Power Outages-

[mattl]

Had one last night about 11pm. power out till after 1 pm.Hate being without internet. It was a minor outage, only 3 homes total were out, rest of sub was lit as per normal.

Anyway, what do you do when the power goes out? I flip the main breaker quickly, then turn all the individual breakers off.After the power comes back on I turn on each circuit one by one. Trying to avoid a power surge, plus it exercises the breakers, something an electrician once told me was a good idea from time to time.

Had a bit of a problem, my VOIP phone was acting up and my main computer did an update and lost the kernel, took about an hour to get things back to normal.

 

[rp2813]

Don't move to California.  PG&E has made a real mess of things here.

 

[qsd-dan]

PG&E has made a real mess of things here.

Very understated comment. A whole house generator with an auto transfer switch may be a decent investment for the future.

 

[wayupnorth]

I have a whole house generator and it takes 10-15 seconds and it starts,
and everything is fine. When the power is back on, the transfer switch gives a LOUD snap, generator powers down and its like nothing ever happened.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

When the power goes I turn off the tv, laptops, dehumidifiers, & dishwasher if any of them are running. If it's daylight, I turn on one light so I'll know when the power comes back.

 

[maytag85]

When the power goes out I usually will go for a drive. Doesn’t make sense being at home having nothing to do since there is no power.

Reply #1 PG&E from what I heard has terrible service even more so than SoCal Edison. Last power outage I remember was last summer and this wasn’t during a heatwave but a planned power outage to do maintenance on the power lines in my area and that’s the last time it’s been out within the past year.

 

[mattl]

I do have a genny but it's used so infrequently it's buried in the shed. I worry about "dirty" power and modern electronics which is in everything.Luckily years go by without an outage for me.

 

[circlew]

There hasn't been one on my street for a couple months, at least while I was home. The neighbor kid mentioned it being off briefly a couple weeks ago, though. Two of my neighbors have generators that run on natural gas, and start automatically, as does the nearby school. I have a portable gas powered unit, but haven't used it for a couple years. It needs to be serviced before further use. I bought it when doing construction on my house until the new electric service was installed.

The permanently installed gen sets such as the larger Kohler, Cummins, etc. put out very clean power, with good frequency and voltage regulation. There shouldn't be any issues with operating electronics with these. My Aunt Doris had a 60 KW Kohler diesel that kept everything in her house operating as normal for five days after hurricane Katrina.

 

[iowabear]

Just had an 11 day power outage here beginning at noon on August 10th and lasting until late evening on August 21st.  Cable internet took an additional week to repair and some nearby neighbors are still without cable and internet.

 

11 days without power is really enough to try your last nerve.  We were all cutting up tree debris day after day so I tell people it felt like a bad camping trip.

 

 

 

[beehiveboy]

Maybe it’s a UK/US thing, but it has absolutely never occurred to me to do anything in a power-cut other than wait for the power to come back on. I didn’t realise it could cause problems.

 

[estesguy]

I usually at least turn off the central air conditioner, if its summer time. By the time power has been restored, I'm sure most everyones AC thermostat is calling for cooling. I've always been amazed that the power grid can handle all those LRA (locked rotor amps) compressors coming on at the same time, but I guess it does.

 

[qsd-dan]

My Aunt Doris had a 60 KW Kohler diesel

Does she own a castle? I've seen 30KW natural gas generator power 3 large A/C units all running at the same time and full power to a 4000 sq house with 2 80 gallon electric water heaters.

 

[ea56]

We Are Facing Power Outages

thru Thursday morning due to the Red Flag warning for wildfire because of the excessive heat, high winds and extremely dry condition of the terrain.  Last night the power was turned off for over 18,000 Sonoma county residents, and the cutoff for the shutoffs was just about 3 miles north of us.

 

I’ve got our freezer packed with ice in case I have to put everything perishable into an ice chest.  Since the pandemic I’ve only been grocery shopping once a week on Wednesday morning.  Anticipating the fire season I’ve been using all the frozen meat and vegetables.  Tomorrow, I’m only going to buy what we can use in a week.

 

We are going to live with the threat of wildfires and power outages every Summer and Fall for the foreseeable future.

 

Eddie

 

[hobbyapocalypse]

First thing I do when the power goes out is unplug the fridge. I asked my elderly dad to please do the same and he scoffed. "I'm not moving the fridge to pull the plug blah blah blah...." I said, you have a circuit breaker labeled FRIDGE don't you? Yeah. Well flip it off. Of course he never did, til he heard from one of his FRIENDS that they had to replace a fridge after a power outage.

 

[chachp]

Reply #9

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">DITTO!  I never thought of it either.  We just sit and wait for it to come back and usually it's so fast that we wouldn't get all these things done before it came back on and we'd be reversing it all.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">We've been in this house about 2 1/2 years and I think the power has gone off once.  The last house was 13 years and I don't think the power went out more than a few times.  The only thing I did on one occasion was try to open the garage door which I was unable to do.  I didn't know we had an issue with the door spring and the door was too heavy to open.  When we moved into this house we had the openers replaced with those that have a battery backup but I think it was a waste of money because we haven't had to use it.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">The whole house generators are a scarcity around here.  You mostly see them where there is a medical need for consistent power.</span>

 

[mattl]

The issue is a large power spike can damage electronics. Most have some sort of built in protection, but do not want to risk it. one of these days I'll get around to installing a whole house surge protector, odds are after I need it.

