A story of power outage and very high temp weather

[Nutnudger]

Hi all,
So I run the Red Sea 900 3XXL & have been thinking about getting a generator for the last 12 months, then on Christmas day at 7:30 pm, it happened the power went out.........

So the temperature outside was 42 degrees (107.6 for you peeps in the US) and the forecast for the next day was even higher, so I checked the power companies website, and it said that the power would be back on at 10:30 pm, so I thought OK no problem I can wait it out a couple of hours shouldn't be a problem,

I normally have a deep cycle battery that I can run an air stone off, but a mate asked to use it for camping for a couple of days, and I do have a small generator in the garage, so I said yes.

So at 10:30pm, we were all waiting, and their website was updated to say that there was now NO forecast for the power to return, so I pulled out the generator, and you guessed it, there was a problem with it, it just kept tripping out no matter what I did it just would not stay on.
So I ended up sitting in the car all night running the engine to power the small air pump with the tubing run through the window and into the tank; at this point, my main concern was the water temp as the overnight forecast was 29 degrees (84.2f) and without mains power, I couldn't check the temp.

As I was sat in the car, my son slept in the back as I could also run the aircon.

so I had plenty of time to use the internet, and I managed to find a tool shop that was open at 7 am the next morning so I went down and got a 8Kv generator, by 8am i had the tank running and most of the house connected (with cables running all over the house)

So, what did I learn?
Don't lend out your backup plan to a mate (deep cycle battery)
If you have a generator as a backup plan for power outages - make sure you start it up at least once a month

I have already been in touch with my electrician and will be adding a mains power switch to the house so I can plug in the generator to the house if we have these issues again

and the best news of all the tank made it, all the fish are well (at the moment) and all the coral made it.

 

[chipchipbro]

what a crazy story!
Well, I cannot even imagine what feeling this is. In my country its like electricity never fails. I mean there power out like once every 5 years for 10mins.. Everything else is not acceptable

But im glad everyone is alive and happy!

God bless you, brother.

 

[homer1475]

I live in an area where we loose power quite often for several hours at a time. Backup genny, and knowing it works is a must have.

Glad the tank made it through it.

 

[Nutnudger]

I wouldn't say we are in a remote area but it is in an area that seems to get hit with lots of power outages in summer the risk of fire would impact the power and then in winter storms impact the power lines and take out the power.

To be fair if I'm honest with myself I have been running the risk for some time and it got me this time but won't get me again

 

[Nutnudger]

I live in an area where we loose power quite often for several hours at a time. Backup genny, and knowing it works is a must have.

Glad the tank made it through it.

I wouldn't say we are in a remote area but it is in an area that seems to get hit with lots of power outages in summer the risk of fire would impact the power and then in winter storms impact the power lines and take out the power.

To be fair if I'm honest with myself I have been running the risk for some time and it got me this time but won't get me again

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

im in the country. i dont trust the local power company, we cut the cord years ago , main power is solar we have generator , and a backup generator, then worst case if both those fail the rv has a generator If you own land, solar has gotten cheap enough to pay itself off in less than 2 years for our farm.

now when the power goes out the neighbors come over for "hurricanes" the local drink of choice for such occasion.