Great video, I've been wanting to do this for a while to ensure my internet and router don't go down during a power outage. My recommendations: Use marine/deep cycle batteries, battery boxes, and maybe storage container to consolidate (portable?) the system. For the preppers out there, it would be interesting to see how to recharge this system using solar panels only. Cheers.
@annestywest7488 I bought a Cyberpower cp1500pfclcda 1500va 1000w sine wave battery back-up system it has 2 9AH batteries 24v so I added 2 100AH sealed lead acid batteries 24v but it can't see that I added more AH to it and at 207w it only runs 44 minutes then shuts off but the batteries are still at 24.5v when it cuts off. Can I hack the system to change the settings? Maybe I should just buy a power inverter to run my things?
@annestywest7488 sadly some ups models do not actually check the voltage of the battery to deteemine runtime, they just have timers based on the load. I had an Eaton like that. I don't think you can change the ups settings.
Many people concern and diaagreed ...why need to modify the UpS instead of buying ready made sold online and in many hardware store....so my answer is...this project is thinking out of the box...many inverter sold came with no spark fuse..event they built in fuse..that does not protect the unit board..once its sparked..the whole unit became unuseable...throw away...i came here after my inverter unit was damaged/blown...this make me think how this UPS work...there is many UPS was thrown away after the built in battery died..not many people known thay the battery is replaceable...thank you admin..you inspired many people in the world..keep a good work..keep post it..
Che fach, muh. I recognize that accent. My grandparents were from Alba Julia and came to the USA in 1932. They spoke Romanian at home but they forbid each other from speaking anything but English outside the home. I learned a few words and phrases but that was 60+ years ago. Great job on the UPS!
You're missing something very important. UPS batteries are deep discharge cycle type batteries. Car batteries, aren't. Car batteries are made to never discharge too much, while providing very high CCA (cold cranking amps), something a UPS will never need. On the other hand, UPS batteries are built to have lots of deep discharge cycles. The physical difference is the amount and shape of the cells inside each type of battery. So yeah... it works but the car battery will only last a couple cycles, kinda expensive... Don't do this
UPS batteries..... unless you use LiFe batteries are not deep cycle batteries at all. they are simple sealed lead acid batteries they are NOT designed for deep discharge and recharge any more than a lead acid car battery is. These are not even close to the same as a deep cycle battery use in boats or RVs etc. I recondition these batteries if theyre not too badly damaged so I know for a fact that a straight 12 volt 18Ah battery is not a deep cycle battery. It is nothing more than a motorcycle battery.
@@dalefeekes313 wrong. check the datasheet of for example any 12v 7ah sealed lead acid or gel battery and compare the amount of deep descharge cycles it can withstand against a common for example 85ah car battery. the stats are there. to get the enormous CCA vehicles need, the batteries are made different. another example is you can't get near half of the CCA putting 10 7ah batteries in parallel compared to a single 70ah car battery. I get your point with the specific "deep discharge batteries" but thats kinda marketing snake oil, they're actually very similar to UPS or moto batteries
Excellent setup and clear instructions, I like to stress to viewers that you need to pay attention to the transformers and validate they can handle the load.
I use a old 1500 volt amp...(1500 watt) ...APC brand UPS that was thrown away to power up my modem, WiFi, TV, clock and the modem cooling fan when the power goes out. The total load is 363 watts so there is plenty of reserve in the UPS as this is only 1/4 rated load. I added a 55 amp hour power wheelchair SLA sealed lead acid battery to extend the run time. This system has been on line for 3 years with no attention needed. I added an LED volt meter that is constantly on so I can see the battery health in a glance. Its better to have a larger UPS running at a lower load than rated.
Exactly. The number of batteries in parallel can be any, but it is important to warn the audience that the UPS has the power indicated on the label, which it can supply, such as 350W. In practice, about half to 75 percent of the power consumption is used, ie about 175-230W. This means that you can power devices that have a maximum power consumption of up to 230W. If someone powered devices that have a higher consumption, a Bosch battery up to 100Ah would certainly be able to do it, but the UPS transformer will not be able to do it and it will burn with all the electronics. This is called overload and the UPS transformer really can't handle long-term overload. The author of the video has to be very careful about that, and so do the viewers.
I like the video and the concept of using larger batteries for your ups backup units. You must realize that ups inverters are not very efficient and the chargers are not a high rate charger. A 1500 VA ups can only run 500- 700 watts for long periods. The low volt amperage is 25-35 amps @ 24vdc for 120vac output. this translates to 2-3 hours of run time max. The 2 amp charger will take 2 days to replace this charge in the batteries. Also realize that the inverter will not switch on if the power has already gone out and the ups was not plugged in at the time to mains. A ups uses the mains to sync ac hz on mains and then switches inverter to match. If you take a fully charged ups out of the closet and turn it on to provide backup power nothing will happen as it has no mains to sync to.
I though the same, but it seems at least this model is able to power on, even if it was disconected before the power is gone. If I remember right, I added this info as a text somewhere almost at the end of the video. It is not happy to power on like that, but it does :) Not sure about other models, though.
you should realy use marine battery or solar battery becouse car battery is designed to deliver high amperage in small bursts but marine and solar battery are designed for draining compleatly
Yes, but modern UPS have a low voltage cutoff, so car batteries won't get damaged directly. However deep cycle batteries can do much more cycles before a drop in capacity than regular car batteries. In the end, car batteries lasts much longer during an outage than small UPS batteries.
Bill is right, you need to keep the same battery technology unless you want to go and reprogram the new float voltage and also I have done this before, but ended up charging the battery array externally as the internal battery charging circuit is designed for small capacity battery banks (No more than 36Ah and considering the SUA1500 has 2 x 17-22Ah gel cell batteries in them anyway) I ended up having an external MPPT 24 volt solar setup that charges the batteries and I just switch it on when I need mains power and off when I do not. Additionally if your pushing the UPS output past 930 Watts for long durations (this is based on the 1500 VA variant, the transformer can overheat quickly and kill your UPS. Stay under 500 Watts as a constant load and it will run for past 10 hours without any issues if your battery bank is big enough. With an external Charge controller, you can let the battery float to whatever the battery technology you purchase is. Remember that long durations of just charging will make the batteries lazy when you do throw a heavy load at them, so remember to calibrate the UPS to the batteries ...oh and disconnect that blasted buzzer! If you want to get more grunt out of your UPS, adding extra FET's to anything other than the base model (4 FET's only) gives hardly any improvement except a slightly better surge capability. I ran 2 x 100Ah batteries on a 50 Watt dual solar cell MPPT for my remote shed. I got over 6 hours of 360 time before the UPS started hinting it was running low, so I just switched it all off and 2 days of sunshine later....another 6 hours again If you do want a bigger max load output, alas the 1500 is 24 volt, but it then goes up to 48 volts for the 2200 all the way up to 5KVA. The 5 KVA and up models go to 96 and then 120 volts... The longer your cable run, the bigger the cable will need to be and especially if your going to mode a 1500, change those DC cables for 2 Gauge as running a 750 watt load for more than 20 minutes will leave you with the insulation starting to melt! 4 guage at a push ... DO NOT FORGET THE BATTERY ISOLATOR, FUSE THE HELL OUT OF IT AND DO NOT LEAVE IT UNATTENDED WHEN YOU FIRST FINISH IT UP!
@@UltimateDIY the lead-acid AGMs in stock UPS, marine batteries, and car batteries are all lead-acid, all work the same way, all have the same charging voltage thresholds. The difference is that the UPS charger cannot supply as much current as a big charger can. If the UPS charger is stupid and is relying too much on the internal resistance of the 7AH pack for current limiting, it will overhead because it's trying to deliver too much current for a long time. Minimal quality UPS are smarter than that and current limits to protect itself even if the battery is shorted. The only real advantage to having an external charger for your bank is that the external charger will charge at a much higher rate than the builtin UPS charging circuit can. IIRC, the optimum charge rate for a lead-acid battery is about .1C, where C is the capacity in AH. So a 7AH battery *optimally* charges at .7A, and will take about 10 hours to charge 100%. You can take it as a given that UPSs target somewhat less than 10 hours. Say 5 - .2C. Meanwhile, a 250AH truck battery wants to charge at 25A for 10 hours. No consumer UPS is going to charge remotely close to that level, and even at the 7AH's double-optimum rate, it'd take over over 5 days to charge. Reprogramming float voltage et. al. would only be needed if you changed to a different battery chemistry. Like LifFePO or NiCd. But you're not. You could potentially rig up an automotive charger into a UPS to charge the backup battery automatically, but that' would require rather more surgery on the UPS.
@@fromagefrizzbizz9377 There is a small chemistry difference between car lead-acid batteries and the deep cycle lead-acid batteries. I think car batteries lead plates contain some barium alloyed with the lead. It is possible that some have calcium alloyed with the lead. As you use the battery, the lead sponge on the anode (negative terminal) turns to PbSO4. At the cathode (positive terminal), the PbO2 (spongey PbO2) turns to PbSO4. The purpose of the barium or calcium is to prevent the formation of large PbSO4 crystals. In any case, once you use the battery too much, too much PbSO4 covers the plates and it is hard to recharge it. The purpose of car batteries is to give high amperage (100 A to 500 A) for a short period of time to just turn the engine, which is why it uses the high surface area spongey lead and PbO2. In the case of deep cycle batteries, the plates aren’t so spongey and can’t give high amperage. The plates aren’t the high surface area type.
