Battery backup

[Mongerbl82]

How would you recommend I connect a 12-volt rechargeable battery inline with my converter. Converter is a 12 volt I believe 2 Amp converter will upgrade that later to around 50 amp

 

[mmckenna]

What do you mean by "converter"? Are you talking about a 120vac to 12vdc power supply?

Easy way is to buy a power supply that has a battery backup provision.

Astron RM-50A-BB 50 Amp Rack Mount Power Supply w/Battery Backup

The Astron RM series are continuous duty linear power supplies designed to be rack mounted in a standard 19 inch rack mount enclosure. Battery backup provides emergency powering in the event of power failure

www.ameradio.com

12V DC | 95 Amp to 200 Amp | 1,140 Watts - 2,400 Watts | Scout Rackmount DC Power System | N+1 Redundant Rectifier Shelf | Newmar Powering the Network

Scout Rackmount DC Power System by Newmar Powering the Network: 12V DC, rackmount N+1 Redundant Rectifier Shelf with output rating of 95 amps to 200 amps or 1140 watts to 2400 watts

www.poweringthenetwork.com

And I've personally used a bunch of these:
12V DC, 24V DC and 48V DC Rack Mount Integrated DC Power System | 11 Amps to 40 Amps | Battery Back-Up | IPS Series | Newmar Powering the Network

Or, add your own to your existing power supply:

BB-30M Battery Backup Module | Astron Corporation

www.astroncorp.com

 

[Mongerbl82]

Yes I have a two lamp 12 volt converter AC to DC

 

[mmckenna]

A 2 amp 12 volt power supply isn't going to have a lot of extra capacity to charge a battery and run radios. You could try it with the outboard battery backup module mentioned above, but recharge time would be extremely slow.

Before investing in just the backup module on it's own, I'd carefully consider your needs and buy the correct power supply now rather than trying to make this work in stages.

 

[Mongerbl82]

ok

 

[N4DES]

I use a device similar to this to run my battery back-up system with an Astron PS and 18Ah battery.

DC Gate 40 +

12 volt UPS for ham radio shack go box mobile

paradanradio.com

 

[Omega-TI]

For years I ran a float charger similar to << THIS ONE >>. The beauty of a float charger is that it will only charge the battery after it's had draw on it and when charged it reduces to just enough to overcome discharge. This method also eliminates switchover time because your equipment is already running off the battery.

 

[Mongerbl82]

This is the battery I am using bought it from Batteries Plus

How would you recommend I connect a 12-volt rechargeable battery inline with my converter. Converter is a 12 volt I believe 2 Amp converter will upgrade that later to around 50 amp

This is the battery I am using bought it from Batteries Plus

 

[bharvey2]

This is the battery I am using bought it from Batteries Plus

This is the battery I am using bought it from Batteries Plus

That's a 12 VDC 7aH (amp hour) sealed battery. They are commonly used in premises alarm systems and small UPSes for desktop computers. A fully charged, fresh one in a UPS might power a computer for 10 minutes or so before the UPS dies. 50A isn't in the cards with this battery. If 50A capacity is your target, you need to source a power supply with the appropriate capacity. If all of your devices utilize a 12VDC supply, you could go the route that Omega-TI mentioned and power all of your devices via a suitably sized battery and connect it to a float charger. I did a variation on this scenario when I was a kid first starting into radios. However, I didn't have a smart charger. I'd just test the battery often and place a charger on it when the voltage got too low for my liking. Whether that was the "smart" in smart charging could be open to debate.

 

[Mongerbl82]

All right thank you yeah I'm just using it with a Cobra 29 LX CB and I was planning on charging it with a Radio Shack brand I think it's a 2 Amp 12 volt converter

 

[mmckenna]

All right thank you yeah I'm just using it with a Cobra 29 LX CB and I was planning on charging it with a Radio Shack brand I think it's a 2 Amp 12 volt converter

The CB is going to pull somewhere close to 1 amp just sitting there turned on, that means only 1 amp there to charge the battery.
Transmitting, the CB is probably going to pull closer to 2 amps.

With the battery backup adapter, you'll have a hard time keeping that battery charged up after an outage.

And for a CB on it's own, a 50 amp power supply is a huge amount of overkill. I'm guessing you have plans to add more radios in the future?

A smaller 15 amp power supply might be sufficient if your plan is for one or two radios. Add a battery back up setup and something like a 50-100 ampere hour battery and you'll be good for a long time.

 

[BinaryMode]

Go to Chinazon and find a 12 to 15 Ah LiFePo4 battery. Now you need the right charger, and they can be hit and miss on quality. This one looks promising.

Take ALL reviews (even at other places) with a giant mine cart full of salt.

I would refrain from EVER using a glass mat car battery (AGM), etc. They can and will leak poisonous/flammable gas. You've been warned. Besides, A LiFePo4 battery is a lot lighter and can drain down further than other types of batteries. Meaning it'll last a lot longer, and last longer on the use cycle versus other types of batteries.