Power free

[EatenByLimestone]

I’m without power tonight. It’s raining pretty hard outside and just above freezing.

The woodstove is silently and happily burning with a surface temp just below 600 last time I checked.

I ran the kerosene lamp for a bit when I needed some light. It’s been off for a bit now. It smells when burning but is reliable and very low maintenance.

I have a 70lb dog trying to inch me off the couch. He’s not going to win.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

I’m without power tonight. It’s raining pretty hard outside and just above freezing.

The woodstove is silently and happily burning with a surface temp just below 600 last time I checked.

I ran the kerosene lamp for a bit when I needed some light. It’s been off for a bit now. It smells when burning but is reliable and very low maintenance.

I have a 70lb dog trying to inch me off the couch. He’s not going to win.

I don't like that you're without power, but I like that you are prepared and dealing with it!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Eh, it’s not a big deal. This is the northeast. It’s not a bad idea to have some heat, light, and food put aside for just in case moments. Life happens.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

yes it does. This morning an electric transformer across the street from my house, blew at around 530am. Because of the redundancy that the local power company has, only 2 customers ultimately remained without power for a few hours. They've been pretty aggressive with upgrades and tree trimming especially. We used to lose power a lot but it's been awhile. I have my candles and kerosene lamp too! And a bunch of other goodies. Finish the fall cleanup soon and put the mower away and break out the snow blower.

 

[begreen]

Hope the lights are back on soon. We are well set up for outages. They happen.

 

[marty319]

We were out for 20 hours couple weeks ago and 4 hours last week.just used the generator to make coffee for me and the neighbors.ran the fridge for a bit as well

 

[Woody Stover]

Darn, sorry to hear that. From the thread title, I thought we were about to get a power company hack we could use to save money. Groceries ain't gettin' any cheaper. 😏
They are burying our power lines for three houses back here. At least our own trees won't be able to take our power out, but the ones down the road still can.
Yep, got stove heat, oil lamp light...plus some water and food in case the dreaded New Madrid fault zone rears its ugly head. 😳 We've also got a small genny to run the fridge, if need be.

 

[Crab]

At least our own trees won't be able to take our power out

Unless a tree nails the transformer as it did to a neighbor here. Lines are underground for a few miles around us, BUT still get fed with overhead. Our power is darn reliable, lets see what today's gale will do, probly jinxed us. Temp is 61 at 8am but to drop during the day. EBL hope u got ur power back.

 

[John Lehet]

We lose power if 4 people in my town sneeze at the same time. Have a 240v inverter open frame generator I can plug into the panel, power everything essential, run a hot plate, well pump. Of course the wood stove is heavy in the mix in a winter outage. The mini splits are not wired to the generator panel, and the oil heat loop is insufficient to really heat this room. (Previous owners had a wood stove and then a propane stove in their later years on account of that).

I predict that power outages in our town will get worse in coming years. Our town has the honor of having the most miles of dirt road of any town in Vermont. Trees have grown up around the lines all along these twisty back roads. A fair number of them, maybe 20% I guess, are dying ash trees. I drive and see ash trees leaning over power lines. (Since I’ve been felling my own ash lately, they are very clear to me.

One time I messed up in an outage. It was below 0F. I was distracted by visitors and made a bad decision. It was an older generator, which was much funkier than the current great one, so I babied it in terms of load. I decided there was no need to flip the oil boiler over to the generator. The wood stove was roaring and we were toasty. I didn’t think about the oil heat loop that runs through my studio and office, which is set to 40 unless I’m using it. Oops. Hot water heat pipe froze right up in there. Took a lot of time with a hair dryer to thaw it when power came back. Now I always flip the generator breaker for the boiler. I may be stupid sometimes, but I can learn.

The first winter after we moved in here many years ago, I was in the process of getting rid of the propane stove from previous owners and getting ready for the chimney guy to change out the venting and hook up my old Waterford. I had just ripped apart the vent from the propane stove when we got hit by an ice storm. We were without power for 8 days, didn’t have the generator yet. After it was clear that we were really in for it, I hooked the propane stove back up. At least we had a little heat for the remaining week. Was in early December.

Right now I’ve got 10 gallons of fresh E-0 gas in the garage.

 

[Crab]

Right now I’ve got 10 gallons of fresh E-0 gas in the garage.

