# Question about Generator Use



## L.West (Apr 26, 2013)

Hi Everyone,

I am confused about how to use a generator in the event of a power outage.

After losing all my fish last time to a power outage - I bought a generator. The generator I bought isn't anything huge just a small 1800 watt generator to run my two fish tanks.

How does this all work. First off, does anyone know whether or not the 1800 watts is big enough to run a 55 gallon with HOB's and a 75 gallon also with HOB filters plus heaters?? 

Also, do I just plug them into an extension cord that runs to the generator or is there some other way I should be doing this.

Thanks for the help.


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## garstrom (Jan 5, 2014)

[
I also have a small generator for my 55G, You're 1800 watts will probably be
fine, maybe just leave the lights off. You will need a electrical strip to plug in all of your equipt. I have a 10 strip plug-in outlet in my fish room so I only need to plug in 1 cord.

Make sure you have a good spark plug> Many companies send a cheapo along with them. Also run it once in a while. Use STABILT gas stabilizer in your 
tank. I use only premium gas in all my lawn equipment to avoid the Unleaded
gas eating away at my carb.
And remember DO NOT RUN YOUR GENERATOR INDOORS..
Good Luck

*old dude


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## L.West (Apr 26, 2013)

Obviously this won't run my furnace - so what do you all do about that. Do you wrap your tank in a blanket or I was thinking about getting a BigBuddy propane heater that is for use indoors to keep my one room warm.

Your thoughts


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## garstrom (Jan 5, 2014)

L.West said:


> Obviously this won't run my furnace - so what do you all do about that. Do you wrap your tank in a blanket or I was thinking about getting a BigBuddy propane heater that is for use indoors to keep my one room warm.
> 
> Your thoughts


I have those solar blankets , they look like lightweight shiny foil, they use them for emegencies for survival. (Amazon about$5), I use one these to cover my reserve 30 gallon R/O tank in the basement, par that with a regular blanket that should work.
Double check the propane unit for use indoors, BE SAFE...
It gets to cold in here I just go to the bar !!!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Test it before you need it to see what you can do. The heaters will be the biggest draw on any generator. If you need to you could time share and do one tank for a few hours and then shift to the other. You don't need to run everything continuous, but you do need to fight dropping temps. Forget lights if you don't have plants. Go down to one filter if you have two...you should shoot for the minimum you need and work from there. You do not _have_ to operate as if you never lost power.


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

1800 watts will operate a gas furnace and your filters.


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## L.West (Apr 26, 2013)

Has anyone ever heard of cutting the juice to the main electrical box and then running an extension cord from the generator directly to an oulet to feed juice thru the circuit.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

L.West said:


> Has anyone ever heard of cutting the juice to the main electrical box and then running an extension cord from the generator directly to an oulet to feed juice thru the circuit.


You can cut your main power breaker to your house and then run a cord from your generator to your dryer outlet and have power through your house. You can't have it all on at once, obviously and you have to get the plug for your dryer outlet. You need a heavy duty cord to do this with, but pretty easy to do. this is what I have for mine.

You have to manage heat elements, regardless of what you do. /turn off your house heat and go look outside at your meter and watch the disk that turns inside and note the speed. Go back inside and turn on an iron or your coffee maker and go outside and look again at the speed of that disk and you'll see what I mean.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

dalfed said:


> 1800 watts will operate a gas furnace and your filters.


But probably not your aquarium heaters at the same time. Not sure about heat, but for your A/C there is surge amperage that a generator can't handle that occurs when you first power up. Many portable generators can run an A/C also, but they kick off when you try to start it. Probably not quite the same with heat, but if it is electric heat I say 1800W is questionable and if you could do it, running anything else may be difficult.


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

The performance would be enough. Maybe 300 watt heater, 20 watt pump, and 100 watts of light. 
In the basement up, because of the engine noise, and the exhaust to the outside. In this load no speed is reduced to expect. The voltage is to remain stable when the controller does. When line 2 mm². A long cable and power strips. The fuse is usually in the aggregate. 
From time to time check function to make it work in case of emergency.


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## L.West (Apr 26, 2013)

jrman83 said:


> But probably not your aquarium heaters at the same time. Not sure about heat, but for your A/C there is surge amperage that a generator can't handle that occurs when you first power up. Many portable generators can run an A/C also, but they kick off when you try to start it. Probably not quite the same with heat, but if it is electric heat I say 1800W is questionable and if you could do it, running anything else may be difficult.


How about this setup - 2 AC110's and 2 200 watt heaters and an airpump for the 75 gallon tank.

And, 2 AC70's and 1 250 watt heater and an airpump for the 55 gallon tank

If nothing else is run - do you all think the 1800 watt generator will suffice.

Thanks


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

L.West said:


> How about this setup - 2 AC110's and 2 200 watt heaters and an airpump for the 75 gallon tank.
> 
> And, 2 AC70's and 1 250 watt heater and an airpump for the 55 gallon tank
> 
> ...