You can adjust float voltage using SM protocol in hyperterminal. Plus charging can be boosted upto 14 Amps in 1500VA model by solding a resistor on board. Transformer will heat up but you can install better fan to cool it down. You can easily run 2 100Ah batteries by doing that without any additional charger or anything.
I did this a LONG time ago using deep cycle batteries from my wife's power chair. I had a relatively small APC backup and two deep cycles in parallel. It gave me (according to the reporting software) something like 1 to 2 hours. First test seemed to be accurate. Rarely used it, but I did note the tiny backup took a LONG time charging them up again. Our power here is usually very reliable, the batteries leaked a bit after a number years of disuse. Tonight I was in the middle of something semi important and power went off. Hmph! I had just read a How-to-Geek article on having battery backup for your router. Yea! Was VERY surprised that even $300+ backups were reporting less than 30 minutes of half load time.
You used inverter much better give you much better battery time ok those things batter eater no joke i have one i have have 5 inverter 500 watts,800watts,1100watts,1500watts and 3000watts inverter much better
Mi se pare absolut genial cum ai un vocabular impecabil in limba engleza (mult superior unor vorbitori nativi) si accent balcanic puternic. You could be the best russian spy in america, ever.
You should have used ring terminals for larger gauge wire, the blue insulated are for 14-16 gauge wire,I believe the ones with yellow insulated for 10-12 gauge would have been the correct size. When connecting to the battery terminals you could have just used ring terminals connected to one of the screws which tighten the cable connection, this would have been more secure than your bundle of wire. Also, if you change the battery orientation so that you have a positive and negative post at each end the UPS connection will be at one end, the fuse at the other end.
The reason why the cable didn't fit through the groove is mainly because of the insulation to copper ratio. Mains cables are double insulated (at least European is or should be) which adds to the diameter even if there isn't a lot of copper. The cables designed for connecting to batteries don't have as much insulation and have a ton more copper for higher current.
Great setup, you have skills. I have the same idea to do something like that. I wanna disconnect the 230v main and charge from solar. That way i can use it as a backup power-supply for fridge, computer, fans etc. I do not wan't mains connected all the time. 30 Watt solar panel can charge my mini UPS with 12v 7A battery (Real 3.5Ah) in less than 3 hours. I also have a 230v - 12v battery charger + trainer at 12v - 1A and does it also within 3 Hours. Because Lead-Acid batteries have a discharge cut-off at 50% capacity they charge quickly from 50% to 100%. Basically your 88Ah - 24v (2x12v) Car battery backup unit has only 44Ah - 24v capacity = 1KWh of real capacity to use with the UPS inverter. If your UPS charges at 10A it will do so in 4 hours to 100%. These old inverters from the 1990's have a very low efficiency, probably 75% or less at high 230v loads. So you lose another 250Wh of capacity to conversion & heat and end up with only 750Wh. Not to bad for a shabby 24v car battery that cost probably $120 or less. You do have to be aware of gasses. Regular maintenance of the battery is required like with your car. My Mini UPS has a few (4) switches on the back to set cut-off voltage and acoustic alarms at different loads (voltage drops), e.a. 160v, 172, 184v and 196v at either 50Hz or 60Hz meaning you can (un)safely drain the 12v Lead Acid down to almost 20% making it compatible with expensive deep cycle gell types, if i am right? Maybe it is just a security threshold voltage when the backup battery kicks in to protect delicate electronics like your PC from surges or dips without power loss?
Nice video to watch and learn. But I am just thinking. Aren't UPS built for emergency saving your work and eventually you need to use the generator? And isn't it better to use instead an inverter if you really need power from a bettery? Just my thoughts.
the problem of extending an ups with batteries of greater capacity, is the UPS is not designed to work for such a long time, and less if you connect a computer that costs at least 300w, the transformer that it has at some point will burn, if the ups have no over consumption protection
Hello sir, I have contacted UPS with 35ah Amron car battery. I have checked that 35ah full battery provided approximately 4hrs backup for 200 watts load. But I am using my laptop with wifi during backup time UPS automatically turned off after 5 minutes of backup instead of long time. If turned on again then also turned off after 5 minutes. It's quite difficult to use please give me a solution. Thanks in advance.
Hello. Sorry, but it's not about a universal sollution. Each brand and model of ups bahaves in a different way. Some can even be set up by connecting to a pc with a dedicated software. If it always shuts off after 5 minutes it seems to be on some kind of timer.
Do you ever smell the gases from the batteries? The charging of lead-acid batteries can be hazardous. However, many workers may not see it that way since it is such a common activity in many workplaces. The two primary risks are from hydrogen gas formed when the battery is being charged and the sulfuric acid in the battery fluid
Never smelled anything. I think modern batteries that are in a good condition release really small amount of gases. My car for example has the battery in the trunk, which is directly connected to the inside of the car. They would not have done that if the risks were too high.
Agree - wet cells should not be used indoors without a vented, explosion proof container. I have a nice RV charger to use for ham UPS nut mt wait to but the $$$ AGM battery.
@@UltimateDIY its a good idea but I'm wondering whether the float voltages will be different. The deep cycle I have in mind needs topping up with 0 TDS water over the sealed kind you used here.
The reason for it not turning on if it previously did not get AC voltage at its input is, for one, that the AC the UPS creates must be in phase with the line AC. Primarily the required clock signal comes from an active line AC voltage. Secondly, safety.
Hey. It still works, but it was left unplugged for a long time at a point and one of the batteries overdischarged to a point that the ups refused to charge. So it needed to be charged with a car battery charger. Now it's working again, but I suspect the capacity of both batteries has dropped over time.
Cables/wires and fuses! Power is pulled by a load it is not pused by a source. If the ups has a 60 amp fuse then thats all you need. It will match the demand of the device. No reason to not reuse the fuse. Likewise the wires are sized for the amps pulled through them, however if you make the run longer you should up size the rest of the run. Likewise with connectors. The more you have the more resistance you introduce, voltage drops, and subsequently reduce run time as the ups will see a lower voltage. As you are not dealing with fault potential then just rate your dc parts to the fuse and keep it simple otherwise you are getting into i²t and time constants for interrupt and disconnect ratings that will blow your mind. Lastly the charge profile is unknown for the ups, we should assume it is correct for the technology supplied. Firther we should expect it is tumed for the exact batteries supplied given these are "quality" products. As such deviation from the battery spec is going to cause issues in the accuracy of the equipment and the safe and reliable working of the batteries. Clearly however there is a cost benefit, but anyone should be aware of the dangers involved in the incorrect charging of batteries. All the best.
Ups has an eprom similar to those, found in laptop batteries. To upload its contents to the pc, you may need to do the same as with laptops. 10 discharges in Windows, 1 discharge in Bios (must be about 45 min). In bios, each discharge will enable one option, that may be off by default, when you buy the device. That will enable lower fan speed, less heat, higher performance, and less cpu usage. To achieve this, you may need 10x 11 discharges, depending on your computer’s health.
Question, did the UPS built in battery level indicator eventually begin to accurately represent the new battery levels? How long did it take? EDIT:Typo
@@UltimateDIY Yeah, I am thinking about buying a refurbished UPS and adding an external battery bank to it to run the modem, router, security cams, NVR and charge laptops and cellphones. Should be a constant draw of about 40 watts(without laptops and phones), which should give me about 1 day per KW, maybe 20 hrs with system losses.
I part own a wireless ISP did this on a few UPSs for our tower sites the 7 amp hour battery's just do not live long in those metal sealed boxes with the switches and power injectors to the power over Ethernet radios heat and cold kills them in less than a year I just made jumpers out of 10 gauge wire with terminals to match the UPC brand units removed the 7 amp hour batteries from them of course ran them thru the weather tight boxes with grommets to boat battery boxes from Wal Mart ive used every thing from a garden tractor battery up to a pair of deep cycle trolling motor ones to get 24 volts for the bigger back ups all have a lot longer life and power the UPSs for many hours when the power fails .
SeaLife TT have had one quit charging but we think it was a lightning strike that did it in also putting in a vent on the box side with a PC fan helps keep the ups cool the vents for boat bilges work well facing down with screen between the vent and sealed box all sealed with silicone to make them water tight and keeps the wasps out of the box . Yes I put a fuse inline too just in case .
this is a wonderful example of thought and action... I did smile abit with the stupid 40watt bulb install... at least I know that I am not the only one who sometimes has issue with a stupid light bulb... nice video my friend... "R" (oh the doors are opened) "forever"
I don't think you know what you're doing here. UPCs are normally designed for other types of batteries. I mean VRLA exactly. These have a completely different characteristic than normal car batteries. I do not want to go into too many details here, but a car battery has a final charge voltage of absolutely MAX 14.4V. Anything over 14.4V is very bad for a car battery. This begins to gas strongly in this area. VRLA batteries are used in most UPCs. These have a final charge voltage of about 15V. I do not explain what it has to do with using a normal car battery here, everyone can imagine. But your idea of doing a lot of work with little money is good. But not like this.
The 24V fan is annoying as hell in these ups, the problem is maybe the ball bearing, is a monster fan, you can try to change to a more silent, i recomend you adding a 12v external fan, big like PC fans silent and constant to mantain all cool when it charging.
