Max's power outage 101 "equipment test" thread.

[Cameramonkey]

Yep... I have LED reverse lights in my car that will just about set your eyes on fire and they only consume a couple of watts. One or two would easily light a room.

BTW - Get LED reverse lights. Amazing upgrade!

Gazing into my crystal ball, I could see a switch to split systems eventually. (not before I retire and I'm not yet 50... I suspect by the time my teen retires?) So much high efficiency low voltage stuff out there I could see them start to develop 12VDC systems to switch lighting and other low current devices to. Especially things USB and/or portable. imaging plugging your portable device directly into your car or special outlet in the house, sans charger because its all converted at the panel more efficiently than the bricks could ever think about doing.

Especially as more and more homes look at solar and battery bank options to store the excess solar collected during the day.

 

[woowoo2]

Also, if you want 100*% battery efficiency, charge a bank of 12VDC deep cycle batteries and choose only 12VDC native devices, bypassing their wall wart power bricks to charge/run them directly off the batteries.

That is how I set up the storm shelter.
100 watt panel> two group 29 batteries > 12 volt loads.
I have outdoor security lights on a timer running on the system in the summer to give it something to do.

 

[maxwelhse]

Gazing into my crystal ball, I could see a switch to split systems eventually. (not before I retire and I'm not yet 50... I suspect by the time my teen retires?) So much high efficiency low voltage stuff out there I could see them start to develop 12VDC systems to switch lighting and other low current devices to. Especially things USB and/or portable. imaging plugging your portable device directly into your car or special outlet in the house, sans charger because its all converted at the panel more efficiently than the bricks could ever think about doing.

Especially as more and more homes look at solar and battery bank options to store the excess solar collected during the day.

The innovation right now is in automotive, so whatever systems they adopt is what we'll be using in the home too. Tesla's power wall comes to mind, though I don't know if it shares the technology of the car perfectly.

With as far as the world advanced from 1921 to 2021, it will be interesting to see where it gets to by 2121. I doubt I'll see even 1/3 of that distance though.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Now that makes me wonder what the efficiency rate is for 12v to 5v? (battery to usb) It has GOT to be pretty efficient because its in theory only a resistive circuit, not anything doing actual conversion.

Off to research!

 

[maxwelhse]

Now that makes me wonder what the efficiency rate is for 12v to 5v? (battery to usb) It has GOT to be pretty efficient because its in theory only a resistive circuit, not anything doing actual conversion.

Off to research!

I would say it's probably pretty high if you commit to doing it in 10v pairs. Not sure if that would work out for charging phones and such, but for lighting it should be pretty straight forward.

 

[Jsomerset]

I have 1 dedicated circuit that runs at most 1-tv, 1 i pad, 2 laptops, 3 phones, 1 fluorescent 10w bulb and an eden pure heater. I have ran that circuit for over 26 hours so far with no electronic problems with this gas or LP duro max gen.

 

[maxwelhse]

I have 1 dedicated circuit that runs at most 1-tv, 1 i pad, 2 laptops, 3 phones, 1 fluorescent 10w bulb and an eden pure heater. I have ran that circuit for over 26 hours so far with no electronic problems with this gas or LP duro max gen.

I really need to look into one of those smaller inverter gennys for running over night and for the electronics. I like the LP option too.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I really need to look into one of those smaller inverter gennys for running over night and for the electronics. I like the LP option too.

LP is great for something that sits most of the time. long term storage is hard to beat. A lot better than gummed up carbs. That old genny you have could probably be converted to LP easy enough

 

[maxwelhse]

First batch of additional "things" showed up today.

2 9aH 18v Ryobi batteries - Should run internet and laptop and a small amount of lighting for several hours, each. Plus dang handy for my chainsaw. string trimmer. circular saw, etc.
500w 120v pure sign wave inverter - For charging things, or running small things, off of the vehicles
12v laptop charger - for mobile laptop charging

So, my automotive based charging station is now established. This is also the first stepping stone to maybe a deep cycle 12v just hanging around in the garage for "occasions".

