Skimmer pump wattage according to your Apex?

[TheOne]

My reef octopus classic 200 INT is drawing 26 watts.

 

[kyley]

I decided to purchase a Kill a Watt P3 outlet meter to verify the 50W reading I was getting on my EB832 of my Nyos Quantum 160. The Kill a Watt meter is reading around 19W, which is really close to the expected 18W rating. So, I decided to check the wattage of my other equipment, and for some reason the skimmer pump is the only piece of equipment where the EB832 wattage value is way different compared to the Kill a Watt meter.

Hmm, that is interesting. Not sure why it would be different from one to the other. At any rate, the Sicce pump that I'm now using with the Red Sea skimmer reports less wattage than the label on my EB832.

That being said-OP, clean your pump, make sure theres no degree in the needlewheel and venturing intake/air tube. Any air restriction will cause higher wattage.

Yeah, I'd cleaned the pump too and it didn't make a difference. As noted in this thread, this was with my Curve 7 skimmer. I tested my Curve 5 skimmer and had the same result (much higher power draw). And others noted the same results with their Curve skimmers. So it's not any sort of issue with one specific pump; it's consistent across the Curve (SP pump) line. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[robbyg]

I am not sure what kind of accuracy you guys are expecting to get out of the power bars current reading but I am almost certain it is using a low cost Shunt Resistor to read the power draw on each plug. There is no way they could use anything else as it would make the cost of the powerbar go up by a lot. Shunt Resistors can read current draw fairly accurately but it is very hard to do it when very low amounts of power are being drawn. So basically the errors in the reading go up exponentially with smaller currents. Personally I would not see this as an issue since what you really need is just a base line number to set your alarms with.

 

[kyley]

I am not sure what kind of accuracy you guys are expecting to get out of the power bars current reading but I am almost certain it is using a low cost Shunt Resistor to read the power draw on each plug. There is no way they could use anything else as it would make the cost of the powerbar go up by a lot. Shunt Resistors can read current draw fairly accurately but it is very hard to do it when very low amounts of power are being drawn. So basically the errors in the reading go up exponentially with smaller currents. Personally I would not see this as an issue since what you really need is just a base line number to set your alarms with.

The powerbars consistently show the same readings though, even in different outlets on the powerbar... So it seems like it's telling us what we need to know (and the BM skimmer pumps are consistently reading high, while the other components are all reading about what's expected - i.e. 500 watt heater is reading pretty close to that amount). I guess I'm not sure the point your trying to make (and how it impacts this discussion)? I wouldn't be surprised to learn they aren't the most accurate measure, but we're getting consistent data with them and (apparently) proper readings. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[Sleepydoc]

I am not sure what kind of accuracy you guys are expecting to get out of the power bars current reading but I am almost certain it is using a low cost Shunt Resistor to read the power draw on each plug. There is no way they could use anything else as it would make the cost of the powerbar go up by a lot. Shunt Resistors can read current draw fairly accurately but it is very hard to do it when very low amounts of power are being drawn. So basically the errors in the reading go up exponentially with smaller currents. Personally I would not see this as an issue since what you really need is just a base line number to set your alarms with.

There are different ways of measuring current and power. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the EB832 used Hall effect sensors, but I can’t be sure. Also, I don’t know if the EB832 measures Watts or Volt-Amps. For heaters they’re the same, but for inductive loads like motors they can differ significantly (Although not to the degree noted above.) My kill-a-watt actually has a button that lets you choose between the two.

 

[TheHarold]

I think it would be more interesting if people report the advertised wattage compared to the apex reading.

Just reporting the apex reading isn’t particularly useful because we all have different skimmers

 

[kyley]

I think it would be more interesting if people report the advertised wattage compared to the apex reading.

Just reporting the apex reading isn’t particularly useful because we all have different skimmers

Agreed. That's what I've been doing every time here.

 

[robbyg]

There are different ways of measuring current and power. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the EB832 used Hall effect sensors, but I can’t be sure. Also, I don’t know if the EB832 measures Watts or Volt-Amps. For heaters they’re the same, but for inductive loads like motors they can differ significantly (Although not to the degree noted above.) My kill-a-watt actually has a button that lets you choose between the two.

