Helix and battery backup

[jonf]

I'm in florida and with hurricane season approaching, need to hookup a UPS to my incubator. Here is my setup:
I'm running 6 ft of the 12" flexwatt hooked up to a HELIX. I have an APC 550VA/330 watts battery backup with built in surge protector.

I was testing this out and noticed that the "check system" red light was on, on the helix. Out of curiosity, I unplugged the UPS (to simulate the power going out) and the batter backup kicked in. However, the HELIX was giving an EE error. Scared the crap out of me since we all know how much HELIX's cost so the Helix is plugged back into the wall for the time being (and working fine, check system light is now off)

I see in the HELIX literature, it says to NOT plug them into powerstrips with built in surge protectors "as these may produce a short circuit if a surge occurs and may cause an internal fuse to blow". Aren't most battery backups going to be surge protectors also? (maybe not the bigger/expensive server type UPS's but the average everyday PC UPS)

Anyways, if anyone could chime in here and point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. thx

[AndrewGeibel]

I remember hearing somthing about proportional thermostats not liking swings in voltage/current supplied to them. I could be wrong on that though.

[Gloryhound]

The helix definitely says do not use on surge protection circuits. You may be able to find a back ups with a power conditioner which may allow it to work, but I am not sure.

Yes the proportional t-stats do not like power swings. If you operate one from a back up generator you want to make sure you do not plug any large loads that kick on and off such as a refrigerator, furnace blower motor, electric range... If you do have to plug such loads into it then you need to make sure the generator is maintained perfectly and the max load it sees is no more than 50% of its rated. Otherwise you will see significant swings on the output causing problems and possible damage to your proportional T-stat.

This is why I hooked on/off type t-stats to my incubator. Most of these will run fine on a generator or UPS back up. If your incubator is well sealed you will not see very big of a swing. Mine only swings by a little more that a degree 88.5 degrees to 89.6 degrees according to a calibrated thermocouple. Also I have low protection at 88 degrees that causes additional heat sources to kick in and high protection at 90.5 degrees that shuts the whole thing off till it cools back down.

[jonf]

thx gloryhound.......appreciate it!
another question, before I swap out my Ranco (on rack) with they HELIX (on incubator)....
would the Helix work if plugged into an inverter from a car?

[AndrewGeibel]

thx gloryhound.......appreciate it!
another question, before I swap out my Ranco (on rack) with they HELIX (on incubator)....
would the Helix work if plugged into an inverter from a car?

I would think that it may work but it isn't something I would bet on. Another thing to consider is that car batteries are not made for deep cycling. Meaning if you discharge it and then charge it again the battery life will be very short. If you get a battery made to power the trolling motor on a fishing boat then that might be a better bet because they are designed to handle those deep cycles.

[jonf]

thanks to both...!
so it looks as if the one of the big pros to on/off T-stats is the ability or easiness to hook them up to "backups" in case of an emergency. I'll probably be ordering another Ranco then.......