The Ecotech Battery Backup Just Became Obsolete

Рет қаралды 8,844

Күн бұрын

A battery backup is arguably an essential piece of equipment for a reef tank, but the most popular option, the Ecotech 24 hour battery backup, is expensive and heavy. In this video I share a plug and play alternative that's lightweight, compact and less than half the price.
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0:00 Intro
0:37 Ecotech battery backup shortcomings
0:56 Lithium reef tank battery backup
1:40 Run time tests
3:33 Lifespan
4:07 Will these work with other powerheads?

Пікірлер: 85

@11NinjaFish11 4 ай бұрын

We get fairly regular (2-3 times a year) power cuts in our part of Dorset, so I invested in a 12v Lithium battery for both my marine tanks. Using a Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery, they are mostly happy to be 'deep cycled' (fully charged and discharged) with minimal degradation (they're designed for caravans, boats, etc, and larger versions for whole house batteries). Pairing with a 12v-24v converter, a large 24v power supply (enough for all the pumps on my tank) and a simple power relay, and I have a huge and flexible backup for any 24v kit I need. I can run two Maxspect Jump return pumps, a Maxspect Jump Skimmer and two Gyre 350s on my 5ft tank, for over a day (I gave up testing after 10 hours, still at 60%) from a single power socket and auto-switching to a battery a third of the size of a standard car battery whenever main power is lost. Well worth the investment for me.

@paladimathoz 4 ай бұрын

For what you're ultimately buying, the hardware side of this hobby is a cash cow / joke. Nice to see you highlight the ecotech power storage in a fancy looking case.

@FoolOfATuque 4 ай бұрын

It’s a rip off…

@Jonnyuk365 3 ай бұрын

EcoTech,AI/bulk reef supply all owned by the same parent company, go figure 🤔

@Jonnyuk365 3 ай бұрын

Oh and the big you tube channels pushing these products, you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours

@StaffordReefer 4 ай бұрын

Looking forward to the video for other powerheads, I’d love to do this for my Nero 5’s

@dereks3207 4 ай бұрын

or nero 3s!

@alenaalenar2330 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for this! Found the unit in Canada and ordered it. It was 1/3 of the price of the eco tech unit! I really appreciate this tip!

@dazsboxofwater 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for this & the links Alex , nice one fella 👏🏼👍🏻

@telegraham 4 ай бұрын

Consider 12-24V boost converters for other powerheads, and Ecotech's own 12-36V battery booster for the Vectra.

@mrmud 4 ай бұрын

Agreed, this is super easy and cheap to do. Mine runs one of my Jebao powerheads which would not work with just 12V

@davideamer8617 4 ай бұрын

Have you done a video Jim ?

@telegraham 4 ай бұрын

@@davideamer8617 No, because it’s crazy easy. If you followed the Big Red battery build, I’m thinking what you need to know is there. It’s as simple as connecting the 12V side of the boost converter to the battery, and what comes out the other side is 24V. After that, it’s just adding the relay or ReefBoxx.

@jewel3932 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Alex! When you shipping to US??? Needs me some Etsy dork love! Anyway, @telegraham I see also is using a flow river 2, that I just bought, $180 USD and quite large relatively, either of you guys compare these two units? Performance seems similar, what’s the advantage of larger river 2? Which should I use???

@michealterrett2159 4 ай бұрын

Purchased thank you Alex 😊

@stefano8796 2 күн бұрын

Hello, I am writing from Italy and I apologize if my English is not correct. Congratulations for the very useful video as was the one that explained how to replace the original battery. I would now like to purchase this lithium battery backup system for the same Vortech MP 40 pumps. I have to get two. The link rightly takes me to the Amazon website UK, but only some indicate products can be shipped to Italy. I therefore kindly ask you to confirm that the products are this one: Lithium Battery: TalentCell Mini UPS Uninterrupted Power Supply 27000mAh 98Wh Lithium ion Backup Battery with DC 12V/9V/5V Output Adapter plug: DC Power Adapter 5.5 mm x 2.1 mm to 3.5 mm x 1.3 mm, DC in line socket Female to DC Male Plug, Coaxial Power Converter for CCTV Equipment, Video Surveillance Camera, LED lights, Notebook, PC I wouldn't want to order something similar but wrong. Thanks and congratulations again!

@ReefDorkXtra 2 күн бұрын

Yes, that looks right!

