DIY emergency light using UPS

[boybi]

I've been wanting to assemble an emergency light using UPS as its power source. Masyado kasing madaling masira mga nabibiling emergency lights.

What I plan to do is mag latag ng wires from a single UPS to the different locations requiring emergency lights pag brownout. Ang hindi ko lang alam gawin is the trigger that will turn on the lights pag brownout. Anong device ang tawag sa trigger na ito? (if may power, the circuit is open, if nawala power, the circuit will be closed).

I'll be using LED bulbs for the lights para mas tumagal ang battery ng UPS.

[badkuk]

I've been wanting to assemble an emergency light using UPS as its power source. Masyado kasing madaling masira mga nabibiling emergency lights.

What I plan to do is mag latag ng wires from a single UPS to the different locations requiring emergency lights pag brownout. Ang hindi ko lang alam gawin is the trigger that will turn on the lights pag brownout. Anong device ang tawag sa trigger na ito? (if may power, the circuit is open, if nawala power, the circuit will be closed).

I'll be using LED bulbs for the lights para mas tumagal ang battery ng UPS.

Hmm, you'd somehow have to tap into the main power to check if there is power or not right? Better siguro if you can do this on the UPS side rather than have all the connected devices have this tap?

Perhaps some device between the UPS outlet and your devices can sense if there's no power, then send power to the devices if there's none(sort of a switch)?

i'll be watching this thread ^_^

[confused shoes]

^Switching diodes normally do those functions.

[oj88]

From my understanding, the emergency lights you plan to install are normally off and will only light up upon a power failure. Also, these emergency lights will be wired separately from the regular 220V lines. If that's the case, you don't really need a UPS.

What you need is a trickle charger and a suitable-sized 12V battery (deep-cycle is best).

The lights can be 12V MR16 LEDs. These lamps can operate in either AC or DC and can be directly powered by the 12V battery upon a power failure.

An automatic switch can also be DIYed using a small power supply and a suitable-sized relay (in a normally-closed configuration), so while there's utility power from the outlet, the relay is energized, preventing the emergency lights from lighting up. But during a blackout, the relay loses power and goes back to its normally-closed configuration and completes the circuit to supply current to the emergency lights.

Why not a UPS?

1. The output side is always ON whenever the UPS is powered up. In practical terms, even without a power failure, the emergency lamps are lit. Designing an automatic circuit requires a lot of caution as you're dealing with 220V AC.
2. The process of converting from battery (DC) to 220V AC produces heat and parasitic loss, eating up battery capacity when it matters the most.

[boybi]

Kaya UPS ang gusto kong gawing power source for the emergency lights because I think it manages battery charging better than those packaged emergency lights, thereby prolonging the life of the battery.

That's why I was asking here kung anong device yung pwedeng gamitin so that the lights will be OFF if there's power, and will only turn ON during brownouts.

[badkuk]

banggit ko lang, most of the entry level APC Back-UPS we purchased usually last only a year or so, then either it can't hold the charge, or randomly beeps due to some error. So depende rin sa brand/model.

Deep cycle din ba yung battery ng UPS?

[boybi]

So far nagtatagal naman mga APC UPS namin. And if bumigay ang battery, at least 1 or 2pcs lang. Unlike sa mga packaged emergency lights na minsan 6mos palang sira na.

And if maging OK ito, pwede gawin deep cycle na batt ang gamitin sa UPS.