Also turns out my Ryobi Supercharger is just fine, but it doesn't like the generator for whatever reason. I'm hoping it doesn't mind the inverter, which being pure sine wave, it really shouldn't even know the difference between it and the wall. We shall see.

LP is great for something that sits most of the time. long term storage is hard to beat. A lot better than gummed up carbs. That old genny you have could probably be converted to LP easy enough

I'm sure it could, but it's not realistic for me to keep vast amounts of LP on hand where I'm at. I'll probably formulate that plan when I buy my next house. No point doing anything too drastic while I'm renting.

 

[KokomoDave]

I have never had good luck with Ryobi batteries. I went to Sam's Club and bought deep cycle marine batts for my amorphous glass panel solar. I used the basic controller but can't stand those specialty gimmicky connectors. It is easy to piggyback more panels tho.
I bought one of those Black Friday RK generators that is a bear to start but when it does...hokey smokes. I am researching the gasoline to lp conversion kits for my gen esp since we have had major power outages in my hood.

 

[maxwelhse]

I have never had good luck with Ryobi batteries. I went to Sam's Club and bought deep cycle marine batts for my amorphous glass panel solar. I used the basic controller but can't stand those specialty gimmicky connectors. It is easy to piggyback more panels tho.
I bought one of those Black Friday RK generators that is a bear to start but when it does...hokey smokes. I am researching the gasoline to lp conversion kits for my gen esp since we have had major power outages in my hood.

Mine seem to be holding up OK. 1 failure of a 1.5aH Li battery since I made the conversion to them over 4 years ago, and I run my batteries hard in some of my tools. Once the "crazy" around the globe settles down, I'm going to look into rebuilding them myself. You just can't buy the cells at a reasonable price right now (or at least a couple months ago when I looked). Also, and this shouldn't have surprised me, it takes forever to charge the 9aH guys. Probably around 3 hours, each, from less than totally dead.

I'll have to check out Sam's battery collection. I think while I live here, "2.0" is going to be where it stops. So much of that stuff just gets so big and heavy to move that I just don't want to stack up a lot of it until I'm somewhere that I'm going to stay for awhile.

 

[churchmouse]

I have never had good luck with Ryobi batteries. I went to Sam's Club and bought deep cycle marine batts for my amorphous glass panel solar. I used the basic controller but can't stand those specialty gimmicky connectors. It is easy to piggyback more panels tho.
I bought one of those Black Friday RK generators that is a bear to start but when it does...hokey smokes. I am researching the gasoline to lp conversion kits for my gen esp since we have had major power outages in my hood.

A little shot of the starting sauce will remedy this issue.

 

[maxwelhse]

A little shot of the starting sauce will remedy this issue.

What he said. Mine straight up won't start without it. In fact, I ordered another can since I broke "the new" off of the one I keep with it.

Also... I did try WD-40 since it came up in another thread. That was a no-go. But, I did feel better about shooting the ether in there with a little oil to help it along. I'll probably do a shot of each from now on.

 

[churchmouse]

What he said. Mine straight up won't start without it. In fact, I ordered another can since I broke "the new" off of the one I keep with it.

Also... I did try WD-40 since it came up in another thread. That was a no-go. But, I did feel better about shooting the ether in there with a little oil to help it along. I'll probably do a shot of each from now on.

Yup. Even if I started mine back to back days sometimes it just did not want to kick off. But that Tech was a bear to pull.
The 10HP on the new Generac was half as hard and started 2wnd pull most times.
The Titan 12 had a rope.....
It also had a key.

 

[Jeepster48439]

You guys have got me thinking. I've got an old 10hp, 5kW unit that hasn't been run in probably 8 years or so. Conversion to LP or NG would probably be the ticket. I have a NG line run to the outside of my house I could use. Or I could get a few more 20# tanks to have on hand. Any suggestions on where to get a conversion kit?

 

[churchmouse]

You guys have got me thinking. I've got an old 10hp, 5kW unit that hasn't been run in probably 8 years or so. Conversion to LP or NG would probably be the ticket. I have a NG line run to the outside of my house I could use. Or I could get a few more 20# tanks to have on hand. Any suggestions on where to get a conversion kit?

Get it running 1st. Seriously. If it has set that long get it running to verify that it will.