The UPS needs a mains connection to charge the battery and to sense the presence of mains so that it can turn on when needed. You can always supplement the internal charger with solar panels simply by connecting a suitable supply directly to the batteries.
Don't forget you need deep cycle batteries not normal car batteries. Deep cycle batteries can handle been drained and recharged lots where normal car batteries like to stay full all the time.
No. You can use car battery. Ups is intermittent use, more capacity means less drain on a battery. More capacity, cheaper batteries a guy can use. Doesnt work with certain cheap models of ups's, as some are designed with turn off timer based on designed battery capacity ( doesnt care about battery voltage ). Also, make sure you have enough copper to carry the load, or risk fire.
@@UltimateDIY Beautiful country! Sorry I was stereotyping. It's the accents are very similar to the untrained ear. And I really like to here english with RU,RO, accent.
Great video! A bit too much of explanation at some points, but still very good. I can tell you're from Europe by the accent, because, let's admit it, all we europeans are just like that. Which country are you from? I love those connectors but can't find anything even remotely similar in stores in Bulgaria.
Hi there neighbour. Romanian here :) Yes, we europeans have have a special accent and I do sometimes get caught in my explanations and continue to rumble. Try to search on ebay for quick release battery terminals, they should be available. Although with a long delivery time...
giving power is OK - but I have a question regarding charging the car battery: charging is done in known conditions suitable to the original battery. You might have a problem with charging current to the car battery, am I correct??
Why not mount the Anderson plug on the outside of the case? Then you can disconnect the batteries if required without having to worry about insulating the terminals.
Great instructional video...The question is, if you use batteries like the marine or telecom batteries, how would you know if the UPS charging circuit will be able to properly trickle charge these batteries?
@@UltimateDIY Ok thanks. I googled APC UPS 3000va schematic and i got a 6page pdf document with schematics...so i will review and look for clues there.
Considering APC are one of the best UPS manufacturers I always have a facepalm moment when you look at the H bridge heat sink..... Why the heck to they place the electrolytic capacitors right next to the heat sink ??? Seems crazy to me !
Hello. I have a question. Your external Battery Cables are approximately AWG 6. But after the connector, your original UPS cables are more like AWG 10 or 12 only. Isn't that dangerous? I am ready to copy your concept with 2 pieces 50Ah batteries but also my original UPS battery cables are only AWG 10 or 12. Is it safe?
Hello bro. I have an apc 1500 i connected 2 cat 210ah batteries in series because it works with batteries in series. I previously charged the batteries externally but when i conmect them to the apc it always says low charge... dunno why. And connected a 1500w computer and apc shut down.
Hello. The part with the charging is a bit weird, but where did you get a 1500w computer from? An apc 1500 will output maximum 1000w, so anything above that will force shut it down.
Nice video, will this car battery work for my setup below. With a load of 300 watts. 1. 1500 watts 24V Inverter. 2. 80ah x 2 car battery. 3. Can I use this setup every day with 3 hours run time during power cut off. 4. Will this battery last up to 1 year of usage. Will appreciate it a lot if my questions (4) are answered as cost is an issue.
@@UltimateDIY In fact lead acid batteries can work on much longer ups systems. Because modern UPS systems do not go below 12.5 volts to keep battery life long. thus, they do not go below 20%, which is critical for a battery. In this context, it is more accurate to use lead acid batteries in modern ups. Because gel batteries have a price tag almost 4 times higher. With the same budget 4 times more amperage lead acid battery can be bought.
@@UltimateDIY New generation UPS systems do not reduce the battery to less than 12.5 volts. This makes a standard battery run like a deep-cycle battery. Even if you buy a gel battery, the new generation UPS systems will not use this battery to the bottom, it will stop the operation at 12.5 volts. So where's the advantage of buying a gel battery? And 4 times more expensive. I want to take my claims a step further, the old type wet batteries, bumper cover is better. periodically interferes with water and acid levels. This extends the battery life more than expected.
By connecting three wires to one you get three resistors in parallel connection. We all know that the smallest resistor will take all current, and burn first, so it is with these wires. For example 3x1.5mm2 joined together will never be equal to 1x4.5mm2. This may be fine at shorter distances, at greater distances there would be serious problems
Hmm, you are right. I just took that info without checking. It seems that when in parallel, the current gets divided and the resistor with the highest resistance gets the lowest current. So in the end 3 equal resistors get exactly equal current and if one of them is thinner somehow, it will have a higher resistance and get lower current, thus not burning itself.
I have a 330 watt APC BE600M1 with a 140 watt load. I hooked to a deep cycle lead acid marine battery to the UPS battery wires with the UPS battery still installed in the UPS. It wouldn't work at all powered by the marine battery unless the UPS battery was still hooked up. . The marine battery is supplying 12.5 volts to the UPS but it pretends like it isn't even there and shuts down in 15 minutes same as it does without the marine battery hooked to the wires. I don't understand why? I Googled bosch S3 012 specifications. It said "wet" I assume that means it's a lead acid battery. Is that correct? So your UPS works good with a lead acid battery. Mine should also I guess?
Some units don't check the battery charge level, but only set a predefined timer. It seems yours does that. Probably there ia no way to make it last longer.
Thank you for watching. I don't have enough experience to recommend anything. Just keep in mind that the more Ah, the slower it will charge to maximum. Also, the more Ah, the better the cooling on your ups must be, to be able to handle longer battery run time.
@@UltimateDIY Haha I was kidding dude. Good project though, you made me send back my APC BE700G-UK and buy an APC BX1400UI so I can do this the same as yours in future. I certainly did not miss the point. Thank you for the great video and subbed!
@@UltimateDIY However, I have a tip about the electrical tape. Instead use heat shrink tubing (need a heat gun) instead of the tape or cable clamps around the tape instead of super glue. If you ever have to replace the fuse you will have to rip that all open.
They were recently replaced, bacause the UPS was left disconnected from mains for a few months, but still connected to the batteries. This completely discharged and damaged one of them.
Thank you! It's an APC SmartUPS 1400. It cost about 60$ second hand and the batteries about 70$ each. Could be a little wrong about the prices, as the exchange rate has changed over time.
Great video, thank you so much! Has anyone (else, because I'm going to try) also charged the batteries from a solar panel? I'm thinking about doing this and just unplugging the UPS from the mains.
Yes.... just get an MPPT charge controller between the solar panel and the battery. Make sure you select the battery type on the initial setup on the charge controller because each kind uses a different charging and float voltage. LiFePo4 lithium batteries need to have 14.5 volts maximum while a lot of he lead acid type batteries use 13.6 as a maximum. Solar charge controllers cost $20 to $30.
I want to use an amplifier 2sc5200(4 MOSFETs) in car.does a ups work properly. And I also have done that idea but couldn't find success because ups goes to automatically off. Please reply... thanks.
Thanks! The cooling capabilities depend a lot on the particular ups model. I am not familiar with yours, but if it does not have a fan, I would add one, just to be safe.
That is a nice solution. I did it in 2013 too, www.hexnut.net/2013/12/apc-ups-on-steroids-bigger-batteries.html Replaced a battery twice already, its internal resistance shot up and it could not be recovered, however still up and running.
Salut! Foarte tare video-ul! Caut și eu o variantă de genul ăsta pentru un sistem de supraveghere video pe care sunt pe punctul de a mi-l monta acasă și vreau, pentru el, o autonomie serioasă. Se pare că nu o să consume mai mult de 300W hai să zicem cu o rezervă să fie ceva care să poată furniza 500W. Din experiența pe care o ai până acum ai putea să-mi recomanzi un upc și niște baterii care să-și facă treaba bine? Multă sănătate și spor!
@@UltimateDIY UPS-ul pe care îl folosești în video este un APC Smart UPS 1400VA? Că nu-mi dau exact seama de model. Să-mi caut unul tot în genul ăsta sau orice de pa APC e ok? Am văzut că sunt mai multe categorii de ups-uri de la APC și nu știu care ar merge cu o baterie externă cum ai făcut tu în video. Mulțumesc pentru răspuns!
Da, acela e. Cauta doar modele pe la 1500w si mai mult. Astea sunt mai robuste si au racire activa. Eu doar cu APC am avut de a face, de asta ii recomand.
Battery ups , of any size , are only meant to run the system just long enough for Generators to come On line . Battery ups were never meant to run the system for many hours or many days . ( without a Geenerator , what is one to do ? ) get a larger capacity battery . or to run the system just long enough to manually shut down the system and wait for power to be restored ( typical home scenario )
I have a query about 1200va ups (APC), how much amp hr battary can be install / support. Existing battaey into: 12 volt 9ah. I mean, can i use more AMP HR battary, for UPS works fine / without any harm to internals of UPS, to increase backup hours ?
It is impossible for me to know for a model that I have not used. Usually if it has active cooling (temperature controlled fan) it should be ok. As fot the battery capacity, the bigger you use, the longer it will take to fully charge. Depends on your needs.
besides deep cycle being better for, well, deep cycle... i would recommend using just heatshrink, especially when you don't like glue residues... you still need proper thickness... i think i would also use better cabling but this could be cheapest i guess
Hi. You want to determine the power factor of the unit while it is charging the batteries? Or the output while you have something plugged in? I would just buy a plug in power meter. Most of them show the power factor.
hi, nice video. 12,7 is very good for car battery :) is not empty. What is the voltage after the charge ? how long it last with those batteries on your consumption , have you tested ?
