Generators should almost be looked at as a required piece of equipment in this hobby

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mapleredta

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With the storm rolling through Atlanta and leaving many of y'all without power since wee hours of the morning, and the frequency of power outages in our state, make the investment before it's needed! Not only do we have large amounts of money tied up in our tanks, but how much money is currently sitting in your fridge/freezers if it were to go bad? Got a new baby at home? Critical medical equipment for a loved one? I could go on and on... SPEND $400+ on a generator as a cheap piece of mind!!! I picked up my WEN 56203i from Slickdeals a few years ago for $329 or $349 with free shipping. It has phenomenal reviews, super quiet, it's small and light to move around when needed.

Some of y'all have a single fish that you paid more than that for! At the very least, buy some invertors and battery powered air pumps. Make sure that you actually have new batteries waiting to be installed if you go this route. Screenshot 2020-10-29 151302.png
 
You are right it's always something I don't think about til I really need it lol I'm gonna go shopping for one
 
Both of my tanks have been down since about 8 this morning been in Atlanta working all day headed home with a generator now hopefully I've still got something alive when I get there

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk
 
I’m building battery backups with auto charging, for the 24VDC main pumps & Gyres.

On the one MP40 I have an Ecotech 12 volt battery backup as well.

I have multiple UPS’ for network, both Apex’ & skimmers, as all are low current.

I’m thinking about putting skimmers & anything else I need to keep runing on one EB832 power strip...?

For heat during winter, we have a natural gas log fireplace.

Our subdivision is next to a substation & we don’t often lose power. If anyone has ideas, or resources/references, please let me know. Thx
 
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mapleredta said:
With the storm rolling through Atlanta and leaving many of y'all without power since wee hours of the morning, and the frequency of power outages in our state, make the investment before it's needed! Not only do we have large amounts of money tied up in our tanks, but how much money is currently sitting in your fridge/freezers if it were to go bad? Got a new baby at home? Critical medical equipment for a loved one? I could go on and on... SPEND $400+ on a generator as a cheap piece of mind!!! I picked up my WEN 56203i from Slickdeals a few years ago for $329 or $349 with free shipping. It has phenomenal reviews, super quiet, it's small and light to move around when needed.

Some of y'all have a single fish that you paid more than that for! At the very least, buy some invertors and battery powered air pumps. Make sure that you actually have new batteries waiting to be installed if you go this route. View attachment 33110
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Do you think this would be sufficient to run a 120 gallon tank with a couple of power heads and a heater? I run a basic setup with just the necessities
 
Dmac said:
Do you think this would be sufficient to run a 120 gallon tank with a couple of power heads and a heater? I run a basic setup with just the necessities
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I can't say for certain as I have not had to use this on my 120 yet, but what I do know, is that it'll support powerheads and heaters. You may not be able to run everything, but you'll certainly be able to keep oxygen in the water and the temp stable.
 
This is the same generator as me. I also picked it up on Amazon For $389 and it arrived 2 days later with free shipping.

It start reasonably quiet, then gets super quiet when in Eco mode. I’m also very happy with its portable size and weight, and that it would be easy for my wife to carry if she needed it. It’s basically the size of a large backpack that’s fully loaded with books and bottled water; compact, a little heavy, but manageable.

I haven’t quite tested the limits of how long it will last to power my tanks (primarily a 120g, no lights, Along with 2 computers, and 2 phone chargers.)before refueling. but it’s at least 12 hours. I suppose today is the big test. I’ll keep checking the gas level, but I think it’s limit is somewhere around 15-20 hours for my power consumption.
 

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Dmac said:
Do you think this would be sufficient to run a 120 gallon tank with a couple of power heads and a heater? I run a basic setup with just the necessities
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Add up the wattage of the devices you plan on running from the generator. The surge rating doesn’t mean much, & the 1,700 watts should be de-rated by 20%.

So, what that means is, you should not exceed 1,350 watts of combined power, on a continuous basis.

Also, remember that the engine requires lubrication. I didn’t see in the description anything that indicates it is a 2 cycle engine, with oil & gas mixed? If so, great! If not, then oil changes will be required at some interval, usually around 25-50 hours, meaning every 1 to 2 days of run time.

Also, some amount of fuel needs to be stored and gas becomes ‘stale’. So, add a bottle of gas stabilizer to the container. Even then, you need to rotate the gas periodically.
 
ichthyoid said:
Also, remember that the engine requires lubrication. I didn’t see in the description anything that indicates it is a 2 cycle engine, with oil & gas mixed? If so, great! If not, then oil changes will be required at some interval, usually around 25-50 hours, meaning every 1 to 2 days of run time.

