[vox-tech] UPS and auto battery

[Jeremy Brown]

As I understand it, UPS batteries are more similar to marine/RV deep 
cycle batteries than they are to regular car batteries. A big RV battery 
could run a computer for an hour or two, depending on the monitor. If 
you swap it out directly for the one in there now, it will probably take 
a REALLY long time to charge after a complete discharge, but from what I 
know about charging batteries, it would likely work. The cost is 
probably more than I'd pay to try out something like that, but I'd be 
interested in hearing what you end up doing, as I've come across dead 
UPSs in the past and never did anything with them.

BTW, the "sealed" part of that is definately important if you'll be 
using it inside.

Adding extra cooling would probably be smart, too. Little 12v fans are 
easy to add on to almost anything. I had to do it to a cheap inverter I 
had. It kept overheating and switching off. It took a couple hours of 
cutting and soldering, but worked like a charm.


Rod Roark wrote:

>I have had an APC Back-UPS 500 for a few years and it looks
>like the battery is finally dead.  It's a small 12V sealed
>lead-acid battery, about 6" x 2.5" x 3.5".  The back of the
>UPS says it can output 10A of current.  The battery itself
>says "12V, 7AH/20HR".
>
>One thing I never liked about this UPS is the anemic backup
>power time, about 5-10 minutes (and now zero).
>
>I guess you know where this is going... am wondering if it
>makes sense to buy a standard (sealed) car battery and wire
>it up to the UPS?  Any EE experts here care to comment?
>
>Thanks,
>
>-- Rod
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