General Care Discussion :: Filters and Power Outages

[Gokuh]

How many people here have problems with their pumps after power outages? I have an aquaclear 70 that ran dry due to a power outage (Suction removed all the water). Luckily, it did not burn out like I thought. After giving it a day to cool down, the pump came back.

Currently, I am building a latch circuit to stop this problem (I am not paying the money for a UPS). Burning up pumps is expensive (even when they are cheap)!

[missibsu]

One of my waterfall filters automatically fills from the bottom, as long as it is in water, so if they power goes out it will start back up.

My canister filter doesn't have any problems either, as long as the quick release valve hasn't been lifted.

Since we live in the country this is important to me, the power goes off all the time...like it did this morning for no reason, lol!

[marisa]

I've had the power go out with an Aquaclear 110, 70 and 50 running and I wasn't at home. The 110 and 70 apparently were able to suck up the water once the power came on and were running normally. The Aquaclear 50, however, was not, and I came home hours later to find it running dry. The motor didn't burn out, though, and I'm still using it. I've left instructions with whoever is here to just pull the plugs on them if the power goes out and I'm not here to avoid any burned out motors.

What's a latch circuit?

[BullDog]

I also have an aquaclear, and have come home several times after power outages, and it's not "filtering" it's just running, but it's never burned out... Maybe I've just been lucky

I just got a Fluval 404, and was wondering about power outages with it? Does it stay primed if it loses power?

[missibsu]

I would like to add to my earlier post. This topic couldn't have been more timely...Our power has been off 6 times today. Sometimes staying off for 2-10 minutes, others for a few hours.

No problems with the filters though, and I love it.

[marisa]

Bulldog, my XP3 stays primed if the power goes off. I'm thinking other canisters would be the same.

[steve]

Hmmm my 110 won't stay primed after a power loss (most likely due to my water level). There will still be a small amount of water left, so it doesn't technically run dry. My XP3 and Fluval 304 will stay primed after power loss.

For what it's worth, UPS systems are much cheaper than they used to be and are real useful if you regularly have short blackouts.

[BullDog]

That's good to know about the canister filters staying primed, I won't have to worry about it then.
I don't get frequent power outages, but it the summer they are more frequent because of lightning strikes...