SNIPERSPS Tank Crash

I hate to add another question to the mix, but would a generator have been enough? The problem we are having in California is blackouts due to excessive heat (100+). How long would a generator run a chiller? The nighttime temp in some areas is 80. Imagine the temperature in a house with no air conditioner. I havent suffered blackouts, but my air conditioner is working overtime.
 
lastyear i went a week without power after wilma...
i didnt have my tank running yet but i did have fish ( friend was watching them)

we were lucky enough tog et a cool wave right after wilma O_O it was almost to the point of wearing winter cloths
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7824513#post7824513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gcarroll
Those Californian's sure are finicky!
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Seriously... :lol2: I'm surprised the complaint wasn't about the generators emissions as well as the noise.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7825449#post7825449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SCARYBO
I hate to add another question to the mix, but would a generator have been enough? The problem we are having in California is blackouts due to excessive heat (100+). How long would a generator run a chiller? The nighttime temp in some areas is 80. Imagine the temperature in a house with no air conditioner. I havent suffered blackouts, but my air conditioner is working overtime.
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Well the thing with generators is that you always add gasoline :)
 
and i think if you only have a few pumps running, the tank would ev. enough to keep it from overheating. Whenever I lose power, too often, i have a generator but only use it to run the streams and return pump. If the outage was extended I would just run some streams. Without lights and high power pumps i don't think the tank would get that hot
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7825741#post7825741 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sfsuphysics
Well the thing with generators is that you always add gasoline :)
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Yes I agree. But if you lose power in 100+ degree heat you may have your internal house temp reach maybe 120+. We had areas in Southern Ca. that reached 119 outside. Few people have chillers large enough to reduce the tank temp that much and handle the temp from a large house. It just takes one death in a tank under those conditions to cause an ugly slide.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7826987#post7826987 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SCARYBO
Yes I agree. But if you lose power in 100+ degree heat you may have your internal house temp reach maybe 120+. We had areas in Southern Ca. that reached 119 outside. Few people have chillers large enough to reduce the tank temp that much and handle the temp from a large house. It just takes one death in a tank under those conditions to cause an ugly slide.
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You are right.

I have a chiller that large. The chiller runs off of 240v, which compounds your problems. You have to buy a larger dual voltage generator.
 
Joseph, a 2400W Honda will put out 20 amps, which may trip off if you tried to power a small AC unit, a large chiller, and a large circulation pump at the same time. One way to deal with this is to run the loads in cycles. For instance, run the AC for two hours, then run the chiller and pump for two hours, etc. You can get "portable" gas generators up to 4000W (33 amps) and bigger, but these are getting to be fairly big generators.

If you wanted to run a whole house AC unit or heat pump, you'd probably need a fixed generator hard wired into the house electrical system through a bus transfer. You need to draw a permit to install this type of equipment. I would also consult (and use) an electrician, and be sure to get a generator that can handle the starting load of the compressor without tripping off.

But none of this does you any good if you aren't home. In that case (Sniper's case) you must either have someone tend the generator for you or have a generator with an autostart feature and an automatic bus transfer.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7827290#post7827290 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by piercho
Joseph, a 2400W Honda will put out 20 amps, which may trip off if you tried to power a small AC unit, a large chiller, and a large circulation pump at the same time. One way to deal with this is to run the loads in cycles. For instance, run the AC for two hours, then run the chiller and pump for two hours, etc. You can get "portable" gas generators up to 4000W (33 amps) and bigger, but these are getting to be fairly big generators.

If you wanted to run a whole house AC unit or heat pump, you'd probably need a fixed generator hard wired into the house electrical system through a bus transfer. You need to draw a permit to install this type of equipment. I would also consult (and use) an electrician, and be sure to get a generator that can handle the starting load of the compressor without tripping off.

But none of this does you any good if you aren't home. In that case (Sniper's case) you must either have someone tend the generator for you or have a generator with an autostart feature and an automatic bus transfer.
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Thank you:D

That was the point I was trying to make. No One wants a tank to crash. Foolproofing a tank is difficult, if not impossible. A few people on this post make it seem as if it was a simple matter to avoid. Not the case. People have died in this heat wave. Hindsight is easy to give. Foresight is a matter of best guess'
 
I just want too thank those who have offered there help. I hope this doesn't happen again. It's too late too fix any of the problems that happenend. Now I realize what my mistake was and I hope and that none of you guys go through this because it is a very painful experience from which I cannot get over yet. I never thought this would happen to me but only god knows why these things happen, Some people think Im going to sue Edison just so I can get a lot of money, but beleive the money for is not whats important too me right now because the money wouldn't be the same as the corals that I grew and had made a part of my ilfe. The tank was like my baby with almost five years so for me its something very difficult
 
Sorry to hear about your lost Hugo.Knowing you will come back stronger than before.But I see I lot of folks here mentioned generators,(gas) types.I live here in Florida,and have 2 Gen and another back up.A lot of folks aren't aware of this.But you can convert your gas power Gen to Propane.I will give the web site below for all that might have a interest.They have a do it yourself,or can send the carb to them.And they can modified the hook up.They also have a carb,that can run gas/or propane.No gumming of carb,cleaner,safer to use,and can store propane for a long time.Also Lowes sells the large cylinders for fill up.
www.propane-generators.com
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7822407#post7822407 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by manderx
could not agree more. just getting one stream running would have kept everything perfectly happy for days.
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Indeed I had a power outage for 3 days (only my house) and I borrow some electricity from my neighbor and I ran 2 6200 streams. Everything survived.
Well Hugo, the good thing of this hobby is that you can always start it over again.
Good luck.
 
I will use my generator to run the tanks, and my fridge so I can freeze 2 liter bottles of water to let sit in my sump for heat control....and swap them out as they melt....
 
my generator is run on propane, with a big tank you can run for days without having to mess with gasoline.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7828872#post7828872 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marine_freak
Sniper, I feel your pain I had a 400 gallon sps tank I lost to a ice storm 2 years ago 15k invested..... it is very tough to watch all your hard work go down the tubes and there is nothing can undo to what has been done.... keep your head up and hope you stay in the hobby.... here is my thread on my mishap: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=873349
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this is the kind im going to get i think it is better then the gasoline one
 
IMO, since you own a fish/coral store, RC might not choose/allow you to be tank of the month even your tank comes back nicer. It considers a bussines purpose not a hobby any more. Please correct if i'm wrong.
 
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