Got an email this morning that Cabelas has generators on sale. The Yamaha 6300 inverter generator is one of the units I was looking at as it has 120/240 outputs.
Got an email this morning that Cabelas has generators on sale. The Yamaha 6300 inverter generator is one of the units I was looking at as it has 120/240 outputs.
"You can't win a war with choirboys. " Mad Mike Hoare
I want to preface this by saying I was born('71) and raised in the house that I am in now(22 years) and I consider this "snow event" a minor inconvenience and not a real emergency. I did find a few short comings, over sights and some bad decisions I would like to hit on so maybe others can learn from my mistakes. I live out in the sticks, 17 miles to town and I can only get there in two ways, left or right out of my drive, same road. I tried to get into work Saturday night but both directions were blocked with trees and power lines down. I was gonna try again early Sunday morning but seeing there were no tracks on the main road I called work and told them I would get in as soon as I could, which looks like it will be this Friday.
We lost power about 11:00 Saturday night and I had back up heat running within 5 minutes. We have plenty of water on hand and a pond we can dip from for flushing and such so I went ahead and drained all of the water pipes to keep them from freezing. Here was an oversight, even though the power was out, I should have went a head and tripped the breakers for the well and water heater. When we went to town on Monday, we still had no power and I left all of the faucets on. I could have flooded the house if a drain had frozen or burnt up the well pump or water heater. I got lucky and managed to get back home before the power got cut on.
I found out that someone else's failure can still be your problem. In this case the failure belonged to the local phone company. Living rural and having to provide my on cell phone tower via a network extender I had planned on and provided a battery back up system that would run all of the necessary hardware and provide a source to charge our phones. The weak link in this belongs to the phone company in the form of our telephone switch being on a battery back up and not having an emergency generator. While I had enough juice for days the switch petered out in about 30 hours. Now I have to figure out a better coms system.
Another short coming or maybe poor planning is having 2 gas appliances and only 1 regulator and hose set. My back up heat is a wall mount radiant propane heater made to be portable and I have a 3 burner camp stove. I have used both in the past but never at the same time. I have other single burner camp stoves we used this time but if the power outage had lasted any longer I think I would have liked to been able to use the big stove. This will be fixed as soon as I get to the hardware store.
CR123 batteries suck or I just have bad luck with them. While CR123s aren't exotic they are a little bit more difficult to find and they are more expensive. I also find that they don't last long for me. Just for reference my lights are a Surefire 6P, a Streamlight Scorpion and a Fenix single cell. It seems like I am always replacing the batteries in those where as my old wildland firefighting lights are still going on the AAAs I put in them last year.
The last bad decision I want to hit on is the decision to put off buying tires for the truck. The tires on my truck have about 1/4 inch of tread left while that probably is enough for dry pavement, it wasn't enough for the 20 plus inches of heavy wet snow we got. I have already called my tire guy and have a set coming. Also I found on my Tundra it is best to turn off the nannies. It took a couple of times for the auto traction almost dumping me in the ditch to realize that I needed it off.
I have looked into a generator and have considered one that runs on propane. Several times I have had the card out but it is hard for me to justify the expense. This would have been the first time in several years that I would have truly needed one, cost verses needs thing, I know and I may need one multiple times tis winter.
I'm glad everyone is reporting in warm and safe, here and elsewhere.
I like the area around Rosman ... my motorcycle loves Hwy 215. I heard Mitchell got about 3 feet of white stuff.
The path of least resistance will seldom get you where you need to be.
What about set a single throw 4 pole switch between the main and the sub. That way the sub is completely disconnected from the main and runs independently off the generator. Break both hots the neutral and the ground at the switch.Originally Posted by hufnagel
I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
The lunatics are running the asylum
Glad to see you check in, F. I was wondering how you made out, I completely forgot I have your cell phone number or I'd have reached out. You make some great points and have some good ideas on dealing with the issues we face here. I'll need to get with you and compare notes and thoughts.
Glad you came out unscathed. Our roads look like a flight of B-52's carpet bombed us and will probably remain that way for a good while if past history is any guide to the future. County doesn't come in off the main road onto our gravel so it's either one of the neighbors, or our "road committee" will get someone in to plow (eventually). The roads are narrow and the ditches are just waiting for the opportunity. My neighbor got caught in one across from us yesterday.
Tired of shoveling. Feel like Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover)..."I'm getting too old for this shit."
There's nothing civil about this war.
Seriously,
Tonight in Tampa it’s going to be clear and cold, down as low as 42°F by morning.
Local news just announced they are opening shelters in Hillsborough County.
not any more... it's listed as sold out. I'm afraid to find out what it cost.
ETA: amazon has it... for $3600+ :dead:
I'm thinking that'll be the way to do it. And if I can learn the signaling from the furnace to the condenser I might even figure out a way to command start the generator when it's called for. Finally put that damn E.E. degree to good use!
https://www.motorsnorkel.com/
tri-fuel conversion kits for standard gas generators.
http://www.interlockkit.com/Default.asp
Electrical panel interlock kits.
http://reliancecontrols.com/
transfer switch panels.
inlet boxes
cables
https://www.harborfreight.com/8750-m...ion-63085.html
8750 Max Starting/7000 Running Watts
when they're on sale for $500, they're the best damn generator value out there. I've personally bought and installed 5 for clients, including my own mother.
https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/produ...rrentSite=true
If you're interested in an intelligent transfer switch with generator auto-start capabilities, load shedding, and some other interesting features.
It's a bit more involved to wire up to your house, but for those who are willing to do a little of the roll your own work, it's the best choice.
Hunt around and you might find it for cheaper occasionally.
Oh, and it supports a plugged in UPS that you can power some of the circuits on.
There... that's a knowledge vomit that i've collected over the years.
If I ever get my solar projects on the move I'll post up on them.
@hufnagel
Have you ever been able to buy one of the APC transfer switches? I have been hunting one and no one ever seems to have any stock.
Reply With Quote