Sump pump backup batteries

[Fritzo]

Never heard of adding acid to a lead-acid battery, only distilled water.

They can be shipped dry where you do an initial acid fill, but thereafter you add distilled water, iirc.

Maybe it is water. Not sure I have the manual taped to the side if that day ever comes.

 

[Rubycon]

I've never heard of putting sumps on backup batteries because they typically are larger (in my experience) and I see little efficiency in doing so. Obviously, deep cycle marine batteries are going to be far cheaper than a standard set of backups as used with UPS solutions. The problem is, most Sumps are 120v AC and you would lose a lot in the inverter processes.

One solution would be to size your pump up...see how much water that pump is rated for in gallons per minute and get 2 or 3 bilge pumps to go with your marine battery. Bilge pumps are pretty efficient on battery life, are small, and can be purchased for very little:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Shoreline-...ingMethod=p13n

Since the application is backup and temporary until power is restored, you can invest a little and add additional batteries/pumps if you see a need for more pumping power or additional pumps in other locations.

Those bilge pumps are *tiny* and are always rated at 0 head. 10' rise on one of those and they would probably push under 200gph which is nothing compared to what a decent sump pump can handle. The watchdog at 1700gph at 10' is adequate for most installations, however.

There are larger (bilge) pumps but (of course) their power consumption is going to be greater. If water movement is required continuously and the power goes out for hours or days you're going to be hosed.

Battery capacity is only at rated when new. It's in constant decline as it ages. You can never have enough it seems. It's easy to strap on more for added capacity but ensuring they are properly equalized becomes a daunting task indeed!

 

[jsbush]

You need a deep cycle battery.

I used an Optima blue top in one for my cars for 10 years and it still runs great (battery that is, not the car lol). Reason I got a blue top marine batt was due to the frequent discharge and recharge of the battery I needed caused by my sound system.

Awesome battery I must say.