tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post2050730786256672437..comments2024-03-27T19:38:49.490-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: Surviving Irma - The Lessons Learned PostSiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-14005850246200798202017-09-28T18:33:26.445-04:002017-09-28T18:33:26.445-04:00RE: freezer cycling on - There are several current...RE: freezer cycling on - There are several current draw monitors - Kill-A-Watt is one, Belton makes one that has the display on a 30-inch cable from the plug. You'll still have to watch it, but when the display changes you'll know it cycled on or off.<br /><br />RE: tankless water heater - put a UPS between it and 120 volts. My NG Rinnai will do 5-minute showers 2X daily for 9 days with a 1500 VAC UPS.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-72144957854000070982017-09-15T19:46:12.608-04:002017-09-15T19:46:12.608-04:00Cool. I have an old Tektronix 475 that I got surp...Cool. I have an old Tektronix 475 that I got surplus in the last 10 years. I went to turn it on a few months ago and it did nasty things. I think I've got to fix the power supply. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-56405856782347783432017-09-15T19:00:40.868-04:002017-09-15T19:00:40.868-04:00In looking at our sewer situation here (because of...In looking at our sewer situation here (because of the Harvey flooding, our sewers were messed up, with the treatment plant completely underwater)a lot of the older lines had notes about upgrades and material type.<br /><br />long story short, there is some sort of liner they put into the existing sewer as an upgrade, probably like pulling in new water mains. It's all a welded seamless plastic pipe hundreds of feet long.<br /><br />nickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-264078068469201452017-09-15T18:53:31.776-04:002017-09-15T18:53:31.776-04:00I actually did put a Fluke scopemeter on my gennie...I actually did put a Fluke scopemeter on my gennie when we had the problems and the wave was spiky as all he11. That was part of what led to my diagnosis and work around.<br /><br />nickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-18619134322436114662017-09-15T13:21:02.903-04:002017-09-15T13:21:02.903-04:00I remember reading that in paperback. Must have b...I remember reading that in paperback. Must have been back in '92 when it came out. Could still be on one of the bookshelves around here. Probably still true conceptually but the details all changed enough so you can't just go clean out those sewer traps. <br /><br />I found it interesting that all of a sudden there were fish kills in the Indian and Banana Rivers, and algae blooms so thick you can't see a white-painted plate 8" under the surface, and someone pulls out a pre-made plan to "fix" it, complete with a budget. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-89004849080981933962017-09-15T13:13:51.030-04:002017-09-15T13:13:51.030-04:00Some background on how Brevard County government &...Some background on how Brevard County government "works":<br />https://books.google.com/books/about/Brevard_Good_Ole_Boys.html?id=RA9qHAAACAAJMark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-84600760458956267992017-09-15T12:10:11.133-04:002017-09-15T12:10:11.133-04:00I understand about sewer pipe. Got one leaking on...I understand about sewer pipe. Got one leaking on my lot that is undermining a street light pole. But sewer pipe is under far less pressure than water mains, and quite frankly until it fails to more than a minor leak, it ain't really that much of a problem.<br /><br />It would be interesting to see just what mains broke, and what caused the breaks. Maybe they were all old cast iron pipes from the 50s. I'm not betting on getting an accurate accounting of that, any more than I bet on an accurate forecast and weather report from NOAA and the NHC...Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-68216514119291651652017-09-15T11:09:16.153-04:002017-09-15T11:09:16.153-04:00Mark, I don't know if you followed the whole &...Mark, I don't know if you followed the whole "Save the River" theatrics before the last election, but one thing that stood out to me was that miles and miles of sewer pipe from the early systems are made of that orangeburg pipe. Those systems are virtually all located along the river, both sides, because that area was settled first. <br /><br />Due to age, and the way it was made (wood fiber and pitch), that stuff leaks and leaches sewage into the areas around the river and then into it. Nobody proposed replacing that because it's just too expensive. They point to other sources that are easier to address. <br /><br />But one of these days, and one by one, every one of those old pipes is going to have to be replaced.<br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-51120897265573361752017-09-15T11:07:47.816-04:002017-09-15T11:07:47.816-04:00Heh. I was just thinking - I wonder if the crew t...Heh. I was just thinking - I wonder if the crew that designed and built Oroville also designed and built the Cocoa City Water System? We have imported MANY people from California over the years...Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-39536893985975713562017-09-15T10:58:24.982-04:002017-09-15T10:58:24.982-04:00That's possible, Reg T, but not altogether tha...That's possible, <b>Reg T</b>, but not altogether that likely unless that water line was either improperly installed in the first place, or had been around so long that it had corroded out. The overwhelming majority of the East Central Florida infrastructure was built no earlier than the start of the Apollo program. Yeah, that was a while ago, but the Cocoa water system has grown massively since then, and the mains should be good for many more years before "spontaneous" failures should be expected. SiG's previous experiences with water outages have almost undoubtedly been due to digging without contacting Florida One Call. Some areas of the country do have problems with floods washing away fill over the water mains and then debris damaging them, but that isn't credible with East Central Florida topography. As I said, someone decapitating a fire hydrant will also do it, but other than that the most like cause is poor design or poor construction. Not that anything like that could happen in Brevard County will all the fine upstanding politicians we have running things around here...<br /><br />We may not be the Windy Shitty nor the Big Craphole, but our politicians have learned well from them...Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-91797218789444302002017-09-15T09:12:39.649-04:002017-09-15T09:12:39.649-04:00Mine seems to put out clean power. I've never...Mine seems to put out clean power. I've never put an oscilloscope on it to look, but nothing in the house complains. My computers are happy. <br /><br />A lot of inverters put out ugly power, too. That's a whole 'nother subject. <br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-34320067235900008852017-09-15T04:10:21.806-04:002017-09-15T04:10:21.806-04:00Mark, I saw on Accuweather's videos that somew...Mark, I saw on Accuweather's videos that somewhere - I think it was either Cocoa or Cocoa Beach - a section of roadway collapsed, and it showed a large (6"?) water line had broken and was spewing many gallons a minute into the gulley created by the collapse. Maybe that happened in more than one location?Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-50424117756586031822017-09-15T04:05:34.991-04:002017-09-15T04:05:34.991-04:00SiG, there are some good youtube videos on cheap/e...SiG, there are some good youtube videos on cheap/easy enclosures you can build to cut the noise significantly. <br /><br />Malatrope, I really wanted a diesel genny becausethey last a long time, plus the fuel keeps for a _long_ time, if you treat it against the bio stuff that can grow in it and ruin it, but they are so much more expensive I just couldn't see doing it. Treated with Pri-G, gasoline is supposed to last three or four years (a lot longer than Stabil), plus since propane last almost forever, my propane Generac/propane converted Hondas will be fine as long as that 800 gals lasts.<br /><br />If you can get natural gas piped in, like Sig can and many other communities have available (not here, so sad), I would rig for that. then propane if NG isn't available. My understanding is that engines running on LPG and NG run cleaner and last longer than on gasoline. I don't know if that will still beat how long a good diesel engine will last, but it is a whole lot cheaper than any diesel generators I have ever seen.Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-14628419374246334742017-09-15T03:45:01.029-04:002017-09-15T03:45:01.029-04:00SiG - 9 KWH daily - during a darker than normal wi...SiG - 9 KWH daily - during a darker than normal winter - would be enough if we are vigilant and conserve. The easiest way I have figured to do that is to disconnect circuit breakers and only use the circuits I need to use at any one particular time. During the winter our reefers are indoors, to keep from freezing, but our big upright freezer remains outdoors. Our well pump and cistern pump are both Grundfos solar submersibles, which are "soft start", with no big surge like standard pumps usually do. No lights during the day, even on cloudy days, thanks to a number of skylights throughout the house. Heat is via wood stove, with propane back-up, although I stock enough wood we only use propane if I'm too lazy to start a wood fire. <br /><br />Things like the LG dishwasher, TV/DVD player/stereo, etc. we can leave off and just read (I have about 1100 books in our library, 1/3 reference and non-fiction, 2/3 fiction). Biggest issue is that I need to replace our 220V water heater with a propane water heater. I have an on-demand Aquastar I can install pretty easily, I just haven't gotten around to doing it because I was going to do solar hot water. The quotes I've gotten for SHW were in excess of $7K, so I've held off on that. The model Aquastar I have isn't the one that will work as a back-up with SHW, but I think I'm going to install it anyway. Rheem makes a good unit too, although it is more expensive, IIRC.