That reminds me I need to get some today for the gen. Thanks

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Well at least you can get E-0. I haven't been able to find any within a reasonable distance from my home. I had to go through a couple of power outages before I smartened up and got a generator. I also keep 10 gallons on standby which I rotate into my truck every year and treat with sta-bil which seems to keep it reasonable. I will be doing the dump and fill in the coming week.

Being rural has it's advantages and disadvantages when it comes to utilities. I'm in the burbs, basically but I grew up in SE Indiana and SW Ohio so I've got some experience with that same issue of leaning trees and all. My grandma was at the end of the power line for her road and if something happened to the power, she was a very low priority. She had coal/wood stoves for heating and cooking, kerosene lamps for light, so it really had little true impact on her day to day life. We bought her a battery powered radio and a years worth of batteries in case she lost power she could still hear what was going on in the world.

 

[bigealta]

We sort of look forward to power out days. But only if it's above freezing and not to hot.
Good time to remember what it was like a couple hundred years ago and before.

Woodstove keeps house warm and NG lets us cook.

The only downside is if we can't borrow a small jenny to plug the fridge in for a few hours a day.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Nice way to be prepared for the power going out.
When it goes out for us, the small generator powers the fridge and the wood insert.

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

Nice way to be prepared for the power going out.
When it goes out for us, the small generator powers the fridge and the wood insert.

Mine is small too 3500 and more than enough for the fridge and a few lights. It doesn't have to be much to get by. My neighbor has a whole house gen that runs on NG. He gloats. hahaha

 

[John Lehet]

Obviously a deep topic, but E-0 vs E-10 is a complex set of trade offs. E-10 absorbs moisture, which is actually an advantage up to the point where it’s not. And supposedly all modern engines have been engineered to handle E-10 (caused problems with seals etc on older small engines). E-10 has cleaning properties while E-0 varnishes a bit. E-0 doesn’t absorb any water at all, so if you get condensation from a tank, you’ll get a little layer of water in the tank. Mixing E-10 and E-0 when there is already some water in the tank can get tricky as well.

Still, I use E-0 always when I can buy it ahead of time, and then I’ll run E-10 in longer outages when I have to take a just-for gas trip during a prolonged outage. E-10 is 3 miles away, but the E-0 (on my normal errand route) is 10 miles away.

I always feel nervous when I’ve got E-10 in the tank though or have some left in the can.

 

[Woody Stover]

Unless a tree nails the transformer as it did to a neighbor here. Lines are underground for a few miles around us, BUT still get fed with overhead.

That is our situation. When they underground us, the transformer will be a padmount in the neighbors' yard, with a couple Maples and a couple Oaks within range. They appear to be healthy, but with the increase in severe storms we're seeing now, who knows? And that location is exposed to wind off an open field and at the top of a hill, whereas we have more woods as a buffer.
But plenty of trees have gone down in our woods within the last several years, more than I can ever remember in my 40 years here. All these trees that are close to the house are beginning to concern me, but I don't want to cut them and lose all that shade.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Thin them slowly and plant new trees as you go along. Some trees grow fairly fast, provide shade, and are strong.

 

[begreen]

Well at least you can get E-0. I haven't been able to find any within a reasonable distance from my home. I had to go through a couple of power outages before I smartened up and got a generator. I also keep 10 gallons on standby which I rotate into my truck every year and treat with sta-bil which seems to keep it reasonable. I will be doing the dump and fill in the coming week.

Being rural has it's advantages and disadvantages when it comes to utilities. I'm in the burbs, basically but I grew up in SE Indiana and SW Ohio so I've got some experience with that same issue of leaning trees and all. My grandma was at the end of the power line for her road and if something happened to the power, she was a very low priority. She had coal/wood stoves for heating and cooking, kerosene lamps for light, so it really had little true impact on her day to day life. We bought her a battery powered radio and a years worth of batteries in case she lost power she could still hear what was going on in the world.

Our generator is dual-fuel. It's only been run once on gasoline. Most of the time has been on propane which I prefer. It doesn't go stale and is cleaner burning. Now our car can supply 2kw to the house so the generator is getting less use. It runs more for conditioning than for outages.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Our generator is dual-fuel. It's only been run once on gasoline. Most of the time has been on propane which I prefer. It doesn't go stale and is cleaner burning. Now our car can supply 2kw to the house so the generator is getting less use. It runs more for conditioning than for outages.

