Success! Power Generator Comes Alive!

[Black Mammoth]

So over the summer I bought a loud no name brand generator from Costco for about $200. Today I decided to hook it up to see if would power my tank just in case we lose power in the somewhat boonies. The generator is powering everything in my tank. I switched on each component one by one to make sure it would power it. It runs everything. I'm pretty excited.

 

The laundry list of things it is powering:

 

6x54w T5s

ASM G-2 Skimmer with recirc mod, so add another power head on to that.

TurboTwist UV Sterilizer and another power head on to that.

Eheihm return pump

2 300w Ebo Jager heaters

1 Tunze

Fans for the lights

Auto-top off

 

I'm sure I'm missing a few other things. Now I just need to rig up the system to make it not so loud so my neighbors don't kill me. I have some ideas, such as not running everything and lowering the engine on the generator. Anyway, I figured they could live with the noise for once in a blue moon power outage. I might be able to bribe them with electricity if I need to

[traveller7]

So over the summer I bought a loud no name brand generator from Costco for about $200. Today I decided to hook it up to see if would power my tank just in case we lose power in the somewhat boonies. The generator is powering everything in my tank. I switched on each component one by one to make sure it would power it. It runs everything. I'm pretty excited.

 

The laundry list of things it is powering:

 

6x54w T5s

ASM G-2 Skimmer with recirc mod, so add another power head on to that.

TurboTwist UV Sterilizer and another power head on to that.

Eheihm return pump

2 300w Ebo Jager heaters

1 Tunze

Fans for the lights

Auto-top off

 

I'm sure I'm missing a few other things. Now I just need to rig up the system to make it not so loud so my neighbors don't kill me. I have some ideas, such as not running everything and lowering the engine on the generator. Anyway, I figured they could live with the noise for once in a blue moon power outage. I might be able to bribe them with electricity if I need to

Sounds great....

 

Even better, for us, since you are preppared it just insured we won't see 1 flake of snow for at least a year :D

[YBeNormal]

Just in case Mother Nature and the power company weren't paying attention, I also bought a generator today to absolutely ensure we won't have a single power outage this year!

[flowerseller]

Don't count your chickens just yet.

I've had one since '98 and gotten plenty of use from it.

It' s been fortunate enough to cost me one neighbor, but won me several.

[YBeNormal]

I checked with the few neighbors I care about and all of them were OK with the idea of a noisy generator as long as I am willing to share some heat when the power goes out. The rest of the neighbors, well...

[jason the filter freak]

I got a generator a few years ago, it cost 20 sumthing grand, but it's really quiet and German engineered... requires a inverter though

Edited December 16, 2007 by jason the filter freak

[Black Mammoth]

Last night we were getting ice building up on trees, lines, grass, etc. Around 12:30 we started to have brown outs and that stopped around 1. The power stayed on the entire time and it appears my equipment survived the brown outs. We'll chalk up the no power loss due to mother nature knowing we got generators

[YBeNormal]

I'm running mine right now for a 5-hour break in so I can do the first oil change. I'd rather get that out of the way now than have to do it when it is really cold outside and there is no commercial power. Since it's running, I hooked up a MAG 5 to pump water off of my pool cover. So far no complaints from the neighbors.

[dbartco]

most of purcellville out right now!

[YBeNormal]

Do you have a generator?

[dbartco]

I do have a generator and and a battery backup. I just blinked on and off a few times, but it is a good idea to doublecheck everything like SIPHON HOLES as well.

[bigJPDC]

We lost power for about five hours, right after DaveS left with the Heiniocus until 9:30, and my generator did great. I was swapping lines between the nano and the satellite\plasma to watch the Redskins game.

[flowerseller]

I can still remember when I bought mine for the tank, just in case.

My long time fish buddy remarked that I was getting too serious about this stuff.

Now they're almost standard equipment.

[bigJPDC]

I am thinking about investing in something for the nano - it's too far away from the generator side of the house, and keeps me from running the plasma. All I had plugged in was an AC70, 50 watt heater and whisper10 for carbon. My computer UPS only lasted about an hour before dying just with that so I need a better solution if we get knocked out again.

[melinda & adam]

We lost power for over 12 hrs in leesburg. Adam and I ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get our old generator started. (It is officially dead) Finally after about an hour we found a car converter and hooked up 1 powerhead for our 29g and 2 powerheads with a airstone in our 165. At 5 am the husband went to homedepot and bought us a new generator. The house got down to mid 50s and the tanks were high 60s. We were able to slowly bring the tank temps back up and sofar we have been very lucky and have not seen any losses at all. We are now ready for the next poweroutage

[FishWife]

My dad was visiting to see our new, first grandbaby. It was the first time he'd seen our tank. One of his first questions was, "What do you do when the power goes out?" (He's from New England.) I told him that we planned to run essentials off our car's inverter.

 

The next day, he surprised us with a Home Depot 5700 watt generator. Early Xmas present.