<br /><br />Malatrope, the only Magnum equipment I have any experience with was a large battery charger I had installed on our 37' catamaran (used) when we decided we'd rather live aboard a sailboat than to own a home. It worked very well, with no issues. When we were staying at Boot Key Harbor (Marathon, FL) during the winter of 2009, I had a Xantrex inverter/charger-charge controller installed, with a large bank of AGM batteries. Unfortunately, the Xantrex burned a circuit board and we discover that the installer ran EVERYTHING through the Xantrex. So nothing worked - not shore power, our diesel generator, the battery bank, or the engine generators (two Yanmar diesels, one in each hull). The Xantrex was only four months old.<br /><br />When Magnum first started selling, I didn't think their equipment was that good (Outback was definitely better at that time), but I have read that they have really improved, and expanded their line. In 2013, when my grid-tied system was installed, Outback was still a better choice, but I don't know that it still is. They are still putting out excellent equipment, but I have heard Magnum is doing so now, as well. I'd have to sit and do some research if I needed to choose currently. I am pleased with my Outback system, but I need to add some panels, because I am not charging my battery bank as quickly or as I would like if the grid were to go down - or become too expensive, as I've read it has in California.<br /><br />My figures come off of my Mate 2 monitor, and are what the panels have produced, but I was told that what is used or stored in the battery back is only about 10% less. <br /><br />Also, because I'm using 24 2V batteries, I have a filling system where I can pump water into all the cells from one point, the tubing to all of the cells interconnected. It can be done with a small electric pump, but I chose the manual option, so that I can feel when resistance to squeezing the bulb indicates all the cells are full. I equalize the bank every third month (four times a year).Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-49647682135089365862017-09-15T03:05:50.485-04:002017-09-15T03:05:50.485-04:00The initial reason I got the two Hondas (2000i and...The initial reason I got the two Hondas (2000i and 2000i Companion) is because one alone would not run the air conditioning unit on our fifth-wheel RV, but two tied together would. They are very quiet (relative to Colemans, Generacs, etc), and stingy on fuel use. I bought the Generac propane genny to hook to my 1000 (800 max fill) gal propane tank so that I could recharge my battery bank easily and fairly quickly. The 4000 watt Honda combo will actually run everything in the house I need to run, quietly, as long as I don't try to run everything at once. With the propane conversion, I can run it off of the big tank. Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-70368313874979545932017-09-15T02:57:34.956-04:002017-09-15T02:57:34.956-04:00My Generac propane generator doesn't put out c...My Generac propane generator doesn't put out clean power, but the Honda 2000i gennies (even tied together to access a max of 4000 watts) are inverter systems that (supposedly, at least) put out pure sine wave AC which works fine for anything that functions on grid power. I think it is true of any of the Hondas ending in "i" (for inverter).Yamaha and a number of other companies make inverter generators as well, but I believe Honda has been making them the longest.Reg Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14099612693763932005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-62475405964397411012017-09-14T14:53:05.273-04:002017-09-14T14:53:05.273-04:00I used to pick up _Home Power_ at the newstand. L...I used to pick up _Home Power_ at the newstand. Loved their guerrilla solar page, photo of a masked homeowner on their roof who illegally set their inverter to feed the grid. Testing neoprene welding cable insulation in battery acid to prove it could be used instead of much more expensive cable which code mandated.<br /><br />Before I discovered the Wal-Mart storage fuel, I considered making my own gasoline from camp stove fuel plus toluene for octane. Thanks, I'll check into Pri-G.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-88211989283019296702017-09-14T11:58:21.171-04:002017-09-14T11:58:21.171-04:00If the problem is from a non-sine wave AC power, s...If the problem is from a non-sine wave AC power, something like a line filter should help. Line filters that remove noise on the line will shape the sine wave by nature of the circuit elements they use. Not every line filter would work, a lot of them just reject radio frequency noise, so their components have very different values. <br /><br />There would be some work involved in adding something like <a href="https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/te-connectivity-corcom-filters/10VN1/CCM1649-ND/361444" rel="nofollow">this Corcom filter</a> but it might rescue the refrigerator. <br /><br />My refrigerator seems to run fine on my generator, so I can't test it. Just a theory. All the disclaimers you can imagine. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-49047788947767363902017-09-14T11:37:59.994-04:002017-09-14T11:37:59.994-04:00i can attest to the fridge thing. my newer fridge ...i can attest to the fridge thing. my newer fridge never got below 50 degrees running on gen power 24/7. finally realized the power wave was too lousy for it to work. old fridge in the shop ran just fine. not all new ones are such, but most are designed now to run 24/7 nearly while using very little, but pure sine wave, power. we just decided to keep very little in the fridge as a way of life.riverriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14198514937704741211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-15563907158301459352017-09-14T11:17:28.555-04:002017-09-14T11:17:28.555-04:00Water is on, but system-wide "boil water"...Water is on, but system-wide "boil water" notice due to "multiple service main breaks", allegedly from Irma. My bet is somebodies hydroplaned into fire hydrants. Don't see any other credible ways of "service main breaks" from a hurricane like Irma in the local area.Mark Matisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-26075974399283058352017-09-14T10:51:39.162-04:002017-09-14T10:51:39.162-04:00No electric, no big deal- no water=A PIA. We did...<i>No electric, no big deal- no water=A PIA. </i> We didn't have water problems this time, but some cities lost their water. Commenter Mark Matis, 30-ish miles from me, lost water the last time I heard. <br /><br />OTOH, we've lost water with no storm involved a couple of times in the years I've lived here. <br /><br />OTOOH, if you're snowed in, you could put your food outside to stay cold. Around here that's not an option. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-23337897865139413262017-09-14T10:33:01.081-04:002017-09-14T10:33:01.081-04:00We built with oil fired boiler and a radiant floor...We built with oil fired boiler and a radiant floor heat system, so hot water and heat are a very low electrical draw- the pumps and burner take almost nothing to run. Propane for the stove. Woodstove for back up heat. The big one is the well pump- of all the conveniences of modern life, having water out of a tap is #1. Years ago we went for 10 days or so with 2' of snow on the ground, no water, in a single-wide mobile. No 4x4 so no food runs. My neighbor was kind enough to let us use his well water. No electric, no big deal- no water=A PIA. <br /> I am using a Honda 6500 watt generator, with an inverter. $$$ unit, but it has some huge pluses- very low fuel consumption, as it does not have to run a steady 3600 rpm to get the right frequency. It is very quiet,and the power is super clean for computers, although with running a ups it probably does not matter. I tried running it the other day with a inverter welder and it worked fine.<br /> The main trick with any gas powered item is Non Alchohol gas. It stores well, especially if the cans are kept in a cool location .<br />I also drain the carb before storage.<br /> ravennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-13348693966161808272017-09-14T10:18:48.478-04:002017-09-14T10:18:48.478-04:00I'll add one last thought, based on our run du...I'll add one last thought, based on our run during Ike.<br /><br />Most gennies, but especially the cheaper ones, put out really "dirty" power. The frequency can vary and the waveform can be really noisy.<br /><br />Most UPSs don't like generator "dirty" power. We found that NONE of our point of use UPSs would run on gennie power. They all thought the power input was too crappy and switched into battery mode. This kinda sucked :-) We ended up plugging stuff directly into the gennie and hoped for the best. I believe we did damage some of our electronics and shorten their lives, most particularly the mainboard of our (expensive) refrigerator. Lots of things these days are really computers- fridge, washing machine, many water heaters, and of course TVs.<br /><br />My solution was to buy surplus LARGE UPSs that had been decommed by local businesses. The larger, typically rack mount UPSs have a switch on the back that says "Generator" and they will accept a much wider range of incoming power in that position without alarming. I use them to filter the power for our more sensitive electronics.<br /><br />nickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-6259059250368188642017-09-14T10:12:43.830-04:002017-09-14T10:12:43.830-04:00Reg T: do you like Outback better than Magnum? The...Reg T: do you like Outback better than Magnum? The latter seem to do stacking better.<br /><br />My 9kwhr number was actual power out to the load. The amount at the output of the panels is about 50% higher than that.Malatropenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-37878885725965751502017-09-14T07:33:18.114-04:002017-09-14T07:33:18.114-04:00I'm not sure why your co-worker went through h...<i>I'm not sure why your co-worker went through his propane so quickly. An inefficient generator perhaps, sized much larger than needed?</i> That's long enough ago (our '04 hurricanes) that I don't recall an explanation. For all I know it was just that someone slipped a decimal place on the calculations. <br /><br />I certainly don't think it's a property of propane fired generators, just a mistake. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.com