UPS

[lyz77]

Does anyone use a UPS for yr tank? If yes, kindly advise wht is the watt or VA for the UPS and wht equipment shd be plug 2 a UPS!

Thks!

[hplam6666]

This is the same question I have in mind. I have been making enquiries about UPSs because of my concern of blackout/power failure especially when I am not at home.

The model or power of the UPS also depends on the total wattage of the equipment we intent to activate during a power failure.

I contacted UIS Abler Electronics (S) Pte Ltd by email and was advised that for 2 submerged pump (power heads) of about 30 - 60 watts each Ablerex JP1500 (Priced at $699) will be sufficient to provide backup power for approximately an hour. They have another 1000L ($136) and 625L ($92). I also understand that UPSs are available at Sim Lim.

[lyz77]

Anymore recommendation?

[hplam6666]

Someone I met at a fish shop told me that UPS, used mainly for computers and other electronic equipment, need lots of servicing and maintenance, because they are delicate electronic products. Most fish shops /farm have special Hand Phone alert systems that notify them on their hand phone of power failures in their shop or farm - even if any one of their many pumps stop functioning. They would then go down to the shop/farm to take remedial actions.

I have finally decided on a ac/dc airpump for standby. I bought a Halilea AC/DC air pump (model UAS- 12000) for $45. It runs on AC and when there is a power disruption/failure it switches automatically to DC, a built-in rechargeable battery which could run for many hours (at least 12 hrs). There are other brands which are more costly.

My main concern was a power disruption when I am not at home and I thought an UPS was most ideal. Now looks like my only option is to turn on my AC/DC air pump whenever we are all out. It's much less costly too.

[tineng]

Someone I met at a fish shop told me that UPS, used mainly for computers and other electronic equipment, need lots of servicing and maintenance, because they are delicate electronic products. Most fish shops /farm have special Hand Phone alert systems that notify them on their hand phone of power failures in their shop or farm - even if any one of their many pumps stop functioning. They would then go down to the shop/farm to take remedial actions.

I have finally decided on a ac/dc airpump for standby. I bought a Halilea AC/DC air pump (model UAS- 12000) for $45. It runs on AC and when there is a power disruption/failure it switches automatically to DC, a built-in rechargeable battery which could run for many hours (at least 12 hrs). There are other brands which are more costly.

My main concern was a power disruption when I am not at home and I thought an UPS was most ideal. Now looks like my only option is to turn on my AC/DC air pump whenever we are all out. It's much less costly too.

you got a pic or model name or where we can get one.....???

[freddychin]

I do not use a UPS for my tank.

Personally I think that that is not a requirement but if you have the money then go ahead.

The questtion here is, how many times do you encounter a power failure or power trip.

To me, I will tackle the root problem not just go for the solution.

You need to know what is the duration of your UPS power. It will be still rendom useless if your UPS give you half and hour and you are away from home for 1 hr.

Do a test yourself by switching off the power and monitor how much water will flow back via return pipe or over flow back to the sump tank. Make a marker and adjust yourself.

This is how I manage when ther is a power failure

As for UPS is maintenance free. I use APC UPS for my servers for at least 5 years, no issue or maybe I am lucky. Only recently change to Netware UPS, 10KVA + 10KVA for redundancy.

Just my comment to share

rdgs

[hplam6666]

Tineng,

The model name is HAILEA AC/DC AIR PUMP Model UAS-12000. I think I got mine at a good price. There are other makes & models at higher prices.

Freddy,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I fully agree with you about the real need and viability of an UPS for fish tanks. Besides, after the June 2004 blackout, there should not be another one liek that otherwise S'pore Powers will have to pay a heavy fine. Yes, UPSs will only last for 1/2 hr or so. Too costly to pay form such a short backup.

Rgds.

[roidan]

I am using the APC Smart-UPS 1500 and I personally do not use it to power the return pump for fear of overflooding the sump when power fails

neither do i have to gauge how much water will flow back via return pipe or over flow back to the sump tank in a power failure because this problem should have been tackled in the design stage for the sump to accomodate excess water capacity in times like this.

