Jump to content

Backup power system to run aeration during power outages - Brainstorming ideas and looking for your experience


timothy2

Recommended Posts

HI Guys, 

I've been doing a bit of research into backup power systems to run aeration to my fish room during power outages. Living up here in the NT power outages a a reality of life during storms across the wet season. Keen to hear what others are using, have trialled in the past and their experiences. 

 

Option 1 - UPS systems 

I know a lot of marine guys in particular go with UPS systems which automatically kick in with battery backup power when mains power goes out. The draw backs to UPS's being they are quite expensive and don't have a whole lot of capacity to run larger blowers for extended periods of time. 

 

Option 2 - Auto start generators 

I know some people have also went the route of using auto start generators but have heard horror stories of them failing to turn on and require more maintenance being a generator. However, although not being cheap, at least they can punch out some decent power and risk could be minimised through regular maintenance and testing.

 

Option 3 - battery backup system 

Given how far lithium batteries in particular have come in the last 5-10 years these are becoming a more and more cost effective alternative. I actually bought a 120Ah Kings lithium battery to run my LP100 during power outages which lasts around ~18 hours. The issue with my current system is that it requires me to manually switch the blower from the mains outlet to the inverter connected to the battery, not ideal if the power goes out in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping. There are two options I'm looking at present to set the battery up so it kicks in when mains power goes out:

The first is an automatic transfer switch which is expensive, requires assistance from a sparky, and is still a risk of tripping switches. 

The second is one I have not yet tested as I want to confirm its safety before I do so. It involves having the air pump already plugged into the inverter which sucks power out of the battery but the battery itself, while the power is running, is continuously being charged by a lithium smart charger keeping it at near 100% charge. That way when the power does go out, the battery will stop charging but the blower will continue to suck power from the battery and not need to be automatically changed over. My safety concern is around the more and more common occurrences of lithium batteries bursting into flames which I'm worried may happen considering it would be continuously charged using this method on top of the fact that it will already live in a very hot shed in the NT. 

 

Keen to hear everyones thoughts and inputs (particularly the sparkys out there). 

 

Cheers, 

Tim

Edited by timothy2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Setting up new fish room at present, will be:

4x 6fts

4x 4fts 

4x Uncut IBCs (~900L each)

4x half cut IBCs (~600L each)

2x Half cut IBC sumps 

 

I'm expecting a single LP100 to struggle a bit given the depth on the IBCs but most of the mixing (and a fair amount of aeration) and majority of filtration will come from water pump returning water from sump. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...