# Reserve Power



## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

Just finished my UPS supply for my 150 gallon community tank. I decided to just make a central power center for the whole tank having some outlets backed up and some not. It has a 1000 watt voltage converter, a battery charger monitor, a dual throw 3 pole relay for the switching and timmer for my lights along with a deep cycle marine and rv battery.

The relay drawings were from another post can't remember where off hand but thanks to the author.































































Still need to test it for running on load. Will try a 500 watt halogen and see how long the charge on the battery will go that will give me a good baseline. The switching is good and fast so there is no worries of pumps starting and stopping as they switch very fast. Be careful of the inverter you buy as i had one without a regulated power out that didn't go very well with mag drive equipment. Wil let everyone know what the run time will be.


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

I like everything but the plywood. That inverter looks like it could run a dozen tanks :thumb:


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

The plywood will be sealed with a 2 part poyeurethane when it is all shaken down and tested. That will make it water proof and look decent mind you its not for show but for go as it will not even be visible when setup and running.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

kornphlake said:


> That inverter looks like it could run a dozen tanks :thumb:


Its a 1000 watt but it has to run several things:

1 x 4-MDQX-SC inline pump - 145 watts
2 x Aqua - Tech 30-60 HOB filters - 70 watts
2 x Rio 2100 pumps - 50 watts
1 x small mag drive pump - 15 watts
2 x Heater - 500 watts

Total - 780 - watts approx

Thats about 3/4 driven on the inverter and should be enough headroom so the inverter isn't running full tilt all the time.


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

Sealing the wood with poly won't keep it from burning. I've never seen a professional electrical installation that was mounted to a flamable panel, it's probably in an electric code, but I'm not an electrician so I wouldn't know. That said, aside from the relay and battery, all of the componets you are using appear to be home owner grade and intended to be hung on a wall or back of a cabinet so I doubt you'll have any problems.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

kornphlake said:


> Sealing the wood with poly won't keep it from burning. I've never seen a professional electrical installation that was mounted to a flamable panel, it's probably in an electric code, but I'm not an electrician so I wouldn't know. That said, aside from the relay and battery, all of the componets you are using appear to be home owner grade and intended to be hung on a wall or back of a cabinet so I doubt you'll have any problems.


Oh I know I wont have any problems only thing close to the wood electrical wise is the grounds, everything else is completely isolated.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

I like it  
Clean, compact, well done :thumb:


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

kornphlake said:


> Sealing the wood with poly won't keep it from burning. I've never seen a professional electrical installation that was mounted to a flamable panel, it's probably in an electric code, but I'm not an electrician so I wouldn't know. That said, aside from the relay and battery, all of the componets you are using appear to be home owner grade and intended to be hung on a wall or back of a cabinet so I doubt you'll have any problems.


 I suppose you could replace the plywood with squares of granite siliconed together. Certainly not necessary, but no paint needed.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

KaiserSousay said:


> I like it
> Clean, compact, well done :thumb:


Thanks certainly should do its job for sure.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

Mcdaphnia said:


> kornphlake said:
> 
> 
> > Sealing the wood with poly won't keep it from burning. I've never seen a professional electrical installation that was mounted to a flamable panel, it's probably in an electric code, but I'm not an electrician so I wouldn't know. That said, aside from the relay and battery, all of the componets you are using appear to be home owner grade and intended to be hung on a wall or back of a cabinet so I doubt you'll have any problems.
> ...


LOL to tell you the truth where it will be no one will see it and I honestly don't think I will go through the effort to tear it all down and paint the wood. If the water isnt staying in my tank and gets on this then I have more serious issues than a little rotting wood.

:thumb:


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## oscars4me (Feb 22, 2009)

Good job very nice. My only question is how long will it last?


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

oscars4me said:


> Good job very nice. My only question is how long will it last?


Gonna try it out on a 500 watt halogen light today see what the run time is. Still going to add a few switches, a master for the inverter so it can be unplugged and moved without the inverter comming on and a switch to simulate a power loss for testing once in a while without unplugging the stuff on the two right side power bars which will be the un backed up power for lights and optional or less critical equipment.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

kornphlake said:


> Sealing the wood with poly won't keep it from burning. I've never seen a professional electrical installation that was mounted to a flamable panel, it's probably in an electric code, but I'm not an electrician so I wouldn't know.


Just a question as well.

Where do most of us have our tank equipment plugged into?
Powerbars on the floor (carpet, hardwood ect) or hung inside or on the backsides of our stands (usually wood). And all our electrical in our houses are mounted to wood unless you live in a steel studded house, every box and wire is run right along the wood studs and I bet your main panel is mounted right onto a good piece of plywood.

Anything less flamable about that?

