Transfer switch for two power sources?

[CntrlAltDel]

Hi there,

I've been looking for a means to switch power sources manually. I have a UPS and lithium power bank (EcoFlow River Pro) connected together for my main setup.
Problem is once the power draw during gaming reaches 600+ (actually 800w) the lithium bank goes into overload and shuts down causing the UPS to kick in.
The EcoFlow River Pro has X-Boost allowing it to go up to 1800w at the cost of lowering voltage still within tolerable range but this feature cannot be used while AC power is engaged.

My idea here is to use a automatic transfer switch in manual mode from the UPS to the switch and from the switch, split between wallpower (making UPS powered directly from the wall) and power to the lithium battery bank.
This is to cut the UPS input power from power bank where power draw is limited to 600w and instead pull directly from the wall, the 800w power draw the UPS can handle well.

Would this be a reasonable way of doing this or is there a simpler way?

 

[CarboVan]

Come again?
If you are drawing from the wall (eg have grid/eskom), any ups should just keep functioning regardless of the power draw since its just pass through?
Are you running pc -> ups -> ecoflow ?
The ups alone could draw an extra ~50w by itself depending on the unit.

 

[CntrlAltDel]

Come again?
If you are drawing from the wall (eg have grid/eskom), any ups should just keep functioning regardless of the power draw since its just pass through?
Are you running pc -> ups -> ecoflow ?
The ups alone could draw an extra ~50w by itself depending on the unit.

Yep so it's PC -> UPS -> EcoFlow -> Wall
This is the configuration because the EcoFlow when pulling 300-400w and the power goes off doesn't switch fast enough and my PC turns off. So I introduced the UPS to account for that.

I just want to be able to switch the input power from the UPS between grid if gaming or EcoFlow if not gaming. Hence the automatic transfer switch in manual mode idea.

All of this to say I'm too lazy to go underneath the table every time to pull out the plug from the UPS to the EcoFlow and plug it directly into the wall.

 

[CarboVan]

Hmm I see.
Ye I doubt an auto changeover will be faster than your current setup, so you will still have the same problem I reckon.

 

[CntrlAltDel]

Yeh thought about this, could just use two 1.5m extension leads, one in the wall and one in the lithium battery and switch between the two with both of the extension leads on the table instead of under.

 

[madness_inc]

Having both the ups and that eco flow is a sub optimal setup, and how you're expecting the eco flow to go into "bypass mode" essentially won't work because it's a big battery bank, nothing more. Rather a 3kva/3kw inverter and matching battery but you've obviously sunk money into the ecoflow already

 

[CntrlAltDel]

Having both the ups and that eco flow is a sub optimal setup, and how you're expecting the eco flow to go into "bypass mode" essentially won't work because it's a big battery bank, nothing more. Rather a 3kva/3kw inverter and matching battery but you've obviously sunk money into the ecoflow already

Yeh power requirements changed when I recently bought a new GPU. Not sure what you mean by bypass mode I just want to switch between UPS to wall vs UPS to EcoFlow on demand. But yes I'm very aware of how suboptimal this setup is.

Charge times of on those lead acid setups are ridiculous and cant account for the short 3-4 hour load shedding gaps. Hence the choice to go with a lithium setup that is able to recharge from 0-100% in +/- 2 hours.

 

[Confucius]

Why do you want an auto change over In manual mode. Why not get a normal changeover switch

 

[CntrlAltDel]

Why do you want an auto change over In manual mode. Why not get a normal changeover switch

I had no idea about a changeover switch. But yeh I'll probably just go with two extension leads for this switch, way less permanent.