UPS Mod Maybe?

[RavenShield]

Morning Carbies!

I have a problem, Loadshedding, yes its currently suspended but only a matter of time before its back im sure! And that's why i need a plan.
My wife works from home with a laptop and fibre internet, they connected to a UPS, but the problem is the UPS dies after about 50min and the reason for that is that the time between loadsheddings is to short for the battery to fully charge!
Now my idea was would it be possible to mod the UPS so that the battery charges via solar pannel in stead, but otherwise works as it currently does.
(If it can switch between solar and wall outlet for day and night capabilities that will be a bonus!)
What do you guys think? Possible and worth it? Or am i wasting time?
Yes i know a full on solar system is way better but that also needs way more funds!

 

[goldfritter]

What make and model UPS is it? If it's one of the shoebox-size jobbies then it (almost certainly) won't support charging from solar. You'd need to buy a solar-compatible charger/inverter and then you're basically starting from scratch anyway.

If it's a shoebox-size one you can buy replacement batteries on Takealot (and a multitude of other places): Takealot

If you have been discharging the UPS fully then the batteries are probably quite damaged by now and are no longer holding their original charge, so replacing might be a good idea anyway. That may be your actual issue rather than slow charging. For my Mecer 2000VA unit it was as simple as popping the cover off, disconnecting a couple of wires, and reconnecting and closing it up.

You can get lithium batteries for it too - they are more expensive and won't really last longer per charge, but their overall lifespan is much longer and they don't get damaged when discharged fully.

To lessen the load on the UPS itself I recommend getting a separate DC UPS for your fibre ONT and router. Check the voltages of both and then look on Takealot or GeeWiz. They are more efficient at powering a router than the AC UPS since they don't need to convert DC to AC to DC again. I have this one for my 12V ONT and 9V router (technically also a 12V router buuuuut that is a long story) - note it was R 695 when I bought it last year so don't pay the current price, it's just an example: Mini DC UPS (10400mAh) Backup Battery Power Bank Supply (38.48Wh) - 1x 12V + 1x 9V + 1x 5V USB It powers both fibre ONT and router for at least 5 hours.

Laaastly, what you can maybe consider is just buying more of the 12V batteries and wiring them up in series parallel (go with the techies, don't listen to me)? Then you'd theoretically increase the capacity of the UPS? It wouldn't solve the problem of charging slowly, but it may be worth a look. Note I have never done this and I have no idea if it's a good idea, so let the more experienced sparkies weigh in here.

 

[WiZard]

...
Laaastly, what you can maybe consider is just buying more of the 12V batteries and wiring them up in series? Then you'd theoretically increase the capacity of the UPS? It wouldn't solve the problem of charging slowly, but it may be worth a look. Note I have never done this and I have no idea if it's a good idea, so let the more experienced sparkies weigh in here.

You mean wire them up in PARALLEL... (Series would increase the voltage.)

Seeing as the problem seems to be that the UPS is not recharging the existing battery in time, increasing the battery capacity will not help.

 

[Some_Guy21]

To lessen the load on the UPS itself I recommend getting a separate DC UPS for your fibre ONT and router. Check the voltages of both and then look on Takealot or GeeWiz. They are more efficient at powering a router than the AC UPS since they don't need to convert DC to AC to DC again. I have this one for my 12V ONT and 9V router (technically also a 12V router buuuuut that is a long story) - note it was R 695 when I bought it last year so don't pay the current price, it's just an example: Mini DC UPS (10400mAh) Backup Battery Power Bank Supply (38.48Wh) - 1x 12V + 1x 9V + 1x 5V USB It powers both fibre ONT and router for at least 5 hours.

+1 for this part
These small boxes are excellent for keeping the router & ONT loads off of the UPS. They also charge up much faster