Powercom UPS and Deep Cycle Battery!

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MrWireless

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After finnally having it with Eskom, I have done a good bit of googling!

Apparently you can connect a deep cycle battery to your UPS, to extend the uptime of your systems.

Any idea where to get these battieries from? I ideally do not want to spend more than R1000 on this setup...I already have a powercom 600VA UPS (http://www.pcmups.com.tw/product/BNT800.html) , and would like to run a PC (400W PSU + 26" LCD)(no printers etc) and maybe my TV for up to 2 hours....think this would be possible? Which battery would be best?
 
That probably is possible and I entertained the idea myself BUT the problem with using a ups with a deep cycle battery is that the 600va ups will have a very small charging current so the battery would take ages to recharge to full capacity.It could also possibly overheat the relatively puny charging circuit. I landed up going with an inverter setup with built in charger, check out this thread and there are some others like it- http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=101339&highlight=inverter

Unfortunately it is gonna cost more like 5 grand with 2 deep cycle batteries, but bear in mind the deep cycle batteries are hell expensive, I was told a grand a piece. You could build it up cheaper if you bought the inverter and batteries separately and built it yourself but for me it wasn't worth the hassle.This really is the best solution, I have been using it for a few months now and it has worked 100% trouble and hassle free. I can power my pc for roughly 7 hours.

If you still want to go your original route the best batteries to use are deep cycle sealed lead acid batteries such as Deltec. I would go with at least a 102AH battery.
 
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Fantastic - any idea where these batteries are available in durban?
 
MrWireless said:
Fantastic - any idea where these batteries are available in durban?
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22C Trotter Road
Pinetown 3610
P.O Box 10085
Ashwood 3605
Tel: (031)701-7761
Fax: (031) 702-3530

Sorry only know in Pinetown, but it's not that far. You could try an auto sound place, but it might not be an item they would keep in stock. They might know of a closer place though.
 
The best place to get a deep cell battery from is a place such as a 4x4 adventure store. I checked the prices a while ago and a 96AH went for around R1250. this will run a laptop (90W) for around 20h.
 
Spark said:
That probably is possible and I entertained the idea myself BUT the problem with using a ups with a deep cycle battery is that the 600va ups will have a very small charging current so the battery would take ages to recharge to full capacity.
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Yep :(

If you want to go the UPS + Deep Cycle battery try get a 1-2kVA unit, it will match and if it's like likes of APC offer much more than a inverter.
 
Cool!

Managed to find a 100Ah Deep Cycle Battery, unsealed so I ran a cable into the garage with good ventilation!

Still going to test....im told by the battery people that the battery wont be strong enough to start the pc if it is off...but should have no problem to continue running the PC when the power cuts off!

Do the batteries come charged, or do they need to charge before i test the system out?

Will look for a 1000VA UPS - are there any advantages of this?
 
ive got a powercom 1000Va UPS....if you manage to get the extra batteries working with your UPS il do it as well :D
 
HaNsA said:
ive got a powercom 1000Va UPS....if you manage to get the extra batteries working with your UPS il do it as well :D
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Cool cool - will let you know! Should have it hooked up and working tomorrow!
 
MrWireless said:
Cool!

Managed to find a 100Ah Deep Cycle Battery, unsealed so I ran a cable into the garage with good ventilation!

Still going to test....im told by the battery people that the battery wont be strong enough to start the pc if it is off...but should have no problem to continue running the PC when the power cuts off!

Do the batteries come charged, or do they need to charge before i test the system out?

Will look for a 1000VA UPS - are there any advantages of this?
Click to expand...
Make sure you have at least a 4A charger to recharge the battery quick enough on it's own

The 1KVA UPS' uses 2 batteries, which runs on 24V, so 1 battery won't work
 
Ok....so some feedback.

The 600VA UPS didnt seem to cut it, as even though the software monitoring system said the battery was charged to 90%ish...the minute the power was switched off - the PC would die. Speakers, External drive etc would be ok...but the PC would constantly start and restart...which was odd. The TV would work....though didnt test how long it would run for!

So went out and got me the Powercom 1000VA ( http://www.ngrcomputers.co.za/powercom-black-knight-lineinteractive-1000va-p-5372.html ), as Softdux mentioned it takes 2 x batteries. So bought another 90aH Deep Cell (same as the original - costs R890.00) and hooked them up.

The PC starts even if there is no power to the UPS - turned on the TV....played some music, and left it running for about 30min or so. The monitoring system started out at 35% battery with about 40% load...30min later battery was sitting at about 32%. Obviously dont want to discharge unnecessarily, but I can say that its working for me. Will have to see what happens on the next load shed....

