Battery backup

[archgetty]

I have my 24v devices all plugged into a WaveEngine and my 120v devices (return pump, skimmer) plugged into a Control XP8. They are connected in a collective. Both are externally powered. And both are plugged into an APC Battery Backup.
In case of a power failure, at full draw, the APC will run it all for an hour.
Is there any way to set it up so when power fails, the APC will power only the 12v devices (powerheads) on the XP8 (to give me more battery time) and not the heavier draws from the return pump and skimmer? I thought of plugging the WaveEngine from a power strip leaving the XP8 on the battery, but if power fails, the XP8 will power it all anyway through the collective, right?

 

[Danny]

I use a battery backup on my WaveEngine and that puts the system into low power mode, but my wave pumps are MP10's and they have their on battery backup so my XP8 and WaveEngine are plugged into regular AC outputs. The only thing that remains on on my tank in a power outage is the MP10's and the controllers on battery backup. We had rolling blackouts over a year ago and the outside temp was below 32 degrees the whole time. They lasted a week. The off time was as long as over 4 hours at a time one day. Whatever the off time was the on time after matched it so our power was only on 50% of the time for a week. At that time zi had no backup power for the controllers. The only thing running was the MP10's. There is not an easy way to keep a 12v pump running during a power outage and allow the power to drop to 12v on the controllers so they are in low power mode since the XP8 would put 24v on the buss if you keep it powered with a AC source. That would provably keep the controllers from going into low power mode. To do it would require some DIY circuitry.

 

[thom_smith]

I have my 24v devices all plugged into a WaveEngine and my 120v devices (return pump, skimmer) plugged into a Control XP8. They are connected in a collective. Both are externally powered. And both are plugged into an APC Battery Backup.
In case of a power failure, at full draw, the APC will run it all for an hour.
Is there any way to set it up so when power fails, the APC will power only the 12v devices (powerheads) on the XP8 (to give me more battery time) and not the heavier draws from the return pump and skimmer? I thought of plugging the WaveEngine from a power strip leaving the XP8 on the battery, but if power fails, the XP8 will power it all anyway through the collective, right?

Unfortunately this is not completely accurate. The XP8 will power the Wave Engine brain via the command bus. However, the Wave Engine needs its own power source to power and control the attached pumps. That source can be normal line power, UPS providing line power or battery. In your current situation, you may be better served plugging the Wave Engine into the UPS and letting the XP8 remain down during an outage. The XP8 brain will receive power via the command bus and remain active but will not power the outlets. If you have available 0-10v inputs on your Wave Engine, there is a creative post on the DIY forum Low Power Mode/Prime Power Loss Detection w/o Icecap Battery (or WE/WELE) to use a relay to activate low power mode. This comes with the caveat that it can't be done if you are already using a button box for mode inputs. But other than that, it's a pretty ingenious and inexpensive solution. Your other options would be Icecap V3 batteries or ride the current UPS solution until Kraken is available.

 

[archgetty]

Unfortunately this is not completely accurate. The XP8 will power the Wave Engine brain via the command bus. However, the Wave Engine needs its own power source to power and control the attached pumps. That source can be normal line power, UPS providing line power or battery. In your current situation, you may be better served plugging the Wave Engine into the UPS and letting the XP8 remain down during an outage. The XP8 brain will receive power via the command bus and remain active but will not power the outlets. If you have available 0-10v inputs on your Wave Engine, there is a creative post on the DIY forum Low Power Mode/Prime Power Loss Detection w/o Icecap Battery (or WE/WELE) to use a relay to activate low power mode. This comes with the caveat that it can't be done if you are already using a button box for mode inputs. But other than that, it's a pretty ingenious and inexpensive solution. Your other options would be Icecap V3 batteries ride the current UPS solution until Kraken is available.

Thanks!