Scotty, I need more power: 2012
 

It began at about Five-Thirty PM on Monday, while I was driving back
from the grocery store with the vegetables my XYL asked me to pick up,
and an extra five gallons of gas that I had decided to add to my
reserves. The grocery store and the gas station were both almost deserted.

I had to stop at a "Detour" sign that hadn't been there a half-hour
before, where a tree was down in the road. As I turned onto the side
street, I saw an arc flash off to my right, so bright that it looked
like God's own welding rod turning the twilight into day. It burned out
after about thirty seconds, so I took the detour and proceeded down the
road: as I got up by the flashpoint, I noticed smoke coming across the
street, and I figured it was the remains of the tree that had caused the
arc, but as I drove by it, checking again and again that there were no
wires in my path, I realized that the the high-tension line was lying
across someone's lawn, burning the grass and the tar in their driveway.

I reached for the two-meter rig, but the fire truck was coming over the
hill as I did so, and I went on down the road. Less than two blocks
later, just around the corner, there was another tree down, bending
electric wires at a thirty degree angle, with two telephone poles
cracking jokes about how sparks fly when they get close. For that one, I
actually used the autopatch, and reassured the dispatcher that I was
reporting a separate incident.

I got home, and explained the reasons that the power was now off, and
went out to the shed and turned over the generator. I threw the switch,
and told the XYL that she could use the top burners on the stove, but
only two at a time, and we had spaghetti for dinner.

The only alarming event was when I heard a "tic-tic-tic-tic" sound that
made me think my roof was leaking: after inspecting the ceiling in my
wife's study, I realized that the sound was coming from her UPS unit,
switching itself into and out of backup mode with every change in the
generator's speed. I had, of course, shutdown the computers when the
wind speed picked up.

After that, I told the XYL that I would turn off the generator to save
gas as soon as the dishwasher was finished, but she persuaded me to
leave it on while she watched some show about Ernest Hemingway on PBS. I
spent the extra time writing emails, telling my telecom-digest.org
readers that the mail queue might be slow for a couple of days. After
that, I broke out the reserve "strike anywhere" matches, and put one
pack next to each of the candles that adorn our tables and bathroom sink.

Then, after placing the flashlights just-so and checking the fuel level
in the Coleman lantern, I powered down and threw the switch back to the
commercial mains, just in case the restoration took less time than I
thought it would. Our emergancy light, which comes on automatically when
power fails, was enough for my wife to sit in bed and read: everything
was back to normal when I woke up the next morning.

I had set everything up in advance, and since I had bought a 5KW genset
that would actually power most of my house, I didn't have to switch any
wires around or worrying about tripping breakers if the heat came on at
the same time as the stove. The generator cost $567.00, since it was a
closeout model and Home Depot wanted it off their inventory: that was
back in May. The 220V plug and "motor" cable had run about $70, but I
didn't mind because it meant I wouldn't have to run extension cords or
keep a window open. I was lucky to have a ten-gauge feeder already in
place, going to an old "pool" shed that's no longer needed for the pool,
but I had to sink two ground rods to keep the electrical inspector
happy, each worth another sixty bucks. The chain, padlock, and extra
alarm wires had added maybe fifty dollars more.

There's no moral to this story, except that it took a lot more work and
expense and aggravation than I had expected: it left me wondering if it
wouldn't have been easier to do without. I decided that I should just
enjoy being dry and well fed and free of worries about Carbon Monoxide:
UHT Milk on the shelf, a five pound bag of rice and cans of soup beside
it just in case, and about twenty gallons of gasoline on hand that I
will be pouring into our cars in the next few days. I was so prepared
that I /wanted/ the power to fail.

My wife noticed my sense of self-satisfaction, and commented on it, but
I reminded her that we had talked about the tradeoffs back in May: that
the generator wasn't just to make me feel good, and that this had been
an easy storm, and that the power had failed in warm weather, and that
losing the food in the freezer or trying to flush a hot-water heating
system or dealing with frozen pipes in Winter would have been a much
more severe event.

I don't think she understood my explanation. Some things, you just have
to live with.

73,

Bill, W1AC


--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)

I have to ask if the Generator is a Generac.

If it is the brushless type Generac - you might want to invest in a extra capacitor for the generator.

I took a near lightning strike back in April - did damage to just the 3 six meter antenna's in the yard and didn't affect anything else except that the capacitor went on the generator and it refused to put out any power.

I took it to the local alternator shop, and instead of just selling me the part, they played dumb and charged me $120 for a simple $25.00 repair.

I am the same way about loosing power.
I like to turn on all the outside lights and the inside lights so the people sitting in the dark can see that I still have light.

My 4500 watt Honda uses about 5 gallons of gasoline every 8 hours.
So by your estimation - you had enough gasoline for about 24 hours of use.

You didn't say where you lived...

If it was New York City - then you probably would have needed to conserve as much as you could.

Other places other then West Virginia it wouldn't have been so bad.

The electric lines arcing tells me that they have a problem with the switch gear at the local sub station.
The power should have cycled 3 times in about a second and then shut off.