I use the UPS to power my stream, which lasts over 5 hours easily on good condition batteries.

yes, singapore does not have much island, town wide power outages....but all it takes is another one to wipe out one's tank if things take a nasty turn. Of coz there are many tanks that can survive outages without severe consequences...but i wouldn't take the chance given how much time, effort and money i have put into it.(yeah..SP will pay their due fines and so on.....but who is going to pay for your loss....sue SP like a couple in the papers is bringing QianHu to court? )

another thing is localised power trip of your home, it can be due to anything from a faulty iron or other household equipment and if there is someone at home, at least he/she can notice the loss of power to the whole home and alert you and take corrective actions themselves or at least get your attention to come home. if no one is at home, at least your UPS buys you the precious hours before you come home. Every second counts in a power outage as oxygen saturation levels drop fast.

like what weileong has experienced here.....his previous resun md40 powering his chiller failed and tripped the house while he was sleeping and it was the beeping of his UPS (powering his stream) that woke him up to realise what has happened. Imagine sleeping soundly through the night for 7-8 hours and wake up to a cloudy, foul smelling tank.....

worse is that somehow only the tank's circuit is tripped and other household devices carries on as usual....and that may mean even when u have someone at home...they may not notice that your tank is slowly deteriorating...

all in all, it is a matter of how much *insurance* you wish to pay for your tank. For all that i have put in and considering how much is at stake, i consider my UPS a small premium to pay for ease of mind.

[roidan]

http://www.apc.com/products/runtime_for_ex...m?upsfamily=165

under 230V,

my UPS gives me 5hrs drawing 50W

over 2 hrs drawing 100W

over 1 hr drawing 200W

my tunze stream draws much less than 50W, but i give myself a conservative time of 5hrs

[hplam6666]

roidan,

would appreciate it very much if you could tell us more about ur APC Smart-UPS 1500. which exactly are you using - APC Smart-UPS 1500VA USB & Serial RM 2U 230V (what's the diff. anyway?), and where you acquired it, price, & how you connect it etc.

Rgds.

[roidan]

mine is this...

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techsp...se_sku=SUA1500I

someone is selling a similar one in yahoo auctions...but u can always get a cheaper, lower VA model but it will run out of juice faster.

http://page.auctions.shopping.yahoo.com/sg...50?aucview=0x23

And remember to get the SMART series as it outputs pure sinewave for your equipment...certain pumps and definitely tunzes do not work well and may even fail prematurely if u use them with a modified/stepped sine wave UPS that are much cheaper. For other brands...just read thru the manual/specs sheet and make sure you are getting pure sine wave output from the UPS....

see the back of the UPS..i just went to sim lim square and buy a cable with the suitable head that could be plugged and then cut the cable and joined the cable with an extension cord. And then i just plug my stream into the extension cord to enjoy the benefits of the UPS.

[roidan]

this kinda cable quite common in sim lim square

[hplam6666]

Roidan, you are certainly a great help. how much did you pay for yours?

[roidan]

i got it through a friend who was clearing some UPS at that time....

definitely much cheaper than the yahoo auctions.

[ervine]

I know this might sound strange.. but is the UPS portable? Coz I thinking of getting one but not for reefing...

(ignoring it's hefty 25kgs)

[roidan]

yes..u can carry this 25kg around....to power your lamp or radio at the beach if u want....

but i rather leave my UPS clean at home

[ervine]

yes..u can carry this 25kg around....to power your lamp or radio at the beach if u want....

but i rather leave my UPS clean at home

haha... i think I'll get 2 smaller units coz I need them to power different appliances... at least easier to lug around then..

[hplam6666]

Do we really need such a big UPS unit to power 2 stream pumps? Any other options?