Hall effect sensors would be the ideal way to do it but I would figure the cost for them would add more money that they would be willing to spend. If they are using them and a fairly good AD converter I am kind of surprised the numbers are off by this much.

 

[TheHarold]

Hall effect sensors would be the ideal way to do it but I would figure the cost for them would add more money that they would be willing to spend. If they are using them and a fairly good AD converter I am kind of surprised the numbers are off by this much.

I believe there is a way to calibrate the EB832’s reading- I would recommend contacting support for that.

 

[kyley]

Hall effect sensors would be the ideal way to do it but I would figure the cost for them would add more money that they would be willing to spend. If they are using them and a fairly good AD converter I am kind of surprised the numbers are off by this much.

I don't think the numbers are off on the Apex reporting. I think we've just found that a few skimmer pumps are underreporting the wattage they're supposed to use! Like I said, numbers for other aquarium components (heaters, lights, return pumps, etc) are accurate. And many skimmer pumps (like Sicce) are correct as well.

 

[Brew12]

I suspect there are 2 factors at play. The most significant one is the harmonic content of the signals being measured. The other issue is power factor. These 2 combined can have a very large impact on the displayed power if not accounted for correctly.

 

[Brew12]

I decided to purchase a Kill a Watt P3 outlet meter to verify the 50W reading I was getting on my EB832 of my Nyos Quantum 160. The Kill a Watt meter is reading around 19W, which is really close to the expected 18W rating. So, I decided to check the wattage of my other equipment, and for some reason the skimmer pump is the only piece of equipment where the EB832 wattage value is way different compared to the Kill a Watt meter.

Rick, can you check and see what power factor your Kill a Watt meter is reporting for your skimmer? I'm suspecting it will be in the 0.5 to 0.6 range.

 

[DaneGer21]

Regal 250int with Varios-6 pump(BRS-sku-210207) Fulls size NOT the space saver.

Manufacture states 35-70w

I am running @100%...apex says...64w

I think it would be more interesting if people report the advertised wattage compared to the apex reading.

Just reporting the apex reading isn’t particularly useful because we all have different skimmers

 

[TheOne]

I think it would be more interesting if people report the advertised wattage compared to the apex reading.

Just reporting the apex reading isn’t particularly useful because we all have different skimmers

My Reef Octopus Classic 200 INT claims 35 watt
My apex says 27 watt
My killawatt meter says 28 watt

YOUR WELCOME!

 

[TheHarold]

My Reef Octopus Classic 200 INT claims 35 watt
My apex says 27 watt
My killawatt meter says 28 watt

YOUR WELCOME!

that’s perfect haha, thank you

 

[Brew12]

I suspect this will only be a problem with lightly loaded DC pumps.

 

[Rick_01]

Rick, can you check and see what power factor your Kill a Watt meter is reporting for your skimmer? I'm suspecting it will be in the 0.5 to 0.6 range.

The power factor on the Kill a Watt meter is 0.25

 

[Rick_01]

I think it would be more interesting if people report the advertised wattage compared to the apex reading.

Just reporting the apex reading isn’t particularly useful because we all have different skimmers

Nyos Quantum 160 claims 18 watt
Apex says 50 watt
Killawatt meter says 19.5 watt

 

[Brew12]

The power factor on the Kill a Watt meter is 0.25

That is even lower than I expected. The actual equation for single phase AC Real Power is that Watt=Volts x Amps x Power Factor.

Apex either isn't using power factor correctly or it is displaying Apparant Power (VoltAmps).

 

[Sleepydoc]

That is even lower than I expected. The actual equation for single phase AC Real Power is that Watt=Volts x Amps x Power Factor.

Apex either isn't using power factor correctly or it is displaying Apparant Power (VoltAmps).

My guess is that it’s just displaying Volt-Amps. That’s technically easer to do since it doesn’t involve measuring the phase. It would also explain the wide range of accuracies we’ve seen in postings here.