Equipment Review and Discussion :: another aquaclear question (long)

[Ace]

i have an aquaclear 110 and I live in a 3rd world country and the electricity goes out at least once every day (for a few hours) and my filter ends up running dry all the time. i fear that the motor might get burned. is there any way i can prevent this from happening (i mean all the water draining from the filter when the power goes off). i've tried uppering the level of the water in the tank with some result.... but the level has to be very high, risking an escape from my turts, and making very hard to use their floating dock. any idea about the filter will be greatly appreciated.

[octpusgirl8]

I don't think there's anything you can do about that, other than getting a different kind of filter, which could be hard for you, i don't know what the pet supply situation's like where you live. An internal filter would do fine with power outages, as would a canister filter, as long as the output is underwater. Unreliable electricity sounds awful, it's amazing how easy it is to take things for granted...

[Kallistos]

If the filter runs fine with a high water level you can always buy a tank cover or build one yourself. The floating dock should still work, they really only need a few inches of "height" I guess to bask.

[madmax1]

you can try to build an above tank basking area and fill tank all the way up

[marisa]

For me the 110 has always drained dry when the power's been off for more than a few minutes no matter what the water level.

Perhaps if you installed a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) or got a portable one and plugged the filter into that, when the power went off, the filter wouldn't start when the power came back on. You'd have to re-prime it and reset the GFCI to get it working again. The filter wouldn't be working while you're away, but it wouldn't be running dry and burn out the motor, either.

[Ace]

I don't think there's anything you can do about that, other than getting a different kind of filter, which could be hard for you, i don't know what the pet supply situation's like where you live. An internal filter would do fine with power outages, as would a canister filter, as long as the output is underwater. Unreliable electricity sounds awful, it's amazing how easy it is to take things for granted...

They aren't many choices of filters here. i've once saw a canister filter on sale in a department store but it cost 160 dolars over the prices of you can find on the internet. i havent seen an internal filter that can meet my tank requierments, cuz their to small (my tank is 100gal).

you can try to build an above tank basking area and fill tank all the way up

i'm currently planning on building an above tank basking area for 3 reason: 1-my turts are already sinking the floating dock, 2- they are eating the dock, 3- that way i can raise the water level and decrease the water fall sound of my aquafilter.

For me the 110 has always drained dry when the power's been off for more than a few minutes no matter what the water level.
Perhaps if you installed a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) or got a portable one and plugged the filter into that, when the power went off, the filter wouldn't start when the power came back on. You'd have to re-prime it and reset the GFCI to get it working again. The filter wouldn't be working while you're away, but it wouldn't be running dry and burn out the motor, either.

Marisa that's a very bad news for me, i was kinda hoping, that once i builded the above tank basking area and raise the water level, the problem with the filter running dry would have dissapear !! .......
but the idea of the GFCI is very interesting, im gonna look in to that.

THANK ALL you Guys and gals for the advice.!

[steve]

The GFCI I have does not trip during a blackout. Can you test to see if your filter will stay primed in higher water levels?

[marisa]

At a very high water level I think you'd have a better chance of the filter being able to pull the water up the intake once the power returned if the power is off for a very short length of time, if there is still some water in the chamber above the motor.

[marisa]

I had a discussion with an electrician this am (more GFCI's installed) about GFCI's tripping and wanted to clarify. I was told that a GFCI can under certain circumstances trip when the power returns after having gone out, but that the voltage (or current? I can't remember which he said) would have to be above what is normal (if normal is 240 but, for example, 260 came through when the power came on, the GFCI would react to the increase and trip). It did happen to me when the power came back on, but it now sounds like it would be hit or miss and couldn't be counted on to happen every time.