# Thunderstorming outside.. Battery backups anyone??



## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

So its September 2014 here in the GTA and there's a nice light show going on outside my house. Not to mention there's no power in the house. It's times like this that made me glad that I bought the battery backups for my vortech mp10s. Phew!! Just in time too!! They're now at about 95% strength and still going.

Anyone else out there as glad as I am to have purchased these??

GO ECOTECH!!

... Just thought I'd share..... that is all.


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## notclear (Nov 5, 2011)

Lucky you! Power restored yet?


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## zoapaly (Jul 10, 2013)

My still 50% left


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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

notclear said:


> Lucky you! Power restored yet?


Nope. No power yet. Does North York have power right now?


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## notclear (Nov 5, 2011)

We didn't lose power


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*eco back up*

good for u nova ... how long were u out for how long did it last running .
did u have any other back up plans for your home or just fish tank 
cheers


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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

tom g said:


> good for u nova ... how long were u out for how long did it last running .
> did u have any other back up plans for your home or just fish tank
> cheers


I'd say my power was out for a full 9 hours. When the battery backup kicked in, it had a full tank so I don't know how much juice it had left when my power came back on.

I had no backup for my house, it was just for the fish tank! lol! I didn't mind having a dark house with candles. It was actually kind of nice having my house "simplified".

I must say though that without the vortech backups, I would have gone insane because I have a lot of nice stock in my tank.

Bring on the next thunderstorm!


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*back up*

good on u , im glad u had something just a side note Canadian tire has invertors on sale this weekend , I got 10 hours of use from a car battery from my invertor . not quite the same as the ecotech but close for me to run a few electrical products .
I as well do like the simplified house as well ...


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

NovaRaven said:


> I must say though that without the vortech backups, I would have gone insane because I have a lot of nice stock in my tank.
> 
> Bring on the next thunderstorm!


you better start to think what you will do when outside is -20 and you have no power for a few days.. your vortech backups will be useless in a few hours, because there will be nothing to move in the tank.

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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

sig said:


> you better start to think what you will do when outside is -20 and you have no power for a few days.. your vortech backups will be useless in a few hours, because there will be nothing to move in the tank.


Well, it says on the manual that for one mp10, the backup should last about 72 hours, so I hope that it'll last that long, and that the power will turn back on at that time.

Aside from that, if that fails, all I got left is a Hail Mary to say to hope for the best!  Or I could get an inverter from Canadian Tire.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*invertor*

invertors are on sale this week ... but I am sure what sig was implying was we did have a horriable storm this winter where people were out for a week . so there are many reefers on this site that lost everything so time to say screw the hail mary and think of something that could help u out , u are on a awesome start with the back up but if u live in house or apt u should have a back up plan when the 72 hours runs out ...


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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

tom g said:


> invertors are on sale this week ... but I am sure what sig was implying was we did have a horriable storm this winter where people were out for a week . so there are many reefers on this site that lost everything so time to say screw the hail mary and think of something that could help u out , u are on a awesome start with the back up but if u live in house or apt u should have a back up plan when the 72 hours runs out ...


Thanks! Looking into inverters now. How long do these usually last for when used for typical SW equipment? Ballpark range?


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*inverters*

Welll. Do u live in house or appt. I would google or youtube how to set up
a inverter.a inverter is a ok method to me I find a lot of people dony want 
a noisy generator to worry about fuel.. and odour.
a invertor will work off of a car battery with car running. I have 
run tests with just battery and inverter and heater 4.0 hours
with 2 korailias 10.0 hours .this wad just battery and not off of a 
car running .obviously with car running u will have powrr as long as the 
car is running and as much juice from the battery after its been shut 
off..


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## Marz (Mar 1, 2014)

This is very interesting to me. Is there a preferred method or is an inverter the way to go? Or if someone can point me in the right "reading" direction, I will dig into this.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*back up ....*

this all depends on of course the all mighty dollar ............
how much money are u willing to spend for your self or your tank (S)
inverter vs generator vs ups for ecotech

inverters range from 40-250.00 depending on wattage , can be hooked up to car to power small household appliences and tank s . using heaters will put a draw on an invertor so if u max out at 1000 watts and turn on a heater u will pop fuse or limit the amount of equip u will be running 
I like this way for someone who has small needs and has a car to start to power up the invertor , also can set up a system with batteries and trickle charger to make system stand alone with out running vehicle . but in the end depending on power outage u will either run out of fuel or kill the batteries with a non running car . battery test lasted me 4 hours with pump and heater and just free standing battery .

generator will run many household appliences and lights depending on wattage again . need for fuel and constant chking to make sure unit is prepared for start up monthy start up .this is the ideal for my situation 
I have a backyard with lots of room for ventilation extension cords to reach necc places . 
cost ranges from 250-1000 plus I have seen them depending on models way more expensive .

