Are you ready for a Power Outage?
 

We lost power yesterday from 7am till 9pm, I had a generator so I made it through it ok.

From the news and hydro’s website up to 200,000 homes were with out power and some won’t have it back till Wednesday. 12 to 48+ hrs with out power, that’s a long time.

I hope everyone who has tanks makes it through it ok.

where in white rock are ya?

21st Ave & 153rd ST.

I have nothing if the power goes out. It gives me a really uncomfortable feeling with winter on it's way. But what is worse is the 80+ foot poplar tree beside the house that we are trying to get removed befor it comes crashing throught the house :)

j

I have nothing in place either (for outtages over one hour), and it certainly isn't for lack of trying. Apartment living is horrible when it comes to tanks. Short of amassing a wall of power supplies, there doesn't seem to be much for options out there.

Hi Bill

Happy to hear that your generator carried you through. My power blinked a number of times, however I never had to start the generator. I checked my backup system out about a month ago and it worked great. Yesterday I laid out the generator, the extension cord and the power surge bar. All ready to go so that all I would have to do is start the generator and plug in the amp master and heaters. Last year when the power went off it wasn't much fun mixing the gas and oil. laying out the extension cord and finding the surge power bar IN THE DARK. This year I am ready, so bring on the storms.


Tom R

I have a UPS. here in calgary our outages never go over 30-40 minutes. energy capital of north america ;)

Hi Jason

Can I suggest a craig list ad.

(Free Fire Wood bring you own chainsaw).

Tom R

Would this work?
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/tls/476745940.html

How long could you keep a tank healthy with only a air stone and a small circulation pump, and heater going?? A charged 12v marine battery with converter would run these three for approx. 10 to 12 hrs. Great topic cprowler.
Kevin

What are you using for a return again? That should be your biggest hurdle getting your bigger pumps started.

Have 300w battery backup/jumpstarter from CT.

Also a Princess Auto portable generator with 2 jerry cans of gas & 2 25' extension cords.

Anthony

Exactly and with the extreme weather the last few years a generator is the only way to go as far I’m concerned. If you can, anyone in an apartment like Catherine would have to have a different plan.

I think that it would work to drive your pumps only. If you needed to drive your heaters at all, it might be too much for that particular model.

Ya I guess your right. So what would you consider the lowest Wattage generator to run the bare minimum.

Hammerhead Pump return max watt. @ 400W ouch

J

If you are in an apartment, what I would do is this:

Get 2 300w battery backups from Canadian Tire. (use one, charge the other - usually power outages are localized so you should know someone with power still). Use these powerpacks for your Hydor Koralia/Tunze/Maxijet 1200 type powerheads.

If you have a bbq or better yet, a bbq with a side burner, use the side burner to heat water to heat up tank water or fw that you then pour into sealed containers to float in your tank.

Have a battery operated air pump & airstones for added circulation.

Throw thermal blankets over the tank to retain as much heat as possible.

PRAY hard! and keep a close eye on things.

Hope this helps.

I know it sounds like a lot but we have so much tied into our tanks that I think its worth the extra effort.

Anthony

Yeah these are really good ideas Anthony! I think I will head out this weekend to CT and get a few of those. Are they around $200 if I remember correct?

Using a 800W PA generator.

More than enough to power my basement return pump for aeration/circulation (Iwaki drawing 262w and pushing 1000gph) and a heater. Have tested without problems.

The fish and corals will go without the MHs and will just have to pretend there's a storm and rely on light through the windows.

I have the same gen as Mark. It's still in the box but at least it's in the garage. I can't remember the last time we lost power for more than a few minutes, but it was cheap and you never know.

On special, my powerpack300 at CT was around $70+tax.

I currently have two battery back ups on hand in case of anything happening, but I found out they only lasted me a maximum of an hour and a half this past summer. Granted I was running my chiller for a bit after my pre-made ice & cooler packs ran out, so I'm sure it plays a role. It took them a day and a half to get the power back on here that particular evening.