I have a smaller gen 30A 120V and also it is dual fuel. I use it for camping as the trailer is 30A 120V. It has inverter output. Never seen gas.
I have a plan to somehow rig up some plugs and sockets to adapt it to my 30A 240V house socket. All I need to do then it shut off the 240V breakers in my emergency panel. Probably best to get it figured out not but I bought the big 10000W 240V one. Those are so big you need gas to get full output.

 

[begreen]

A lot of the 10kw Generacs around here are propane. There's also the diesel option for some large units.

 

[begreen]

Are the lights back on Matt?

 

[Whitenuckler]

A lot of the 10kw Generacs around here are propane. There's also the diesel option for some large units.

I know on my smaller one that the rated output is less if you run propane. I guess they can't get as much power running propane as gas or diesel. Less BTU/time input?
Here is my big one: It says it portable but it weighs a ton. I had it delivered as there was no I was picking it up.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/firman-10000-8000-watt-gas-powered-remote-start-portable-generator-with-439cc-engine/1001682003?eid=PS_GO_140203__ALL_PLA-526641&eid=PS_GOOGLE_D00_Corporate_GGL_Shopping_All-Products_All%20Products__PRODUCT_GROUP_pla-298495632901&pid=1001682003&store=7173&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1624814283&gbraid=0AAAAADhdmz7Idh3SmP-QOXMIZ3wplqa8b&gclid=Cj0KCQiAiebIBhDmARIsAE8PGNJSo8SxdgjAeYIDljZge7RSQ-KIkZ1c_ldCBF0YBTU2RdHTOU-GzOQaAjr6EALw_wcB

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

I bought my Duromax XP4400, Honda clone generator on Amazon in 2012. It has worked well for me when I've needed it. However, when reading along this thread it occurred to me that I had back burner-ed the generator maintenance and I got it out today and I've got issues 😂

My records indicate that I have never replaced the spark plug. I haven't changed the oil in 2 years. The gas has been in there for over 2 years... I did replace the battery in July 2023. I tried starting the beast up, but it wouldn't keep running. A lot of sputtering and really rough running.

I ordered a new spark plug. I found corrosion inside the carburetor bowl, so I ordered a new carb. I also ordered an inline fuel filter as mine doesn't currently have one. Tomorrow I will drain the gas out of the tank and put in fresh gas with Sta-bil. The gas in the tank was also treate with Sta-bil but I think I kept it in the tank too long. I'm sure the gas is stale and most likely has some water in it. The plug and carb etc will be here Friday, so I will be busy Saturday. I will let you know how I make out. I did check the air filter and it was good. When I change the oil, I will clean the filter and re-oil it, though it's probably fine the way it is.

On a happier note. My 2007 Ariens snow blower had the works done to it last fall. I only ran it about 10 hours last year, so it will get it's service in the spring. It started today on the first pull. Best running engine I have ever owned. It has a 7.5 HP Tecumseh OH195SP engine. 😁

 

[John Lehet]

My old generator was a Husqvarna, which sucked on the genset side, but it had a real Honda engine. The Honda was a great and legendary engine, but even that didn’t do well with neglect. The manual says to start it every month, and that’s not just for fun. There were a few stretches over the 15 years I owned it where I neglected it for a good while and didn’t have outages. After each of those stretches, I had an outage and tried to start and run it. Would start but not run. Repeat. Repeat. Eventually it would run, but only after an awful lot of pull starts. Each of those events was bad enough that even I learned and started to take it seriously. In my climate, my garage, whatever, I absolutely need to start it regularly, or it will do a start-not-run series. Now I try to really do it. There is talk about whether it’s necessary to charge the windings or whatever, but it seems to be necessary for the engine. It’s weird. Other gas engines don’t seem to have that quirk. Like my Honda snowblower will just start, every time.

The other thing I started to take seriously is oil changes. My new one, the manual says 50 hours. I can have outages over 100 hours in a bad winter storm. In the old days I would think, “Yeah, after this one I’ll owe it an oil change next summer.” I think with my newer one and a less casual attitude I would probably give it the oil change in the middle of the hundred hour outage instead of pushing all the way through it. Synthetic oil or not.

I’ve also got a magnetic drain plug on my new one. This Chinese Honda clone is still shedding small iron bits into the oil after 30 hours. I’m assuming eventually it will be truly broken in?