I have an APC Smart 1000, and I did upgrade with car battery but it shows time remaining of old battery's(shuts down after 22min and the battery bar is low but the battery's are fully charged), my load is 150-220W
Try to find the software disk and interface cable. If you talk to the UPS with their little program, you can tell it it has new batteries, and it will behave differently. You can even cycle them through a self-test diagnostic from there.
About can I deliver sufficient power for one pc without peripherals and one pc with a monitor (i7 9700k 3070 Nvidia with 700w power supply) I'm looking for something like this because in my country in summer we suffer alot with power loss
The UPS was designed to run (X) min at full load. now you are capable of running it 4(X)min at full load. UPS will probably overheat or electronics/transformer fail, what have you done about that?
No, it will not overheat. This is not a low price ups with passive cooling, this has a temperature controlled fan and the fact that the batteries are no longer in helps even more, with better airflow and no heat generated by them.
@@UltimateDIY Partially true. The UPS may have temperature control, which means it can protect itself from damaged but that doesn't mean it wont overheat. you may have slowed down the temperature rise by having an empty caucus, but it can still happen. the fact is that the inverter components where not designed/chosen for that extended run time at full load. things like transformer insulation, sink pastes etc. I've done the same with my UPS and this has always bugged me.
I do not think any of the components are unable to handle the extended load time. I would agree with you if we were talking about a unit designed to run for 10 minutes at full load and I would extend that at 2 hours for example. But in my opinion this unit even with standard batteries already has enough time to reach maximum operating temperatures on all components, so they are designed to withstand that.
@@UltimateDIY It not about reaching operating temperature, it about extended exposure to that temperature. the design safety factor may have been limited by the maximum possible operating time of (X)min based on batteries of (Y)Ah. you are now using 4(Y)Ah batteries and thus capable of exposing those components to that temperature for 4(X)min longer. there is a possibility of premature deterioration of the components. Even if you look at transformer or generator specifications, they will tell you for e.g "that this unit can run at say 80% continuous and 100% for (x) amount of time". Anyway, all im saying is that this is something you should think about and not dismiss because there is active cooling. since it was a SEALED unit with a defined and finite possible maximum operating time (Due to battery size), the designer could have chosen his components and he cools them within those known limits. it would be a different story if this was a stand alone UPS with external battery connection, and i bet you then that the designer would have mentioned either a max Ah battery to be used or provided a time vs load chart.
I understand what you say, but I do not consider this to be such a big risc. If you use the unit at max a lot of time, that is another thing. In the use scenario this particular unit was modified for, it will not see a full load, but something like 25% to 50% maximum, so this makes me confident it will survive.
Ultimate DIY Hi, I just did a 24volt (using 2x690amp truck batteries) ups 1500 watt setup last night. And then thought to see what UA-cam would say about it. And found your excellent video. As far as overheating is concerned, (With inclosed fan) My main goal is to keep the furnace and couple of lights going in a power outage so the load would be minimal. I don't see a problem.. The wires are 10 gauge. The size for a small dryer. I don't expect to use this every day but if I did, I'd use #8, ( electric stove size).. the bigger the better. This is just my preference and not in any code book. The less resistance, the higher the efficiency. On a longer power outage, say 6hrs, my Millar welder @ 10.5 kW ac, would be used for a couple of hrs to recharge the batteries. My initial search was on how to hard wire the ups set up to the breaker panel. I imagine there's a couple of automatic switches to buy so the ups doesn't backfeed into itself and a switch to keep from electrocuting the lines men repairing the line. Or trying to light up the neighbourhood . I'd appreciate any input/thoughts, thanks.
Thank you for watching. Maybe something like this would work? But I'm not sure if it does exactly what you need. m.made-in-china.com/product/3-Phase-ATS-Dual-Power-Automatic-Transfer-Switch-734363895.html
Great video. thanks for sharing!. I want to ask, i have a ups 550VA (330W) working with a 12V 9Ah AGM battery. Can i extend by adding parallel another one to increase the capacity?. The thinking is to add 2 x parallel 12V 7Ah so will be after 14Ah. Only to provide more backup time because the 12V 9Ah is more expensive than a 12V 7Ah and i can find easily good batteries in 7Ah or 7,2Ah. Thanks
Hello every one, this UPS, is it able to charge that big car battery without struggling, And what is the value of the charging current if measured, Is it limited or controlled...
If you like the battery quick release terminals, you can get them here: www.banggood.com/custlink/GvGhrEMdHk
pl.
.
.pp?.?
?.
.."
Please Ultimate DIY i
PplPP
P?pO
Pp.
o.
O
poll
l
stole it
What? This text? I've seen it online and modified to my liking.
Is this can....
Can i power up a hi fi playing Florin salam with this?
That is the ideal use for it! 😂
Great video, I've been wanting to do this for a while to ensure my internet and router don't go down during a power outage. My recommendations: Use marine/deep cycle batteries, battery boxes, and maybe storage container to consolidate (portable?) the system. For the preppers out there, it would be interesting to see how to recharge this system using solar panels only. Cheers.
Very nice advice, but "...in Romania, we slap to Astra's together and go to the moon!".
True 🤣🤣
@annestywest7488
I bought a Cyberpower cp1500pfclcda 1500va 1000w sine wave battery back-up system it has 2 9AH batteries 24v so I added 2 100AH sealed lead acid batteries 24v but it can't see that I added more AH to it and at 207w it only runs 44 minutes then shuts off but the batteries are still at 24.5v when it cuts off. Can I hack the system to change the settings? Maybe I should just buy a power inverter to run my things?
@annestywest7488 sadly some ups models do not actually check the voltage of the battery to deteemine runtime, they just have timers based on the load. I had an Eaton like that. I don't think you can change the ups settings.
Many people concern and diaagreed ...why need to modify the UpS instead of buying ready made sold online and in many hardware store....so my answer is...this project is thinking out of the box...many inverter sold came with no spark fuse..event they built in fuse..that does not protect the unit board..once its sparked..the whole unit became unuseable...throw away...i came here after my inverter unit was damaged/blown...this make me think how this UPS work...there is many UPS was thrown away after the built in battery died..not many people known thay the battery is replaceable...thank you admin..you inspired many people in the world..keep a good work..keep post it..
Thank you!
Che fach, muh. I recognize that accent. My grandparents were from Alba Julia and came to the USA in 1932. They spoke Romanian at home but they forbid each other from speaking anything but English outside the home. I learned a few words and phrases but that was 60+ years ago. Great job on the UPS!
Bine!
Alba Iulia is at about 50km from my home town. Glad you are not forgetting your Romanian heritage. Thank you for watching my video!
@@UltimateDIY Tocana con mamaliga!
Buna, buna!
You're missing something very important. UPS batteries are deep discharge cycle type batteries. Car batteries, aren't. Car batteries are made to never discharge too much, while providing very high CCA (cold cranking amps), something a UPS will never need. On the other hand, UPS batteries are built to have lots of deep discharge cycles. The physical difference is the amount and shape of the cells inside each type of battery. So yeah... it works but the car battery will only last a couple cycles, kinda expensive... Don't do this
Yup, agreed 👍🏻
UPS batteries..... unless you use LiFe batteries are not deep cycle batteries at all. they are simple sealed lead acid batteries they are NOT designed for deep discharge and recharge any more than a lead acid car battery is. These are not even close to the same as a deep cycle battery use in boats or RVs etc. I recondition these batteries if theyre not too badly damaged so I know for a fact that a straight 12 volt 18Ah battery is not a deep cycle battery. It is nothing more than a motorcycle battery.
@@dalefeekes313 wrong. check the datasheet of for example any 12v 7ah sealed lead acid or gel battery and compare the amount of deep descharge cycles it can withstand against a common for example 85ah car battery. the stats are there. to get the enormous CCA vehicles need, the batteries are made different. another example is you can't get near half of the CCA putting 10 7ah batteries in parallel compared to a single 70ah car battery. I get your point with the specific "deep discharge batteries" but thats kinda marketing snake oil, they're actually very similar to UPS or moto batteries
Excellent setup and clear instructions, I like to stress to viewers that you need to pay attention to the transformers and validate they can handle the load.
Thank you!
I use a old 1500 volt amp...(1500 watt) ...APC brand UPS that was thrown away to power up my modem, WiFi, TV, clock and the modem cooling fan when the power goes out. The total load is 363 watts so there is plenty of reserve in the UPS as this is only 1/4 rated load. I added a 55 amp hour power wheelchair SLA sealed lead acid battery to extend the run time. This system has been on line for 3 years with no attention needed. I added an LED volt meter that is constantly on so I can see the battery health in a glance. Its better to have a larger UPS running at a lower load than rated.
Exactly. The number of batteries in parallel can be any, but it is important to warn the audience that the UPS has the power indicated on the label, which it can supply, such as 350W. In practice, about half to 75 percent of the power consumption is used, ie about 175-230W. This means that you can power devices that have a maximum power consumption of up to 230W. If someone powered devices that have a higher consumption, a Bosch battery up to 100Ah would certainly be able to do it, but the UPS transformer will not be able to do it and it will burn with all the electronics. This is called overload and the UPS transformer really can't handle long-term overload. The author of the video has to be very careful about that, and so do the viewers.
