Power outage and equipment failure

[Clarinuto]

Looking for opinions. Located in Michigan and suffered power outage Wednesday thru Friday last week. Used a gas generator to power tank until the power came back.

Neptune Apex controls all tank equipment and is plugged into a GFCI outlet.

By the time power returned, almost all major equipment had failed:
Heater
One pump
Skimmer
Filter
UV filter

I am also dealing with the outlet issues on my Neptune Apex Energy Bar 832.

I am wondering if anyone else has gone through this AND if anyone has suggestions for how to prevent so many equipment failures during another power outage.

eventually we will get a generator that turns on automatically, but it will be a while before that happens.

looking for other solutions in the interim

thanks for your help!

 

[shwareefer]

So are you thinking that equipment failed because of the quality of power your generator provided? An inverter generator or anything promising clean enough power to run computers would be a prudent investment perhaps.

 

[jda]

Don't use controllers on important stuff. AC return and skimmer pumps - you don't save any wattage and turning them off to feed is mostly a joke, so just get decades reliable stuff that wont fail with power that is not super clean. Real industrial heater controller like a Ranco and solid, reliable (at least reliable as they get) heaters like Eheim. Keep your sensitive computer like equipment off of the generator. I have never had a problem with Tunze Controllers or ATO on a generator - no idea about EcoTechs.

Some might tell you to get a super expensive surge protector, but I don't have any experience. With construction tools, better generators make more clean power - Harbor Freight is not as good as a Honda, for example. While most things won't notice, you sensitive stuff can.

Most standby generators are pretty clean, so that could fix it.

 

[Clarinuto]

So are you thinking that equipment failed because of the quality of power your generator provided? An inverter generator or anything promising clean enough power to run computers would be a prudent investment perhaps.

To be honest, I have no idea what exactly caused all the issues. I am completely new to generators. It’s highly possible that the generator we used wasn’t producing clean enough power. Seems like maybe I should have left the apex off and moved the rest of the equipment over to the generator instead

 

[Clarinuto]

Don't use controllers on important stuff. AC return and skimmer pumps - you don't save any wattage and turning them off to feed is mostly a joke, so just get decades reliable stuff that wont fail with power that is not super clean. Real industrial heater controller like a Ranco and solid, reliable (at least reliable as they get) heaters like Eheim. Keep your sensitive computer like equipment off of the generator. I have never had a problem with Tunze Controllers or ATO on a generator - no idea about EcoTechs.

Some might tell you to get a super expensive surge protector, but I don't have any experience. With construction tools, better generators make more clean power - Harbor Freight is not as good as a Honda, for example. While most things won't notice, you sensitive stuff can.

Most standby generators are pretty clean, so that could fix it.

Sounds like my issue was a combination of unclean power and hooking computer equipment up. Will definitely need to figure out a better plan for next time. As is often true with reefing, this was an expensive mistake!

 

[Onewolf]

Inverter generators are in general far superior to 'standard' generators, however they cost a lot more. They produce much cleaner sine wave power, they are MUCH quieter, and they consume a lot less fuel. You can get a Wen 2000 watt inverter generator on Amazon for around $400.

 

[Saltyreef]

So your equipment turned off one by one while it was on gen power?
Did it permanantly fry anything?

A powerline conditioner wont help on a portable gen so your only option is an inverter generator as mentioned already.

 

[Onewolf]

Another thing. I run my whole reef tank on a decent sized computer UPS. This avoids the short power blips/outages from reaching the tank equipment and it helps isolate the tank equipment from power surges.

 

[Saltyreef]

Another thing. I run my whole reef tank on a decent sized computer UPS. This avoids the short power blips/outages from reaching the tank equipment and it helps isolate the tank equipment from power surges.

Have you ever tested the runtime?
I got a few hours at best with just about 150w on a 1500va system. Works ok for 1 pump and a small heater but unless you have a nano your entire tank will require more battery than one of these can provide.

Ups systems use a lot of their battery backup to power up the large inverters they utilize and the batteries are only 12v 12AH at best. So 24v @ 24AH to power an 800 -1500w inverter.

 

[jassermd]

I went through similar issues in Dallas this past Feb. No electronics issues or otherwise. I have my tank, network room equipment, and all AV systems on double converter/inverter UPS w/ battery backup. That gave me enough time to get the generator up and running and then switch the main power line from the UPS to the generator. I also use an inverter generator which provides clean power.
The inververter/double conversion UPS is critical as it only provides 120v/60Hz power. Didn't lose a single piece of equipment either electronics or otherwise.
My bet is that the power your generator was pushing wasn't clean and likely caused the issues you are dealing with. Generators that are not inverter generators are notorious for creating issues with electronics...