BTW - If you are looking to do this....I used a normal extension lead cable to hook up from the UPS to the batteries....and after 30min that cable was smoking hot, luckily I noticed....I see the cable inside the UPS is really thick, so off to go get some cables like that - as they were barely even warm! Dont want to chance burning down the house :)

The constant beep did get annoying, but after about 10min of trying to locate the speaker so i can disconnect it - my helper read in the manual that it can be turned off by pressing the button for less than a second :) Bliss!
 
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get some nice thick wires, the thicker the better.

chances are you'll want to add more batteries to the bank sooner, or later, so get some proper wires, and decent lugs. Solder everything together, and put a FUSE inline with the batteries & UPS
 
MrWireless said:
BTW - If you are looking to do this....I used a normal extension lead cable to hook up from the UPS to the batteries....and after 30min that cable was smoking hot, luckily I noticed....I see the cable inside the UPS is really thick, so off to go get some cables like that - as they were barely even warm! Dont want to chance burning down the house :)

The constant beep did get annoying, but after about 10min of trying to locate the speaker so i can disconnect it - my helper read in the manual that it can be turned off by pressing the button for less than a second :) Bliss!
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Nice to hear some good feedback!

On the wiring issue, you'll need 4 AWG (5 mm squared) at the very least (at least that's according to the Ah table), SERIOUSLY expensive wire! Why are you placing the batteries so far away from the UPS?

EDIT: According to wikipedia 8-6 AWG should be ok also, each website has their own table, so best stick to 6 AWG at the very least.

Anyway wire for/from a welding machine should suffice and if you shop right you can get it for quite cheap, whereas, oh let's say, builders warehouse would charge you upward of R100 a meter, so best stay away from them, they are trying to rip you.

Most Car sound installations also use very high AWG cabling so you can check prices from them also.

Did the wires melt or just get very hot? :D

Good luck ;)
 
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Gnome said:
Nice to hear some good feedback!

On the wiring issue, you'll need 4 AWG (5 mm squared) at the very least (at least that's according to the Ah table), SERIOUSLY expensive wire! Why are you placing the batteries so far away from the UPS?

Anyway wire for/from a welding machine should suffice and if you shop right you can get it for quite cheap, whereas, oh let's say, builders warehouse would charge you upward of R100 a meter, so best stay away from them, they are trying to rip you.

Most Car sound installations also use very high AWG cabling so you can check prices from them also.

Did the wires melt or just get very hot? :D

Good luck ;)
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Hmmmm...yeah noticed they are rather expensive.

Naah, the wires didnt melt - think it needed quite a bit longer till they start melting....the cable was above warm though....definately HOT!

Placing them about 3-4 meters from the UPS - reason....they are unsealed, and from what I have read its not the best idea to run them in a smallish room because of the fumes. Debating about just running them here in the room, its about the size of your lounge!
 
MrWireless said:
Hmmmm...yeah noticed they are rather expensive.

Naah, the wires didnt melt - think it needed quite a bit longer till they start melting....the cable was above warm though....definately HOT!

Placing them about 3-4 meters from the UPS - reason....they are unsealed, and from what I have read its not the best idea to run them in a smallish room because of the fumes. Debating about just running them here in the room, its about the size of your lounge!
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Oh ok cool, anyway rather not run it with the smaller wires again, it places a lot of stain on the UPS. But 3-4 meters isn't too far, you can get away with 8 AWG, not too expensive from the right place, here in Pretoria I can usually get some from the local flea-market (Car sound shop) for around R5 a meter, not expensive at all.

EDIT: Err, you're in Durban that's essentially Car Sound kingdom as far as SA goes so tracking down some cheap 8-6 AWG wire shouldn't be a issue :)
 
Just got myself a Powercom 1kva UPS and have got myself the beginning of a battery bank and running 2 machines off it 1x 500WATT power supply 1x 23inch lcd and 1x 350watt psu and a 17" crt and 2x 3com 24 port switch's and its rocking it!! :)
 
Gnome said:
Oh ok cool, anyway rather not run it with the smaller wires again, it places a lot of stain on the UPS. But 3-4 meters isn't too far, you can get away with 8 AWG, not too expensive from the right place, here in Pretoria I can usually get some from the local flea-market (Car sound shop) for around R5 a meter, not expensive at all.
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Batteries need to be as close as possible to the ups. Rather run a extension on the UPS output.
The higher the voltage the further you can run a extension.

W=VxA
500W/12V=41.66A
500w/220v=2.27A
The More The Amps, the thicker the cable needs to be.
 
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