FrankenStorm!!!

yeah, once I get some spare cash, i'm going to be building a power conditioner for the tank, as well as one for my home audio setup. They're not terribly expensive, plus I love DIY stuff. But, as far as i can tell, since i made that post, I haven't heard any rattling. Apparently the snails shell was large enough to tap off the glass ever so slightly. lol.

 

Id rather gamble with no power than fry everything I had with a low quality generator with high levels of harmonic distortion. Even when using a medium quality generator, which I was told was good enough multiple times, to power a 1200 dollar caulk cutter I fried it twice. Clean power or no power. There is no way I would risk frying my return pumps or skimmer pumps with a subpar power source. I dont even want to know what would happen if the power source messed with my controller or heaters... Although I hate Honda for the most part their small generators are the best you can buy to power electronics.

 

What's wrong with Honda? Generac makes some very good generators as well, just make sure you stay away from Harbor Freight

 

To each there own, but if I didn't have the cash to drop on a decent generator, and I had what I had in my tank(which ain't much compared to you SPS guys), I think I'd risk it with a cheapie generator to run a cheap MJ or hydor powerjet and a heater to keep my tank alive, especailly when its 40 degrees outside. I would just rather fry a powerhead than have 3 DD clams dead, my corals, my fish, my cuc, etc. I wouldn't run the entire tank off of even the Honda just in case, but just enough to keep things kicking for a few days.

 

If you are any good, you can always mod a cheap generator to perform better, my neighbor did it, but then again he built his house and boat.........

 

I hate Honda vehicles. lol Their generators are awesome. The company I work for has been eying them up for a long time but we havent pulled the trigger on one yet, Harbor Freight's generators (the cheap ones) are made in India to my understanding. You cant even get the parts to fix them anymore. Mechanics will actually tell you to just throw it away and go buy a new one. It will be cheaper and less of a headache.

I would atleast want to keep my returns and heaters running. When my basement build is finished Ill have around 1000 dollars in return pumps to run. Id much rather drop the cash on a quality generator for the peace of mind. But then again Im in a bit of a different boat than most reefers. I have a decent amount of water and access to a good generator so it would be stupid not to use it. lol

 

I would atleast want to keep my returns and heaters running. When my basement build is finished Ill have around 1000 dollars in return pumps to run. Id much rather drop the cash on a quality generator for the peace of mind. But then again Im in a bit of a different boat than most reefers. I have a decent amount of water and access to a good generator so it would be stupid not to use it. lol[/QUOTE]

oh yeah nick, for you and your system, heck yeah you need a good quality generator, I'd say that for alot of the top notch systems on here. Def worth the money, I should've clarified that I'm thinking more of the new basic systems like mine, where my tank could survive easier and doesn't have the high end pumps and controllers running on them I def wouldn't hook up a cheapo generator to higher end stuff or big $$ returns But for the basic 20-100g tank that, a cheapie is better than nothing.