UV Sterilizer Question

[GlassMunky]

Thanks for the follow up. The latest explanation is that the voltmeters are unable to accurately measure the current draw for their uv sterilizer. Personally, I think that's a crap answer and I'm not going to spend another dime on their products.

I’d steer clear of Pentair UVs as well than.
they are just as clueless about their own products.
had them send me 3 new ballasts, and 2 new bulbs and my UV still constantly trips any GFCI it’s plugged into.
then their customer service manager just straight stopped dealing with me at all and I had to get BRS to contact them for me on my behalf and they still ignored BRS.
BRS ended up sending me a whole new unit on their dime as an apology, but I haven’t even bothered setting it up because I’m sure it’s just gonna have the same issues again and Pentair can’t solve the issue

 

[PilotOfSubmarines]

My 57 watt Aqua UV has been running like a champ. uses 44 watts consistently according to Fusion

 

[Miller535]

Thanks for the follow up. The latest explanation is that the voltmeters are unable to accurately measure the current draw for their uv sterilizer. Personally, I think that's a crap answer and I'm not going to spend another dime on their products.

That is a crap answer from someone has has absolutely no knowledge of electricity or electronics. As I stated previously I work on electronics in a test lab. The very first thing I do is check the current draw. And the most basic walmart meter can do this, and accurately.

 

[SPS2020]

Old thread, but I just saw it and have the exact same results with my 57 watt Aqua UV Classic. According to Apex, it pulls 44W and .3A.

 

[LVReef]

44W and .3A? That gives me 146V?!

 

[SPS2020]

44W and .3A? That gives me 146V?!

I got nothin'...apparently Neptune doesn't know Ohm's Law. ;-)

 

[LVReef]

Watt's law
But seriously I think the discrepancy is because of the Power Factor. The UV bulb will be attached to a ballast and the apparent vs real power will be different. This is because a ballast is an inductive load (as opposed to most other loads in your system being resistive or capacitive). In a DC circuit, W = V*A but in an AC circuit, W = VA*PF (Power Factor). I'm not sure what module neptune is using but my bet is that it's being confused by the inductive load and assumes W=VA on an AC plug.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I've got the same, brand new 57W ballast and bulb and am drawing 44W according to my apex. Pretty disappointing. I originally reached out to aqua uv to ask if I could upgrade my 25W to a 57W by swapping out the ballast and bulb and they quickly confirmed that was fine. But once I had an issue with the power draw, they've been ghosting me for months. Reached out to BRS and saltwateraquarium.com after a couple months of hearing nothing from aqua UV. BRS got back to me and said the issue couldn't be with the bulb (bought from them) and suggested I keep trying to work with Aqua UV. Saltwareaquarium.com (where I bought the ballast) never replied.

The odd thing is the original aqua UV 25W bulb and ballast drew 28-29W at the outlet according to apex. So their 25W seems like it's right. But alot of complaints about the 57w version. Seems we've all been a victims of a misrepresented product.

 

[Aardvark1134]

A 55w UV bulb takes 55W to turn on...it doesn't actually keep needing the full 55W to stay on... The rating is the amount to turn it on.

 

[Jeffcb]

Just so you have a larger sampling...mine has a draw of about 44 watts. Hmmmmm.

I have a new Aqua UV 57 and Apex shows it at 44 w as well.

 

[Jeffcb]

I will tell you this. It will shock you. When I was setting up tank I kept feeling electricity every time I put my hand in the sump. I hadn't installed the bulb yet and noticed transformer wire hanging in the water. lol Is it DC or AC?

 

[LVReef]

Is it DC or AC?

It's all AC.

 

[CMMorgan]

they said they couldn't tell me what wattage it's supposed to draw.

WT Hockey Sticks! I call BS.