ecotech back up ... not sure of price but I think its under 200.00
I think this is a great system for a system with the pumps already in tank and the way it works looks pretty kewl to me but again it I believe has approx. 72 hours of back up . what do u do if u are down more then that .like our ice storm some were down for a week and devastated there tanks

please feel free to comment or correct me if I am incorrect with any of my comments 
cheers 
tom


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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

tom g said:


> Welll. Do u live in house or appt. I would google or youtube how to set up
> a inverter.a inverter is a ok method to me I find a lot of people dony want
> a noisy generator to worry about fuel.. and odour.
> a invertor will work off of a car battery with car running. I have
> ...


I live in a house, but nonetheless, I think a generator is out of the question for me, seeing as how my nano tank is all the way up in my bedroom. The thought of starting up a generator just for my tank is too far of a stretch for me. If anything, I'm liking the inverter idea coupled with my vortech backups, so MUCHO THANKS for that idea!

Still looking into inverter technology as we speak.....


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*invertor*

Canadian tire sells a battery charger with an invertor built into it u can use this to run small pumps or heaters or small appliances that do not have huge draws , heaters tend to draw huge ...I belive this unit u can run off the car with a few extension cords when power dwindles down on the ecotech back up ...


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## Rappyfly (Feb 3, 2012)

Generator will be a better choice if you live in a house. 

I have 1000 watt genny. The past ice storm, it powered up basic tank functions: skimmer, power head, heater and actinic light for almost three days. I also used it to run the fridge, water heater and even furnace, while try to keep the tank running if possible.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

Rappyfly said:


> Generator will be a better choice if you live in a house.
> 
> I have 1000 watt genny. The past ice storm, it powered up basic tank functions: skimmer, power head, heater and actinic light for almost three days. I also used it to run the fridge, water heater and even furnace, while try to keep the tank running if possible.


you run furnace with 1000 w generator 

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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*furnace*

I do believe its poss as a furnace u are running just the motor the rest is run 
with natural gas.my guess would be the motor could poss just be a 150 watts 
or so correct me if I am wrong ...


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I do not know how small house should be when using 1/4 HP furnace. 
It is not just running wattage, it is Surge Wattage that more important. you can always read Amps on the furnace to calculate.
My furnace fan is 2.5 HP (14 Amps) for 2500 sq.f house and 3000W generator barely enough to start it

Amps x Volts = Watts

Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/8 HP 300 500
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/6 HP 500 750
 Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/4 HP 600 1000
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/3 HP 700 1400
Furnace Fan (Gas or fuel oil): 1/2 HP 875 2350

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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*results*

Theres your answer... .


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## manmadecorals (Jan 17, 2012)

i paid $80 for one of those cyberpower battery back up. With 2 pumps connected to it. I get 100 minutes. I somehow doubt that will be very good for real emergencies though... 

Does the Ecotech battery back up work with any pump or only specifically for their own brand?


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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

manhtu said:


> i paid $80 for one of those cyberpower battery back up. With 2 pumps connected to it. I get 100 minutes. I somehow doubt that will be very good for real emergencies though...
> 
> Does the Ecotech battery back up work with any pump or only specifically for their own brand?


As far as I know the backup only works for the ecotech pumps. I'm sure it can be rigged though to work with other products haha but i wouldnt try it


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

old topic

http://www.yamahaef2000is.com/conventional_generator_vs_inverter_generator.html

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## Marz (Mar 1, 2014)

I am seriously going to contemplate a generator. I live in the country so being self sufficient is important. 

Great thread. There should be a sticky about the backup options available as I hadn't thought of this until this thread.


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## NovaRaven (Aug 23, 2013)

sig said:


> old topic
> 
> http://www.yamahaef2000is.com/conventional_generator_vs_inverter_generator.html


This is an awesome thread!

I didn't think that my thread could spark such a conversation. Nonetheless, this is an important topic seeing as how we, at any moment, can be without power for an undetermined amount of time.

Scary!

For me, it'll be the inverter route for sure - at least for now until I get a bigger tank!


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## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

An important topic but not the first time this has been discussed. TomG started this tread when we had the ice storm last year http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53081 It covered more than just emergency care for our tanks, and a hot topic at that time for sure.

Since then, I wonder how many people have continued to work on and execute an emergency contingency plan.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*importance of a back up plan*

also started this thread , didn't really see the response that shows many have a back up plan ...

anyways heres the thread

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109754


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*inverters*

Canadian tire flyer this week has several inverters on sale ... just a FYI if anyone is interested also booster packs with inverters built in are on sale as well ...
cheers


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