Mains Power Protection For Aquariums

[Cheffi]

We use a Trust unit so that if the power is cut the computer automatically switches to the Trust unit which gives us around 35mins of power to shut down or carry on working.

Does anyone know if there is such a thing that one can use with any ordinary electrical appliances? Thinking primarily of aquarium filter. In the winter one can have power cuts for several hours so would be worth knowing.

 

[LiveLifeGoJump]

The trust unit will be a mains voltage unit so should work with mains voltage filters but you will need to check the current required by filters & current the trust unit can supply. You may be able to include the supply to the filters on the trust UPS with your computer. That 35mins is down to the battery capacity of the trust UPS, can the battries be upgraded? Bigger or additional batteries (provided charger can handle them) may be an option to extend the 35 mins.

Any mains UPS will work with any mains powered equipment (provided it is capable of supplying the required current) but, because of cost, they are normally use only on essential equipment such as computers, life support/monitoring equipment. Not many would find it esential to fit one to an iron in case the power failed when pressing their favorite shirt .

Depending on how much you want to pay there are UPS units available that can supply quite high current and/or for quite a long time.

If your requirements are high (lots of tanks) & risk of power failure is also high the you may have to consider a generator.

 

[Egmel]

Your computer is likely to draw over 150W + whatever your monitor draws which means that it will last a lot longer when only running you filter and heater (I'd imagine they could survive without lights for a while!) My Filter (an eheim 2213) draws only 8W.

One of these would solve the mismatch in plugs.

The one thing I would find out is how sensitive your filter is to the type of power it receives. Some UPSs 'regulate' the voltage level and in doing so don't deliver the nice sine wave pattern that comes out of your plug socket. This doesn't bother your computer too much as it converts most of it back to DC before it uses it but I'm not sure the same can be said of your filter.

This is something my Bf and I were talking about last night (we had a short power cut) so I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

 

[Cheffi]

Your computer is likely to draw over 150W + whatever your monitor draws which means that it will last a lot longer when only running you filter and heater (I'd imagine they could survive without lights for a while!) My Filter (an eheim 2213) draws only 8W.

One of these would solve the mismatch in plugs.

The one thing I would find out is how sensitive your filter is to the type of power it receives. Some UPSs 'regulate' the voltage level and in doing so don't deliver the nice sine wave pattern that comes out of your plug socket. This doesn't bother your computer too much as it converts most of it back to DC before it uses it but I'm not sure the same can be said of your filter.

This is something my Bf and I were talking about last night (we had a short power cut) so I'd be interested to hear how you get on.

Thanks for this info I had realised that the sockets on the Trust weren't suitable for the filter. I will get one of these and give it a go and let you all know if it works and if so for how long.