ups-what's really important to power?

[want2findnemo]

Thinking of getting a UPS incase i have a blackout. But in the event of a blackout what would be the most important things to keep running?

Powerhead, pump, heater etc?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a product?

was looking @ this...

Ultra ULT31502 1000 VA 600 Watt AVR Backup System UPS at TigerDirect.com

 

[chris127]

All UPS are great. i have my filter and heater running on one and its saved me a bunch. check newegg.com and ccity, Tiger direct has outrageous shipping costs (not to rat on them) Be sure to get enough battery time for what you have to power.

 

[roka64]

Well, since I run 2 300W heaters in my 125 I only have the UPS for water flow.

 

[cmor1701d]

One heater and the main circulation pump are important. I don't bother with the heater because with a 125 the water volume takes a while to change temperature and the UPS doesn't last hours with a heater on it.

 

[want2findnemo]

i kinda wanted to get two and plug the second one into the first one, then the pump and powerheads, heater into the second one...

what you guys think?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Here's a couple posts that might interest ya...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/power-outages-lessons-learned-88546.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/folks-battery-backups-dont-go-dumb-like-me-87469.html

While I still have the Xantrex unit that I mentioned in that first post, I've since bought a little Honda Eco2000 generator. The Xantrex keeps everything going a few hours and gives me time to switch over to the generator if the outage is going to last a while.

 

[roka64]

I don't think you want to daisy chain two UPSes together. I believe they will both drain each other. At leas my two at work did.

 

[CatatonicBug]

I use APC backups exclusively. They are a bit more pricey, but a lot more reliable IMO. I have one on each of my PCs and one for my Network server, DSL Router, and air pump. I invested in a small gasoline generator last year after having 2 5-day outages. I figure that the amount of time that the battery will be required to work (which is never very long) will be much longer than it takes for me to get the generator working. The filter and heater can easily be down for 30 minutes without harming my tanks, so I'm not too concerned with that. I imagine I would have to do a bit more for backups if I was doing SW, but we'll deal with that when I get to it.

 

[CatatonicBug]

I don't think you want to daisy chain two UPSes together. I believe they will both drain each other. At leas my two at work did.

Definitely true. Never plug 2 UPSs into each other. The way they utilize the power puts too much of a drain on the batteries that way.

 

[want2findnemo]

cool, so i guess ill get two and plug them individually into (two ?) gfi's and for one ups have my pump in it and the other one have my powerheads in there.


So no need for heater and skimmer?

 

[roka64]

Larger water volume will take longer to cool down, as cmor stated. I think for smaller tanks, maybe 1 heater (rated a lot less than the UPS), and 1 for the water movement would be my recommendation.

 

[want2findnemo]

Thanks a lot everyone...


How does one calculate the amount of time the UPS will last?

 

[CatatonicBug]

It has to do with the amperage of the equipment plugged into it. A standard APC Back-Ups UPS will last about 20-30 minutes with a PC and Monitor plugged into it. They are not designed to be long-term solutions, only enough power to allow your other back-up systems to be activated (like a generator), or for you to properly power-down the equipment.

 

[want2findnemo]

Hmm a generator is not somthing that is in my budget atm.

The power failures in my area dont last more than 30 minutes usually... So I just wanted to know how to calculate or maybe a chart i can look at.

 

[CatatonicBug]

Here is a link to the APC page that will help you to choose the kind you need for the wattage load you plan on having.