 

[dermacie]

We lost power a week ago Thursday into Friday for 15 hours, it was torture.

 

[sfh074]

I can't stand to be without Internet as well .....

so I put the modem and Ooma box on a UPS I bought from Costco. Power goes out and I'm good for Internet and landline for at least 8 hours. Had power go out about 3 months ago. Had Internet for most of the day. Laptop died after 4 hours so I plugged laptop into the UPS and kept going. It also keeps the modem from rebooting when the power glitches ...... which happens several times a year here.

 

[twintubdexter]

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">These horror stories really scare me. In the almost 20 years  I've lived here, I've only had the power go off twice. Once when a vehicle hit a major power pole (utilities are underground in my area) and once when a small junction box near the sidewalk started smoking. Edison has turned the power off a couple of times for a few hours for maintenance but they let you know weeks in advance. Other than that service has been very good. I go ballistic when the cable and internet go out. I'd need to be tranquilized if the power went off during a super-heat wave like we're having now. I'm going to finally have solar installed in the fall/winter, but of course if the regular power goes out your solar goes with it. My house is one of the last in the neighborhood to be solar-less. People are starting to talk.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Ralph...that's sad to hear about PG&E. When I was growing up in SJ they were the envy of utility companies everywhere, well managed with very reasonable rates. Almost all of the electric power generated was hydroelectric. The more electricity you used the lower your rate was. See how that would fly today anywhere. What happened is too many people...way too many.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Even though I get a 30% discount on my electric and gas (negligible even in winter) I got the highest electric bill ever last month. Every day except 3 were above average for August and 3 records were set. On Sunday it was 121 degrees in Woodland Hills. This was the highest temperature ever recorded in all of Los Angeles County...ever! The weather...it's a changin. Something's blowing in the wind. Today it happens to be wild-fire smoke.</span>

[this post was last edited: 9/8/2020-19:06]

 

[circlew]

No Dan, my aunt's house wasn't a castle, though it was fairly large. The reason the generator was so large is due to the place being all electric - including the heat. Natural gas service isn't available in that somewhat rural area of Mississippi, so gen sets run on diesel or propane. She found the high cost worthwhile as power outages would occur frequently- several times per month in spring and summer. The area also had issues with voltage drop in hot weather. The transfer switch was set up to start the generator if the voltage fell below 90% of normal for more than three seconds, so sometimes it would be running even though the utility power wasn't off. Before she got it put in, she threw out everything in her deep freeze five times in one Spring and Summer.

 

[ea56]

Last Oct. we had our power shut off for 4 and 1/2 days, because PG&E doesn’t maintain their power lines in a manner that would prevent them from coming down in high winds and starting fires.  So, to avoid yet another lawsuit settlement for their negligence in maintaining their equipment, the customer just has to bite the bullet and suffer without power.  

 

The last time before this shutoff that I was without electricity for so long was in Dec. ‘64 when my family was without power for 6 days when it rained biblically for seven days and seven nights non stop, and the Russian River had a record breaking flood.

 

PG&E should be spending more of their profits on the maintenance of their equipment instead of paying it out in dividends and then going to the CPUC begging for rate increases expecting the customers to pay for maintaining their equipment.  These are tax deductible business expenses.

 

Eddie

 

[supersuds]

As far as I can tell, PG&E has not paid a dividend since 2017. It’s in bankruptcy court.

 

[ea56]

Yes, PG&E hasn’t paid a dividend since 2017, because thats when the excrement hit the fan due to the Tubbs Fire that began from a PG&E power line falling.    The resultant lawsuits and bankruptcy have prevented any dividends since then. BTW, the Kincaid Fire of last Oct. also began from another fallen PG&E power line, they just don’t learn or they just don’t care.

 

 However, had they been properly maintaining their lines and equipment prior to this terrible fire (Tubbs Fire of 2017) that happened 10 miles from my home theres a good chance thousands of people wouldn’t have lost their homes and many wouldn’t have lost their lives.

 

PG&E has been in “bed” with the CPUC for as long as I can remember and I’ve been paying PG&E since 1970.  Anytime PG&E makes a request for a rate increase its a done deal before the ink is even dry.  The CPUC puts a rubber stamp of approval on anything PG&E wants, the customer be damned.   I have zero sympathy of this company or its shareholders.

 

Now every late summer and fall we in Northern California have to sweat it out as to whether or not we will have electricity that we can depend upon.  Should I buy groceries or not?  Because who knows if I’ll be able to keep them from spoiling.

 

 It’s not like they are providing our power for free, we pay fairly high rates, and they keep going up all the time so we can pay for their equipment maintenance and replacement, which in my book is the responsibility of of the provider, not the rate payer.  