I like the video and the concept of using larger batteries for your ups backup units. You must realize that ups inverters are not very efficient and the chargers are not a high rate charger. A 1500 VA ups can only run 500- 700 watts for long periods. The low volt amperage is 25-35 amps @ 24vdc for 120vac output. this translates to 2-3 hours of run time max. The 2 amp charger will take 2 days to replace this charge in the batteries. Also realize that the inverter will not switch on if the power has already gone out and the ups was not plugged in at the time to mains. A ups uses the mains to sync ac hz on mains and then switches inverter to match. If you take a fully charged ups out of the closet and turn it on to provide backup power nothing will happen as it has no mains to sync to.
I though the same, but it seems at least this model is able to power on, even if it was disconected before the power is gone. If I remember right, I added this info as a text somewhere almost at the end of the video. It is not happy to power on like that, but it does :)
Not sure about other models, though.
you should realy use marine battery or solar battery becouse car battery is designed to deliver high amperage in small bursts but marine and solar battery are designed for draining compleatly
Agree, but they are way way more expensive for the same capacity, sadly.
Yes, but modern UPS have a low voltage cutoff, so car batteries won't get damaged directly. However deep cycle batteries can do much more cycles before a drop in capacity than regular car batteries. In the end, car batteries lasts much longer during an outage than small UPS batteries.
@@ShawnGuertin Was just about to say the same thing lol.
Draining completly without harm to battery
@@ShawnGuertin How many batteries for a week of power
Bill is right, you need to keep the same battery technology unless you want to go and reprogram the new float voltage and also I have done this before, but ended up charging the battery array externally as the internal battery charging circuit is designed for small capacity battery banks (No more than 36Ah and considering the SUA1500 has 2 x 17-22Ah gel cell batteries in them anyway) I ended up having an external MPPT 24 volt solar setup that charges the batteries and I just switch it on when I need mains power and off when I do not. Additionally if your pushing the UPS output past 930 Watts for long durations (this is based on the 1500 VA variant, the transformer can overheat quickly and kill your UPS. Stay under 500 Watts as a constant load and it will run for past 10 hours without any issues if your battery bank is big enough.
With an external Charge controller, you can let the battery float to whatever the battery technology you purchase is. Remember that long durations of just charging will make the batteries lazy when you do throw a heavy load at them, so remember to calibrate the UPS to the batteries ...oh and disconnect that blasted buzzer!
If you want to get more grunt out of your UPS, adding extra FET's to anything other than the base model (4 FET's only) gives hardly any improvement except a slightly better surge capability. I ran 2 x 100Ah batteries on a 50 Watt dual solar cell MPPT for my remote shed. I got over 6 hours of 360 time before the UPS started hinting it was running low, so I just switched it all off and 2 days of sunshine later....another 6 hours again
If you do want a bigger max load output, alas the 1500 is 24 volt, but it then goes up to 48 volts for the 2200 all the way up to 5KVA. The 5 KVA and up models go to 96 and then 120 volts... The longer your cable run, the bigger the cable will need to be and especially if your going to mode a 1500, change those DC cables for 2 Gauge as running a 750 watt load for more than 20 minutes will leave you with the insulation starting to melt! 4 guage at a push ... DO NOT FORGET THE BATTERY ISOLATOR, FUSE THE HELL OUT OF IT AND DO NOT LEAVE IT UNATTENDED WHEN YOU FIRST FINISH IT UP!
Thank you for the detailed information!
@@UltimateDIY the lead-acid AGMs in stock UPS, marine batteries, and car batteries are all lead-acid, all work the same way, all have the same charging voltage thresholds. The difference is that the UPS charger cannot supply as much current as a big charger can. If the UPS charger is stupid and is relying too much on the internal resistance of the 7AH pack for current limiting, it will overhead because it's trying to deliver too much current for a long time.
Minimal quality UPS are smarter than that and current limits to protect itself even if the battery is shorted.
The only real advantage to having an external charger for your bank is that the external charger will charge at a much higher rate than the builtin UPS charging circuit can.
IIRC, the optimum charge rate for a lead-acid battery is about .1C, where C is the capacity in AH. So a 7AH battery *optimally* charges at .7A, and will take about 10 hours to charge 100%. You can take it as a given that UPSs target somewhat less than 10 hours. Say 5 - .2C. Meanwhile, a 250AH truck battery wants to charge at 25A for 10 hours. No consumer UPS is going to charge remotely close to that level, and even at the 7AH's double-optimum rate, it'd take over over 5 days to charge.
Reprogramming float voltage et. al. would only be needed if you changed to a different battery chemistry. Like LifFePO or NiCd. But you're not.
You could potentially rig up an automotive charger into a UPS to charge the backup battery automatically, but that' would require rather more surgery on the UPS.
@@fromagefrizzbizz9377 There is a small chemistry difference between car lead-acid batteries and the deep cycle lead-acid batteries.
I think car batteries lead plates contain some barium alloyed with the lead. It is possible that some have calcium alloyed with the lead.
As you use the battery, the lead sponge on the anode (negative terminal) turns to PbSO4.
At the cathode (positive terminal), the PbO2 (spongey PbO2) turns to PbSO4.
The purpose of the barium or calcium is to prevent the formation of large PbSO4 crystals.
In any case, once you use the battery too much, too much PbSO4 covers the plates and it is hard to recharge it.
The purpose of car batteries is to give high amperage (100 A to 500 A) for a short period of time to just turn the engine, which is why it uses the high surface area spongey lead and PbO2.
In the case of deep cycle batteries, the plates aren’t so spongey and can’t give high amperage. The plates aren’t the high surface area type.
You can adjust float voltage using SM protocol in hyperterminal. Plus charging can be boosted upto 14 Amps in 1500VA model by solding a resistor on board. Transformer will heat up but you can install better fan to cool it down.
You can easily run 2 100Ah batteries by doing that without any additional charger or anything.
Thank you for the info! ✌🏼
"No burning Smell" LoL, great video man, really enjoyed.
Thank you! :)
I did this a LONG time ago using deep cycle batteries from my wife's power chair. I had a relatively small APC backup and two deep cycles in parallel. It gave me (according to the reporting software) something like 1 to 2 hours. First test seemed to be accurate.
Rarely used it, but I did note the tiny backup took a LONG time charging them up again.
Our power here is usually very reliable, the batteries leaked a bit after a number years of disuse.
Tonight I was in the middle of something semi important and power went off. Hmph!
I had just read a How-to-Geek article on having battery backup for your router. Yea!
Was VERY surprised that even $300+ backups were reporting less than 30 minutes of half load time.
I agree, of the shelf backups are still a joke in terms of up times.
You used inverter much better give you much better battery time ok those things batter eater no joke i have one i have have 5 inverter 500 watts,800watts,1100watts,1500watts and 3000watts inverter much better
Mi se pare absolut genial cum ai un vocabular impecabil in limba engleza (mult superior unor vorbitori nativi) si accent balcanic puternic. You could be the best russian spy in america, ever.
Multumesc mult pentru cuvintele frumoase! :)
Very nice DIY video. I am considering to do this on my UPS, probably when my present battery gets too bad.
Thanks!
Just try to get deep cycle batteries. They will last more.
You should have used ring terminals for larger gauge wire, the blue insulated are for 14-16 gauge wire,I believe the ones with yellow insulated for 10-12 gauge would have been the correct size.
When connecting to the battery terminals you could have just used ring terminals connected to one of the screws which tighten the cable connection, this would have been more secure than your bundle of wire.
Also, if you change the battery orientation so that you have a positive and negative post at each end the UPS connection will be at one end, the fuse at the other end.
Thanks for the info :)
The reason why the cable didn't fit through the groove is mainly because of the insulation to copper ratio. Mains cables are double insulated (at least European is or should be) which adds to the diameter even if there isn't a lot of copper. The cables designed for connecting to batteries don't have as much insulation and have a ton more copper for higher current.
Ok, that makes sense. Thank you for the explanation 👍🏻
Great setup, you have skills. I have the same idea to do something like that. I wanna disconnect the 230v main and charge from solar. That way i can use it as a backup power-supply for fridge, computer, fans etc. I do not wan't mains connected all the time. 30 Watt solar panel can charge my mini UPS with 12v 7A battery (Real 3.5Ah) in less than 3 hours. I also have a 230v - 12v battery charger + trainer at 12v - 1A and does it also within 3 Hours. Because Lead-Acid batteries have a discharge cut-off at 50% capacity they charge quickly from 50% to 100%. Basically your 88Ah - 24v (2x12v) Car battery backup unit has only 44Ah - 24v capacity = 1KWh of real capacity to use with the UPS inverter. If your UPS charges at 10A it will do so in 4 hours to 100%. These old inverters from the 1990's have a very low efficiency, probably 75% or less at high 230v loads. So you lose another 250Wh of capacity to conversion & heat and end up with only 750Wh. Not to bad for a shabby 24v car battery that cost probably $120 or less. You do have to be aware of gasses. Regular maintenance of the battery is required like with your car. My Mini UPS has a few (4) switches on the back to set cut-off voltage and acoustic alarms at different loads (voltage drops), e.a. 160v, 172, 184v and 196v at either 50Hz or 60Hz meaning you can (un)safely drain the 12v Lead Acid down to almost 20% making it compatible with expensive deep cycle gell types, if i am right? Maybe it is just a security threshold voltage when the backup battery kicks in to protect delicate electronics like your PC from surges or dips without power loss?
