Cali Kid Corals

Powerhead Battery Backup

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I have 2 Jeabaos (WP-10 Else Mode & RW-4 Wave Mode). I'm looking for a cheap powerhead battery backup to keep the system alive in case of a power failure, probably just for the WP-10 cos thats pointing to the water surface and moves a lot of water.

So far I think the best bet is the Jebao Battery Backup
https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/jebao-battery-back-up/

Anyone got this? does it work well? Any other suggestions (looking for something within $150).
 
It looks good on paper. I have a Jebao return pump I was considering running on these, but it does make controlling it from the apex complex (backup goes between 24v dc supply & pump controller). That means turning it off at the outlet via apex turns on the backup power instead of turning it off.

EDIT: Fixed for clarity
 
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I think it means that the power supply sits between the power plug and the pump.
For example, normally:
power plug -> Jeabaos control box -> pump
With the power backup, it becomes:
power plug -> power backup -> Jeabao control box -> pump
Which means if you control your pump by apex [which comes before the power plug], turning off the power to your pump will cause the power backup to kick in and therefore, not turning the pump off.
 
I would just pick up a cheap ups at Costco. The nice part about DC powerheads is they run great on a regular ups.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
I think if you want to get it working with neptune apex, it's best to avoid the jeabao battery backup all together (there might be ways to get it work work but probably not worth the effort).
As @tygunn suggested, it's probably best just to use a UPS (uninterruptible power supply).
With this method, you the apex will stay online during a power failure and you can program your energy bar to run the minimalist setting with just the single jebao jump to save power. I think the issue is how will the apex detect a power failure for it to start shutting off the non essential outlets. It seems like most people are running a secondary energy bar to use a detection but things get pretty expensive fast.
 
Hmm making more sense now...

Just like those AC battery operated air pumps that only turn on when the power goes off, is there anything I can plug the Jebao backup or UPS to?

I'm thinking to have a dedicated 3rd powerhead in the DT (not connected to apex, always off) and only turns on when there's a power failure?
 
Nav said:
Hmm making more sense now...

Just like those AC battery operated air pumps that only turn on when the power goes off, is there anything I can plug the Jebao backup or UPS to?

I'm thinking to have a dedicated 3rd powerhead in the DT (not connected to apex, always off) and only turns on when there's a power failure?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that if you have a powerhead sitting unpowered, its going to get fouled up pretty quickly. When you REALLY need it you just know a snail will crawl in there. In my old tank I had a goby that decided to take hide in a Koralia powerhead that I had unplugged while doing some maintenance -- glad I saw him before powering back on.

I mean, it is theoretically possible to build a simple circuit that would only pass electricity (either from the battery backup or wall outlet) if external power is lost. Its really not much more than a normally-closed relay (applying power opens the circuit, losing power closes the circuit).

But a WP-10 is at most 15w, and the RW-4 is around 10w. So at most 25w. Add in another 25w for the Apex (I'm just guessing) and you're at 50w total. That's a tiny load on a UPS such as this one:
http://www.costco.com/CyberPower-14...ble-Power-Supply-(UPS).product.100215531.html
 
Nav said:
Agreed. But there's much more that gets plugged to the Apex right? (Return, Skimmer, Lights, etc) not just the powerheads....
Click to expand...

Mine runs at a max of about 3amps with everything on and running. Which works out to about 360w. So with everything running at max, I wouldn't get very much.

I think the trick is to get only the essentials running on the ups. But how to trigger that on the Apex automatically? Haven't figured it out yet. Maybe we can ask on the Neptune forums.
 
Nav said:
Agreed. But there's much more that gets plugged to the Apex right? (Return, Skimmer, Lights, etc) not just the powerheads....
Click to expand...

Ahhh, okay, I see the problem then. You wouldn't want to run EVERYTHING plugged into the Apex when the power fails I guess. I think your options would be:
1. Get another power strip for the Apex and split off the devices you don't want to have power backup.
2. Use relays to cut the devices off that don't need power when there is a failure.
 
Vhuang168 said:
I think the trick is to get only the essentials running on the ups. But how to trigger that on the Apex automatically? Haven't figured it out yet. Maybe we can ask on the Neptune forums.
Click to expand...

If you have 12v power to the Apex base module and have a UPS plugged in and have the power enabled in the settings in the classic dashboard you could put this in the program line

If Power Apex Off 000 Then slow

You would have to create a profile for slow for the pump but this way you can have it use less power then normal to have the UPS last longer...

Here is a great slide of how to make it work with different options...
https://forum.neptunesystems.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=852&d=1381707379
 
Thanks for that! Definitely solves that problem. This would have helped that guy from a few months ago that had that tank crash because he had a power failure and didn't know about it.
 
I have mine setup to only run curtain equipment, but I need to modify my programming for the WAVs as I have not done that for power outages yet...lol
 
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