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It's 6:15pm and the power goes out...

aqua-nut

aqua-nut

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Yes it did. Out for 4 hours. I sprang into action, after a delay for contemplation. :)

Just what was my emergency plan? I found and assembled the MJ1200 as a prop pump. Found the inverter, ran extension cords to two tanks. Plugged inverter into truck and off we go!

DT cooled off more than I thought. Lost 3 degrees in the 4 hrs. For about 2 hrs I had a 75W heater on the 120G tank.

Lesson learned:
Trim shrubs so it's easier to get extension lines to the right place.

All in all an OK experience. Sitting in the dark listening to the wind blow and blow and blow...


What's your tank emergency plan?
 
Glad to hear everything is ok! This just makes me think I really need a better emergency plan. Last time my power went out, I was stirring the water with a big spoon every couple minutes to provide flow (my tank is only 30 gallons, so that works) and I figured I'd float some hot water bottles if the temperature started to drop.
 
Nice quick work there, John! Are you running the truck engine to keep the battery charged?

Power went out for me about 1.5 hours ago. I made a SLA battery backup for the MP40 that would continue water movement in the reef tank for about 20 hours if I had kept the battery charged. Stupid me didn't plug in the battery charger after the tank transfer a couple months ago, so the battery's completely drained. Luckily I had a charged UPS on hand, but it's only good for maybe 3 hours. On the list of things to do is build a time machine so I can go back in time to smack myself from a couple months ago. :p

Will be putting battery-powered air pumps on the broodstock and growout tanks if the power doesn't come back soon.
 
You're lucky the inverter didn't go, motors and "cheap inverters" don't play nice together. Now I'm saying this without knowing anything about your inverter, you might have a nice sine wave inverter in which case you should be good to go :D
 
sfsuphysics said:
You're lucky the inverter didn't go, motors and "cheap inverters" don't play nice together. Now I'm saying this without knowing anything about your inverter, you might have a nice sine wave inverter in which case you should be good to go :D
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I need to explore that inverter issue more. The inverter is a long way from nice! Just a cheap Radio Shack unit. It can handle 340w.

I was afraid of plugging in an expensive MP40 so I used a cheap MJ1200. Not as easy as using the MP40 but...

A question for those with actual knowledge about electricity and all that magic stuff, since an MP40 is really a DC motor, will there be any problem using an inverter with 'unclean' power?

To answer David's question, yes I left the truck running. With two sets of keys, I just locked it up and 'let 'er run'. Of course if you can't get a vehicle close enough to your residence (like David) this method is worthless!

And David, when you get that time machine working I'd like to take a ride. Planning on bringing along a 2x4 so I can REALLY convince my past self to do it right!

As my aquarium empire grows ;), I've been thinking about getting a generator. Is there some specs I should look for to make sure the power will be compatible with pump motors and things like the frig.

Here is my temp and pH graph from yesterday:

temp_pH.png
 
FeliciaLynn said:
I figured I'd float some hot water bottles if the temperature started to drop.
Click to expand...

You must have a gas stove, right?

I did check if the stove worked (gas) last night. With all the safety features on devices today I was not sure it would light without power. It did, BTW!

We have solar panels but they produce no power if line power is off. Makes sense since we are on the grid.
 
aqua-nut said:
I need to explore that inverter issue more. The inverter is a long way from nice! Just a cheap Radio Shack unit. It can handle 340w.
Click to expand...
Well, it can run just fine or it can blow the inverter. That's been my experience, had a pump running off my prius + inverter was happy, turned it off so I could change some stuff around, next time I turned it on.. pop. Luckily Target took the brunt of my failure (twice :D).


I was afraid of plugging in an expensive MP40 so I used a cheap MJ1200. Not as easy as using the MP40 but...

A question for those with actual knowledge about electricity and all that magic stuff, since an MP40 is really a DC motor, will there be any problem using an inverter with 'unclean' power?
Click to expand...
Actually it would be better suited. Electronics like computer components that first turn the AC into DC power run just fine off chopped off square waves. That's why a cheap UPS works just fine for computers, they typically do not have a nice sine wave power source. The conversion from AC to DC is relatively "safe" to do with ugly input sources, and the DC power supply actually acts as a buffer between the electronics and the power from the wall.
 
Thanks for the info, Mike.

The inverter was getting quite HOT. I don't remember that 'feature' before. It does have a fuse so maybe (crossing fingers) it would protect itself from harm.
 
aqua-nut said:
You must have a gas stove, right?