Thank you for this info!
Great project, great execution! Thanks for sharing 😀
Thank you!
nice trick with the super glue, i came to the same conclusion to to finish tape with super glue after some of mine start coming unraveled.
Fantastic video - many thanks for taking the time to record and post this. it has helped me hugely and saved me a small fortune! Thanks so much!!
Welcome!
"Okay...I'm back with a cheap ass mixer." lol
Whell, what can I say, it was a mixer and it's cheap ass :)))
If you really understand what you are doing..then everything will be okay...it works perfectly on my rig...THANKS ULTIMATE DIY!!!
Welcome! Glad my video helped :)
Nice video to watch and learn. But I am just thinking. Aren't UPS built for emergency saving your work and eventually you need to use the generator? And isn't it better to use instead an inverter if you really need power from a bettery? Just my thoughts.
Yes, but then you would also need a separate charger. The UPS in the video was really cheap and that settled the issue 😄
Cool, now I can scramble my eggs for omelets in da morning.
You are kind af dude, great work.
Thank you! :)
the problem of extending an ups with batteries of greater capacity, is the UPS is not designed to work for such a long time, and less if you connect a computer that costs at least 300w, the transformer that it has at some point will burn, if the ups have no over consumption protection
True 👍🏼
I got a chance to play with some lower grade ups units and they are built way cheaper than the APC units I worked with.
I have art tronic
It works
No problem on 12v
Doesn't need mains to stop
Its very good
least you take out the loud noise man, thanks for that!!!
Very nice explanations, Sir.
✌🏼
Hello sir, I have contacted UPS with 35ah Amron car battery. I have checked that 35ah full battery provided approximately 4hrs backup for 200 watts load. But I am using my laptop with wifi during backup time UPS automatically turned off after 5 minutes of backup instead of long time. If turned on again then also turned off after 5 minutes. It's quite difficult to use please give me a solution. Thanks in advance.
Hello. Sorry, but it's not about a universal sollution. Each brand and model of ups bahaves in a different way. Some can even be set up by connecting to a pc with a dedicated software. If it always shuts off after 5 minutes it seems to be on some kind of timer.
great idea...I did it years ago but you should be using 10mm or ideally 16mm cable
Thanks for suggestion 👍🏻
Do you ever smell the gases from the batteries? The charging of lead-acid batteries can be hazardous. However, many workers may not see it that way since it is such a common activity in many workplaces. The two primary risks are from hydrogen gas formed when the battery is being charged and the sulfuric acid in the battery fluid
Never smelled anything. I think modern batteries that are in a good condition release really small amount of gases. My car for example has the battery in the trunk, which is directly connected to the inside of the car. They would not have done that if the risks were too high.
Agree - wet cells should not be used indoors without a vented, explosion proof container. I have a nice RV charger to use for ham UPS nut mt wait to but the $$$ AGM battery.
Sorry, but the reality is that the hidrogen generated is way way less than people think. Yes, it's not ideal, but it's not a bomb either.
What a wonderful well explained video. Thanks for making it 🤗
Welcome! If you can afford it, try to use deep cycle batteries. They will last much longer without degrading.
@@UltimateDIY its a good idea but I'm wondering whether the float voltages will be different. The deep cycle I have in mind needs topping up with 0 TDS water over the sealed kind you used here.
That I'm not sure about. Many people seem to te using those batteries with ups units, but I never did it myself.
Good video and great explanation ,thank you👌
Welcome!
The reason for it not turning on if it previously did not get AC voltage at its input is, for one, that the AC the UPS creates must be in phase with the line AC. Primarily the required clock signal comes from an active line AC voltage. Secondly, safety.
But there is a way to force it on, if you really need to. I show it at the end of the video.
You may force coldstart as you figured out
Hey, dont know if you read comments, but just wanted to ask, does your UPS still work all these years later? How long did the batteries last? Cheers
Hey. It still works, but it was left unplugged for a long time at a point and one of the batteries overdischarged to a point that the ups refused to charge. So it needed to be charged with a car battery charger. Now it's working again, but I suspect the capacity of both batteries has dropped over time.
Hello! Did you have any problems with the current while charging the batteries?? regards from Austria
Hello. No problems. It seems this particular UPS model handles this modification really well.
@@UltimateDIY Thanks!
Welcome!
....and here i have a cheap, ass mixer....lol great video thanks :)
Thank you for watching!
Cables/wires and fuses!
Power is pulled by a load it is not pused by a source. If the ups has a 60 amp fuse then thats all you need. It will match the demand of the device. No reason to not reuse the fuse.
Likewise the wires are sized for the amps pulled through them, however if you make the run longer you should up size the rest of the run. Likewise with connectors. The more you have the more resistance you introduce, voltage drops, and subsequently reduce run time as the ups will see a lower voltage.
As you are not dealing with fault potential then just rate your dc parts to the fuse and keep it simple otherwise you are getting into i²t and time constants for interrupt and disconnect ratings that will blow your mind.
Lastly the charge profile is unknown for the ups, we should assume it is correct for the technology supplied. Firther we should expect it is tumed for the exact batteries supplied given these are "quality" products. As such deviation from the battery spec is going to cause issues in the accuracy of the equipment and the safe and reliable working of the batteries.
Clearly however there is a cost benefit, but anyone should be aware of the dangers involved in the incorrect charging of batteries.
All the best.
Thank you for all of this info 👍🏻
Hi man how long did you run on those batteries and what was the consumption in watts. Thanks
Ups has an eprom similar to those, found in laptop batteries. To upload its contents to the pc, you may need to do the same as with laptops. 10 discharges in Windows, 1 discharge in Bios (must be about 45 min). In bios, each discharge will enable one option, that may be off by default, when you buy the device. That will enable lower fan speed, less heat, higher performance, and less cpu usage. To achieve this, you may need 10x 11 discharges, depending on your computer’s health.
so how long those battery lost may i asked i have 350va ups 12v deep cycle battery 75A i run for like 9hours and more
Question, did the UPS built in battery level indicator eventually begin to accurately represent the new battery levels? How long did it take?
EDIT:Typo
It's almost accurate, but the batteries never get drained fully. This setup is used more as a backup in case s#it hits the fan.
@@UltimateDIY Yeah, I am thinking about buying a refurbished UPS and adding an external battery bank to it to run the modem, router, security cams, NVR and charge laptops and cellphones. Should be a constant draw of about 40 watts(without laptops and phones), which should give me about 1 day per KW, maybe 20 hrs with system losses.
Just try to use deep cycle batteries. If you use standard car batteries make sure you don't discharge them deeply or frequently.
@@UltimateDIY I will likely use deep cycles made for solar systems.
Perfect 👍🏼
Having gas off from battery might not be a good idea. Gel battery saver yeah? Also charge time would be days bud. Other then that great video.
Thanks!
I part own a wireless ISP did this on a few UPSs for our tower sites the 7 amp hour battery's just do not live long in those metal sealed boxes with the switches and power injectors to the power over Ethernet radios heat and cold kills them in less than a year I just made jumpers out of 10 gauge wire with terminals to match the UPC brand units removed the 7 amp hour batteries from them of course ran them thru the weather tight boxes with grommets to boat battery boxes from Wal Mart ive used every thing from a garden tractor battery up to a pair of deep cycle trolling motor ones to get 24 volts for the bigger back ups all have a lot longer life and power the UPSs for many hours when the power fails .
That is a really nice hack.
John Siders did you put in a fuse along the jumpers? He shows a fuse, but would think the ups would have an internal one
Does the ups ever fail after some point?Some commenters claimed the charger part of the ups will be working too hard to charge such a big battery
Mine never failed.
SeaLife TT have had one quit charging but we think it was a lightning strike that did it in also putting in a vent on the box side with a PC fan helps keep the ups cool the vents for boat bilges work well facing down with screen between the vent and sealed box all sealed with silicone to make them water tight and keeps the wasps out of the box . Yes I put a fuse inline too just in case .
this is a wonderful example of thought and action... I did smile abit with the stupid 40watt bulb install... at least I know that I am not the only one who sometimes has issue with a stupid light bulb... nice video my friend...
"R" (oh the doors are opened) "forever"
Thank you! :)
Great vídeo, thank you, it is a great idea!! 👍🙂🇧🇷
Welcome!
It is best to use alternative power equipment such as tripplites that can run from 1250W to 20000W of power continuously.
I don't think you know what you're doing here. UPCs are normally designed for other types of batteries. I mean VRLA exactly. These have a completely different characteristic than normal car batteries. I do not want to go into too many details here, but a car battery has a final charge voltage of absolutely MAX 14.4V. Anything over 14.4V is very bad for a car battery. This begins to gas strongly in this area. VRLA batteries are used in most UPCs. These have a final charge voltage of about 15V. I do not explain what it has to do with using a normal car battery here, everyone can imagine. But your idea of doing a lot of work with little money is good. But not like this.
The 24V fan is annoying as hell in these ups, the problem is maybe the ball bearing, is a monster fan, you can try to change to a more silent, i recomend you adding a 12v external fan, big like PC fans silent and constant to mantain all cool when it charging.
Thanks for the idea.
