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UPS for tank



 
 
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  #11  
Old September 19th 04, 07:22 PM
Pszemol
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"Timothy Tom" wrote in message om...
The reason that it is useful is that when the power goes off, the sump
fills with water. When the power returns, the in-sump protein skimmer
will overflow onto the cabinet floor a significant amount of water.


Well... this sounds like a bad design...
What are you going to do if the power outage will last more than 15 minutes?
  #12  
Old September 19th 04, 09:28 PM
Billy
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"Timothy Tom" wrote in message
om...

|
| The reason that it is useful is that when the power goes off, the
sump
| fills with water. When the power returns, the in-sump protein
skimmer
| will overflow onto the cabinet floor a significant amount of water.

Design problem? Or too much water in the system?

A GOOD design would mean that the display can hold all the water in
the return section of your sump without overflowing. Likewise, the
sump is large enough to hold the water above the overflow. Add a
water level switch to your return pump and no matter what happens
(power fail, return pump fail, overflow fail) you have no water on
the floor.

Tell me about that skimmer? Why does it divert water to the floor
when it come back on, and not into the system?


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  #13  
Old September 20th 04, 03:57 AM
Brian Lewis
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"If you want the system
to switch to backup power automaticaly you can use one
relay with 120V/AC coil hooked to the mains to switch your
tank from mains to backup when the relay coil will stop being
energized by the mains voltage.


I'm having trouble picturing the relay wiring. Can you provide a pic
or a drawing?

Thanks,
Brian
  #14  
Old September 20th 04, 04:11 AM
Taegu
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"Pszemol" wrote in message ...
"Timothy Tom" wrote in message om...
The reason that it is useful is that when the power goes off, the sump
fills with water. When the power returns, the in-sump protein skimmer
will overflow onto the cabinet floor a significant amount of water.


Well... this sounds like a bad design...
What are you going to do if the power outage will last more than 15 minutes?


Yes it was not designed well. Custom made tank, stand, protein
skimmer made out of state and shipped to me.

http://hometown.aol.com/tdtom30/tomsreef.html

When the power goes off, water drains into sump. Since the protein
skimmer sits in the sump, the water level in the skimmer rises too.
When pump restarts and bubbles start rising into the skimmer chamber,
water overflows into collection container with a capacity of about a
quart. Water overlows collection collector onto cabinet floor. Once
level in sump drops, the level in skimmer drops, and overflowing
stops. Usually probably about 1/2-1 quart of water leaks. Not a
disaster, just a little mess. Cabinet is too small to accommodate a
larger collection chamber conveniently.
  #15  
Old September 20th 04, 05:25 AM
John
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Its on the 5th link down on the google link I posted previously.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...threadid=64918

Scroll down about a page and a half and you'll see a schematic for the transfer
relay.
~John
  #16  
Old September 20th 04, 05:31 AM
John
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When the power goes off, water drains into sump.

How are your returns plumbed in? Many people drill a small hole in the return
just below the display tanks running water level. That way, once it drains
past the hole and hits air, the siphon is broken. The other option is check
valves, but they can stick open so you have to clean/check/replace often.

Do you have pics of your plumbing?
~John
  #17  
Old September 20th 04, 05:49 AM
Pszemol
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"John" wrote in message ...
Its on the 5th link down on the google link I posted previously.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...threadid=64918

Scroll down about a page and a half and you'll see a schematic
for the transfer relay.


Exactly... :-) One picture is worth a thousand words ;-)
  #19  
Old September 20th 04, 06:29 PM
Timothy Tom
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"Billy" wrote in message ...
"Timothy Tom" wrote in message
om...

|
| The reason that it is useful is that when the power goes off, the
sump
| fills with water. When the power returns, the in-sump protein
skimmer
| will overflow onto the cabinet floor a significant amount of water.

Design problem? Or too much water in the system?

A GOOD design would mean that the display can hold all the water in
the return section of your sump without overflowing. Likewise, the
sump is large enough to hold the water above the overflow. Add a
water level switch to your return pump and no matter what happens
(power fail, return pump fail, overflow fail) you have no water on
the floor.

Tell me about that skimmer? Why does it divert water to the floor
when it come back on, and not into the system?


I am sorry that it is difficult to visualize without seeing it. The
system is designed such that when the pump goes off, the sump does
hold all the water in the overflow box which empties into it. The
problem lies in the fact that the water level rises in the protein
skimmer bubble chamber to the same elevated level in the sump since
the skimmer sits in the sump. When the pump restarts, and bubbles
start flowing into the overfilled bubble chamber this causes a
temporary overflow out of the bubble chamber into the collection
chamber (which fills up the collection chamber and overflows this)
until the level in the bubble chamber drops as the level in the sump
drops.
Once again this is not a huge problem since before getting the UPS,
about once every six months there would be a power outtage, causing
some water to overflow into the cabinet. The majority of power
outtages last for less than 15 minutes, so I have not had any
power-failure related cabinet spills since getting the UPS.

I believe in term of control systems, that this tank is very redundant
in terms of safety control features, with both alarms, and conditional
switching of lights, heater, and chiller based on tank parameters. No
major parameter shifts in 3 years (since getting the aquacontroller),
and keeping my fingers crossed.
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  #20  
Old January 3rd 05, 09:44 PM
Rich R
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Is the ups enough to not damage your lights with low voltage?





On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 16:36:58 GMT, "david"
wrote:



We have taken a few power hits during the latest storm and I am afriad it
will blow my
lights... does anyone use and UPS on their tank ?





 




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