OT - Ice Storm Coming - Generator Question For The Pro's

Acn · February 2014

I have a 3850 watt generator; last Wednesday we lost power and I ran my sump pump, chest freezer, refridgerator, wireless router, laptop, couple of lamps, and a charger for our iphones/ipad that always had something plugged in.

I got about 8 hours on about 3.5-4 gallons that was left in the tank before I had to refill.

jhl192 · February 2014

3500 is decent. You can run your fridge. I would however unplug it if you use your microwave or any other high watt, short duration appliance. You could damage your appliance if you try to run something without enough power.

pasoegg · February 2014

Bottom line is buy a generator and have a circuit breaker box installed for your generator (generac makes these) for when these situations occur. One awh sh*t wipes out all the atta boys...be safe!! Honda makes the best generators to run your home on for infrequent times. Some are made with "clean" power for electronics.

johnkitchens · February 2014

Okay we lost power at nine this morning. I was at work when my wife called to tell me. I got back home around 11 or so. I cranked the generator up and hooked up one Directv receiver, a tv, and a 1,500 watt heater.

I checked the gauge on the generator and wasn't even at the halfway mark so I knew I was in good shape. The power came back on at a quarter after 6 this evening. Freezing rain is still falling, and I, have a lot of tree damage. Huge limbs are down everywhere and one of my neighbors huge trees fell in my yard and crushed my fence (for the second time!)

I hope our power stays on, but I am worried it might go out. I took my dog out a few minutes ago and it sounds like shotguns going off all around. It is really just the sound limbs breaking. If the power goes back out I will crank the generator back up and rock on.

I didn't egg today, but we did eat leftover pork loin I grilled on Sunday so it wasn't a total loss!

DMW · February 2014

johnkitchens said:

Okay we lost power at nine this morning. I was at work when my wife called to tell me. I got back home around 11 or so. I cranked the generator up and hooked up one Directv receiver, a tv, and a 1,500 watt heater.

I checked the gauge on the generator and wasn't even at the halfway mark so I knew I was in good shape. The power came back on at a quarter after 6 this evening. Freezing rain is still falling, and I, have a lot of tree damage. Huge limbs are down everywhere and one of my neighbors huge trees fell in my yard and crushed my fence (for the second time!)

I hope our power stays on, but I am worried it might go out. I took my dog out a few minutes ago and it sounds like shotguns going off all around. It is really just the sound limbs breaking. If the power goes back out I will crank the generator back up and rock on.

I didn't egg today, but we did eat leftover pork loin I grilled on Sunday so it wasn't a total loss!

Sounds scary, snow I can deal with, ice, not sure anyone can deal with heavy ice. Stay safe.

johnkitchens · February 2014

Now there is a tunder storm and it is flooding outside. Very hard rain. The current temp is 30 and it is supposed to get down to 28 tonight. I can hear trees popping as I type. My property is going to be trashed.

I also can deal with snow DMW, but this ice is awful.

jmcnutt5 · February 2014

Little Steven said:

Not trying to be contradictory or anything but the bottom line is that your panel is connected to ground at your panel neutral. There is no potential difference to allow current flow. The breaker will disconnect anything that might get up the lines.

Just because there is no potential difference because of a ground doesn't mean there is no current flowing. Potential difference is taken between two points. If you took your mulitmeter and put one probe on a 120V wire and put the other probe on the same wire, you are going to read 0V. However, if you put one probe on the wire and the other probe on the neutral, you will read 120V. We use the neutral/ground as a reference. It is the same theory with a ground circuit. There is such a thing as ground potential. Remember, not all grounds are the same. It depends on grounding conductor, soil types, weather conditions, ect. Just think...if all grounds were the same, why would lightning strikes ever fry our electrical equipment??? With all the surge protectors people use, lightning should never be an issue if all grounds were the same. But they are not, so sometimes you get equipment fried. Ground circuits can do some strange things. I have tested circuits and seen current go to the earth ground and come back into the circuit through a different earth ground. Sounds strange, but true. Just because current goes to the ground doesn't mean it is lost forever.

Little Steven · February 2014

My comment was with respect to any voltage getting on the ground from a generator, The only way you can build sufficient voltage on it getting back towards the lines is if there is an break on the ground conductor. In a lightning strike you have huge amounts of voltage looking at the resistance of it's path to ground as a voltage divider. Any point on the line can be very high with respect to ground. With a generator you have 120 v to ground with the ground and neutral being bonded together at the panel. The house neutral ends there and the ground is common through the distribution system. It is also connected to earth ground by the copper plumbing system or ground rods and plates at the sevice entrance.

Canugghead · February 2014

I want to be an electrician when I grow up.

jmcnutt5 · February 2014

Canugghead said:

I want to be an electrician when I grow up.

Electrical Engineering is a rewarding field as well

Gator_Man · February 2014

I would like to agree with Little Steven on all accounts and add that when it's time to add Gasoline to a HOT Generator one must be very careful as many people have been burned or killed when the fumes are ignited by the heat of the generator. I'm also hoping that the ice storm is not as bad a forecasted. Gator Man, AKA Jupiter Jim

warwoman · February 2014

johnkitchens said:

Now there is a tunder storm and it is flooding outside. Very hard rain. The current temp is 30 and it is supposed to get down to 28 tonight. I can hear trees popping as I type. My property is going to be trashed.

