Acutal power consumption by pumps

S

stratman

I'm not sure this is the right forum... but anyway...

I bought a handly little Kilowatt meter off eBay recently. Upon testing amp draw and wattage for my mag-grive pump, I got results a little different than I expected.

If a Mag-drive 9.5 is labeled to pull 93 watts, but is only pulling 60 or so is that normal? I wasn't sure if the 93 was a maximum possible load or what is actually constant.

The other possibility is that this new meter is just wrong, i guess.... My 90g tank shows to pull right at 6 amps for everything listed below. I was expecting something higher. The mag drive accounts for almost 1/2 that according to my meter.

440w VHO w/ ARO 4L ballast
Mag Drive 9.5
Turbo Twist 3x UV
2 Seio 820s
2 MJ600s
350w heater (heater was off during readings)
Sedra KSP-3500V (euro-reef rs80)
2 Stinger SF2 12V fans (stepped down to 9V@<500ma)
150W Power Compact floodlight bulb (28-35 actual watts, compares to 150w flood)
 
I'm guessing that's the case, I just hoped someone would know for sure...

I didn't pay attention to the 1st 1/2 second when I plugged the pump back in, nor did I vary the head since it's plumbed into my tank.

I'm really not as concerned with the pump itself as I am that my whole setup is only metering at 6 amps. That was a plesant surprise, but I'm just not sure about the results!

I'm going to plug the meter back in tonight and let it log some time. It will log watts/hour so I can estimate my tank's impact on my electric bill.
 
the power draw from pumps also depends on the head loss and actual GPH output. There are some graphs out there showing the actual power draw and flow rates at varying head levels.
 
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