The generator will suffice. Again, you don't have to run everything for the whole period you are down. Your tank can survive without a filter for a long time. Heat is only needed when the temp starts to drop on it. So even if you couldn't run everything you could switch off between the two tanks every 4hrs and still be golden.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

You should be able to run all your aquarium stuff with out problems.But like jr said you could easily run just one filter per tank and set the other filters bio media in the tank to preserve it.
The dryer thing works(running from generator to dryer outlet and then picking only the breakers you want run),but it is "not legal" I believe.
Last big scare (hurricane whoever(2 years ago)) there were many people in the electric aisle HD and 9/10 were looking to do just that and the employee refused to help anyone with it because it was illegal.He claimed if a lineman worked on the pole outside your house he could be shocked.Whether or not it is legal I can't say,but if your main breaker is off no one outside could be shocked so I question this persons knowledge.
My generator is out in the garage with a cord at ready to go right to my dryer outlet!
Mine is bigger ,but I run all my tanks and equipment,refridgerator furnace and a couple lights.TV and computer also work.The largest draw on your generator is the heaters so like jr said get tank to temp and kill them for an hour or so.You can tell if you are drawing a lot of power if the generator stays all revved up or just kicks in every now and then.
And ya start it up every month atleast, run it for an hour or so and use the stable garstom mentioned as gas now goes stale rather quickly.


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## L.West (Apr 26, 2013)

So it is best to put the media from the other filter into the tank directly. For some reason I thought it was best to soak it in a five gallon bucket of tank water with an air bubbler going.

Which is best

Thanks


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

Keep the media in the tank so it has ammonia to keep bacteria alive.
Reason it is better to run furnace then aquarium heaters is that your heaters will not keep up if temp in house drops too much.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

If you put in a bucket it will have no food or heat.No harm comes from having it in your tank,and it may even still serve a purpose,besides stay alive.
And Dale (dalfed)wouldn't "toot " his own horn ,but he is our resident electrician so if he says you should be good I'll roll with him anyday!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

There is danger to a person trying to restore electricity to your house. This is one of the reasons why you turn off your main breaker first.


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## L.West (Apr 26, 2013)

jrman83 said:


> There is danger to a person trying to restore electricity to your house. This is one of the reasons why you turn off your main breaker first.


I don't plan to go that route with the direct line to my house - I will just use the extention cord method - I'm sure that will work and seems much safer/legal.

Thanks


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

Safest way is a transfer switch but the cost is high. You can make your own transfer switch with a relay that has normally open and normally closed contacts for individual feeds/breakers.


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## Rod4Rodger (Jan 2, 2012)

I am an electrical engineer and have kept fish since I was a boy. I have had marine or Discus tanks since 1975. I will try to answer all the questions I see above.

First and foremost, do not operate the generator in a closet, in your garage, in your basement, on otherwise inside. Carbon monoxide will kill you, your fish, and your family.

Sadly, it was a total surprise and unthinkable to me, during hurricane Ike nefarious people were attracted to the sound of generators and I had friends that lost theirs in the middle of the night. I recommend a logging chain and a big *** tree.

Sizing the generator is pretty easy and you can be 100% sure. It will take you a little time and if need be you can use the trial and error method; make your best guess then hook it up and if the voltage drops, the generator stalls, or it trips, you have too much connected. Find the name tag on your pumps and lights and record the rated watts. Heaters are very easy. Add them all up and if you are below the generator total, you will probably be fine. When motors and ballast start they draw more current than when they are up and running. That means you might be able to push just over the edge, or keep the generator from tripping by starting things one at a time. 

Use a drop cord rated for the power you intend to draw. A small lamp cord will probably not be enough. I use a pretty large cord to my power jig and when I have to run my generator, I use a good quality construction type drop cord. If it gets hot, it is too small. You certainly do not want to start a fire and burn your house down, then you will have bigger problems than the fishies that may not be the only thing dead.

Test the generator. Hook it up just like you will if you have too and let it rip. If it trips, you will have to use less load, start things one at a time like I said above, or it simply is not big enough. If your drop cord gets hot after a few minutes, get a heavier duty one. If you buy the generator from a good hardware of small equipment store and it is too small they will usually let you trade up if you bring it right back. 

If the generator is too small and the voltage drops, the amps go up and things get hotter and motors and ballast will not live long even if they do work. 

Yes you can go straight to the circuit breaker box and power your house. DANGER…. If you do not cut the main breaker to your power company and your generator is running one or all of many bad things could and will happen, maybe not all, but some will. 
•	You could blow a very expensive breaker
•	The power company may not hook you back up until an electrician certifies your house is safe
•	You could burn up the generator
•	You could burn up the breaker panel
•	You could start a fire and burn your house down
•	It might explode or the transformer on the pole outside might explode

That said, I have done it and my 8,000 watt generator is set up to use that way. Just be sure you know what you are doing and take the time to get it right.

You can power appliances and furnaces but the limit is the total watts you use whether you use a drop cord or put it into the house wiring. Mine is big enough to run the furnace but not the air conditioner. It will run the aquarium, my freezer, and our refrigerators… but not all at the same time. I switch the breakers on and off and power each one for a while.

Everybody that can afford a generator should have one. Twenty something 7” Discus Fish are not just a huge dollar value, they are my babies. That beef and all those vegies and turkey in the freezer are worth saving too. You never know how much you miss refrigeration until you have to get rid of a refrigerator full of spoiled food.


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

GenerLink.com - About GenerLink - The easy way to connect a home generator I have installed many of these not sure if available or accepted in the states, but if it is this is the easiest and safest way to hook up a generator for temp power.


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