I did check if the stove worked (gas) last night. With all the safety features on devices today I was not sure it would light without power. It did, BTW!

We have solar panels but they produce no power if line power is off. Makes sense since we are on the grid.
Click to expand...
I have a gas stove and a gas water heater. So assuming the water is still running and its just the power that is out, I can just get hot water out of my faucet to fill up water bottles. Otherwise, the stove should also work for heating water in that case. My car is usually parked a couple blocks from my apartment, so I have no way to run an inverter to my car. Also a generator isn't an option because I don't have anywhere to store or run it in a 1 bedroom upstairs apartment. I really should get backup batteries for my MP10's so I won't be stirring the tanks with a big spoon like I was doing last time, haha!
 
We have tankless hot water. No power no hot water. It's gas but has an electric starter.

If the spoon works, it sure is cheaper than the back up.

If you had to (and shared some power w/ your neighbors) I bet you could put a small gen on the walkway. Have extra ear plugs for the neighbors! :)
 
Battery operated air pumps runs about $12. They do help too. Now heat is another issue, but it should be ok as long as it isn't very cold in your place. Ever test the temp in a bag off coral shipped overnight?
 
Apon said:
Battery operated air pumps runs about $12. They do help too. Now heat is another issue, but it should be ok as long as it isn't very cold in your place. Ever test the temp in a bag off coral shipped overnight?
Click to expand...

I always thought temp would be somewhat stable, especially in a big(er) tank. My 120G acrylic tank dropped 2 degrees in four hours. This included using a 75W heater for two of those hours.

I have tested bag water after coming from either LFS or swap in the bay area. It takes me at least an hour to get home. They are in an insulated 'cooler'. Very often the water is 73 degrees! Maybe I shouldn't use a 'cooler'! Do they make a 'warmer'? :D

Big outages always seem to happen in winter so heating is a real concern. My little inverter (350w) is very limited trying to supply heaters. My big tank's usual heater configuration is two 200w units. One can keep it at about 75 degrees if it's not cold in the house. At this point if power was out overnight I'd be able to keep temp to a maybe manageable low 70's using some blankets and foam to reduce loss. Anytime after that I'd have to have a generator.

We were without power for 4 days in a big storm around new years about 12-15 years ago. I didn't have tanks at that time.
 
Good to hear both John and David survived!

I need to build a DC battery with trickle charger for my MP40s. So I won't have to travel back in time to smack myself. My guess is I will probably get lazy and still need to time travel and smack myself!

Now to find that post a while back for the MP40 DIY backup battery.
 
Anyone else looking to make a DIY battery backup? Perhaps a DIY Battery Backup workshop is in order? BAR could make common components such as connectors, wires, fuses, trickle chargers, etc., and tools (soldering iron, electrical tape, wire strippers, etc.) available, and you supply the battery. All told a simple battery backup for the whole tank could be done for roughly $100, or $50 for a Vortech battery backup.
 
lattehiatus said:
Anyone else looking to make a DIY battery backup? Perhaps a DIY Battery Backup workshop is in order? BAR could make common components such as connectors, wires, fuses, trickle chargers, etc., and tools (soldering iron, electrical tape, wire strippers, etc.) available, and you supply the battery. All told a simple battery backup for the whole tank could be done for roughly $100, or $50 for a Vortech battery backup.
Click to expand...
This could be a great part of the DIY workshop we were thinking about doing. We'd just need someone who knows what they're doing to teach everyone else!
 
Do be careful with any DIY battery setup. There can be unforeseen dangers lurking like some batteries vent hydrogen gas which could cause a fire hazard, then there's the issue of of having to replace the battery after X amount of time depending upon your battery type. Also note you'll only be able to power DC powered parts, and you'll need the connectors to do it since the DC power is after the transformer that you plug into the wall, I wouldn't trust any inverter that would keep the project in the $100 range.

It could be an interesting DIY project though, not sure how much practically use it'll have though. Everyone's situation is different and the only times I've lost power when I've had a reef tank is when I turned off the main breaker to do electrical work on the house. Ok that's not quite true, I've had power outages before but they never last long enough to worry about.

Rather than having a bulky battery under your tank, it might be nice to have something you can simply clip onto your car battery. *shrug* If you lose power that much though I'd go with an inexpensive generator from costco ($400 or so) not sure what the waveform output of those cheap ones are though.
 
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