Author Topic: My first setup built out of a couple APC UPS  (Read 6929 times)

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Offline Wolvenar

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My first setup built out of a couple APC UPS
« on: January 11, 2012, 03:27:19 am »
Back in the middle of the 2000's likely 2004
I pulled these UPS units apart to find they have nothing more than bad batteries.
I wired in some 4 gauge welding cable, and hooked them to a set of lead acid ( gold cart) batteries


I also added a fan in each of them directly blowing on the heat sinks


I originally used this setup as a backup only for house lighting, network, and a few devices including the fridge, and a tv.
After finding a web page where someone else had used these with a diode in order to disable the charging ability. The person on this site also showed a dc motor conversion ( with brushes.. yuck..) to charge a battery bank and run his hunting shack of of this setup, but had built external controlling and battery monitoring systems.

I decided to do similar by taking the units apart, and internally ( and correctly) disabling the charge circuit. This led to a multitied of problems at first but with a bit if digging was doable.
I then put a simple relay between my 6' genny and my battery bank, this was hooked to the Parallel port on a PC.
Then I monitored the battery voltage, and current draw etc via the serial port on the UPS, the connected PC  This pc also had an x10 controller to controll lights and other power draws in the house.

If the genny was pushing into a full battery, the PC would throw the UPS into inverter mode, then be sure some things here and there. If the attached load on the UPS was at the UPS maximum or for some other reason could not bring down the voltage far enough the PC would throw that relay which switched the ceramic heater shown in the pic on ( it just wasn't where it was in the pic when this was actually in use). This was more than enough to draw down the voltage from the 6' bladed genny..

The PC ran these x10 devices also in ways to attempt power savings. Is seemed to work. well

This is our setup now, unfortunately this does not supplu that neat and easy information as the UPS did
 It of course requires external interfaces

Trying to make power from alternative energy any which way I can.
Just to abuse what I make. (and run this site)