Battery Selection
Selecting Battery Type
Select a battery or system of batteries that will provide your APS with proper DC voltage and an adequate amp hour capacity.* Select ‘Deep-Cycle’ batteries to enjoy optimum performance from your APS. Batteries of either Wet-Cell (vented) or Gel-Cell/Absorbed Glass Mat (sealed) construction are ideal. 6 Volt “golf-cart,” Marine Deep-Cycle or 8D Deep-Cycle batteries are also acceptable.**
*Even though APS models are high-efficiency converters of DC voltage, their rated output capacities are limited by the amp-hour size of the external batteries. ** You must set Configuration DIP Switch #1, Group A (Battery Type) to match the type of batteries you connect or your batteries may be degraded or damaged over an extended period of time. See “Configuration,” page 5 for more information.)
Selecting Battery Amp Hour Capacity
1.Add the Wattage Ratings of your connected equipment to determine the Total Wattage Required.*
2.Divide the Total Wattage Required (from Step 1) by the battery voltage to determine the DC Amperes Required.
3.Multiply the DC Amperes Required (from Step 2) by the number of hours you estimate will pass without AC power before your battery can be recharged to determine a Battery Amp-Hours Required Rough Estimate.**
4.Compensate for inefficiency by multiplying your Battery Amp-Hour Required Rough Estimate (from Step 3) by 1.2 to determine how many amp-hours of battery backup (from one or several batteries) you should connect to your APS. Note that the Amp-Hour ratings of batteries are usually given for a 20 hour discharge rate.Actual Amp-Hour capacities are less when batteries are discharged at faster rates: batteries discharged in 55 minutes provide only about 50% of their listed Amp-Hour ratings, while batteries discharged in 9 minutes provide as little as 30% of their Amp-Hour ratings.
*The wattage rating is usually stated in the equipment’s manuals or on their nameplates. If your equipment is rated in amperes, convert to watts by multiplying the ampere rating by your nominal AC line voltage (120). ** Your charging amps multiplied by the charging hours must exceed the discharge amp-hours taken from the batteries between charges or you will eventually run down your battery bank.
