Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/4/2018 2:53 PM, John H wrote:
On Thu, 4 Jan 2018 13:16:34 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 1/4/2018 1:07 PM, John H wrote:
On Thu, 4 Jan 2018 12:42:29 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 1/4/2018 12:20 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 04 Jan 2018 08:54:03 -0500, John H
wrote:

On Wed, 3 Jan 2018 17:19:35 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 1/3/2018 2:28 PM, Its Me wrote:
Light flurries now, the predictions range from a dusting to
1-2 inches. Worse the closer to the coast you get. My BIL at
James Island (Charleston) sent a picture earlier of maybe 1/4
inch and still falling. Very unusual for them.

It's out of here in a few hours and headed up the coast. Good
luck!



Damn. I was hoping it would dump a foot in Mt. Pleasant, just
to shut
my son up.

Last I heard it is supposed to "explode" as it comes up the coast,
becoming essentially a winter hurricane.

"Bombogenesis" is the technical term, and the popular "bomb
cyclone" is a shortened version of it,
according to our weather folks.

They do seem to just make up names for things these days. I think
the
classic was "Super Storm Sandy" to talk about something that was not
even a hurricane, it was just "super" for people who were not
used to
tropical weather.
It is far from unprecedented tho. There was a real Cat 3 there in
the
30s.
I have certainly seen that weather pattern in DC tho and this is not
even the worst case. The snow would actually be more of a problem if
the "eye" of that low was farther west so your wind was drawing wet
gulf stream air up into the cold front north of you. That is what
gives DC over a foot of snow a day and if it stalls, you
"Knickerbocker" snow.


Up here a Cat 1 hurricane in the summer might be preferable over
what is
going on right now. When you look at this storm on radar it is
developing a very defined rotation as it is winding up and getting
bigger. Snowfall rate here is 2-3 inches/hr and the temp is dropping
like a rock since this morning. Pretty much a white-out out there.

Major flooding in Justin's former town with 4 disabled cars with
people
trapped inside, one a woman with 2 kids. Water is over the wheel
wells.
Fire and National Guard are responding.

My old stomping grounds in Scituate is really getting clobbered ...
worst in over 30 years despite improvements in sea walls, etc. A TV
reporter nut was standing on the porch of a house about 30 feet
from the
seawall and he was getting soaked with spray, along with dodging
sea ice
that is being thrown up onto the roofs of houses.

So far we haven't had any power glitches here but I fully expect
we'll
lose it in the next hour or so. Wind where I am is gusting 55-60
mph.

Best of luck in all that. I think I'd be getting out the extension
cords and prioritizing my
electricity requirements!


Did that yesterday ... that's why I was firing up the Honda to test.

I have a new plan. If power goes out I am going to shut off the main
breaker and then backfeed the generator output through a 15 amp outlet
that's in the shed. It's on the same branch of the split 240v house
supply as the furnace and a couple of rooms. All my lighting is
LED, so
that's a tiny load. The generator will run those plus the furnace
system with no problem and I don't need to have extension cords running
anywhere.


Well, you know more about electricity than I do. That's something I'd
never try. Came across this
while looking for info. Don't know if it'll help or you already have
it down.

http://www.tcscooters.com/backfeed.htm

I like steps 1-3:

If you are going to backfeed your home, you must be very carefully
and follow the directions below.
If you fail to follow them you can kill a line worker, kill yourself
or blow up your generator.
Again I'll say, get a licensed electrician.

Step One, the most important step of all is to turn off the main
breakers.
Step two, turn off the main breakers.
Step three, turn off the main breakers. Do you get the idea?
Step four, remember to plug the generator end in last. If the
generator is running and you are using
two male ends the house end plug is live!



I definitely agree that not everyone should do this. The best way is
to have an automatic transfer box installed to code by a licensed
electrician.

That said, I've done this several times, including the house we had in
Florida after Wilma. I have sufficient knowledge of what I am doing
but even so, I stop, check and re-check before firing up the generator
and throwing the breaker that it backfeeds through.

It's illegal, but safe if you pay attention and know something about
house wiring.

Here's a little test that I've even tried on licensed electricians to
see how knowledgeable they a

Your house service is usually 240vac, split phase. Split phase means
two "hot" leads, a neutral (used with both hot legs) and a ground
(which really is tied to the neutral leg. Across the two "hot" leads
you have 240 volts which is used for stoves, large AC units, etc.
Between either hot lead and neutral you have 120 volts which is used
for your outlets, lighting, refrig and small appliances. Your panel
box is supposed to be wired to balance the loads as best as possible.
So, here's the question. Let's say:

Leg "A" of the 120 volt supply is drawing 40 amps.
Leg "B" of the 120 volt supply is drawing 30 amps.

How much current is flowing through the common neutral leg that is
used for both legs?

The answer is 10 amps.

Many people assume it is the sum of both current draws or 70 amps in
this example and it's amazing how many "electricians" don't know that.
They don't realize that the two "hot" legs are 180 degrees out of
phase, so the current in the neutral adds algebraically.

That's why the neutral feed from the street to your power panel is the
same size wire as the two hot leads. It will never carry more than
what one hot leg is rated to draw.


I didn't know it was illegal - at least not here. If you are
effectively, and correctly, taking yourself "off the grid" you should be
able to do whatever you want.