 

As I type this post I don’t know whether or not I’ll have power tonight or tomorrow because we are currently on notice that there is a potential  of Public Safety Power Shutoffs.

 

Eddie

 

[kb0nes]

I made a DC power supply for my DSL modem and Wifi router/access point so I can run for about 36 hours through an outage. You could just plug these devices into a computer UPS but stepping the battery voltage up to 120v AC and back down costs a lot of run time. I use a 7 amp hour 12v lithium battery.

Only thing I shut off during a power failure is the air conditioner. Everything else will be fine. I used to really worry about the computers making sure they were all on a UPS to protect the spinning hard drives from power bounces. Since none of my computers have mechanical drives anymore I only have a UPS on my NAS box with spinning drives.

I don't worry too much about surge spike damage as that problem is way blown out of proportion, but I do have an impulse supressor at the breaker panel. Mainly because I have antennas in the air for amateur radio so I am cautious about strike energy.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

We haven't had a power failure since August 14th, 2003. The great Northeast Blackout. When we had that power failure the first thing I did was fill the bathtub, buckets and virtually every pot with water. Beyond the 7th floor, we loose water since the pumps fail. We're supposed to get emergency generators to power the water pumps, elevators and common area lights. No generator yet, and I'm not holding my breath. However the common area lights have batteries, enough for them to work for 5 hours. On particularly hot days, when power demand is high, we sometimes get a reduction of voltage. Other than the lights being slightly dimmer, everything else seems to work fine.

 

[perc-o-prince]

If the outage lasts more than maybe 1/2 hour, I start the 4K watt portable generator and plug in the extensions to power the freezer, 2 fridges, internet/cable box/router, a TV, a couple of lights, etc. If it's winter, I take the cover off the 120VAC connection for the furnace, disconnect the wires and put a pigtail on it so we still have heat and hot water. Things get plugged in and unplugged as different things are needed (microwave, etc.). Inconvenient but livable.

Chuck

 

[wayupnorth]

I had a 5000 watt generator that powered all I needed. Male to male pigtail in an outside outlet and a jumper wire across the breaker box with the main breaker off to power everything I needed. But it chewed a gallon of gas an hour and it was too much work to mess with. My whole house Generac works flawlessly as we tend to loose power alot, total of 12 days since Halloween.

 

[DADoES]

 
Full outages are rare although momentary blinks may occur during thunderstorms or a rogue 18-wheeler hits a pole.  Have a portable gasoline generator bought when one of the hurricanes some years ago was headed straight here (it turned so nothing happened) but have never (yet) used it.

The circuit substation is up the road 'round the corner, not that that means anything specific.  The local electric cooperative owns their service lines, not shared with any other utility.

 

[gizmo]

What's a power outage?

we live off grid and make our own power.

Solar mainly, with a small 24V DC generator to replenish the batteries when the sun doesn't shine enough.

Home-made DC genny - 6 Hp Briggs Vanguard engine driving a 24 volt Bosch truck alternator.

 

Of course I was joking about "what's a power outage," we have had a few outages. One serious one when the inverter shorted and had to go off for repair - fortunately we have neighbours with whom we share a spare inverter so we used the spare.

Other than that, in earlier days with a smaller inverter we had to be careful not to put too many high load items on together, no ironing when the washing machine is heating for example. now we have a bigger inverter so not such an issue. We still try to have only one big load on at a time - inverters last better if they run cooler, so we try to space out our loads.

 

[davetranter]

Power outages, generators, and fuel

Whilst most of the UK has stable, reliable power, the old mining village and 'satellite' estates where I live have started having more frequent outages in the last few years. This is almost certainly because the infrastructure can no longer cope with the ever increasing loads, for the simple reason that none of the private electricity companies nor the Government want to spend any money on it!

About a month ago, I came home from work one afternoon to discover that the power was off, and (by checking the electro-mechanical clock on the heating timer) that it had been off for about 4 hours already, so set about digging out my 1.5kVA Briggs genset, which is my usual 'standby set' for short outages. Sadly (and rather annoyingly!!) I was unable to start it, despite it working perfectly at the end of last year. Luckily, the power came back on after a total of 5 1/2 hours.

This brings me to the 'crux' of my post this morning....
I discovered that the fuel (gasoline) in the generator tank was now 'stale' and virtually non-combustible, as had been the fuel in my lawnmower a month or so earlier.

I have never previously had problems with fuel 'overwintering' before, but have heard rumours that the 'gasoline' being sold now contains very little in the way of petroleum distillates, and is mainly wood alcohol, which evaporates much quicker to leave degraded,. useless fuel in store.

Have any of our readers had similar problems with gasoline (petrol) going 'stale' in a very short time, rendering the notion of a 'standby set' unworkable??
I would value any replies/opinions.

All best (after a long absence)

Dave T

P.S. Please excuse any rambling... It's 8:30am here.... Went to bed at Midnight with terrible toothache... Been awake since 2:30, still with toothache!! Concentration not at a maximum now.... :-(
P.P.S. Yes, I had noticed the time was 'Tooth Hurtee'... Never let personal discomfort interfere with your sense of humour!! ;-)