At least now with this setup everything will have drip loops and all be in one spot on a GFI (how many tanks out there on a Ground Fault Interupters?) receptacle fully protected. Every connetion is soldered, shrink tubed and then taped and secured, a plastic top with a hole for the relay will go over the relay base as well.

Sorry but the fire thing made me laugh a little.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

JALOOS said:


> Just a question as well.
> 
> Where do most of us have our tank equipment plugged into?
> Powerbars on the floor (carpet, hardwood ect) or hung inside or on the backsides of our stands (usually wood). And all our electrical in our houses are mounted to wood unless you live in a steel studded house, every box and wire is run right along the wood studs and I bet your main panel is mounted right onto a good piece of plywood.
> ...


 The fire thing is not farfetched. The electrical probably shouldn't be under the tank next to a sump, especially one with a skimmer that might splash once in a while. And it should be well vented or even power ventilated with a small fan if in a tight enclosed spot. You did bring up a point.... "all in one spot". I remember having to fire an electrician who ran too many wires in the same holes and too close to other runs. The electrical inspector could not believe the way the lines were run. Yes there is code about having too many electrical circuits and devices too close together. Magnetic fields do interfere with each other and cause more heat than normal so "spread out" is better than "all in one spot".


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

Mcdaphnia said:


> The fire thing is not farfetched. The electrical probably shouldn't be under the tank next to a sump, especially one with a skimmer that might splash once in a while. And it should be well vented or even power ventilated with a small fan if in a tight enclosed spot. You did bring up a point.... "all in one spot". I remember having to fire an electrician who ran too many wires in the same holes and too close to other runs. The electrical inspector could not believe the way the lines were run. Yes there is code about having too many electrical circuits and devices too close together. Magnetic fields do interfere with each other and cause more heat than normal so "spread out" is better than "all in one spot".


Not near a sump or even under the tank. I mean comon here basic common sense does dictate here as well as in any other electrical placement. I am sure most people dont have their power bars near or on their sumps either why would this be any different.

As far as your runs are concerned this is not a main run it is taking the place of the power bars we all normally have with our tanks it is not a high power installation by any means. Your hair dryer is drawing more wattage than 2 of the tanks I plan on hooking up to this unit. There is no concern for me as far as interference or over draw of power. An 800 watt instalation is 6.6 amps max, your hair dryer draws around 12.5 amps. Actually this will avoid the mess of coiled up and bundled wire runs that will cause the magnetic fields you speak of as minor as they are in this type of application. Wood unless wet is a fairly decent dielectric (isolator) unless it is wet by far more short and magnetic field resistant than a metal stand to mount this stuff on.

I have done some major car audio installs and under all that fiberglass and padding is usually 1 thing wood. Although auto power is only 12 volt we are dealing with DC current which is by far more destructine type of current than AC. Not to mention the current providing capacity of a car battery which is in the area of 800 to 1000 amps. Your basic audio install in a custom stereo has more potential for fire and magnetic fields than this does by a long shot.



















I have had training in electrical work and as you can see have some experience using it.

I mean seriously folks we can split hairs on the issue of a fire hazzard all night and day but in the long and short of it this posses no more threat than the way everyone handles their power now and in most cases is by far an improvement over the mess of wiring we all know we have.


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

Question: Do you get a lot of power outages? Or did you just experience a Tim Taylor "more power" moment? Are backed up similarly in the rest of the house or will the family move in with the fish during this time? 

Seriously though, it looks and sounds like you know what you are talking about.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

ashilli48 said:


> Question: Do you get a lot of power outages? Or did you just experience a Tim Taylor "more power" moment? Are backed up similarly in the rest of the house or will the family move in with the fish during this time?
> 
> Seriously though, it looks and sounds like you know what you are talking about.


We do from time to time have some outages, most are an hour or two only as we live in an area with alot of dams and several different feeds to the main grids. The main reason for the backup is to ensure I don't have a flood from the overflow sump setup as I know the way it sits now I will in the event of a failure. The sump is somewhat undersized volume wise and I am using it to its max now with little headroom.

And yes I do definatly have the Tim Taylor mentality lol nothing gets done half way lol. As far as the rest of the household they can suffer through the failure like I will be lol, we can control our environment the fish are helpless in that respect and are dependant on us to do so for them.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> we can control our environment the fish are helpless in that respect and are dependant on us to do so for them.


Well said.


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## ashilli48 (May 14, 2006)

The sump justifies it all....most people have never seen a gallon of water on their floor....much less a hundred or more!


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

ashilli48 said:


> The sump justifies it all....most people have never seen a gallon of water on their floor....much less a hundred or more!


You bet. As long as the thing runs long enough to provide me enough time to shut the system down properly without the mess its all good.

Actual build cost was about 150 Canadian for the supplies (cheaper if bought off ebay), battery I already had.

Low cost peace of mind to be sure.


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