 

Now: we are about to rewire for our new 175. The electrician comes Friday. We have a gas furnace in the basement, the tank is on the ground floor, and we have a heat exchanger on the second (bedroom) floor.

 

Questions:

 

1. Can we run our blower to our furnace off this generator if we get the electrician to install... something? A switch?

 

2. How much electricity (generally) does a system with two or three heaters, two Darts, a 4/250 metal halide fixture, and a DIY calc. reactor take?

 

3. How do you all who have generators hook up? Hard wired? Extension cords? Do share.

 

4. Where, in all this, does a battery back up come in?

Edited December 20, 2007 by FishWife

[Rascal]

My dad was visiting to see our new, first grandbaby. It was the first time he'd seen our tank. One of his first questions was, "What do you do when the power goes out?" (He's from New England.) I told him that we planned to run essentials off our car's inverter.

 

The next day, he surprised us with a Home Depot 5700 watt generator. Early Xmas present.

 

Now: we are about to rewire for our new 175. The electrician comes Friday. We have a gas furnace in the basement, the tank is on the ground floor, and we have a heat exchanger on the second (bedroom) floor.

 

Questions:

 

1. Can we run our blower to our furnace off this generator if we get the electrician to install... something? A switch?

 

2. How much electricity (generally) does a system with two or three heaters, two Darts, a 4/250 metal halide fixture, and a DIY calc. reactor take?

 

3. How do you all who have generators hook up? Hard wired? Extension cords? Do share.

 

4. Where, in all this, does a battery back up come in?

1) The electrician can install a transfer switch. They have both manual and automatic types I think. My dad has one. My DIY solution (which I haven't done yet) is to just install a plug and outlet in the cord running from the breaker box to the furnace. That way when the power goes out I can just unplug the furnace and plug it into an extension cord from the generator.

 

2) All of those things will have the max wattage listed on them (or at least on the packaging). Just add the watts and you'll have your answer. The only thing to be careful about when doing the calculations is the fact that a 250W MH ballast uses a lot more than 250W when firing up. Your generator probably has a peak rating that is designed to accommodate this sort of thing (really designed more for refrigerators and stuff, but the same general idea).

 

3) I use extension cords that run through the crawl space and into the house. I then cut the plugs off these and wired them into outlets which are placed next to the outlets that normally supply power to the tank. Conduit would have been a better choice but I had the extra extension cords and didn't feel like spending the $ on a bunch of conduit. When the power goes out it is just a matter of powering up the generator and switching the plugs to the generator outlets. Works for me.

 

4) A battery back up can supply power for essential life support when the power fails while you are away from the house or even home but asleep.

[FishWife]

1) The electrician can install a transfer switch. They have both manual and automatic types I think. My dad has one. My DIY solution (which I haven't done yet) is to just install a plug and outlet in the cord running from the breaker box to the furnace. That way when the power goes out I can just unplug the furnace and plug it into an extension cord from the generator.

 

So Ercole electricians came today and told us that the new norm (at least for Pepco customers) is to have a switch thing put outside on your meter box. Then, in a power outage, you go to your box, throw the main switch OFF, turn off ALL curcuits in your home, and then turn on your generator outside. THEN, you manually put on each curcuit inside your home as you need them (including the furnace, curcuits to fish tanks, etc.)

 

We're going to research this option. I'll post here when I know more about prices, etc.

[bigJPDC]

I would rather have a seperate panel with assigned circuits like fish tank, well pump, sump pump, kitchen and furnace, and then have those automatically cut over in the event of an outage.

 

'the new norm' - sounds more like 'what I know how to do whether or not it's the best thing for you'.

[Guest 120 Gallons]

They make automatic transfer switches that can automatically take you off the grid when power goes out and switch you to a generator and vica versa when the power comes back.

 

I have a portable generator and basically ran the necessities in my house (which of course included my tank) for a week during an ice storm 4 or 5 years ago.

[FishWife]

They make automatic transfer switches that can automatically take you off the grid when power goes out and switch you to a generator and vica versa when the power comes back.

 

I have a portable generator and basically ran the necessities in my house (which of course included my tank) for a week during an ice storm 4 or 5 years ago.

 

So... Pepco installs these? 'Cause Ercole doesn't...

[Black Mammoth]

The auto switch from what I understand can get expensive. I'm not sure how much of your furnace you are trying to run, but they can require a lot of amps which your generator may not be able to handle. I have a nice extension cord for my generator. I really haven't had to use it yet, but it is available. I went cheap on the generator because I have propane in the house and a kerosene heater. When it is cold outside, I can put my food outside if it is getting warm. I might even be able to run a fridge off it, but I have yet to try. I would have bought a nicer generator if I was going to use it for life support. It runs the tank and that's all I care for now...and I'm sure my tv, sat, and xbox can hook up to it The only thing I wish I did differently is spent money on a good one so it wasn't so loud...but for $200 I can't really complain too much.