On Tue, 19 Sep 2017 03:06:45 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:
On 9/19/2017 12:45 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 18 Sep 2017 20:36:47 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:
On 9/18/2017 7:54 PM, Alex wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/18/2017 1:56 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 16 Sep 2017 11:50:01 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:
On 9/16/2017 11:36 AM, Tim wrote:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/15/us/hur...ast/index.html
Kinda seems like the east coast could be threatened...
CNN?
Fake news.Â*Â* Gonna be sunny and warm.Â* Beach weather.Â* :-)
I think by the time it gets to us it will be just a strong nor'easter.
Rather have it now than in February.
I hope the models are better for you than they were for us. 3 days
out, Irma was a Miami storm. It came in over Marco, 100+ miles west.
I have been off the air so I have not been looking at the plots and
the news is pretty superficial if it is not coming here. They just
tell us "relax".
Good to hear you survived and didn't have too much damage.Â* Living
without power for over a week is a bitch though and those contractor
type generators definitely burn a lot of gas.Â* I had a 12.5Kw set up
during Wilma but quickly realized my supply of gas (5 or 6, 5 gal
jugs) wasn't going to last long if I ran it all the time.Â* I used the
little Honda most of the time, just for the refer, a couple of lights
and the Direct TV box and TV.
We are currently in a Tropical Storm Watch for Jose.Â* It appears it
will track well south of us but will expand, spreading some rain and
wind tomorrow and Wednesday.Â* No big deal around here.Â* I am watching
the other one, "Maria".Â* Still way to early to predict but the Euro
model has it tracking right up the coast and hitting Cape Cod.
I did the same.Â* The 2Kw handled the refrigerator, freezer, and a small
window AC unit I keep on hand.Â* The 6.5Kw sucked gas at 3X the rate with
little benefit.
Yeah, I ran one refrigerator, a couple of lights, the Direct TV receiver
and large flat panel TV. I put it on the "idle" mode and it would run
from 9pm until about 7am on one tank of gas (a little over a gallon).
I'd fill it up in the morning and it ran all day until evening on one
tank. If I wanted coffee or something, I'd unplug the refer
temporarily, make a pot of coffee, then switch back to the refer. The
only time the little Honda would automatically rev up for a couple of
seconds was when the compressor in the refer turned on or the coffee
maker was heating. After that it went back to idle mode.
My problem is pumps The pool is 1hp, the well is 3/4 hp and the house
pump is 3/4hp. I can determine when the pool starts but the well is at
the mercy of the pressure switches. I know all 3 plus 2 reefers in
locked rotor will trip the genny every time.
I know if something like this ever happens again I want better load
management. To start with I have to separate the fridges. They are on
the same phase now. That is just moving the breaker.
We seemed to have enough switch discipline that I had no problem
leaving all of the general lighting breakers on. Walking around
turning on lights was just like normal, just do what your momma told
you and turn the light off if you are not using it.
Other than the compressor surge when it starts a refer doesn't draw much
current once the compressor is running. Even a large refrigerator draws
less than two amps, once the compressor starts. I ran two of them on
the little Honda a couple of years ago, along with a couple of lights
and a TV. It would rev up over idle when either of the refrigerator
compressors started but then drop back. Never tripped the breaker on
the Honda. The e2000 is capable of about 16 amps max but it will
generate up to 6 amps running on the "eco mode" (idle).
In Florida the well pump was a problem. First, it was 220v, so trying
to run it off the little Honda was not possible (it only produces 120v).
During the week without power after Wilma, I'd fire up the 12.5kw
generator for about an hour in the morning to heat the water in the hot
water tank and run the well pump so I could take a shower. I'd then
shut it off and use the little Honda as described before. That 12.5
generator burned almost a gallon an hour under load as I recall, the
local gas stations had no power, so I had to conserve the gas I had.
I really only had a problem when they all started at once. (pumps and
fridges)
I was worried about fuel but it turned out I went 8 days on what I had
with gas and half a tank of propane left over. I only started with 7
cans of gas and I had 3 empty ones I couldn't fill before the storm. I
won't make that mistake again.
running 24 hours a day I think I am still good for about 11 days
before I need something. With a little rationing I could easily make
that 2 weeks. I am always watching the side of the road. I will
increase my gas can inventory I am sure. I'm surprised I didn't find
one floating yet.
If I was really knowing I was going to be down a while I would run
gasoline during the day and propane at night. If it was just going to
likely be a day or so I would just use propane. That is expensive but
it is real easy to deal with. You don't have any storage problems,
there is a quick disconnect on the line and you just do the power
transfer, plug it in, turn on the gas and go.
I have been thinking about building an enclosure and just leaving it
out there. The advantage for me is not having the hassle of rolling it
around, keeping it secure, keeping it up off the ground (flood etc)
and I could sound deaden the thing. There is a bit of a design
challenge but any decent tiki bar builder could do it. ;-)
I made a huge difference in the noise with mover blankets hanging
around the thing.