winter power outage

[AFrederick]

Power went out this morning, about 9:30 am. 32 F outside. Poorly insulated, 50-yr-old duplex. Only 34 gallons of water in the RSM C130.

I went to work; my wife's office was closed. She texted me at work and said the tank temp dropped from 77.5 to about 76 between 9:30 and 11:30. The house temperature was 55 and dropping fast. I just have two little clowns and two small frags of brain in the tank. I figured lack of heat would kill them before lack of oxygen or anything else. Duke Power said the electricity wouldn't be up until 3:30 pm. Noting the increasingly heavy sleet coming down outside my office window, I doubted they would pull that off.

After a quick googling of "how to power your aquarium in a power outage," I scrambled to Home Depot before the roads became impassable. I grabbed a 500-Watt power inverter and, what seemed at the time to be, a big-ass battery. It looked like a car battery. Only about a third bigger - and twice as heavy. This thing must weigh 40 pounds.

I raced back home; hooked the allegator clamps on the inverter to the terminals on the battery; and plugged the heater and the return pump in to the inverter.



The heater and the return pump fired up. I declared victory over Mother Nature (foolishly, of course...), and went out for some snow day beers with my wife and in-laws.

About three hours later we came back to grab some extra beers I had stashed in anticipation of said snow day... And the pump and heater were off.

I will come out and admit it - I don't really get electricity. Hopefully my highschool physics teacher isn't reading this...

I was running a 150-watt heater and a ~450 gph return pump. Would that kill a big-ass truck battery in under 3 hours? Did I get the wrong kind of battery? Should I get more batteries and connect them in some sort of "array" or "bank"?

The power is back on now (phew..). The tank dipped to about 75.4 but is now back up at 77.5. All seems well.

How do I prepare better for next time?

 

[cracker]

Good to Hear! sounds like You dodged one for the time being. That's a lot of pull for a 12 volt battery, However, I bet it didn't have a full charge on it. I would think the clowns and corals can handle a little cool water, just not major changes in temp all at once. A generator is the best way to avoid a power outage. I don't have one ! Hey Good Luck with the storm

 

[DaveK]

You result is typical.

If you think about a typical car or truck battery, it's used to provide a lot of current over a very short period of time to start the engine.

So yes, using it for several hours solid could drain it. However, it's also possible that it was not fully charged.

One trick you can use is to only run the pump and heater for about an hour and then have it off for an hour. Your just trying to keep the system going enough so you don't loose anything.

This brings up another problem with backup systems. You need to test them regularly to make sure they are working and will work when you really need it. All too often people invest in some form of power backup and don't test it, and it's not working when you need it.

 

[AFrederick]

Thanks guys. The father-in-law is charging the battery right now in case another branch falls and knocks out the power again. Got probably three inches of snow last night - which is a lot for SC.

One weird thing I noticed when the power came back on - the skimmer was going crazy. The cup was overflowing. I empty it about every two weeks. Before the power went out, there was only about an eighth of an inch of dirty water in it. Why would it do that? The skimmer is off now. How do I get it running again?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Ever thought of hooking up your inverter to your running car? I have one, have never used it yet, but that is my plan, run an extension cord from the car to the tank, start the car & let it run like 30 mins every few hours. I want a Honda generator just have not got one yet.

In the bed of my Tacoma I actually have a 2nd one built in

 

[reefin101]

For a small tank & short terma simple inverter and battery will suffice.
All you really need is temp control and some water movement.
You could always get extra cable and just attach to car battery and start car every now and then as battery gets low.

A small inverter/generator with like 2000w would even be better.

 

[reefin101]

Also youi could consider a battery back up or UPS with your heater and return pump or PH pluigged into it.

You can size accordingly and have atleast 8-12 hrs run time with a small PH and heater

 

[cracker]

Also You can get a very low watt bilge pumps I think" Rule" is a brand name. They are DC pumps used on boats. a couple of alligator clips and a 12 volt battery could run simple circulation for a good while.

 

[Pat24601]

So, how's it going for everyone else? @Oxylebius i know you are right in the heart of it.

 

[Pat24601]

Power went out this morning, about 9:30 am. 32 F outside. Poorly insulated, 50-yr-old duplex. Only 34 gallons of water in the RSM C130.

I went to work; my wife's office was closed. She texted me at work and said the tank temp dropped from 77.5 to about 76 between 9:30 and 11:30. The house temperature was 55 and dropping fast. I just have two little clowns and two small frags of brain in the tank. I figured lack of heat would kill them before lack of oxygen or anything else. Duke Power said the electricity wouldn't be up until 3:30 pm. Noting the increasingly heavy sleet coming down outside my office window, I doubted they would pull that off.

After a quick googling of "how to power your aquarium in a power outage," I scrambled to Home Depot before the roads became impassable. I grabbed a 500-Watt power inverter and, what seemed at the time to be, a big-ass battery. It looked like a car battery. Only about a third bigger - and twice as heavy. This thing must weigh 40 pounds.

I raced back home; hooked the allegator clamps on the inverter to the terminals on the battery; and plugged the heater and the return pump in to the inverter.

View attachment 44997

The heater and the return pump fired up. I declared victory over Mother Nature (foolishly, of course...), and went out for some snow day beers with my wife and in-laws.

