# power outage control



## DoubleT (Dec 28, 2006)

anyone have a sugguestion to control the the flooding of my wet drt when the power goes off?


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## Guest (Jan 30, 2007)

There are battery backups you can purchase. You plug it into the wall the batter inside charges all the time, your pump is plugged into this battery back up unit. If the power goes out the pump still runs for a time on the battery backup. Only way I know of we plan on useing that for our sump on the sw tank, others my have some more ideas. Hope it helps.


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## DoubleT (Dec 28, 2006)

thanks 

iam going to get one. how long do they last


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## Brandon (Dec 14, 2006)

Probably pretty long because you wont be using it every day right?


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## Guest (Jan 30, 2007)

DoubleT said:


> thanks
> 
> iam going to get one. how long do they last


I am not sure on the time. Take a look and see I would imagine they have different sized ones which may last longer than others. We have not gone out and purchased ours yet. If you find one let us know im sure alot of people would be interest on how ya did. Good luck


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## Melissa (Nov 28, 2006)

we bought a battery backup that lasts like 8 hours....but it was 200 bucks.


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## trreherd (Aug 7, 2006)

What? your sump should not be overflowing even when the power goes out. What part is overflowing into the sump? I will eliminate the overflow box(obiously) Im thinking you forgot to drill a whole in the reture line for your wet dry. What might be happening is that when the power goes out,the water in the return ling gets pulled by gravity the opposite way and syphons the water from your tank to your sump. To fix this all you have to do is drill a 1/16th inch whole rite below the water line in your main tank so when the powergoes out,the the whole will break that suction therfore leaving your floors dry.


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

trreherd said:


> What? your sump should not be overflowing even when the power goes out. What part is overflowing into the sump? I will eliminate the overflow box(obiously) Im thinking you forgot to drill a whole in the return line for your wet dry. What might be happening is that when the power goes out,the water in the return ling gets pulled by gravity the opposite way and syphons the water from your tank to your sump. To fix this all you have to do is drill a 1/16th inch whole rite below the water line in your main tank so when the powergoes out,the the whole will break that suction therfore leaving your floors dry.


I think he forgot the hole to, BUT! When the power comes back on the siphon does not start right up so if your not home and the power goes out and then comes back on, the sump would flood the main tank. Its happened to me 3x so I went out and bought a $200 back up the most it last is up to 52 hrs. It also depends on what you have it plugged into.


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## jjwin98 (Dec 17, 2006)

trreherd how would I eliminate my overflow box is there a kit out there or some other way.
thanks


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

I've never had a problem with my system returning to normal after a power outage. I to have holes drilled in my return 90's. Just above the water line so they break siphon immediately. I have 8" of "extra" cushion. If your wet/dry is overfilling it isn't large enough.


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## trreherd (Aug 7, 2006)

''trreherd how would I eliminate my overflow box is there a kit out there or some other way. 
thanks''
lol you took that in the wrong way. I ment that im going to eliminate your overflow bax as a posible cause of your sump overflowing, theres nothing wrong with your overflow box. 
Heres what i think is going on.
I think you fill your wet dry up too much so when the power goes out the water left in your overflow and it tubing are draining into your sump and overflowing it. when i shut the power off on my tank my sump rises a few inches.
Or if you did not already drill the wholes on your return you need to do this.


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## jones57742 (Oct 31, 2006)

Folks:

I have gotten completely lost here.

I have a check valve after the pump for the flow into the tank.
Should either the pump go out or the power fail the sump cannot overflow from water entering the sump through the return line from the sump through the pump and into the tank.

I maintain the maximum water surface in the sump via a float.
The elevation of the water surface in the sump is such that if the pump or power fails the volume of water between the normal water surface in the tank and the bottom of the overflow weir is less than the volume which can be contained in the sump.

I do not understand "all this hole drilling, breaking siphon, etc.".
What am I missing here?

TR


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Ron Jones.

You are correct about having enough room in the sump to let out that last 1/2" water from the main tank through the wier, or overflow for those not familiar with the term. Many of us choose not to use a backflow as they add restriction. I prefer to have my pump run wide open. To compensate for not having a backflow, or checkvalve, I drill a 3/32" hole at the water line of my suction tube and my return line. As soon as I lose power my return line hole is exposed to air thus immediately breaking the siphon of the unexposed return.


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## DoubleT (Dec 28, 2006)

I am note sure where to drill a hole but I did buy a battery back up. it comes with 550 VA or 330 watts. I am not sure how long that will last. I have the sump and heater plugged into the battery back up. Any thoughts on how long it will last?


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

maybe 4 hrs. And I say maybe 4 hrs. It all depends on how many watts the heater and pump consume. I had one tha small and it would die withen the hour.


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## jones57742 (Oct 31, 2006)

caferacermike said:


> Ron Jones.
> 
> You are correct about having enough room in the sump to let out that last 1/2" water from the main tank through the wier, or overflow for those not familiar with the term. Many of us choose not to use a backflow as they add restriction. I prefer to have my pump run wide open. To compensate for not having a backflow, or checkvalve, I drill a 3/32" hole at the water line of my suction tube and my return line. As soon as I lose power my return line hole is exposed to air thus immediately breaking the siphon of the unexposed return.


CM:

Think I understand now.

Normal flow from the pump to the tank.
Should the pump fail and water begin siphoning from the tank, through the pump and into the sump a small hole in the tubing located some minimal dimension below the water surface will break this siphon.

Normal flow from the tank to the sump.
I have an overflow weir which controls the water surface in the tank.
Your system must operate via an intake tube the intake orifice of which is located below the normal water surface in the tank and siphons water from the tank into the sump.
Should the pump fail and water begin siphoning from the tank into the sump a small hole in the tubing located some minimal dimension below the water surface will break this siphon.

Am I understanding this correctly now?

TR


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Quite close yes. My main back siphon through my suction tube (being a reef ready drilled tank with built in corner overflow, running through a durso standpipe) is the weir line. It's the return 90 that points back into the tank that I drill. I also drill a small one in my suction tube just because I'm anal about that stuff. It's easier to drill a tiny hole then come up with thousands of dollars for floor repair. Not to mention I made sure my sump could handle 2" of tank volume AND still have 3" of extra insurance room beyond that.


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