Power is out

[rcavictim]

I was sitting here at my computer and the power blinked and then went out about 20 minutes ago. That would have been about 1:00 am EST (EStimated Time).  My computer room and light is on a big UPS so I am OK for a while b4 I need to go start a generator.  House ain't cold and it is time for bed anyhow so I'll probably just go crash.  If I get cold before the utility gets the problem fixed I'll get dressed and head out to the shop where I can get the VW diesel plant running, then backfeed to the house.

[TimSR2]

Mine is out too. (Langley BC)  I am on generator power.

Tim

[WGB]

Pretty bad when grown men almost get a mister happy when the power goes out!

[rcavictim]

Pretty bad when grown men almost get a mister happy when the power goes out!

I'm sure the 'Mr. Happy' moment is because we are seeing a reward for not spending precious personal resources on something stupid like a recreational snowmobile and having been smart by investing whatever money and time instead on preparedness!

[RogerAS]

Pretty bad when grown men almost get a mister happy when the power goes out!

I'm sure the 'Mr. Happy' moment is because we are seeing a reward for not spending precious personal resources on something stupid like a recreational snowmobile and having been smart by investing whatever money and time instead on preparedness!

OR, in my case...

My wife and I moved to our remote property only to find that to get power lines ran it was going to cost more than we paid for the land (60 acres). We didn't have a choice about moving to the land, as my career as a museum director suddenly and unexpectedly (my choice) ended in South Dakota. We learned everything the hard way. Now, 9+ years later, we have our "stuff" working pretty well. I like my little 5 HP Kubota, but I love my solar panels and wind turbines.

Here in Arkansas it would be a 4 wheeler instead of a snowmobile, but it's the same thinking. A buddy of mine has big power bills and complains a lot. I keep telling him to start small with RE and work up to telling the power Co. to shove it. Instead he buys a $6,500 4WD Honda monster 4 wheeler. $6,500 of solar would be all I'd ever need. Solar panels might last 25 years, and his 4 wheeler will be recycled by then. It's the addiction to not having to worry about the power, until an ice storm or tornado rips down the lines, I guess.

RS

[rcavictim]

That's a great story RS.  Not the part about your upheaval but about how you have coped since.  Your complaining friend is apparently a member of a large and growing dumbed down segment of society which are classified by the psychiatric medical community as neurotypicals.  They tend to wear clothing, shoes and hats that curiously have their I.Q. printed on a tag inside. This is not a compliment, just sad reality.

Please tell us more about your multiple wind turbine setup.

[RogerAS]

rc,

Well, our turbines aren't the "State of the art" dual rotor "Magnets-R-Us" type. I don't live where there is consistent big winds to justify a $3000 mill, nor do I have the open land to erect a pair of 60' towers. Both of these are running at about 30'.

One is a GE ECM motor and the other is a "garbogen" from Jerry out in Salem, OR. I have another ECM I need to get rigged up and running. Both the current turbines have Jerry's plastic blades which are about 3' long. Neither has mechanical furling as the blades will distort and stall in extreme winds. We had a couple close calls with tornadoes over the past few years and no issues so far with burn out. I just have to be sure when I build them to allow enough room between the turbine and the tower to allow for that distortion and bend back. I'll post picts in a few days.

The flying ECM is about 4 years old and puts out about 5 amps @ 12V in a real stiff wind. No anometer here. The garbogen is the workhorse and will push 30 amps in the same wind. If I rewired the ECM coils, not rewind them, I could push a little more out of them but I'm a little scared to try.

Since we live in a rather thick hardwood forest the wind turbines are my secondary RE source. In the summer here we rarely see enough wind to help charge the batteries at all. In the late fall and into late spring they do contribute. Rather than spend my meager budget on turbine stuff we are saving towards expanding our solar setup. We currently have a little over 750 watts of solar with an eventual goal of 2KW.

When my inverter dies, which is only a matter of time, we plan on switching over to 24V.

Any other questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

RS

[Jedon]

Our power went out this morning as well, we are still adjusting to all the new electrical loads and I didn't start the generator up in time 
We just added a DirecTV HD DVR and I forgot to turn it off so it was sucking 130W all night. It only uses 24W when "off". We also have a 26cf fridge ( 120W ) and a full upright freezer ( need to stick the Kill-O-Watt on that one tonight ).
We have 780W of solar but haven't been getting any sun lately.
I'm impressed with the fuel usage of the Lister SR2, ran for 9 hours and still had a 1/6 tank left ( 3 gallon tank )!! Floating the batteries ( 48V ) right now using 8A @ 120V
Hope to get hydro in this year ( 240W )

[Cornelius]

I'm curious...

I'm guessing most of you're living in the US, and i'm wondering about what's the reason for your power-outs? Bad weather? Poor maintenance? or downright power shortage?

Living in Norway, where 99,4% of the power are from hydroplants, power-outs seldom happens; only with extreme quantity of snow over a short period (like 3-6 feet a day... ), the reason are usually trees falling over the powerlines...

[mobile_bob]

here in the pacific nw (western washington) its usually tree's down over power lines as well.
because of all the rainfall the tree's root systems are very close to the surface and there is just too little
anchoring for tall tree's.

sometimes we have power outages due to somebody jumping a curb and hitting a pole with their car, that happens
with some regularity.

back in kansas, it is ice storms that take out long sections of power lines, followed by tornado and other high winds, tree's down
and of course lightening strikes can take out transformers

eastern seaboard states have issues with the shear volume of customers taxing the crap out of the grid, especially during very
hot spells in the summer, too many airconditioners and they usually result in finding the weak link.

these are just a few of our favorite things...

bob g

[BruceM]

The US has a lot of very old power lines, and in many areas, like here in rural Arizona, no preventative maintenance is done.  Lines are only fixed when they fail.  In urban areas, lines are checked for arcing and such with radio gear to detect problems early, but not here in rural areas or rural distribution lines.  

Our line crews here do an amazingly good job of getting things up and running quickly, usually at night and in crappy weather.  We are lucky that most of our lines are well under 40 years old.

There's never a power shortage here; we are surrounded by coal fired plants exporting power.

[mbryner]

Our last power outage 3 weeks ago was because a **squirrel** somehow got into a large transformer.    30,000 people without power, about 1/2 for only 6 to 12 hours, but some for 24 hours.   Temp was near freezing all day.  Yes, I have a 6/1 all ready to go, but it's 15 miles away on our land where we are building the house, not here in town where we live.   We froze and sat in the dark with everyone else....   

A power outage around here (Oregon) is uncommon, usually from a drunk driver who hit a power pole, or lightning strike, etc.

[Jedon]

Squirrel blew a transformer at my work Friday, took out power for 6 hours. A raccoon took out power to about 3000 last year. A drunk hit a telephone pole the year before last, just took out our power ( old house ) and that of a couple neighbors. This year someone slid down an icy hill and took out a pole causing a day or so of power loss to about 1200. Seems so many issues could be fixed by burying the lines and sealing the transformers but I guess that costs too much.  

[Cornelius]

Ah, that explains it i guess... There is a occational bird or other animal shorting out a local transfomer here too, but that will only affect 50-300 households, and are usually fixed in a couple of hours.

I think the nationwide grid here are managed by a goverment controlled company, which keep the lines in good shape. The main grid are doubled-up to the main centrals; only the local end-points are vurnerable to an occational mishap.

Being a country with harsh winters (0 to -40C) and comfortable summers (20 to 25C), the traditional heating source are wood, and no airconditions are necessary in the summers; though, heatpumps are all the rage here now. That said, we do use a lot of electricity for heating and lights, du to the cheap price... (6-12cents, summer/winter)