Router Battery Backup

[maumau]

Looking at @killerbyte 's post here, it's a 2.1mm male to male DC plug.
The only place that I am sure will have will be Communica, they are usually open on a Saturday morning. Fancy taking a country drive out to Midrand? If so, I would try to get there earlier, it's less busy then. Plus you need time to check out all of their other cool stuffs. I can spend hours in that shop

Couldn't go today but I've made a plan to take a drive next Saturday and will take the existing power supply as a sample.

In the meantime I'm so delighted the Ratel's working, can't wait to show it off this evening when a couple of family members visit.

 

[Speedster]

We had an extended power failure overnight so my trusty UltraLan micro ups was run down to shutdown for the first time ever. It lasted about 4 1/2 hours running a B818 router and the home alarm system.

EDIT: This is the 60W, 17.6Ah version

 

[elf_lord_ZC5]

Going to have to buy either a Ratel or UltraLan, as soon as I have spare funds available. Not optional anymore.

 

[killerbyte]

Going to have to buy either a Ratel or UltraLan, as soon as I have spare funds available. Not optional anymore.

Yeah, it sucks that we have to do these things.

 

[linkinpark]

Thanks @DawieZA
Got the Ratel 860p as I was running a similar setup to you.
Fibre ONT - DC 12V
Mikrotik Hap AC2 - POE 24V
Raspberry Pi 2 - USB (5V 2A)

But the supplied DC cable is a measly 30cm, anyone know which online shop sells a 1m (at least) DC to DC, standard plugs?

 

[killerbyte]

Thanks @DawieZA
Got the Ratel 860p as I was running a similar setup to you.
Fibre ONT - DC 12V
Mikrotik Hap AC2 - POE 24V
Raspberry Pi 2 - USB (5V 2A)

But the supplied DC cable is a measly 30cm, anyone know which online shop sells a 1m (at least) DC to DC, standard plugs?

If you want you can plug the Mikrotik into that splitter with the ONT. It is rated for 12V. I have the Mikrotik Audience which is a bigger unit than your HAP AC2 and I have it in that setup.

 

[Katelknaap]

Some advice for a novice please. I want to power up my Tp-link AC750 router (9V) and the Octotel ONT (12V) during loadshedding with a Gizzu I received as gift. It has a 5/9/12V output with a splitter cable. The other POE output is 15/19/24V. Can you power both those of one Gizzu or is it just easier to buy a 2nd one and have a dedicated one for both devices running from the standard DC outputs?

 

[killerbyte]

Some advice for a novice please. I want to power up my Tp-link AC750 router (9V) and the Octotel ONT (12V) during loadshedding with a Gizzu I received as gift. It has a 5/9/12V output with a splitter cable. The other POE output is 15/19/24V. Can you power both those of one Gizzu or is it just easier to buy a 2nd one and have a dedicated one for both devices running from the standard DC outputs?

I think the best option is to buy a second one.

 

[Quintus26]

Some advice for a novice please. I want to power up my Tp-link AC750 router (9V) and the Octotel ONT (12V) during loadshedding with a Gizzu I received as gift. It has a 5/9/12V output with a splitter cable. The other POE output is 15/19/24V. Can you power both those of one Gizzu or is it just easier to buy a 2nd one and have a dedicated one for both devices running from the standard DC outputs?

See this comment:

Router Battery Backup

Assuming the ONT and router both work using 12v it's easy as can be. It's quite literally a power bank, you plug it in the wall, plug the provided splitter cable into the ONT and router and press the button to turn it on. I got this one yesterday and after the first round of loadshedding I'm...

mybroadband.co.za

I have just received my Gizzu from Takealot. Now the setup. Wish me luck.

 

[linkinpark]

If you want you can plug the Mikrotik into that splitter with the ONT. It is rated for 12V. I have the Mikrotik Audience which is a bigger unit than your HAP AC2 and I have it in that setup.

Yeah thanks, that was the initial plan but I have to keep the Ratel next to the fibre ONT under the desk coz of the short cable, so I was forced to use POE for the Mikrotik.
POE turned out pretty nice actually so i'll probably stick to that, just need to find a longer DC cable.

 

[Quintus26]

It will work. I can guarantee you the ONT does not use 1A though. Will do 4 hour loadsheddings without any issues.

You issue two main issues here will be:
1 - the gizzu outputs 9V or 12V on the DC plug, so you would either have to get two gizzu's or follow the road less traveled. There are quite a few options, e.g. piggybacking on the POE port (and stepping it down to 12V) or splitting the 12V output and stepping it down to 9V for the Archer.
2 - the gizzu's short DC cable might not fit the ONT/Archer, then you would need an adaptor/extension - I got this https://www.takealot.com/lumeno-3-meter-male-and-female-extension-cable-white/PLID41395249

Also, the Gizzu is cheaper at e.g. Loot https://www.loot.co.za/product/gizzu-8800mah-mini-dc-poe-ups-black/glld-7159-g700

So I have set the Gizzu up. I used the switcher on the DC output, set it to 9V, used the splitter plus the extension cable and it is powering both the Archer and the Huawei ONT (despite the ONT being 12v). My last noob-ish question for everyone who uses these UPSs like the Gizzu is: Do I power the router and the ONT through the UPS indefinitely? I have the UPS plugged into the wall charging the battery, but also powering the ONT and router. Do some of you power your router and ONTs on their normal plugs until loadshedding hits and then move over to the UPS or do you power it all through the UPS 24/7?

