Battery Backup

Hi,

I have a battery backup for my Alaska stove that I made from an old ups and two marine batteries. Irene put the system to the test. The system ran fine for a while and then the UPS started to act weird switching on and off and then wouldn't turn on. When the lights came back on I tested the batteries and both of them were at 13.3 volts. I had two 1,000v inveters so I was ablel to suffice. Anyway, I'm replacing the old UPS with a Tripp Lite Inverter, charger (750v). I'm just wondering about the batteries. They have stayed at full charge for several years (3-4years) and have never been drained and re-charged. How long will these batteries last? Should I replace them?

I'm wondering if the problem is that you are not making pure sine wave AC power. Most UPSs are for computer back up and use modified sine wave inverters. AC electric motors usually do not like modified sine waves.

Batteries last....until they die! Generally wet cell batteries like to be kept charged. A once a month top off keeps them happy. My 1997 Ford Van has the original battery! The worst thing you can do to a battery is discharge it and leave it that way. For best battery life recharge ASAP.

Trader, you will love the APS750, have one for my Koker and it has worked flawlessly!

The UPS was powering some lights and a fish tank. It just died. Thanks for the info. on the batteries.

JRN: Have u tested teh run time on your battery setup? Also, will it handle two batteries?

I have two marine batteries connected to the APS750.

Runtime is about 6 hours for my koker depending upon how much the 1536 cfm blower kicks in.

Slight hum on that blower but no heat.

You can connect as many batteries as you want. I stopped at two.

Nice that it is a trickle charger also and I can connect my generator to it.

I gave my sister my tripp-lite 2000watt 24 volt inverter, She takes care of her husband that has MS and now she is taking care off our mom who is 82. She lives in the country lots of woods and always losses electric like 4-5 time a year. She lost electric for 5 days during Irene. The Tripp-lite worked great but I had to run up there and swapped out batteries from my diesel truck. Then I rigged up a battery charger from an old lawn mower engine and an old 100 amp alternator from my old 6.9 F350 to recharge the batteries that work great too. You can find them on you-tube something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RhcCUw3 ... re=related

Let me get this straight You ran the inverter off a car battery and because the inverter draws too many watts the battery eventually discharged so you used teh generator to re-charge the car battery? I have two 1,000 watt inverters that worked well for the hurricane. The only annoying thing is that when I plugged my plasma TV into the inverter it started to buzz so I quickly unhooked it. I was thinking of getting a pure sine wave inveter just for the TV. I also didn't like idling my car for such a long time.

I had to recharge the batteries because they would only last 1 and 1/2 days was without power for 5 days, instead of charging batteries off a vehical I rigged up the 100 amp alternator and 6 hp B+S. Same way I recharged my race car battery 20 years ago. My racecar had no alternator. The inverter is an emargency back up system. Has its own built in charging system but for that to work the power has to come back on.

1.5 days sounds awesome. What was the size of the batteries and how many volts were u pulling?

Why not just get a gas powered generator you can put outside and run not only your stove, but maybe your fridge, TV, and a few lights to boot? Just make sure you have some gas on hand and you're all set.

At 3am, when the power goes out, it is nice to have a battery backup kick-in for power so I can stay in bed and not have to start a generator. I was thinking about a LP generator once the batteries die out.

traderfjp wrote:when the power goes out, it is nice to have a battery backup kick-in for power so I can stay in bed and not have to start a generator.

Or even finish a phone call, or not have to get the generator at all. These stoker stoves will go outfire in as little as 15 minutes. Many times we lose the power for an hour and then it comes back on. If you're not at home you return to a mess if not for the battery back up. Some people build in a snap switch so if it goes outfire it will not restart on it's own. That way you don't end up with an ash pan full of coal.

OK, now I'm confused. Won't a gas generator last at least ten to 15 hours on a full tank of gas? And my stoker will refire after a power loss of up to one hour. And if you have a stoker and it looses power, wont the entire stove stop including the stoker so you wouldn't end up with a mess since it is controlled thermally?? no heat, the feeder doesn't run, so it stops feeding coal=no mess??

Freddy wrote:

traderfjp wrote:when the power goes out, it is nice to have a battery backup kick-in for power so I can stay in bed and not have to start a generator.

Or even finish a phone call, or not have to get the generator at all. These stoker stoves will go outfire in as little as 15 minutes. Many times we lose the power for an hour and then it comes back on. If you're not at home you return to a mess if not for the battery back up. Some people build in a snap switch so if it goes outfire it will not restart on it's own. That way you don't end up with an ash pan full of coal.

I'm not familiar with the Harmon and its accessories.

stokersmoker wrote:my stoker will refire after a power loss of up to one hour

The Keystoker and some others will be pretty much dead after 15 min. or so as Freddy said. The battery backup will keep it running until a genny can be started eliminating the outfire and need to rebuild your fire.

stokersmoker wrote: if you have a stoker and it looses power, wont the entire stove stop including the stoker so you wouldn't end up with a mess since it is controlled thermally?? no heat, the feeder doesn't run, so it stops feeding coal=no mess??

You are correct that the entire stove would stop when power goes out. My Keystoker and some others do not have any type of "snap disc" to prevent the stove from powering up and feeding once the power is restored, thus the mess of coal in the ash pan.