The UPS needs a mains connection to charge the battery and to sense the presence of mains so that it can turn on when needed. You can always supplement the internal charger with solar panels simply by connecting a suitable supply directly to the batteries.
This particular model can actually power on even without mains connected.
Don't forget you need deep cycle batteries not normal car batteries. Deep cycle batteries can handle been drained and recharged lots where normal car batteries like to stay full all the time.
Indeed, but we needed a really high capacity, so they would have been much too expensive.
No. You can use car battery. Ups is intermittent use, more capacity means less drain on a battery. More capacity, cheaper batteries a guy can use. Doesnt work with certain cheap models of ups's, as some are designed with turn off timer based on designed battery capacity ( doesnt care about battery voltage ). Also, make sure you have enough copper to carry the load, or risk fire.
APC are great, no timer :) also INTEX (india-germany)
I was thinking the same
@@pixels303at-odysee9 i was thinking the same
"...if we blow this fuse, giggle, giggle,..."! Lol!
Your Russian?! Aren't you?
Not russian.
Romanian 🇷🇴
@@UltimateDIY Beautiful country! Sorry I was stereotyping. It's the accents are very similar to the untrained ear. And I really like to here english with RU,RO, accent.
A subscriber once described my accent: "you sound like a drunk russian" and I think he nailed it 🤭
so, is your apc can full charge those battery? is the charging system (apc) wont overload since your new batt is already at high capacity.
Yes, until now it has handled them well.
Great video! A bit too much of explanation at some points, but still very good. I can tell you're from Europe by the accent, because, let's admit it, all we europeans are just like that. Which country are you from? I love those connectors but can't find anything even remotely similar in stores in Bulgaria.
Hi there neighbour. Romanian here :)
Yes, we europeans have have a special accent and I do sometimes get caught in my explanations and continue to rumble.
Try to search on ebay for quick release battery terminals, they should be available. Although with a long delivery time...
@@UltimateDIY salut dar tot se aude un zgomot la finalul videoclipului fara ventilator, de la ce
Salut. Cred ca e ventilatorul de racire de la UPS.
Deep cycle batteries should really be used. But for experimental and financial reasons, a car battery is completely acceptable.
Yes, I agree.
giving power is OK - but I have a question regarding charging the car battery: charging is done in known conditions suitable to the original battery. You might have a problem with charging current to the car battery, am I correct??
It's not ideal but still works.
Excellent video; nice connections
Thank you!
Why not mount the Anderson plug on the outside of the case? Then you can disconnect the batteries if required without having to worry about insulating the terminals.
We wanted the whole build to look as clean as possible, so we get a high WAF (wife approval factor) :)
Absolutlly. And be able to charge the batteries faster if they run low on charge due to a outtage.
Great instructional video...The question is, if you use batteries like the marine or telecom batteries, how would you know if the UPS charging circuit will be able to properly trickle charge these batteries?
Hello. I do not know, as I never used such batteries.
@@UltimateDIY Ok thanks.
I googled APC UPS 3000va schematic and i got a 6page pdf document with schematics...so i will review and look for clues there.
Considering APC are one of the best UPS manufacturers I always have a facepalm moment when you look at the H bridge heat sink..... Why the heck to they place the electrolytic capacitors right next to the heat sink ??? Seems crazy to me !
Maybe planned obsolence.
LOL! "...trust me, I did it."
🤭
those battery clamps are fantastic! The would be great on my truck
Yup. I was really glad when I found them.
Do you have a link to the clamps?
Yes. Here is the link: www.banggood.com/custlink/GvGhrEMdHk
@@UltimateDIY thanks
Hello. I have a question. Your external Battery Cables are approximately AWG 6. But after the connector, your original UPS cables are more like AWG 10 or 12 only. Isn't that dangerous? I am ready to copy your concept with 2 pieces 50Ah batteries but also my original UPS battery cables are only AWG 10 or 12. Is it safe?
Hello. The ups itself can't draw more current than those cables can carry.
Hello bro. I have an apc 1500 i connected 2 cat 210ah batteries in series because it works with batteries in series. I previously charged the batteries externally but when i conmect them to the apc it always says low charge... dunno why. And connected a 1500w computer and apc shut down.
Hello. The part with the charging is a bit weird, but where did you get a 1500w computer from? An apc 1500 will output maximum 1000w, so anything above that will force shut it down.
Thanks, i have a 2200 APC and will use the standard connectors for now, but thanks for thwe alternative method
Thank you for watching!
Nice video, will this car battery work for my setup below. With a load of 300 watts.
1. 1500 watts 24V Inverter.
2. 80ah x 2 car battery.
3. Can I use this setup every day with 3 hours run time during power cut off.
4. Will this battery last up to 1 year of usage.
Will appreciate it a lot if my questions (4) are answered as cost is an issue.
Thank you. With daily use you need special deep cycle batteries (really expensive). Car batteries don't like to be discharged so much daily.
@@UltimateDIY In fact lead acid batteries can work on much longer ups systems. Because modern UPS systems do not go below 12.5 volts to keep battery life long. thus, they do not go below 20%, which is critical for a battery. In this context, it is more accurate to use lead acid batteries in modern ups. Because gel batteries have a price tag almost 4 times higher. With the same budget 4 times more amperage lead acid battery can be bought.
99% of the other comments say that you should not use standard car batteries. As my friend is already using them, I hope you are right :)
@@UltimateDIY New generation UPS systems do not reduce the battery to less than 12.5 volts. This makes a standard battery run like a deep-cycle battery. Even if you buy a gel battery, the new generation UPS systems will not use this battery to the bottom, it will stop the operation at 12.5 volts. So where's the advantage of buying a gel battery? And 4 times more expensive.
I want to take my claims a step further, the old type wet batteries, bumper cover is better. periodically interferes with water and acid levels. This extends the battery life more than expected.
Thank you. But how can i adjust the float voltage and what to use by doing that?
I don't know, as such details are completely linked to the particular ups you are using.
By connecting three wires to one you get three resistors in parallel connection. We all know that the smallest resistor will take all current, and burn first, so it is with these wires. For example 3x1.5mm2 joined together will never be equal to 1x4.5mm2. This may be fine at shorter distances, at greater distances there would be serious problems
Thank you for the info.
False.
3 resistors in parallel share current. Google it.
Hmm, you are right. I just took that info without checking. It seems that when in parallel, the current gets divided and the resistor with the highest resistance gets the lowest current. So in the end 3 equal resistors get exactly equal current and if one of them is thinner somehow, it will have a higher resistance and get lower current, thus not burning itself.
I have a 330 watt APC BE600M1 with a 140 watt load. I hooked to a deep cycle lead acid marine battery to the UPS battery wires with the UPS battery still installed in the UPS. It wouldn't work at all powered by the marine battery unless the UPS battery was still hooked up. . The marine battery is supplying 12.5 volts to the UPS but it pretends like it isn't even there and shuts down in 15 minutes same as it does without the marine battery hooked to the wires. I don't understand why?
I Googled bosch S3 012 specifications. It said "wet" I assume that means it's a lead acid battery. Is that correct? So your UPS works good with a lead acid battery. Mine should also I guess?
Some units don't check the battery charge level, but only set a predefined timer. It seems yours does that. Probably there ia no way to make it last longer.
Nice video and educative, can I use 12v 100AH x2 with APC 1500 Smart UPS without any issue or what is your recommendation.
Thank you! Yes, you should be able to use them without problems.
Great video thank you. I have a 750Va/375w ups; which battery do you recommend and its max capacity in Ah?
Thank you for watching. I don't have enough experience to recommend anything.
Just keep in mind that the more Ah, the slower it will charge to maximum. Also, the more Ah, the better the cooling on your ups must be, to be able to handle longer battery run time.
"I have nothing capable of melting solder"
5 minutes later: "Here's my soldering iron..."
For sure you missed the point. Probably I was talking about desoldering stuff with a lot of thermal mass. My soldering iron is unable to do that.
@@UltimateDIY Haha I was kidding dude. Good project though, you made me send back my APC BE700G-UK and buy an APC BX1400UI so I can do this the same as yours in future.
I certainly did not miss the point. Thank you for the great video and subbed!
@@UltimateDIY However, I have a tip about the electrical tape. Instead use heat shrink tubing (need a heat gun) instead of the tape or cable clamps around the tape instead of super glue. If you ever have to replace the fuse you will have to rip that all open.
Got it :)
Thank you for the suggestions.
How long did the car baterry lasted? I see the video is 6yrs old!
They were recently replaced, bacause the UPS was left disconnected from mains for a few months, but still connected to the batteries. This completely discharged and damaged one of them.
Great video. Can you provide details about the UPS: Model #, cost?
Thank you!
It's an APC SmartUPS 1400. It cost about 60$ second hand and the batteries about 70$ each. Could be a little wrong about the prices, as the exchange rate has changed over time.
Kevin Fegan
ebay sells one for $180
Does the ups ever fail after some point?Some commenters claimed the charger part of the ups will be working too hard to charge such a big battery
Most UPS units charge at a fixed current, as long as it remains in spec then it should be ok
Great video, thank you so much! Has anyone (else, because I'm going to try) also charged the batteries from a solar panel? I'm thinking about doing this and just unplugging the UPS from the mains.
Thank you! I'm also curious about this.