 

[ditcherman]

I have wanted to do that for years. If I ever have a forever house built, all of the lighting wiring will be terminated in 1 sub panel expressly so I can swap it all over to 12v and run it off of a battery/solar array. 99% of the PITA of a power outage is just not being able to turn the dang lights on.

Why not just install a whole house switch and hook up generator to whole house?
If you’re concerned about fuel usage you could have small generator running all night and big one for heavy usage.
When the power is out here, we see absolutely no difference in daily life except the microwave makes a funny noise (thanks for the explanation smokingman) and there’s a dull roar coming from inside the barn (bobcat hooked up to welder plug and back feeding the house, yes the power is off to the road).
Well, furnace, lights, heat and power in the barn, all for just $50 a day!
I will have to say though when the power is out the last thing I’m caring about is the internet.

 

[maxwelhse]

You guys have got me thinking. I've got an old 10hp, 5kW unit that hasn't been run in probably 8 years or so. Conversion to LP or NG would probably be the ticket. I have a NG line run to the outside of my house I could use. Or I could get a few more 20# tanks to have on hand. Any suggestions on where to get a conversion kit?

Get it running 1st. Seriously. If it has set that long get it running to verify that it will.

Good time to mention that new Chinese generator carbs are like $17... FWIW, man sat without running (and with no gas in it... and ran the bowl dry) for probably 5 or 6 years and it was no big deal to get it fired up again.

Why not just install a whole house switch and hook up generator to whole house?
If you’re concerned about fuel usage you could have small generator running all night and big one for heavy usage.
When the power is out here, we see absolutely no difference in daily life except the microwave makes a funny noise (thanks for the explanation smokingman) and there’s a dull roar coming from inside the barn (bobcat hooked up to welder plug and back feeding the house, yes the power is off to the road).
Well, furnace, lights, heat and power in the barn, all for just $50 a day!
I will have to say though when the power is out the last thing I’m caring about is the internet.

Right now, I rent, but...

A whole house transfer switch is part of the plan too, but I don't particularly want to listen to a generator run 24 hours a day (or attract that kind of attention) just so I can operate the lights. That's exactly why you're seeing the plan unfold as it is here. I've had a generator for over 10 years, and for almost that entire time, that's all I had for power. All I really need it to do is run the fridges, and if goes on long enough, the well pump, furnace, and water heater. That takes maybe 8 hours a day, broken up into chunks. It's the remaining 16 hours I'm planning around and I don't need a generator during that time.

The $50 a day isn't something I'd be excited about either. I burned about 3 gallons of gas, 1/2 gallon of kerosene, and a couple of pounds of propane for a 2 day outage and got along just fine. If I had to take a guess, it was probably $15 of fuel.

As far as the internet goes, that's basically all of my "comms". It was, and is, nice to be able to keep tabs on the rest of the area and the community at large as all of this stuff is unfolding. I can do that with either my phone or my hardline, but as I discovered about mid-way along, the hardline went down. So the stuff I assigned to run the modem and router got reassigned to keeping the phone up. That could have easily gone the other way too. So having both options is nice. Plus, I just don't want to sit around in the dark and die of boredom.

I also admit it's completely an after thought, but a nice benefit, that when the power is off and everything is encrusted in ice I can still "attend" my job if I need to and don't have to run the generator to do it.

 

[Dave A]

Does anyone know of a dealer who might give a good deal on inverter generators if approached with a group buy from some state wide gun club? A few years ago I spoke with a sales guy working at a store that sold a couple different brands of generators about what kind of discount he would give for a purchase of 25 generators. I forget what he said but it was basically F-off.

 

[firecadet613]

Does anyone know of a dealer who might give a good deal on inverter generators if approached with a group buy from some state wide gun club? A few years ago I spoke with a sales guy working at a store that sold a couple different brands of generators about what kind of discount he would give for a purchase of 25 generators. I forget what he said but it was basically F-off.

Harbor Freight Predator brand generators are rated almost as high as the Honda's....deals can be had!

I got 20% off on mine..... with the 2 year, no questions asked warranty.

Scroll up for links including a whole house inlet and interrupt switch.