Apartment living isn't all that condusive to tank back up options. I'm sure my next house will have a generator to combat this potential situation.

I bought this generator in the summer

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...romSearch=true

Has a true sine wave inverter on it so I can run absolutely anything from powerheads to heaters to halides.

hey J, i picked up the 2500w version of that generator from the same guy today! seems like an honest fella...

I talked to my electrician buddy. Motors usually draw 125% of the wattage to get them started and if a generators is rated for say 1000 watts, 80% should be usable. So I would say a 1000 watt would get you by with out any trouble, it would allow you a heater or something else possibly.

That problem I was taking about starting my pumps (in another thread) was because I was using them through my DJ power switches not because of lack of wattage. I knew I didn’t have any problem last year.:rolleyes:

And generators are normally spec'd with their continuous rating and there's a allowed peak load (not that I would run one though at it's maximum continuous rating).

I got mine at Costco last summer on sale for $300. Tank of gas lasts 8hrs, I had half the house running off it.

http://oceanv.net/zld/reef/gen01.jpg

http://oceanv.net/zld/reef/gen02.jpg

gen
 

I am using this bad boy, under $600 delivered (including Fedex bogus duties):

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Super-Quiet-Power...QQcmdZViewItem

And I got a cool knife! I am very happy with it, my electrician has hooked it up to a 240 line, so when power goes out, I turn off the main breaker, plug the gen into a dryer outlet, start the gen, and everything works in the house. Of course I do not run the all mh's, baseboard heaters, stove, or the water heater (only at night for 60 mins, I hate cold showers!). And it is only 69 dBa! Still loud, but not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Cheers,
Phil

Since it's always windy when the power goes out how about one of these? :mrgreen:

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...romSearch=true

Swags, I'm surprised a electrician would set you up like than. Be careful for yourself and be really careful that the main is off during an outage so you don't kill a Linesman that might be out there trying to restore power.

I was thinking about this today, and I am not prepared I would loose everything if we had a major outage unfortunately.

Well it's been about a month since I had the generator running so I am going to start it up this afternoon after my first aid course. I'm going to put some fuel stabilizer in it also.

I am going to assume that he was told to turn off his main breaker before he plugs the gen set it.. otherwise the power coming back on could fry his new gen set, and he would be feeding the neighborhood with power, well not really but at least the lines to the pole would be energized and until it hit a transformer.

Steve

I've had my Reef go for 8 hours with no power, and no problems. That was the longest power outage I've ever experienced, so I'm not too worried about alternate power.

Has anyone encounter any problems when running electronic ballasts and Aquacontrollers with a gas powered generator? i am thunking of buying this generator

http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...romSearch=true

It is a champion generator rated 3000W(Cont) and 4000W(Surge)... i am wondering will any of my electronics be fried...

The point of a disaster plan is not to run your entire system. It is to run a pump for circulation and some heat for the period of the power outage.

Tom R

nope Im not ready ,but I should be :sad:

if you have the capability to run the whole tank, why not?

to answer the question.. if you get a inverter generator that uses a true sinewave inverter you can run anything and it will work properly, but they are a little more expensive, but hell whats 600 to 1000 bucks compared to all the money we have spend to rock, coral, fish, ect...

Steve

Thanks Steve! You are correct. I was told to turn off the main breaker to protect my gen. I did not go with the option for auto-shutoff, too expensive for flipping a switch. If the gen was auto-start, then I would have spent the extra dough, but that was a few thousand more! Have not had to use it yet (fingers crossed), but the security of having it there is priceless!
Cheers,
Phil

I have that generator from Costco but I have no gas LOL. I'll need to go out to buy gas if power goes out hahahaha

Convinced Wife
 

Convinced wife that we need a generator, so we are looking now. Told her it was to keep freezer going.If I said fish tanks she would have laughed and said "No Way" Thinks I spend too much already on my addiction.:biggrin:

Ok I need some advise now as I am still learning about web site. How do I start a new thread or post? Oh yeah , What does "bump" mean? Dont want to sound stupid bit never heard that before. Thanks..Darryl