generators as back-up

[dick benbow]

A substation up the hill from me this afternoon blew up. Sounded like a bomb, and plunged the household into darkness. Got the honda generator out, pulled on the crank twice and within 5 mins had the pond/filters back up and running. That's twice now in the last 5 days. First time was for an hr this time for two.
We had high winds here, highest near 90 but more like 45-50....anyway who else has a generator and what kind of use do you get from it, or can you justify the cost because of actual use or peace of mind. Just curious?

[keokoi]

Dick,

yes its worth it as 1 of those babies is worth more than a generator. I don't have one but I have a low stocked pond and my temp of water is very low so oxygen content is pretty good even in the summer. I have one of those battery UPS hooked up to 2 deep cell marine batteries this is hooked up to my smallest airpump to keep things fllowing. I never got to test out how long the batteries last but maybe that is a good thing...


Joe

[jnorth]

I have one and have used it maybe 4 times since I bought it. One of those times was for 10 hours so I think its worth it. Mine is big enough to power both ponds, the fridge, the cable, the internet and my computer.

[moikoi]

funny....just got off the phone talking to a guy about a Honda EU 3000 gen that he has for sale.

[bekko]

You can buy two new EU2000 for the cost of a new EU3000 and get 4 KW for the price of 3 KW. They have special cords which will link the two EU2000 together to make one larger unit, or you can use them separately. The EU2000 only weights a little over 40 pounds so you can pick it up and walk with it while the EU3000 needs a wheel kit.

There are other small generators which cost less per KW than a Honda. But, the Honda EU series is quite and puts out "clean" electricity which can run a computer and other electronics.

When the power goes out at my house, the fish seem to take a back seat to video games and frozen food.

-steveho p

[moikoi]

Quote: Originally Posted by bekko You can buy two new EU2000 for the cost of a new EU3000 and get 4 KW for the price of 3 KW. They have special cords which will link the two EU2000 together to make one larger unit, or you can use them separately. The EU2000 only weights a little over 40 pounds so you can pick it up and walk with it while the EU3000 needs a wheel kit. There are other small generators which cost less per KW than a Honda. But, the Honda EU series is quite and puts out "clean" electricity which can run a computer and other electronics. When the power goes out at my house, the fish seem to take a back seat to video games and frozen food. -steveho p

EU 2000=$900 ea EU 3000=$1700

a guy has a EU 3000 that's 4 months old, i'll try to buy it from him.

[B.Scott]

I have a cheap 2 stroke genny with a couple of jerry cans of fuel in the garage. It's only good for 650 watts but that is more than enough for my pond.

B.Scott

[RobR]

You can tell by my location that I live in the hurricane state of florida and yes I have a couple of generators. I have a small one that I got on ebay that will easily run one of my filtration sytems (and has) and the bigger one will run the house fridge, aquarium filters, TV,s , and a couple of fans.
The biggest problem is if a catastrophe ever happens. Then the fuel to power them dries out.
I figure with enough gas tanks I can make it 3 days...maybe 4 max. But if things get that dire the koi pond might be the least of my worries.

[moikoi]

bought the Honda EU 3000 gen, hope i never need to use it. been living in the same house for 20 yrs and the longest time w/o power was 4 hrs.

[Rich L]

Generators in parallel need sharing circuits that control the governor, otherwise one will hog the load and actually drive the other.

If your pond is reasonably stocked, you can stop feeding and the koi will be OK for a few days. You will have to purge the filters and lines because the water can go bad but once on line the filters will recover in a few days. I was in Hawaii one summer and got a call from the person feeding the fish. It was a 15K gallon pond with 25 koi and the circuit breaker had tripped within the last 24 hours. I had them pull the plug and stop feeding. I returned in a week, purged the lines and plugged it back in. No problem!

Now that winters here there’s even more room for problems because of the lower metabolism and more oxygen in the water. Folks using heaters or pumps to keep the ice open will have a problem as will people heating their med tanks.

One problem with most generators owned by pond owners is they aren’t self starting. You have to be there for them to do any good. If you think you need a self starting unit you will probably be well off getting one that will supply your home and pond together.

Battery backup is used by lots of hobbyists to operate an air pump. A couple of deep discharge batteries can keep an air pump running for a day or so.