[roidan]

everyone's needs are different....

everyone wants his UPS to run different things.....

if u feel that you only want your stream to run 2 hrs...u can go get a UPS that provides about half as much runtime as mine....

if u want your whole system to run 2hrs...probably u may need a UPS that provides more than twice the runtime as mine....

but in your question of running 2 streams....probably still drawing less than 50w depending on models.....probably still can last about 5hrs on my UPS...

everyone's threshold of comfort is different....one may feel all he ever needs is 2 hrs of back up time.....for me 5 hrs seems pretty cool already...

if somehow there is a trip and everyone sleeps like a log and ignores the superloud beeping of the UPS during power loss, the UPS still gives me the valuable 5hrs of so.

But that won't happen lah...coz i sleep beside my tank

just kidding

anyway, you can always use AC/DC air pumps but i wouldn't like seeing bubbles and airstones around in my reef tank

[roidan]

and also...u got to take a step back and evaluate your own situation.

say you are running a small nano reef and has spent quite conservatively, probably it makes less sense to buy a 1k UPS to protect sub-1k investment in this hobby so far.

But then again one may think nothing of buying 1k UPS to protect 100 dollar investment because his efforts/time on the other hand are intangible and probably worth thousands more...

If you are running a sizeable system and apparently all the time, effort and money comes to thousands or tens of thousands....what is a 1k investment to protect what you have invested in this hobby?

like i said...bottomline comes back to how much you value and treasure and want to protect what you have put in.

one would like higher coverage (UPS) for his system and thus have to pay higher premium.

while another prefer lower coverage (AC/DC airpump or other ways) for his system and pay lower premium.

For me, i am rather risk adverse when i assess my own situation in this hobby, so i rather pay higher premium

[freddychin]

Hplam6666,

As I said is up to individual.

I stay in my current HBD since 1988.

I have only a power trip once due to water splashing from the sump tank to the electrical power cord.

I shifted the electrical cord to away and to a higher location and this solve the issue and have something covering the sump. This solve my problem. To me that is the root problem.

So far no power trip unless is a islandwide power failure.

I have yet any faulty home equipment causing a power trip. I guess I am lucky.

Need to really calculate as what size you need for your UPS in terms of what equipment you want to electrical passed thru the UPS then to the equipment. You want to have this solution for all the equipment or potion of your equipment.

As for my case, any equipment faulty at home will cause the main MCB to trip.

Chiller, pumps, MH etc all will go off. To me there is no impact as is within one day I turn on the MCB again. Many days without electrical that will be a totally different story. The UPS will be big not VA maybe a KVA or even a standy genarator

I formally have 2 units of 3500 or 3600 series that come with battery pack for my servers. It only allow me to have 15 minutes power and and a proper automatic shutdown process for my servers. That it

Now at new bulding, a 20 KVA and a standby generator to start within 1 minute to feed power to my server room.

I am staying in a 4 room flat and I have added quite a few extra fuses in the MCB. Total of 11 fuse in the MCB which I have the HDB MCB change. I do want too much equpment pulling current from the same fuse.

Roidan, have his reason for a UPS and I respect it even thou I am still not convince to have a UPS for myself.

Hplam6666, in the end you will need to decide and I believe Roidan and myself will respect your decision.

rdgs

[roidan]

ya..ultimately comes down to whether u want to spend that bit of money on insurance or not....and if insurance, how much premium u want to pay.

anyway, i found a pic of something i bought previously that could plug into the UPS....from sim lim square also...then u just plug your equipment into this gadget...

here it is.

[roidan]

the end to plug into the UPS

[roidan]

but here are some other things i did for extra insurance

i went as far as installing this just for my fish tank alone.....

[roidan]

the sockets for me to plug and play..hehe..

i do these and other failsafes to make sure that I am not the weakest link when it comes to disasters happening to the fish tank...

If i can cover most points of possible failures/weaknesses, i still can accept it if things that are out of my control happens....

at least i can tell myself that i did not crash my system or subject it to stress by saving some money when i have spent much more on my system.