Yes.... just get an MPPT charge controller between the solar panel and the battery. Make sure you select the battery type on the initial setup on the charge controller because each kind uses a different charging and float voltage. LiFePo4 lithium batteries need to have 14.5 volts maximum while a lot of he lead acid type batteries use 13.6 as a maximum. Solar charge controllers cost $20 to $30.
I want to use an amplifier 2sc5200(4 MOSFETs) in car.does a ups work properly. And I also have done that idea but couldn't find success because ups goes to automatically off. Please reply... thanks.
Sorry, but without actually seeing the issue myself it's impossible to troubleshoot.
Nice vid. I'm thinking on using two 50Amp's AGM battery on my SmartUps750I . Do i need fans for cooling the UPS inside.
Thanks!
The cooling capabilities depend a lot on the particular ups model. I am not familiar with yours, but if it does not have a fan, I would add one, just to be safe.
Did you reprogram the charge curve on the ups for the differenct batteries??????
Great.would u mind let me know that,can I use biggest battery with homepage inverter
good stuff big chap
✌🏼
That is a nice solution. I did it in 2013 too, www.hexnut.net/2013/12/apc-ups-on-steroids-bigger-batteries.html
Replaced a battery twice already, its internal resistance shot up and it could not be recovered, however still up and running.
Good to know it's still working.
Can anyone tell me the model number of the APC unit in this video? And if it is a 24 VDC battery setup?
It's an old APC Smart UPS 1500VA, running from 24V (2x12V), if I remember correctly.
Salut! Foarte tare video-ul! Caut și eu o variantă de genul ăsta pentru un sistem de supraveghere video pe care sunt pe punctul de a mi-l monta acasă și vreau, pentru el, o autonomie serioasă. Se pare că nu o să consume mai mult de 300W hai să zicem cu o rezervă să fie ceva care să poată furniza 500W. Din experiența pe care o ai până acum ai putea să-mi recomanzi un upc și niște baterii care să-și facă treaba bine? Multă sănătate și spor!
Salut. Multumesc!
Ups foarte ok e cel folosit de mine in video. Baterii, cumpara mai bine deep cycle. Cele de masina merg, dar nu sunt ideale.
@@UltimateDIY UPS-ul pe care îl folosești în video este un APC Smart UPS 1400VA? Că nu-mi dau exact seama de model. Să-mi caut unul tot în genul ăsta sau orice de pa APC e ok? Am văzut că sunt mai multe categorii de ups-uri de la APC și nu știu care ar merge cu o baterie externă cum ai făcut tu în video. Mulțumesc pentru răspuns!
Da, acela e. Cauta doar modele pe la 1500w si mai mult. Astea sunt mai robuste si au racire activa. Eu doar cu APC am avut de a face, de asta ii recomand.
Mulțumesc frumos pentru sfaturi! Sănătate!
Cu placere! Sanatate!
Battery ups , of any size , are only meant to run the system just long enough for Generators to come On line .
Battery ups were never meant to run the system for many hours or many days .
( without a Geenerator , what is one to do ? ) get a larger capacity battery .
or
to run the system just long enough to manually shut down the system and wait
for power to be restored ( typical home scenario )
True, but if power is restored before the batteries are drained, then you just got away with it :)
I have a query about 1200va ups (APC), how much amp hr battary can be install / support. Existing battaey into: 12 volt 9ah. I mean, can i use more AMP HR battary, for UPS works fine / without any harm to internals of UPS, to increase backup hours ?
It is impossible for me to know for a model that I have not used. Usually if it has active cooling (temperature controlled fan) it should be ok. As fot the battery capacity, the bigger you use, the longer it will take to fully charge. Depends on your needs.
besides deep cycle being better for, well, deep cycle... i would recommend using just heatshrink, especially when you don't like glue residues... you still need proper thickness... i think i would also use better cabling but this could be cheapest i guess
I totally agree! :)
Hi there
How do i determine the power factor
Loved you video
Hi. You want to determine the power factor of the unit while it is charging the batteries? Or the output while you have something plugged in?
I would just buy a plug in power meter. Most of them show the power factor.
Très bonne vidéo merci
Welcome
hi, nice video. 12,7 is very good for car battery :) is not empty. What is the voltage after the charge ? how long it last with those batteries on your consumption , have you tested ?
Hi. Thank you. Never tested the voltage at full charge. Also, never tested the maximum run time.
How many days did it took to fully charged the batteries?
Don't really know, because I never need to let them get that low.
I have an APC Smart 1000, and I did upgrade with car battery but it shows time remaining of old battery's(shuts down after 22min and the battery bar is low but the battery's are fully charged), my load is 150-220W
Try to find the software disk and interface cable. If you talk to the UPS with their little program, you can tell it it has new batteries, and it will behave differently. You can even cycle them through a self-test diagnostic from there.
About can I deliver sufficient power for one pc without peripherals and one pc with a monitor (i7 9700k 3070 Nvidia with 700w power supply) I'm looking for something like this because in my country in summer we suffer alot with power loss
Yes, it can without a problem.
Hi, your mod is 2 years old now, i wonder how is your car battery. is it still in good condition? or are you already replace it?
Hi. It's still in good condition, but it's discharged only about once a month and only about 50%. There were way less power outages lately.
But ,It doesn't has a shorter life time than dry battery's??
Probably.
The UPS was designed to run (X) min at full load. now you are capable of running it 4(X)min at full load. UPS will probably overheat or electronics/transformer fail, what have you done about that?
No, it will not overheat. This is not a low price ups with passive cooling, this has a temperature controlled fan and the fact that the batteries are no longer in helps even more, with better airflow and no heat generated by them.
@@UltimateDIY Partially true. The UPS may have temperature control, which means it can protect itself from damaged but that doesn't mean it wont overheat. you may have slowed down the temperature rise by having an empty caucus, but it can still happen. the fact is that the inverter components where not designed/chosen for that extended run time at full load. things like transformer insulation, sink pastes etc. I've done the same with my UPS and this has always bugged me.
I do not think any of the components are unable to handle the extended load time. I would agree with you if we were talking about a unit designed to run for 10 minutes at full load and I would extend that at 2 hours for example. But in my opinion this unit even with standard batteries already has enough time to reach maximum operating temperatures on all components, so they are designed to withstand that.
@@UltimateDIY It not about reaching operating temperature, it about extended exposure to that temperature. the design safety factor may have been limited by the maximum possible operating time of (X)min based on batteries of (Y)Ah. you are now using 4(Y)Ah batteries and thus capable of exposing those components to that temperature for 4(X)min longer. there is a possibility of premature deterioration of the components. Even if you look at transformer or generator specifications, they will tell you for e.g "that this unit can run at say 80% continuous and 100% for (x) amount of time". Anyway, all im saying is that this is something you should think about and not dismiss because there is active cooling. since it was a SEALED unit with a defined and finite possible maximum operating time (Due to battery size), the designer could have chosen his components and he cools them within those known limits. it would be a different story if this was a stand alone UPS with external battery connection, and i bet you then that the designer would have mentioned either a max Ah battery to be used or provided a time vs load chart.
I understand what you say, but I do not consider this to be such a big risc. If you use the unit at max a lot of time, that is another thing. In the use scenario this particular unit was modified for, it will not see a full load, but something like 25% to 50% maximum, so this makes me confident it will survive.
GREAT IDEA.
thank you for this video....MAN....can you tell us ....which gauge cable you use and which fuse?
Welcome! The fuse is 100A 32V, but the wire I have no idea, the thickest one I could find in my house.
Ultimate DIY
Hi, I just did a 24volt (using 2x690amp truck batteries) ups 1500 watt setup last night. And then thought to see what UA-cam would say about it. And found your excellent video. As far as overheating is concerned, (With inclosed fan) My main goal is to keep the furnace and couple of lights going in a power outage so the load would be minimal. I don't see a problem.. The wires are 10 gauge. The size for a small dryer. I don't expect to use this every day but if I did, I'd use #8, ( electric stove size).. the bigger the better. This is just my preference and not in any code book. The less resistance, the higher the efficiency. On a longer power outage, say 6hrs, my Millar welder @ 10.5 kW ac, would be used for a couple of hrs to recharge the batteries.
My initial search was on how to hard wire the ups set up to the breaker panel. I imagine there's a couple of automatic switches to buy so the ups doesn't backfeed into itself and a switch to keep from electrocuting the lines men repairing the line. Or trying to light up the neighbourhood . I'd appreciate any input/thoughts, thanks.
Thank you for watching. Maybe something like this would work? But I'm not sure if it does exactly what you need.
m.made-in-china.com/product/3-Phase-ATS-Dual-Power-Automatic-Transfer-Switch-734363895.html
Great video. thanks for sharing!. I want to ask, i have a ups 550VA (330W) working with a 12V 9Ah AGM battery. Can i extend by adding parallel another one to increase the capacity?. The thinking is to add 2 x parallel 12V 7Ah so will be after 14Ah. Only to provide more backup time because the 12V 9Ah is more expensive than a 12V 7Ah and i can find easily good batteries in 7Ah or 7,2Ah. Thanks
Thank you for watching!
Yes, I think what you want to do will work.
Hello every one, this UPS, is it able to charge that big car battery without struggling,
And what is the value of the charging current if measured,
Is it limited or controlled...
Hello. It has worked for me for sure. Did not measure the charging current.
Your english is excellent
It could be way better, but foreign languages is not my strong point.
Ultimate DIY Where from you?
Romania