Vhuang168
Guest
Even if you were 5 mins from home, how would you know something happened to the tank!?! A wide spread power outage sure but if the breaker to the tank tripped, would you know?
Small UPS running an Energy Bar which powers the Apex.
Little disaster...
- Thread starter xcaret
- Start date
Even if you were 5 mins from home, how would you know something happened to the tank!?! A wide spread power outage sure but if the breaker to the tank tripped, would you know?
Small UPS running an Energy Bar which powers the Apex.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Well if I had an Apex, I'd be very disappointed in that product if it didn't in some way tell me. I was talking about the "sexy" extras like electric ignition on your generator, instead of the old school pull cord.
You would need more than one energy bar I presume? Otherwise how would the apex know there was a power outage if it was still getting power?
Vhuang168
Guest
You plug in a 12v power adapter to the Apex base unit and enable power monitoring. When it senses there is no power from that port, it goes into power off mode and that depends on what you have programmed.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
gotcha, good to know
jccaclimber
Supporting Member
A relevant post about how to keep tanks warm in crummy situations:
http://www.bareefers.org/forum/thre...-power-outage-8-hours-long.23145/#post-338698
Also, if you put your Apex on a UPS, consider putting your internet modem/routers on backup power as well.
I'm not sure if Neptune is still using Heartbeat as a warning that your Apex has gone offline, but I found mine dropped and reconnected too often to use that as a reliable measure of issues.
http://www.bareefers.org/forum/thre...-power-outage-8-hours-long.23145/#post-338698
Also, if you put your Apex on a UPS, consider putting your internet modem/routers on backup power as well.
I'm not sure if Neptune is still using Heartbeat as a warning that your Apex has gone offline, but I found mine dropped and reconnected too often to use that as a reliable measure of issues.
rygh
Guest
Time to go get a generator!
I have been thinking about it off an on, but I need to make a decision.
No plan to make it auto-start though.
It would have to be outside, and a lot of extra hassles.
The odds of a power failure is low.
It is rare when nobody at all is home.
So the combination is really low.
Of course, then the question on what to get?
How many watts?
Gas, Propane, or Dual fuel?
Good quality Honda, or does Jebao make them?
I have been thinking about it off an on, but I need to make a decision.
No plan to make it auto-start though.
It would have to be outside, and a lot of extra hassles.
The odds of a power failure is low.
It is rare when nobody at all is home.
So the combination is really low.
Of course, then the question on what to get?
How many watts?
Gas, Propane, or Dual fuel?
Good quality Honda, or does Jebao make them?
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
fish-street.com make generators? 
While waiting for my dentist google did show me a super cheap Harbor Freight one... probably wouldn't go there And yeah I did some some Amazon "weird name" ones that had the same color scheme as major brands so yeah the Jebao of generators I'm sure.
Here's my view on it though
Watts: Enough to run the heaters and pumps, and with a few exceptions most will easily cover that, maybe enough to also run the fan on my furnace, not having heat made the house get fairly cold, and my wife says colder than what that lying SOB of a thermostat says the house was at
Fuel source: I would think gas is best because you can go to a gas station (or siphon your car), but propane is safer (and easier) to store long term, not sure how much will run it though how long will a little Coleman run it for? do you need the grill sized propane? Usually small engines like that require gas/oil blend so it can get "dirty" so propane might be a cleaner solution, even if the fuel is more expensive it really comes down to how often are you going to use it does that difference in cost really matter?
Brand: Just for sake of investment of protecting a tank, probably would spend a little more to get a name brand, or whatever they have at Costco and just abuse that return policy they have if your generator every dies even if it's years and years later. *shrug* I dunno... I know honda makes some super quiet ones, but are they enough watts to run your tank, *shrug* dunno like I said need to do some research.
One I saw at costco is 3650W continuous, and says 14hr run time at 50% load, so... probably would have had to fill it up at least once.
