New England Ice Storm - 8 days with no power here !!!

[steve_qix]

Well, I'm on my 8th day of generator power   

This surpasses the last ice storm where we were out for 6 days.  Guess I need to look into a more efficient generator.  The PE-96 (military) 4 cyl generator is great, but burning a bit more than 1 gallon per hour is getting e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e !!

Oh well!  At least I've got a generator here.  There are many, many people who have left their homes to stay with relatives, or who have moved to one of the shelters set up at local schools.

And the PE-96 -will- allow me to get on the air with my biggest transmitter 

Regards,

Steve

[WA1GFZ]

Hey Steve,
Bummer on the power and we have a storm coming. I wonder when was the last time you checked the points and plugs on that beast. Worn points close up the gap and retard the timing. This will make it suck gas. I use to like to set Fords at .020 gap. You might throw a timing light on it and check. Take a look at the exhaust pipe and see if it is burning rich.

[KL7OF]

1 gal/hr? doesn't sound too bad .......What horsepower and what is the average load? (kw)   my generator is 24 hp-9 kw and at 60% load it uses 3/4gal/hr (gasoline powered Lincoln welder-generator)

[steve_qix]

1 gal/hr? doesn't sound too bad .......What horsepower and what is the average load? (kw)   my generator is 24 hp-9 kw and at 60% load it uses 3/4gal/hr (gasoline powered Lincoln welder-generator)

Hmmmmm..  well, I don't know the horsepower, really.  It's a 4 cyl jeep engine, flathead 4, pretty big.  The unit is rated (I believe) at 12.5kW [according to a plate on the unit], but the average load is considerably lower - I would estimate the load to be about 10 to 12 amperes averaged out over the day (at 250 volts).  When the electric stove is on, the load goes WAY up, but we've been trying to avoid too much prolonged cooking.  The well pump kicks it up a good bit, too (as does my transmitter    )

The 250 volt output goes to an AC voltage regulator which uses variacs and transformers to boost/buck the voltage.  Then into an autotransformer to derrive a neutral (the generator output is 250 volts floating).

[KB1IAW]

Wow! We were only out for three days this time. A line crew from Nova Scotia Power got the houses on our road back on line. The worst outage was the ice storm in January 1998 when we went without power for over 14 days. My 5kw work generator powers nearly everything that we care about including the Valiant. The electric water heater is asking a little too much. The 10hp B+S industrial engine only burns about 1/2 gallon per hour depending on the load.

[w8khk]

The electric water heater is asking a little too much. 

At 240 volts, the water heater is too much for my 16 HP 8KW generator, with other loads attached.  I connected the 240v water heater across neutral and one leg, running on 120v it draws 1/2 the normal amperage, and only 1/4 the normal wattage.  Takes longer to heat, but sure beats a cold shower!

[WA1GFZ]

Don't forget Steve that generator is built to outlast the user.
Still you might look at the color of the exhaust pipe. I also like to look at the piston tops. That is even a better gauge of what is going on.
You may just need a tune up.

[WB2YGF]

Hams Respond to Calls for Assistance as Ice Storms Pummel New England

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/12/15/10506/?nc=1

[Tom WA3KLR]

My generator is 5 kW.  I'm in an all-electric house heated by a heat pump. Can't run the heat pump unless I had a very large generator, but I do have a fireplace.

The hot water heater, oven and dryer all use 4000 - 4400 Watt elements.  Sometimes these appliances may have elements over 5 kW, can be 6 kW, particularly the hot water heaters.  So when I bought a new dryer and hot water heater I have checked that the elements are less than 5 kW. 

By manually energy-managing all of the circuit breakers, water can be heated, refrigerator cycle run, well-pump run, etc.  Tried all this a few years ago.   So far have been lucky enough not to have an extended outage.  I exercised the generator last week though.  I keep (4) 5 gallon gas cans on hand.