@Newt211 2 ай бұрын

Thank you I just ordered this

@mikew4435 Ай бұрын

Just bought one. Thanks

@LukeGreen_ 4 ай бұрын

Thanks, just purchased

@TacticalReefkeeping777 4 ай бұрын

Great video and totally agree I use a cheap ups battery and works great

@bigmuvver 4 ай бұрын

Great News!!, I run my EcoTech battery on my M2 return pump, I changed the original battery over to a Wheel chair type battery as your older video recommended and no faults, just a note that when using the back up battery on a return pump you will need a booster battery connected to your battery to overcome head pressure!! Would this be the same on the Lithium battery perhaps you could give that a trial!, I’ve had a couple of power outages and the batteries worked very well on the short time that the power was out. Love your Videos and insights you give.

@kalamazoo_reefer 4 ай бұрын

With all the attention alternative battery options have received lately, I wonder if EcoTech (or really, Aperture) will feel enough pressure to upgrade the antiquated VorTech backup battery to a proper modern standard that’s more worthy of the high price point, or whether they won’t see a hard enough hit to sales to do anything different. Will be an intriguing limited-scale test of their intensive marketing approach, for sure. Fantastic video. Really enjoyed it, this option is excellent.

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

My guess is not but I hope they do. A LIFEPO4 option would be my choice - maybe a 9ah, an 18ah and a27+ah option...

@telegraham 4 ай бұрын

Given their pricing of the dead acid, I can't imagine that anything new from them would be a valuable offering. Imagine the marketing spin for an $80 20Ah Miady LiFePO4 inside their metal box.

@kalamazoo_reefer 4 ай бұрын

@@telegraham I suspect the same.

@kalamazoo_reefer 4 ай бұрын

@@ReefDorkXtra LiFePO4 would be the logical choice. They could likely keep the form factor of the housing and everything.

@metsdynastyx 4 ай бұрын

Need a recommendation for across the pond!!!

@jules2545 4 ай бұрын

Great, thanks for that I have been looking for a viable battery back up for a while. I have various Neros that this would foot the bill for.

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

It won't work on Neros - they're all 24v and this is 12v so you'll need an adapter to make that work.

@jules2545 4 ай бұрын

@@ReefDorkXtraThanks for that, it looks like a great addition for 12v power heads.

@julioportalatin8266 Ай бұрын

I couldnt find the equivalent or adaptors in the US. Anyone have a link for these items? Thx

@simonlockley-evans3925 4 ай бұрын

Id love to make this work on my maxpect gyres

@TokelauIslands 4 ай бұрын

So I have the Ecotech battery back up. I had to replace the battery in it by drilling out the rivets. Saved me $180! My question for you does this battery backup work the same way ? So if there’s a power outage, it automatically kicks on and I don’t have to press an on button? Thanks a lot, dude. Love watching your videos from 🇺🇸 😊

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Yep, it's a straight swap for the Ecotech battery backup.

@Richs_reef 4 ай бұрын

Great vid! I have an MP40 and Vectra M2 on my Ecotech battery backup, could I swap my current battery backup for the Lithium battery and power both off of it? The Vectra plugged in via Ecotech booster cable and obviously running time will be reduced

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Possibly. The lithium has 4x 12v outlets but I only tested it on one powerhead so couldn't say for sure...

@Richs_reef 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Alex - it’s crazy how long Exotech have left the Vortechs and Battery Backup without updates

@GazzasReef 28 күн бұрын

Alex I have mp40’s does this just plug straight in as you say ? Is there a separate lead also that runs the mp40 to the battery ?

@ReefDorkXtra 28 күн бұрын

It plugs straight into the the battery backup port on the mp40 - the same port you plug the Ecotech battery backup into

@FoolOfATuque 4 ай бұрын

Any idea if this would work for Nero’s? I guess I need to look at input voltage.

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Afraid not - even the smallest Nero/Axis are both 24v

@FoolOfATuque 4 ай бұрын

@@ReefDorkXtra I guess I’ll stick with the UPS. 😂

@gerardbeattie4142 4 ай бұрын

Would any 24v backup work? I’m over in the states. Amazon doesn’t sell that one here.

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Any 12v will yeah - just search mini WiFi UPS. Although Telegraham bought this one in the States and has been running it for a year or so now.

@shaansingha7860 4 ай бұрын

Would this work for something like Jebao wave makers??? Jim im looking your way...

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Not straight out of the box because those are 24v but I'll do a livestream with Jim soon where I'll dig into all these sorts of things!

@giannisk.916 4 ай бұрын

Does this work with a pump that just has an outlet?

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Not if it has a standard plug - this only accepts 5.5mm connectors

@Jay-dq5vg 4 ай бұрын

So this unit eliminates the need for the power adapter of the vortech?