 

[Quintus26]

Some advice for a novice please. I want to power up my Tp-link AC750 router (9V) and the Octotel ONT (12V) during loadshedding with a Gizzu I received as gift. It has a 5/9/12V output with a splitter cable. The other POE output is 15/19/24V. Can you power both those of one Gizzu or is it just easier to buy a 2nd one and have a dedicated one for both devices running from the standard DC outputs?

I powered both the Archer (9V) and my Huawei ONT (12v) with a splitter on just the battery - with the switcher set to 9v - for a couple of minutes. So it is possible to use one Gizzu. I hear that it will continue powering the routers for four hours of loadshedding maximum.

 

[Katelknaap]

I powered both the Archer (9V) and my Huawei ONT (12v) with a splitter on just the battery - with the switcher set to 9v - for a couple of minutes. So it is possible to use one Gizzu. I hear that it will continue powering the routers for four hours of loadshedding maximum.

Thank you, I just wasn't sure if I should try this or not.

 

[Speedster]

So I have set the Gizzu up. I used the switcher on the DC output, set it to 9V, used the splitter plus the extension cable and it is powering both the Archer and the Huawei ONT (despite the ONT being 12v). My last noob-ish question for everyone who uses these UPSs like the Gizzu is: Do I power the router and the ONT through the UPS indefinitely? I have the UPS plugged into the wall charging the battery, but also powering the ONT and router. Do some of you power your router and ONTs on their normal plugs until loadshedding hits and then move over to the UPS or do you power it all through the UPS 24/7?

You can keep it running through the ups 24/7

 

[Paul_S]

That's kind of the point of a UPS. Uninterruptable Power Supply. If you have to plug things in and out when there are blackouts it kind of defeats the point.

That being said the lifespan of the batteries is often compromised by poorly designed charger circuits which may continually over charge batteries at 100% capacity by trickle charging them too much. This applies to lead acid and lithium based batteries. Some intelligent chargers (like some CTek and Victron units) will charge a battery to 100% capacity, float for a couple of hours before stopping the charge entirely. Then they periodically check the battery every few hours and top it up if required. Some even perform a small discharge/recharge cycle once per week to keep batteries in tip top shape.
A dumb trickle charger will not get the most out of batteries but may be good enough for a small consumer UPS. To get the longest service life out of lithium based batteries you generally want to charge to about 90% capacity and not 100%. Some laptops have driver software to limit the SoC at the expense of a bit of capacity. I rememer using an old HP laptop that had that feature.

Gory details:

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

How To Charge Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Batteries - Power Sonic

A complete guide on how to charge lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. Learn about the charging of a lithium battery from Power Sonic

www.power-sonic.com

 

[wingnut771]

That's kind of the point of a UPS. Uninterruptable Power Supply. If you have to plug things in and out when there are blackouts it kind of defeats the point.

That being said the lifespan of the batteries is often compromised by poorly designed charger circuits which may continually over charge batteries at 100% capacity by trickle charging them too much. This applies to lead acid and lithium based batteries. Some intelligent chargers (like some CTek and Victron units) will charge a battery to 100% capacity, float for a couple of hours before stopping the charge entirely. Then they periodically check the battery every few hours and top it up if required. Some even perform a small discharge/recharge cycle once per week to keep batteries in tip top shape.
A dumb trickle charger will not get the most out of batteries but may be good enough for a small consumer UPS. To get the longest service life out of lithium based batteries you generally want to charge to about 90% capacity and not 100%. Some laptops have driver software to limit the SoC at the expense of a bit of capacity. I rememer using an old HP laptop that had that feature.

Gory details:

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

How To Charge Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Batteries - Power Sonic

A complete guide on how to charge lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. Learn about the charging of a lithium battery from Power Sonic

www.power-sonic.com

Yeah, I found an app for my macbook pro to set the battery level. I have it at 80% then when there is loadshedding, change it back to 100%.

 

[RonSwanson]

Just came across this, from Powerforum, a local product that apparently sells for R850:

Pup UPS

And this going for, apparently 8800mAh ?! Lithium Polymer Battery going for R499 https://onedealaday.co.za/deals/powerminiNov

So we have:

• The Ratel
• The Ultralan
• The Pups UPS
• Portable Power Mini UPS

Any that I have missed?

Edit:

• Gizzu

 

[Speedster]

Just came across this, from Powerforum, a local product that apparently sells for R850:

Pup UPS

And this going for, apparently 8800mAh ?! Lithium Polymer Battery going for R499 https://onedealaday.co.za/deals/powerminiNov

So we have:

• The Ratel
• The Ultralan
• The Pups UPS
• Portable Power Mini UPS

Any that I have missed?

Gizzu

 

[RonSwanson]

Gizzu

Thanks, added.

 

[killerbyte]

Just came across this, from Powerforum, a local product that apparently sells for R850:

Pup UPS

And this going for, apparently 8800mAh ?! Lithium Polymer Battery going for R499 https://onedealaday.co.za/deals/powerminiNov

So we have:

• The Ratel
• The Ultralan
• The Pups UPS
• Portable Power Mini UPS

Any that I have missed?

Edit:

• Gizzu

That PUP Ups shows a photo of it with a lead battery inside, rather than the Lithium batteries in the Ratel, UltraLAN and Gizzu (not sure of the Portable Power Mini UPS).
Its basically the same battery I have on my garage motor.