Also, some amount of fuel needs to be stored and gas becomes ‘stale’. So, add a bottle of gas stabilizer to the container. Even then, you need to rotate the gas periodically.
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Anyone looking to service a generator or small equipment - or need fuel additives for fuel storage (anything over 30 days needs to be treated) - DM me here - I'm happy to sell you any Amsoil product you want at my cost.

I stock most items here in Acworth. Feel free to contact me directly as well BUT PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE FROM ARC - I do not want to make money from members here.
 
Harbor Freight is the best bet for inverter generators. @jcook54 lucked up today and got the last one at the store he went to. He's got his systems and fridge up and running now.
 
Adam said:
Harbor Freight is the best bet for inverter generators. @jcook54 lucked up today and got the last one at the store he went to. He's got his systems and fridge up and running now.
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Not trying to knock his choice, but I honestly have heard how Harbor Freight generators will run one time and then they’re dead, I’m not saying they won’t work but I’ve heard that long term they aren’t very reliable. I guess something is better than nothing, and just like other stuff there’s different levels of quality, but I would prefer something in the middle of the road that has a better history of decent reviews. I guess what is the sense in a backup if it doesn’t reliably work.
 
bluesy1213 said:
Not trying to knock his choice, but I honestly have heard how Harbor Freight generators will run one time and then they’re dead, I’m not saying they won’t work but I’ve heard that long term they aren’t very reliable. I guess something is better than nothing, and just like other stuff there’s different levels of quality, but I would prefer something in the middle of the road that has a better history of decent reviews. I guess what is the sense in a backup if it doesn’t reliably work.
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I've experienced a $1200 big name brand generator run for less than 1 hour before it broke.

There's more sheer dumb luck to something working long term these days than there is relying on a specific brand.
 
Consumer Reports says Predator generators are recommended. If course they are limited as are all portable generators.
www.consumerreports.org

Can a Harbor Freight Generator Really Beat a Honda? - Consumer Reports

Can a Harbor Freight Generator really beat a Honda that costs twice as much? In Consumer Reports' recreational inverter generator face-off, find out whether the lower-priced Harbor Freight Predator generator performs as well as or better than a Honda model.
www.consumerreports.org www.consumerreports.org
 
Steve Burton said:
Consumer Reports says Predator generators are recommended. If course they are limited as are all portable generators.
www.consumerreports.org

Can a Harbor Freight Generator Really Beat a Honda? - Consumer Reports

Can a Harbor Freight Generator really beat a Honda that costs twice as much? In Consumer Reports' recreational inverter generator face-off, find out whether the lower-priced Harbor Freight Predator generator performs as well as or better than a Honda model.
www.consumerreports.org www.consumerreports.org
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While I will agree that the harbor freight one would work on a simple side by side test as CR did, but just my opinion, there is a reason why one has a 90 day warranty while the other has a 3 year warranty. Honda is known for quality and reliability. If I were to think long term, I'd choose any Honda or Yamaha engine over others if I can afford the cost. Key word.. afford.
 
Thankfully we’ve got one we keep right on the back deck so it’s easily accessible yet outside so we don’t all die from the fumes. We’ve been extremely lucky here regarding power outages
 
What’s the difference in generator types? Are they all inverter generators? I see the Wen GN400i 4000watt inverter generator is $390 from the manufacturers website via slick deals. My wife wants something big enough to also run the fridge next time power goes out.
 
civics14 said:
While I will agree that the harbor freight one would work on a simple side by side test as CR did, but just my opinion, there is a reason why one has a 90 day warranty while the other has a 3 year warranty. Honda is known for quality and reliability. If I were to think long term, I'd choose any Honda or Yamaha engine over others if I can afford the cost. Key word.. afford.
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If I could afford it right now I'd have a whole home generator. Maybe in a year or two. If it meant keeping my tanks from crashing I'd gladly blow a grand on two 2000w Predators. The scale of the Aquariums is a factor too. But $10k+ in livestock < $1k in inverters.

Right now I have a 7500w Westinghouse generator. Doesn't have as clean of power as an inverter but it hasn't fried anything yet.
 
Adam said:
If I could afford it right now I'd have a whole home generator. Maybe in a year or two. If it meant keeping my tanks from crashing I'd gladly blow a grand on two 2000w Predators. The scale of the Aquariums is a factor too. But $10k+ in livestock < $1k in inverters.

Right now I have a 7500w Westinghouse generator. Doesn't have as clean of power as an inverter but it hasn't fried anything yet.
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Yeah, we thought about a whole home generator as well. But, I couldn't justify spending $5K+ on something that I may or may not need.

Two Predators would be the way to go, you can cycle between each use to keep it running almost continuously. Costco had some Yamaha 2000w generators at one point at the $500 mark as well, that's when I picked one up.
 
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