Using battery power to go off the City's power grid

Ckearthink is a little cloudy today. We don’t use inverters because the US AC is so bad.....all AC is bad....anywhere in the world. Inverters in Switzerland will make the same SONIC improvement. We use inverters because is sounds better. We use Puritan line filters because it sounds better.....we use separate filtered ground rod and grounding for our stereo because it sounds better......this is the reason to be an audiophile.....to continuously enjoy making our stereos sound more and more alive and therefore we FEEL more alive.

You only need as much battery as you need. I am running my whole system on a 33 amp hour battery. However, my current draw with my CD transport, DAC and amp is only 45 watts.........so I get a few hours of liitsening before I need to charge.....However, it is not known what batteries do to the sound and how much battery sounds best.....this is a new game.....only a few are currently playing. Do LIfePo4 batteries sound better than AGM? If you use more battery than you need will it sound better as more batteries equals lower impedance from the battery? And since all inverters will sound different.....which brand sounds the best? And does a 2200 watt Giandel sound the same as the 5000 watter? NO ONE KNOWS any of this until more experiments are done. If you go to Audio Asylum on the tweaks forum you will see a thread I started about inverters. One guy bought the Giandel 5000 and is enjoying it. He has multiple class A amps so he wanted lots of battery. He ended up buying 2 200 amp hour AGM batteries.....AGM batteries cost half as much.....however, they last less than half as long......and a 200 amp hour AGM battery weighs 125lb.......A 200 amp hour LifePo4 battery weighs less than 50 lbs. So, if he bought LifePo4 batteries would it sound better? It will certainly be better on his back.

I I had the money i would buy the 5000 watt Giandel ($900) and a single 100 amp hour LIfePo4 battery ($400 and weighs 25 lbs.)......I am going to talk to the owner of the property here and see if I can install my own ground rod right outside my studio. By the way, a fully charged 12V battery is actually 12.6 volts or more. This is why a 200 amp hour batterey is rated at 2500 amp hours (12.6 X 200 = 2520). So a single 100 amp hour battery is 1260 watt hours.

When using you don’t get all the watt hours...you do not want to go below 10% charge on the low side for longest life. It is best to consider 80% when using. So if you have 5000 amp hours of battery.....think 4000 watts of actual use.

ricevs - I totally agree especially with: "Do LIfePo4 batteries sound better than AGM? If you use more battery than you need will it sound better as more batteries equals lower impedance from the battery? And since all inverters will sound different.....which brand sounds the best? And does a 2200 watt Giandel sound the same as the 5000 watter? NO ONE KNOWS any of this until more experiments are done." 

In a nutshell you have what is a, "UPS" system right?

 Just "tailored" to your rig's requirements. But your numbers are maybe off a bit. "Maybe"? Maybe not.

There is a rule used when using "any" inverters, UPS systems and etc.

 That is;

"The UPS must be able to handle full load while also charging the battery system post an electrical outage".

 I understand the terminology is incorrect for this audio application. But everything else really is the same when designing what is really just a "mini-substation" for a home's audio system. "With an (Isolated-dedicated) grounding electrode" which is Not tied into the homes primary electrical system and/or grounding electrode. This grounding topology, "Which is designed to NOT cause any ground-loop effect, or other types of problems". This can be more than problematic if not done correctly.

So, there is a "way" to follow to do this correctly and in the best manner.  And "they" account for most of what I have learned to account for. Except for one step that "I" insist on doing also. Which is using toroidal isolating transformers, Isolated for each circuit. Located near the device/s for use. And sometimes more than one per circuit! Thats a lot of copper! But soo worth it!

Is anyone here familiar with the "UPS" systems that use the really big concrete flywheels? Big like (800+Lbs.) for the flywheel itself? And with a dia. close to (4') and over 18" wide??

This type of "UPS", It looks like two large, full-sized fridges' put together. In total it weighs about (3000Lbs.). The flywheel is always turning. Powered normally off of the utility power. Not really spinning to fast. Maybe at (450) Rpm's. 

But that was (20) years ago...

450 Rpm's? "Or so I thought". Now it's more like (36,000 Rpm's) with a (98%) power efficiency!

In this modern power topology. The way I have used these systems....

And I post this so that maybe this will shed some light on what is going on as far as this goes. Hopefully this helps some of you.

But this is the future. As in, The "immediate" future for all homes. And this at a "100% install level" and this is coming very, very fast. You have to admit that our infrastructure is a mess and the only way to guarantee good, reliable and clean power? At least for twenty years or so? Starts with an "UPS", which is expandable until you are off grid as needed. "Like adding modules", easy!

The way this works is: "And this is JUST my exp. with it". My home is a bit different like I said above with the grounding and isolation but other than that? The same.

 If you have not tried this? You will never understand the benefits. My PC's run better and last longer. No more hard-drive failures. Lighting almost never has to be changed out, "bulbs etc.". And if it has electronic components? It works better and much longer! And my 'rig' has never sounded better!

I use a "Battery-Free" system. "Yes", they exist.

But, this is how a typical system works. This is like those I saw and also worked with all the time before I retired. And can be purchased "used" now. "They all look new because they were always kept in those IT closets and other such places".

"You may need to change out some bearings and batteries. But after that? Another (20) years of use, and more is left in them.

So,

ALL power in a given area goes through the "UPS" system. Which on an avg. day has a load of maybe 50X the avg. American household. The Idea is that (Any) disruption to the supply voltage has one of two ways that it is always supplying a "Nominal" voltage of clean power. "Low voltage situations are handled by this flywheel which picks up the entire load using the kinetic energy as DC and also inverting to AC any other voltages as needed. In "Over-Voltage" situations, it just switches to battery power. Either internal or external. And as it is being transferred over to the "UPS" batteries OR, flywheel. Once the auto-transfer switches have all engaged and pulled over. The "UPS" then goes to all battery power. But, this shuts down anything deemed, "Non-critical", So basically anything that is not a computer or cooling and ventilation plus fire-safety is shut down because the transfer switches simply do not feed it. .

And the only batteries this system uses. Which for that (good sized) power load take up only about the same room or less than a medium sized fridge. They are only rated for the avg. load "Remember that is explicitly, computers, servers, routers and etcetera", good for about (15) minutes. But the flywheels stored kinetic energy? Another two hours and thirty-eight minutes! :"The generators are supposed to be up by then". 

 

Damn I am long-winded at times!

WTF are you talking about? An 800lb flywheel UPS system? Once you crash from whatever high you’re on please just go to another thread.