[WA1GFZ]

just started snowing like a mofo here

[KF1Z]

just started snowing like a mofo here

Yup started here in central Verminmont about 1:30

They are only calling for just barely more than a dusting here (3-5")

Just pulled in the driveway with a few sheets of 1/4" high-grade plywood on the roof of the car when it started....
Got it inside before it got flaked....   whew!


Sometimes I wish I had secured a generator that was in a place I worked in Maine...
They wanted it gone... but I had no way to move it...

It was a 3phase 50kw  with a ford V-8

Great running genny.... but man did it suck fuel!
We used it there to power snowmaking fan-guns.....

That MAY have been a surplus military set, but the thing had been slobbered with paint so many times, I couldn't read the nametag.

[ab3al]

for what its worth steve those old jeep enjines korean area are about 60-70 horse

[W1RKW]

started snowing  here at 100PM.  Got 3 inches now at 300PM. 

Genset here is a 10kw.  Burns about 3/4/hr depending on load.  Can run the well pump, heat the house and hot water. Run all the lights, frig, station, TV and computer. Don't run the oven or the dryer though.   

[WA1GFZ]

I would figure about 1 HP/ KW so at 12 KW it is almost sleeping along. Consider a Jeep in high gear running 1800 RPM, how far could you drive in an hour.

[WA1GFZ]

We have a bit over 2 inches here by the airport. I think there are 5 people in area left.

[AF9J]

I hope you don't get hit as hard as we did. We got a foot of the white stuff here from this same storm system, earlier today.

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[Tom WA3KLR]

I stopped in a Big Lots store yesterday for kicks, hadn't been in one in a couple years.   I saw a few models of generators from about 1300 Watts up to around 5000 Watts.  They all have 12 Volts output which is very nice.  The 1300 Watt unit was $169.

[WB2YGF]

Started sleeting here about 9AM, then turned to snow/sleet mix for about 1 inch, then turned to heavy rain.  Temp still below freezing.  About 7PM we had thunder.  I have seen thunder-snow but this is the first time I can recall thunder-ice.  We are supposed to get 1/4 inch of ice.

[WA1GFZ]

Well just did a round with the 1975 Sears snow mechanical bull and the snow lost. We got close to a foot and still coming down. More tonight but at least we have power and two full tanks of oil topped off yesterday morning.
Hang in there Steve.

BTW, My Egg Plant buddy works for NU and he told me that little box you can check on your electric bill for buying cheaper power will directly effect the quality of service when there is an outage. That extra buck or two supports local company service.

[KA1ZGC]

I stopped in a Big Lots store yesterday for kicks, hadn't been in one in a couple years.   I saw a few models of generators from about 1300 Watts up to around 5000 Watts.  They all have 12 Volts output which is very nice.  The 1300 Watt unit was $169.

You'll want to check the specs on the 12V outputs before buying. My dad picked up a 10kW unit a while back, but the 12V output is on it only good for an amp or two. I haven't thrown a scope across it, but I'm willing to bet it's a very dirty amp or two.

[WA1GFZ]

Just got back from Home Depot. They have 3 different models 5 to 6 KW and 7 to 8 peak starting. Range in price $500 to $700. One said it could run 13 hours at 1/2 power. I wonder what you have to do after that maybe change the oil. I knew a guy who raced nitro carts. He said the only oil to use is straight slick 50.
Steve's mil generator will go a lot longer that 13 hours.

[k4kyv]

If the electricity went out here for good, I wouldn't complain.  I would just go buy a good diesel generator and be thankful I no longer had to deal with that goddam power line noise.

It was gone yesterday, and I thought maybe they had fixed it.  But late last night I began to hear it intermittently sputtering once again, and this morning it was back solid at full intensity.

[WA1GFZ]

Don,
You really need a rifle with a scope.....

[steve_qix]

10 days !!! Finally (just now) got street power back!!!

And, there's another ice storm on the way later in the week

I'll keep the old generator ready to go, I think 

Regards,

Steve

[WA1GFZ]

Good deal Steve.
I bet you won't be complaining about electric rates any time soon after feeding the generator.