 

[Vyper]

This is where ups backups shine. They will charge with the generator and deliver clean energy to the equipment.

 

[Saltyreef]

This is where ups backups shine. They will charge with the generator and deliver clean energy to the equipment.

My issue is not being close enough to home in the event of a power failure to switch to gen power. I needed larger batteries than the biggest cost effective APC ups i could find had.

Ended up buying 2x 35ah batteries, a dual cell smart charger and a cheap 500w pure sinewave inverter sized just over my max wattage for my heaters (This gets me about 8.5 hours if my heaters were running 100% 24/7)

Most of my other lifesupport equipment runs off 12v so i can plug those directly into battery power from my other dual cell setup.

 

[Onewolf]

Have you ever tested the runtime?
I got a few hours at best with just about 150w on a 1500va system. Works ok for 1 pump and a small heater but unless you have a nano your entire tank will require more battery than one of these can provide.

Ups systems use a lot of their battery backup to power up the large inverters they utilize and the batteries are only 12v 12AH at best. So 24v @ 24AH to power an 800 -1500w inverter.

The UPS is purely to avoid the momentary power blips and short (couple minute) outages (and provide some power surge capability as well). It seems like the local power company flips a switch every weekend on Sat or Sun between 6AM and 7AM that causes a 2-3 second blip. I always hated that and the UPS prevents the tank system from resetting when that happens. Every weekend.

I have run my 90 gal tank system through a "Save a Watt" device and it pulls about 180 watts when the lights (2 Radion XR15 G4) are running their daytime brightness. When the lights are off the whole system pulls about 60-70 watts.

 

[Saltyreef]

The UPS is purely to avoid the momentary power blips and short (couple minute) outages (and provide some power surge capability as well). It seems like the local power company flips a switch every weekend on Sat or Sun between 6AM and 7AM that causes a 2-3 second blip. I always hated that and the UPS prevents the tank system from resetting when that happens. Every weekend.

I have run my 90 gal tank system through a "Save a Watt" device and it pulls about 180 watts when the lights (2 Radion XR15 G4) are running their daytime brightness. When the lights are off the whole system pulls about 60-70 watts.

Wow! Do you live across the street from me or something?! Lol

And holy heck batman! Thats great!
You must have great ambient conditions to not have to use a lot of heaters.

 

[jassermd]

My issue is not being close enough to home in the event of a power failure to switch to gen power. I needed larger batteries than the biggest cost effective APC ups i could find had.

Ended up buying 2x 35ah batteries, a dual cell smart charger and a cheap 500w pure sinewave inverter sized just over my max wattage for my heaters (This gets me about 8.5 hours if my heaters were running 100% 24/7)

Most of my other lifesupport equipment runs off 12v so i can plug those directly into battery power from my other dual cell setup.

You may want to check out tripp lite. They make high capacity (and even expandable to ridiculous capacity) dual conversion inline UPS. Mine is 1.8kW and will run my entire tank for several hours. Not cheap, but then again, it is the lifeline. I run the same for my network room and it will keep it running for several hours as well. PRICELESS!

 

[Vyper]

Yep that’s all I want ups for. Small power surges or interuption that drive the equipment crazy. I think mine may run for 15-20 minutes without power. Gives me time to fire the jenny up. I have the battery backup for mp40s as well in case I’m farther away. It buys me lots of time. My house has grid tied solar. One day I am hoping whole house batteries will get cheap enough to start storing some of it and never have to worry about outages.

 

[n2585722]

I guess I am lucky. The only thing I have on battery power as a backup is the MP10 flow pumps. If I loose power then everything else goes off. I have been without power for only a little over 4 hours at a time. I went through rolling blackouts for a little over a week. The temp outside was below freezing that whole week. In fact it got down to 6 degrees one night. That is the first time as far as I know that got that cold. The tank did get down to 70 degrees. In fact it took two days of constant power for it to get back up to 76 degrees where the heaters are set. I did not loose any coral or fish. For around a 24 hour period the blackouts were around 4 hrs each time. The minimum was 1.5 hrs on and off. It is no fun being in a house that is all electric with these types of blackouts. Nothing to do since nothing works at all.