That is about standard for new switch gear made today.
Siemens, ABB , ARRIVA etc...

Scotty, I need more power: 2012
 

On 11/2/2012 12:27 PM, Channel Jumper wrote:
I have to ask if the Generator is a Generac.

If it is the brushless type Generac - you might want to invest in a
extra capacitor for the generator.

It's a Briggs and Stratton unit.

I took a near lightning strike back in April - did damage to just the 3
six meter antenna's in the yard and didn't affect anything else except
that the capacitor went on the generator and it refused to put out any
power.

I took it to the local alternator shop, and instead of just selling me
the part, they played dumb and charged me $120 for a simple $25.00
repair.

Sorry to hear it. I suggest you tell the owner that he'll never see you
again, and send him copies of receipts from other businesses that you've
dealt with. There are too many businessmen who feel that they can gouge
their customers and who think nobody keeps track.


I am the same way about loosing power.
I like to turn on all the outside lights and the inside lights so the
people sitting in the dark can see that I still have light.

Well, there's a /little/ bit of that in me, but I was compensating on
Monday night: I kept the outside lights off and made sure that the
shades were down, so that the one or two inside lights looked like we
had a lantern or candles going.

I don't worry about my neighbors, whom I know, but about someone passing
by that succumbs to a momentary lapse of judgement.

My 4500 watt Honda uses about 5 gallons of gasoline every 8 hours.
So by your estimation - you had enough gasoline for about 24 hours of
use.

Given the forecast temperatures, I was confident that I could go for
three days with just the refrigerator and occasional cooking. Counting
the generator tank, which holds 12 gallons, and the extra ten I had in
cans, plus the gas tanks in the cars, I could have gone for a week if I
used the generator about six hours per day, off and on.

You didn't say where you lived...

In the Boston, Massachusetts area, about halfway between Boston and
Providence, Rhode Island.

[snip]

The electric lines arcing tells me that they have a problem with the
switch gear at the local sub station. The power should have cycled 3
times in about a second and then shut off.

That is about standard for new switch gear made today.
Siemens, ABB , ARRIVA etc...

After a big storm a few years back, we had crews from Hydro Quebec in
this area helping with reconstruction. All the Québécois were astonished
at the age and inefficiency of the electric plant in my area: I guess
when you depend on water to make electricity, you find ways to make
every drop count.

73,

Bill, W1AC

--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)

Scotty, I need more power: 2012
 

On 11/3/2012 1:45 AM, Bill Horne wrote:
On 11/2/2012 12:27 PM, Channel Jumper wrote:
I have to ask if the Generator is a Generac.

If it is the brushless type Generac - you might want to invest in a
extra capacitor for the generator.

It's a Briggs and Stratton unit.

IN the 5W size Briggs & Stratton and Genrac are ... Different paint jobs
(nothing more) IN fact if you contact Genrac, for customer support on a
small portable type Genrac, the reply comes from Briggs & Strattion..
Mine is a Genrac 1KW, with legs, I'd love to identify the legs so I
could get the generator back and send the legs to where they need to
spend some quality time.

My other genrator is a Onan 5,5KW, it runs everything in the motor home
with enough left over for a couple of trailers. But we cook with GAS
when we do that. That puppy burns about a gallon an hour, but can use
up to 3/4 of the fuel tank on the house, that's 70 gallons so over fifty
hours of power if the tank is full,, When I had a sticks and bricks, I
only used about 3KW to power the house during a power fail. LIke you I
had not one, but several switches.

I did not worry about CO still do not, the Motor home was about 100 feet
from the house (Well the generator) so that was safe, and in the motor
home itself I use a Gen-turi exhaust extension to get the exhaust
gasses, CO included, up over the roof where they can just keep goign UP.
WOrks great.

--
Nothing adds Excitement like something that is none of your business.
Remove the invalid part to email me.

Scotty, I need more power: 2012
 

On 11/3/2012 12:31 PM, John Davis wrote:

I did not worry about CO still do not, the Motor home was about 100 feet
from the house (Well the generator) so that was safe, and in the motor
home itself I use a Gen-turi exhaust extension to get the exhaust
gasses, CO included, up over the roof where they can just keep goign UP.
WOrks great.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is one of those things that has to be dealt with
according to the worst possible outcome: dead bodies. I'm not an expert,
and I've taken my share of chances, but I don't run generators next to
open windows or inside garages.

I have a "Catalytic" heater that I used to take on camping trips: it
runs on Naphtha and throws a *LOT* of heat very quickly. I always insist
on keeping a window open and a door ajar when I've got it going, and I
*NEVER* keep it running while I'm asleep.

Now, you might wonder why I tell you all this. Frankly, it's because I
feel like an old fuddy-duddy every time I play it safe, and I wonder if
it's all hype put out by the insurance companies.

Still, I take the precautions. Until someone convinces me otherwise,
when it comes to Carbon Monoxide, I'm a live coward.

73,

Bill, W1AC

--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)