Anyone using a UPS for their carbon filter?

[WV Rastafari]

I'm not so worried about the lights, but if the power goes out I'm thinking an uninterruptible power supply might be good insurance to have hooked up to the carbon filter.

I was rearranging my cords during my last grow and unplugged the filter for a few minutes. My wife came in from outside and said it just reeked out there. We do have neighbors quite close by who I would prefer not to smell anything suspicious. I think the room is sealed up pretty good but she says otherwise.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Change carbon filters yearly (and don't pull through them too fast) and also use a vaportek optimum 4000 outside of your sealed grow space. Cartridges are pricey but worth it. Rez used to use these in the lung area surrounding a sealed/co2/ac room and used no scrubbers. I certainly advocate using both if you need max security.

You could honestly probably buy a cartridge and a computer fan and do the same for much less.


Power supply is a definite if you lose power, even rarely. I recently came home to blinking clocks that had lost 4-5 hours due to some work at a neighboring property. Luckily i'm rural so it wasn't a huge deal, but it could spell trouble if you are residential.

 

[Granger2]

Probably money well spent. Safety first. Good luck. -granger

 

[Dropped Cat]

Listen to your woman when she says stuff.

I use UPS on the fan/filter, yup. Cheaper than your time in court...

 

[yesum]

UPS is a power supply something? Never heard of it.

 

[hvac guy]

UPS does not have enough stored power, get an invertor (12VDC to 120VAC) and use a car battery and the invertor.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

UPS is a power supply something? Never heard of it.

uninterruptible power supply


These are typically used on your computer so that if you have a power outage the computer remains on during the power flip, or gives you ample time to save your work and power down the computer properly.

Might run a fan/filter for a short period of time to prevent you from stinking up the block while the power is out.


/


hvac guy is suggesting using an invertor instead and a battery to run for longer/store more power. The battery could be charge via solar panel/charge controller or the grid power when you do have power.

hvac guy, do you have more information as to how to make this automatically charge and switch over to it in the event of a power failure, or are you just referring to having it on standby and hooking it up manually when power is lost?

 

[WV Rastafari]

UPS does not have enough stored power, get an invertor (12VDC to 120VAC) and use a car battery and the invertor.

You are right, I've been checking into them and they only last a few minutes.

I see Harbor Freight has chargers, inverters and a AGM battery that might work but won't be automatic.

Time to do more research.

 

[Weird]

fwiw u can run an ozone generator long on a ups than a carbon fitler

 

[fuggzy]

fwiw u can run an ozone generator long on a ups than a carbon fitler

This may be true to an extent, but electronics have just about as many variables as MJ does. I'm not sure what kind of load a ozone generator will pull, but I'm guessing it would still only be rated in minutes, and not many. UPS can get rather large however, and have a price tag to match them.

This is a PSU rated at 4,500 watts, and a price of $4k
https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/A...s_kwcid=AL!4223!3!47981653339!!!g!56999599505!
Another problem with the "normal' residential UPS is the technology in them isn't all that great. After a surge or 2, they tend to start getting weak, and faster every surge(or anything that makes them work hard, power outs...) I can't remember the link I read, but the residential, and commercial units run on different tech.

I have 4 at home, 3 different models. My largest is on my PC and it is rated at 600w output. On a normal browsing load (like now) I am pulling ~324w. When I game and overclock my graphis card, I pull up to ~600w at full load. I don't off hand know at what milli amp hour this thing runs, but even at a small load, it only runs a few minutes on its own. At full load I better be in front of it, or it is just going to power off. A year ago I could get about 10min under a normal load. This fan is rated to draw 113w, https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/91904/GROW-ACDF4.html
Just some food for thought. For reference I am talking about a APC XS 1000 https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/A...s_kwcid=AL!4223!3!47981653339!!!g!85877307887!

My opinion to WV Rastafari is that it is possible, just not likely it would do much good unless you REALLY want to pay for a GREAT PSU. If that is the case, I would only look for a UPS for a server, mainly large ones for racks.

You might want to ask HVAC GUY to explain the battery idea. I'm not sure how off hand, but the solar panel could be hooked up to it. Also a great idea BTW FlowerFarmer. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Dropped Cat]

UPS does not have enough stored power, get an invertor (12VDC to 120VAC) and use a car battery and the invertor.

Good point, I will test the unit I have for duration unplugged.

 

[Redbuddz]

WV

there is a way to have a Battery/Inverter come on automatically. you just need to wire a power controlled switch into the battery circuit. You can buy the parts and do it yourself or you can just buy one. Either way they are costly and it's a costly endeavor. Surprised though how your plants stunk the place out like almost instantly you said. I mean if you lose power then there are no fans running so how does the smell get out and around?


Keep on Growing Ya'll


Redbuddz

 

[WV Rastafari]

This looks like a solution that would work, it uses a scrap UPS and a big deep cycle battery...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Rework-a-UPS-with-Massive-Capacity/

I still have to check on my fan and see how many amps it draws to calculate how many amp/hours I would need the battery to have.

 

[fuggzy]

Could be a good idea

Could be a good idea

This looks like a solution that would work, it uses a scrap UPS and a big deep cycle battery...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Rework-a-UPS-with-Massive-Capacity/

I still have to check on my fan and see how many amps it draws to calculate how many amp/hours I would need the battery to have.

That looks like it would/could solve the problem of short battery life. It would take some math, but you could get a decent average of how long it should last. Beside specific project I've worked on, I don't know enough about electricity to really offer any helpful advise on it. The 1 thing I strongly recommend, is be very careful. Batteries are volatile. I'm not talking about walking slow and steady, but make 100% sure that the wires are in the right place.

If you don't already has the UPS, I would recommend a unit with duel batteries. When you stack batteries, you either change the total output (discharge) or it's capacity. I can't remember off hand which is which, but the unit should be wired for capacity. Sorry if you already know this. Just trying to offer what I know. I'm curious what you go with too. Keep us posted.

 

[fuggzy]

Just for clarity... When I say a duel unit should be wired for capacity, I mean from the factory. If it is wired in a series it needs to be put back in the same configuration. Same for parallel wiring. However, being the fact it is an electricity bank, I can't imagine they would wire a duel battery to discharge faster. Just be careful to put it how you found it. Remember, only you, can prevent grow room fires.