F-ing wind

solitude127

solitude127

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Last night I pull up to house and everything is pitch black. Power is out, GREAT.... So I'm not too worried about the DT and my nano inside because I had only been gone for about 3 hours but I have QT in the garage and it was COLD when I got home. Thankfully after getting the generator hooked up, the tank was only down to 74. Power was out for about 6 hours total yesterday and I'm happy that I decided to purchase a Generator. Not only for the fish tanks but for the Fridge/freezer and my other freezer in the garage. What would have been a whole of food gone to waste. I know people like to have the latest and greatest gadgets but I would put some money aside and get a generator for these kind of situations.
 
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Csreef

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It took three black outs and lots of fish lost before I purchased a generator. Had a battery back up for my mp40s, but that does not create o2 for the tank. My Honda generator is on of the smartest purchases in this hobby. Good advise!
 
xthunderx

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Couldn't agree more! Generator has saved me at least on 3 separate occasions including once for my parents.

Glad everything is okay.
 
solitude127

solitude127

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Csreef said:
It took three black outs and lots of fish lost before I purchased a generator. Had a battery back up for my mp40s, but that does not create o2 for the tank. My Honda generator is on of the smartest purchases in this hobby. Good advise!
Click to expand...
wait.... So the flow created by the backup battery on the MP40s doesn't create any CO2/O2 exchange?
 
solitude127

solitude127

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Smite said:
What size generators are you guys buying?
Click to expand...
I ended up buying the Champion 73536i. It's their 2000w inverter generator. It's quiet when the load is low but can be a little loud under full load.
 
lowbudget

lowbudget

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got the same brand but 4000w. even if its is loud you throw a wire over to your neighbor and they wont mind.
 
xthunderx

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2000w generator for me, it ran 2 tanks and fridge at less than half load approximately 800w of continuous power. Lots of variables can change this, but should give you an idea.
 
solitude127

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xthunderx said:
2000w generator for me, it ran 2 tanks and fridge at less than half load approximately 800w of continuous power. Lots of variables can change this, but should give you an idea.
Click to expand...
What kind of watts did your fridge pull at startup and after startup?
 
xthunderx

xthunderx

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Peak was hard to measure because it is pretty instant, but with the compressor running between 160w to 200w of continuous load. If I had to ball park it, peak is around 1,000w for that split second. Something to consider when buying a generator to make sure it can work properly for your application. Microwaves are another example of this peak power draw.

Excellent point to bring up. Did you have trouble running a specific device?
 
solitude127

solitude127

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xthunderx said:
Peak was hard to measure because it is pretty instant, but with the compressor running between 160w to 200w of continuous load. If I had to ball park it, peak is around 1,000w for that split second. Something to consider when buying a generator to make sure it can work properly for your application. Microwaves are another example of this peak power draw.

Excellent point to bring up. Did you have trouble running a specific device?
Click to expand...
No, but you can definitely tell when the fridge compressor turned on but after that it was fine. I don't think my generator can handle starting the inside fridge and outside freezer at the same time but if they start up at different times, it's fine.
 
xthunderx

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Makes perfect sense, this is one of the reason I ended up with two generators and parallel connections to double the capacity. I would be in a similar situation with my portable A/C and Refrigerator.

I haven't needed to use both yet, but I envision nightmare scenario where a heat wave (100 degree F or more) and bad transformer in the area goes out. Now I have an air conditioner I have to run to keep the house "under 90 degrees".

I would program OSC function for the fridge and freezer to run at separate times, turn on every hour on the hour, run for 28 min, off for 2 min, next device runs for 28min off for 2min, next...etc.

Fridge
Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/027:59/002:01 Then ON

Freezer
Fallback OFF
OSC 030:00/027:59/002:01 Then ON

Alright so I'm kidding on the programming, but it could be done. :)
 
lowbudget

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xthunderx said:
Makes perfect sense, this is one of the reason I ended up with two generators and parallel connections to double the capacity. I would be in a similar situation with my portable A/C and Refrigerator.

I haven't needed to use both yet, but I envision nightmare scenario where a heat wave (100 degree F or more) and bad transformer in the area goes out. Now I have an air conditioner I have to run to keep the house "under 90 degrees".

I would program OSC function for the fridge and freezer to run at separate times, turn on every hour on the hour, run for 28 min, off for 2 min, next device runs for 28min off for 2min, next...etc.

Fridge
Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/027:59/002:01 Then ON

Freezer
Fallback OFF
OSC 030:00/027:59/002:01 Then ON

Alright so I'm kidding on the programming, but it could be done. :)
Click to expand...
lol............
 
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babyjess210

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solitude127 said:
Last night I pull up to house and everything is pitch black. Power is out, GREAT.... So I'm not too worried about the DT and my nano inside because I had only been gone for about 3 hours but I have QT in the garage and it was COLD when I got home. Thankfully after getting the generator hooked up, the tank was only down to 74. Power was out for about 6 hours total yesterday and I'm happy that I decided to purchase a Generator. Not only for the fish tanks but for the Fridge/freezer and my other freezer in the garage. What would have been a whole of food gone to waste. I know people like to have the latest and greatest gadgets but I would put some money aside and get a generator for these kind of situations.
Click to expand...
Have you thought about hooking up your Apex to APC and alert you when the power goes out???
 
pciscott

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I had a 20 year old Queen Palm snap off about 8' up and landed on the top of my fence and still hanging from the power lines going into my next door neighbors house. My Neighbor told me that I needed to get my tree off his power lines, and I said it wasn't my tree anymore it was his:) Edison said to stay away, but still has not been out to fix. I am surprised the weight has not pulled the wires out of his electric meter as the pole going into his house is bent over under the weight. His power is still going though. Wind had to be strong the tree was about 12" in diameter where it snapped.
 
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