RO power supply question/help

[Dinorocks]

Thanks in advance for reading!

I just bought a RB10 (backyard-size RO unit) from ROBucket.com and need to use a battery to power the unit as my sugar shack is set up 1/4 mile in the woods with no electricity. I was suggested to use a 12 Volt deep cycle marine battery and a power inverter. Per the power consumption specs of the RB10 (75 Watt @ 24V DC (110V transformer included)) and using the 24DC battery in the link below, would you know if the 500W power inverter in the link below would work? The fine print listed under the caution section of the power inverter specs read "This is a Modified Sine Wave Power Inverter, applied for DC 11V - 15V, not for DC 24V".

The gentleman from RO Bucket suggested I "buy a 150 Watt inverter but a 100 Watt would probably work because the power usage using the transformer was measured at 91.5 Watt". I have bugged him a lot during the purchase of this unit and don't want to pester him again right now...figured I save my pestering for any questions I may have when I fire up the unit.

Just recently, another person I asked said “Inverters consume a lot of DC power, especially for this application where it will run for hours. 75W + inverter = dead 12v battery. I would go with the 24v battery and operate on DC.”

This is out of my expertise and I'm really confused as I want to make sure I'm getting the correct equipment so I can start filtering on Friday evening.

Can someone please help me with the proper power source and proper inverter for this RO unit? I plan to run about 200 gallons of raw sap through the RO this boil and probably get about three similar-size boils in this season total. Last year without a RO, I evaporated about 10 gallons per hour.

Link to RB10 RO Bucket
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2...BdbR82QDB3U&e=

Link to 12VOLT Battery
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2...zlW0s-9IsAo&e=

Link to 500W Power Inverter
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2...du8PDU9JBhI&e=

Thank you very much!!

Dino

[wmick]

Your friend is correct that inverters use power.. expecially the bigger ones that have cooling fans built in, etc... Transformers also use power, regardless of whether they have a load connected to them or not... Your most efficient course of action for battery life would be wire directly to the battery... Possibly have a charger and small generator to charge it back up....

Food for Thought though..... Would you be better to get 2x 12volt batteries and wire them in series,, to create your 24 Volts? (rather than a 24v battery) ..... Reason I suggest this, is that 12 volt chargers, inverters, solar panels etc, etc..etc, etc... are more readily available and cheaper. in 12 volt.. You can still tap other 12 volt devices off each of the batteries while they are wired in series. and you could use your batteries for other vehicles, etc in the off season... It is recommended to use two identical batteries when wiring in series... So you'd be looking at buying 2 new batteries....

Or maybe just a small generator and the transformer... if you don't mind the noise and gasoline consumption.

[BoerBoel]

Link to 24DC Battery
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2...zlW0s-9IsAo&e=

This is not a 24 volt battery. This is a 12 volt battery. The Battery Group Size of this battery is 24DC...A battery group size is an industry-standard for car batteries that indicates the actual, physical size for a car battery (height x width x length), as well as the polarity (where the positive and negative battery posts are located on the battery).

[wmick]

Ahh - Gotcha.... I misread.. So back to the original conundrum .... You are wasting battery capacity by running through both an inverter to 120 and then a transformer to 24. But maybe thats OK? Just seems odd to me, to change voltage twice... Did the guy happen to mention something called a "Buck-Converter"... They are DC to DC voltage regulators... that by nature of their design are about as efficient as you can get.... something like the link below... This would allow you to go from your battery to your RO in one step...




https://www.amazon.ca/EKYLIN-Convert...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[Dinorocks]

Thank for the responses so far...I wish I was smarter in this area!

Per wmick suggestion, I would wire the pump to the "out" side of the "Buck Converter" and then wire some alligator to the "in" side of the "Buck Converter" and connect the clips to a 12 volt battery? I don't like the idea of cutting wires on my brand new $500 RB but if that route make the most sense...

I have not yet received the unit so I'll site tight to see if there are some other suggestions (other than buying a 1/4 mile extension cord or carrying 200 gallons of raw sap back and forth ;-) ).

[TapTapTap]

I am surprised that you can RO any significant amount on a battery and inverter. I suggest bringing your 200 gallons of raw back home and concentrating on house power. Your return volume will only be a fraction of the 200 gallons. RO cleaning will be easier. Dont forget, doing it offgrid will involve hauling heavy batteries back for charging and unlike sap, they don't get lighter after discharging their electrons.

[maple flats]

I also suggest you haul the sap home to process. I am quite familiar with batteries having 2 solar systems, one just battery connected, with over $4,000 worth of batteries, and another at my sugarhouse that is 6.32 KW, grid tied, of that 1.48 KW is on a $2500 battery bank. Batteries will be the expensive portion of that investment, but if you decide you need the battery power, do not use a car battery, they are designed to give high power for a short time, you need one made for long term power, but fewer amps surge. For that either get a good quality deep cycle battery or a solar battery, then be ready to haul a very heavy battery to be recharged routinely.