think it is pulling from the icecap and the ups is because if I enter feed mode the gyre automatically changes programs and runs off of the icecap. Now that I think of it, that’s probably because I still have power to the apex. I’m going to trip my gfi again and test it. Thank you again zombie, you have been a great help to me in setting up this new apex. Attachment 8359

That was it. When I remove power it draws on the battery backup first. That buys an additional two hours. Not much but I’ll have 20 or so hours total which should be more than enough to get home and get the generator running.

Fdnavy I have a APC and they are designed only to really give you time to turn off your computer with a power outage, so it doesn't crash. I learned the hard way. I didn't lose any fish but they were breathing really heavy by the time I got home. The icecap battery pack is ideal on a budget. Its $100 at BRS, and It will automatically lower you gyre down to 30 minutes and is good for two or three days.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rickg

Fdnavy I have a APC and they are designed only to really give you time to turn off your computer with a power outage, so it doesn't crash. I learned the hard way. I didn't lose any fish but they were breathing really heavy by the time I got home. The icecap battery pack is ideal on a budget. Its $100 at BRS, and It will automatically lower you gyre down to 30 minutes and is good for two or three days.

---

Thanks. I went with both the APC and the Icecap. The APC will give my apex some surge protection and it will also clean up my generator power a bit when I do have a prolonged outage. The APC Will run my 2 gyres and my apex for almost 3 hours before running out of juice. Once that happens the icecap will takeover and power my gyres. Should be more than enough time for someone to get home and get the generator set up.