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

No, this goes into the Vortech's dedicated battery backup slot which is for battery backup mode only so you'll still need to use the stock power supply.

@craigvanengen4551 2 ай бұрын

Can I use this with a Vectra Return Pump with the separate booster cable that can be purchased?

@ReefDorkXtra 2 ай бұрын

Yep

@peterbws 4 ай бұрын

would this work with a vecrta s2 return pump?

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Yes, you just need the Ecotech booster cable (same thing you need for the Ecotech battery backup)

@Dibilibix27 Ай бұрын

Can I let on all the time? In the power?

@ReefDorkXtra Ай бұрын

Yes

@savagereefer1157 4 ай бұрын

Would this work on sicce power heads their is a port in the controller

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Don't know to be honest, never had a Sicce powerhead...

@telegraham 4 ай бұрын

Yes, but for whatever reason, Sicce included a charger intended to keep 3S 18650s charged. That’s not for me, as I’d prefer to pick my own charger. If their internal charger can be disabled, the answer changes to it’ll totally work.

@scottrousseau8441 4 ай бұрын

Any ideas where to get this or something equivalent in Australia?

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

It's a mini UPS made for WiFi routers so do a bit of Googling and see what turns up. Should be stuff on Amazon.

@scottrousseau8441 4 ай бұрын

@@ReefDorkXtra after a lot of searching couldn't really find anything similar for Aus. But what I did find was the Ecoflow Delta 2, which for the price of 2x ecotech units has more than 4x the capacity (1024Wh (85Ah@12V))

@wagadodo 4 ай бұрын

Interested to know the logistics with different devices that don’t have a back up ports🤔

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

It's dead simple with anything 12v or less, but more complicated with anything over 12v (which is most powerheads unfortunately). But I'll talk about that more when I get Telegraham back on the livestream and I'll show a bit more detail in my next video when I do the nano battery backup.

@gunstn 4 ай бұрын

Fort Tunze devices you can buy the Safety connector. For maxspect Gyre pumps you can buy a backup battery adapter. Don't know for other brands

@davidbensley8037 4 ай бұрын

Will this work on the vectra return pumps?

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Yep, you just need the Ecotech booster cable (which you'd need for the Ecotech battery too)

@davidbensley8037 4 ай бұрын

Wicked nice one , top channel by the way

@zachhart-bayfield9368 4 ай бұрын

Can you plug more than one ecotech into the battery?

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

I didn't try, but it has 4x 12v outputs so potentially yes. But I don't know if it'll be able to cope with the amount of watts 2 MP40s would draw. 2x MP10s would potentially be OK mind.

@grimreaper4801 4 ай бұрын

well I am just going use a server backup power supply.

@mr.chalupacabra3587 Ай бұрын

This is no longer offered in the US it appears…

@nimal_r 4 ай бұрын

Good choice if you are using EcoTech gear however since this is a Lithium ion battery you need to ensure it is not kept inside humid environments. A short will be very bad! Also if you are using it as the main source of power via the backup power port on EcoTech controllers, the devices will throttle down to backup battery mode and will not run your main program. Perhaps you should mention that.

@kalamazoo_reefer 4 ай бұрын

You know that they won’t stick to the program, for certain?

@nimal_r 4 ай бұрын

@@kalamazoo_reefer Yes. If you go into settings you will see that battery backup max speed value is hard set to 50%. Not too bad for emergencies but if you want to run it full time then yes. When I tested with my custom batteries I saw it didn't obey the program and remained constant speed but maybe that is something they have changed now. I will test and let you know.

@kalamazoo_reefer 4 ай бұрын

@@nimal_r Thanks. Curious.

@telegraham 4 ай бұрын

Agreed. Ecotech gear does not run their program when on battery.

@kingeggs 4 ай бұрын

Isn't this much smaller than the ecotech? Ecotech is 18 Amp-Hour @ 12-volt =216 wh. The linked battery says it is: 27amp hour @ 3.7v (99.9wh), and gives its own wh as 98. So under half the size (for under half the cost). Just saying that the deal isn't that amazing. Something like the ecoflow river with ~288wh is probably more comparable (also cheaper than the ecotech).

@kingeggs 4 ай бұрын

I just have an old car battery hooked up to a trickle charger on one side and a basic transfer switch+ DC buck converter on the other so i might not be the target customer.

@ReefDorkXtra 4 ай бұрын

Yep, that's a fair point - it does have less capacity, but I think 99% of people won't need more capacity.