Tunze streams ,skimmers can they be run off an inverter ?

[vapor1]

Can the tunze streams and skimmers be run off an inverter to be used as a battery backup sourceif the power goes off ? I haven't thought about it before but was wondering if they would be damaged by a waveform that is not a true sine wave .

 

[rvitko]

I don't know that I would trust an inverter, perhaps you could use a UPS or some sort of surge supressor to dampen the peaks and valleys of the power a bit. The Stream doesn't care too much about Hz so that is fine but a surge will blow the computer and possibly the pump. The Skimmer pump is very sensitive to cycles like most pumps and they may run short term but I wouldn't rely on it. I also think no skimmer for a day or two or even a week is unlikely to be critical, for that matter you could run a polyfilter in the tank.

 

[vapor1]

Thanks roger..didn't want to burn them up. so a small ups ran off an inverter would be fine then ?

 

[rvitko]

A UPS should already contain an inverter. In general I would just use a good computer UPS even the most basic unit will last an hour or so. You are only using 15W of power which is 1/20th of what a computer uses so you can safely figure whatever it says it can run a basic home computer for it will run your pump at least 10times longer. This way it will be absolutely safe for the pump and for you. I don't think I would ever want a car battery in my living room.