About three hours later we came back to grab some extra beers I had stashed in anticipation of said snow day... And the pump and heater were off.

I will come out and admit it - I don't really get electricity. Hopefully my highschool physics teacher isn't reading this...

I was running a 150-watt heater and a ~450 gph return pump. Would that kill a big-ass truck battery in under 3 hours? Did I get the wrong kind of battery? Should I get more batteries and connect them in some sort of "array" or "bank"?

The power is back on now (phew..). The tank dipped to about 75.4 but is now back up at 77.5. All seems well.

How do I prepare better for next time?

Sounds like you handled it great!

 

[Squatch XXL]

How do I prepare better for next time?

I really like @nanoreefing4fun idea about the car. If this is a 12v battery, you COULD use it till it is close to being spent, and then jumper it to your running car to recharge it. As @DaveK says, batteries of this nature are designed to give lots of power for short bursts (cold cranking amps). They are designed to be continually maintained by the alternator while the car is running.

As @cracker suggested, a low power draw 12v pump could be handy to keep around.

Standard pumps are power hogs, but so are heaters especially if conditions around the tank change dramatically. I could prattle on about temp deltas etc, but the colder your room with the tank, the more it takes to keep it warm.

Snow in SC is rare. Stay safe, and I hope you don't have any more issues. Its too cold as it is, and having the power go off and on is no fun....Not just for your tank, but I am sure you have neighbors, and some may be old and retired etc.

So, how's it going for everyone else?

Just shy of 3 feet here in central PA. I did a few crude stick rule measurements over the yard. Some spots are well over 30". Some are just under. My wife reported to me at 9 pm that the snow stopped. I have sat on my duff all day like a coiled spring waiting for that moment. At this moment, I am the first in the neighborhood to have a clear driveway and a pair of clean cars. I don't have a snow blower either...Just these 2 unregistered lethal weapons that are connected to my shoulders.

I have a next door neighbor and one across the street. I just moved here in 10-2015, but the ones across the street are old. The old man has a cane, the old lady don't need to be out. Then next door it is the opposite. She has a cane, he don't. I will be over there as soon as the sun breaks to get them cleared out. I couldn't tell you their names to save my life, but you got to look out for your elders.

Here are my cars at 9:05 pm. They are both Cadillac Devilles. The 98' is in the back, the 01' is up front....You see the "bump" on the back car...thats the sideview mirror poking out.


And my charcoal grill out back


I am back to sitting on my duff. I think that I got myself hooked on coffee again. I swore off caffeine over a year ago, but now I am wired like a light. I've been drinking it all day...My how I missed it.

 

[DaveK]

Thanks guys. The father-in-law is charging the battery right now in case another branch falls and knocks out the power again. Got probably three inches of snow last night - which is a lot for SC.

One weird thing I noticed when the power came back on - the skimmer was going crazy. The cup was overflowing. I empty it about every two weeks. Before the power went out, there was only about an eighth of an inch of dirty water in it. Why would it do that? The skimmer is off now. How do I get it running again?

It is fairly typical for a skimmer to do this. First you have all the waste products that built up while it was off. You may also get additional stuff because some of the small plankton like stuff has died or other livestock throwing off slime. Keep in mind that when you run only some of your system components, you are introducing stress on the tank.

To restart it, you just need to turn it on and empty the collection cup as it fills. Once the water has been through the skimmer a couple of times, thinks should return to normal. If your getting a lot of almost clear water collected, you can temporarily readjust your skimmer so it collects a more concentrated material. If you keep getting a lot of material produced for more than a few hours, look for livestock that has died.

 

[AFrederick]

Thanks for the tips guys. Hooking the car to the tank battery sounds like a good backup plan. Also, starting with a fully-charged battery shouild yield better results.

Squatch: That's a lot of snow. I'm from Woodstock, IL - about an hour NW of Chicago. We used to get that kind of snow every now and again. Down here in SC though, just a couple inches can cripple the city. Greenville finally got its first snow plow. A couple hundred thousand people in Greenville and its suburbs - and 1 snow plow.

DaveK: Thanks for your advice on the skimmer too. It has calmed down and is working again.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

one note of caution... carbon monoxide buildup in an attached garage can be deadly, you want to be sure to open the garage door & maybe even back the car out some or completely .. same with generators make sure they are outside...

 

[AFrederick]

one note of caution... carbon monoxide buildup in an attached garage can be deadly, you want to be sure to open the garage door & maybe even back the car out some or completely .. same with generators make sure they are outside...

Thanks Nano. Kind of surprising how many ways your aquarium can kill you...

The other day I was doing some maintenance and spilled a little water on the floor. I noticed some wires sticking out the bottom of the cabinet, close to the puddle.

Needless to say, today is wire management day. I've got a bunch of little clips, and stickies, and velcro, etc, that just came in from Amazon. I'll post a before and after in my tank thread when I'm done.

 

[Oxylebius]

I weathered the storm well. The power company did really well this time in keeping the power on! I'm on the end row so I got all the drifting snow accumulating around my place so it seems like I got more then the two feet or so that the area around me got. I was out shoveling every couple of hours on Friday and Saturday which helped to keep the levels low on the stairs. The rooftop terrace is a different story. That is a LOT of snow on a flat roof!