While waiting for my dentist google did show me a super cheap Harbor Freight one... probably wouldn't go there
And yeah I did some some Amazon "weird name" ones that had the same color scheme as major brands so yeah the Jebao of generators I'm sure. Here's my view on it though
Watts: Enough to run the heaters and pumps, and with a few exceptions most will easily cover that, maybe enough to also run the fan on my furnace, not having heat made the house get fairly cold, and my wife says colder than what that lying SOB of a thermostat says the house was at
Fuel source: I would think gas is best because you can go to a gas station (or siphon your car), but propane is safer (and easier) to store long term, not sure how much will run it though how long will a little Coleman run it for? do you need the grill sized propane? Usually small engines like that require gas/oil blend so it can get "dirty" so propane might be a cleaner solution, even if the fuel is more expensive it really comes down to how often are you going to use it does that difference in cost really matter?
Brand: Just for sake of investment of protecting a tank, probably would spend a little more to get a name brand, or whatever they have at Costco and just abuse that return policy they have if your generator every dies even if it's years and years later. *shrug* I dunno... I know honda makes some super quiet ones, but are they enough watts to run your tank, *shrug* dunno like I said need to do some research.
One I saw at costco is 3650W continuous, and says 14hr run time at 50% load, so... probably would have had to fill it up at least once.
jccaclimber
Supporting Member
I've used a few, the Honda (2200i I think) was far and above the nicest. It started easier, it had less smelly exhaust, it was quieter, and everything ran smoothly. It's also the only name brand one I've used, so there are probably plenty of other nice ones.
The cheap ones (which are 1/4 the cost of the Honda I used) tended to be harder to start, and more importantly AC needle wheel pumps don't run on a dirty power signal.
I knew someone who had it feed off of the natural gas line to his house, it was also set up in to automatically turn on and flip the needed disconnect from the mains. A $$$$ installation, but it ran a huge home flawlessly, including AC in the Texas summer.
If you do gasoline just be sure to use stabilizer and/or pour the fuel in your car and then replace it every 6 months. Diesel I don't have sufficient experience with, although I'd guess it's more robust. On the other hand, unless you have a diesel vehicle how are you going to keep the fuel supply turning over periodically?
The cheap ones (which are 1/4 the cost of the Honda I used) tended to be harder to start, and more importantly AC needle wheel pumps don't run on a dirty power signal.
I knew someone who had it feed off of the natural gas line to his house, it was also set up in to automatically turn on and flip the needed disconnect from the mains. A $$$$ installation, but it ran a huge home flawlessly, including AC in the Texas summer.
If you do gasoline just be sure to use stabilizer and/or pour the fuel in your car and then replace it every 6 months. Diesel I don't have sufficient experience with, although I'd guess it's more robust. On the other hand, unless you have a diesel vehicle how are you going to keep the fuel supply turning over periodically?
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Ok, I think I'm sold on propane now for the simple fact is you can put a new regulator kit on them, and hook them up to your house natural gas which is easy enough to have an external pipe with a valve on it and I just so happen to have a gas dryer that is really close to my backyard! Now just have to find out how much to hook it up that way
Vhuang168
Guest
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Yeah, quiet apparently is a HUGE premium in the generator world. I mean what makes it so quiet? they slap a bigger muffler on the thing?
jccaclimber
Supporting Member
If it’s that simple I’m sure you could just add one on, lots of muffler shops out there. I have a feeling there’s a lot more to it than that, but maybe not.
grizfyrfyter
Guest
I'm not an engineer but it's probably a balance of noise production and power production. The more you try to limit exhaust noise, the less power the engine makes. A loud engine doesn't have to be as big as a quite engine to make the same amount of power.
Again, I'm not an engineer.
Again, I'm not an engineer.
I had the same thing happen at my place. Return pump didn’t come back after the outage. The only thing left in my tank is the filefish...lost $$ stuff that I can’t even begin to list. Might just take a break for a bit and regroup
I feel you, Mario
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I feel you, Mario
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
rygh
Guest
There is.
The new technology is an "inverter generator"
Key things:
Output frequency and power are not directly dependent on engine speed, so less throttling up.
It runs much cooler, so can be surrounded by noise baffles.
So generally quieter and more efficient, but costs more.
glee
Supporting Member
Sorry to hear this Dwight! The shrimp pair didn’t make it?
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Awww man that sucks, I mean damn I know it was raining pretty hard but geeze, not like there are many trees around here that could fall and take out a power line or something, they showed on the news PG&E outages and they were all over the place in the bay and it just became a matter of not enough man power to deal with everything effectively.