I also can deal with snow DMW, but this ice is awful.

Hope all turned out well. I'd be interested in the final damage assessment. You live south of Atlanta, and we live to the far Northeast of Atlanta. We left for Texas in late January for a trip to Texas. Still there in the 72-80 degree weather, and sorry I missed the fun :P ! I've been thru ice storms up in the mountains before, and can attest to the scariness of hearing those branches/ limbs start falling. It'll make you cringe when you hear them start falling in the middle of the night, with no electricity in the cabin. I solved the refrigerator going out by putting all the food on the front screened in porch. The stuff I didn't want to freeze out there I had to keep in an ice chest,can you believe! We will be home in another couple of weeks, and although friends have kept an eye on the house, will be interested to see what came down.. We utilize Mitsubiishi ductless heat/air for the house, and while the heat pump doesn't work as well as some ducted systems, gas or electricity, they do manage to keep it in the low 60's during the coldest days (-2degrees before we left) we augment it with an independent propane stove when needed. Does great! Come see us in the mountains sometime! Stay safe.

johnkitchens · February 2014

We survived. There are still people here that don't have power yet! This is the 8th day. It was the worst ice storm we have ever had.

We were only without power for about a day so I was lucky. I had a lot of tree damage. I have huge old oaks in my front yard. They survived, but they dropped a large number of limbs. I had a lot of trees on my fence in the back and on the side of my yard.

We didn't have power at work until over the weekend so I stayed home and worked in the yard on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There were 6 of us working in the yard on Thursday, 3 on Friday, 4 on Saturday, and 8 on Sunday.

I bought a new chainsaw, and I used around 8 tanks of gas. There were also two others using chainsaws as well in my yard.

We got most of it done. I have 3 1/4 acres so it isn't huge, but I live right downtown so it is a big lot for town. I still have at least a day of cleanup left.

I had some limbs covering the deep end of my pool deck. We have all of that cleaned up now. I just have to get the leaves out of the pool.

This weekend I am going to my parent's home and start cleaning up for them. My mom wants her yard cleaned, and my dad wants the pond dam cleared. My dad is not in great shape, but he is doing what he can. Me and my children will try to knock it out this weekend.

I know you guys up north get hammered with feet and feet of snow, but this ice is awful. So much damage. I have neighbors that can see the sky in their living room from the new gigantic hole in the roof from the falling trees.

Never again I hope.

Canugghead · February 2014

Wow, glad you folks came out unscathed. Stay safe!

warwoman · February 2014

johnkitchens said:

We survived. There are still people here that don't have power yet! This is the 8th day. It was the worst ice storm we have ever had.

We were only without power for about a day so I was lucky. I had a lot of tree damage. I have huge old oaks in my front yard. They survived, but they dropped a large number of limbs. I had a lot of trees on my fence in the back and on the side of my yard.

We didn't have power at work until over the weekend so I stayed home and worked in the yard on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There were 6 of us working in the yard on Thursday, 3 on Friday, 4 on Saturday, and 8 on Sunday.

I bought a new chainsaw, and I used around 8 tanks of gas. There were also two others using chainsaws as well in my yard.

We got most of it done. I have 3 1/4 acres so it isn't huge, but I live right downtown so it is a big lot for town. I still have at least a day of cleanup left.

I had some limbs covering the deep end of my pool deck. We have all of that cleaned up now. I just have to get the leaves out of the pool.

This weekend I am going to my parent's home and start cleaning up for them. My mom wants her yard cleaned, and my dad wants the pond dam cleared. My dad is not in great shape, but he is doing what he can. Me and my children will try to knock it out this weekend.

I know you guys up north get hammered with feet and feet of snow, but this ice is awful. So much damage. I have neighbors that can see the sky in their living room from the new gigantic hole in the roof from the falling trees.

Never again I hope.

Damn, John! You have some beautiful oaks, and it breaks my heart to see them damaged. Making lemonade from lemons, looks like you have the makings of: Lots of firewood; Ample future smoking wood for you and the whole forum, but they have to come get it, and bring BGE creations with them; Some really good starter logs for growing shiitake mushrooms, provided you have a really shady spot; Enough wood to mulch your whole property, after properly chipping, of course! All kidding aside, we're just thankful no one was hurt and your home was undamaged. What town do you live in south of Atlanta? Stay safe!

johnkitchens · February 2014

Thanks WarWoman. I live south of Augusta.

My little town is Louisville, GA. We are only about 3,000 people, but we had grand plans. We were the first capital of Georgia and remained so from 1796 to 1806.

My house was built in 1890, and I live two blocks over from the site of the original capital.

What town are you in?

warwoman · February 2014

johnkitchens said:

Thanks WarWoman. I live south of Augusta.

My little town is Louisville, GA. We are only about 3,000 people, but we had grand plans. We were the first capital of Georgia and remained so from 1796 to 1806.

My house was built in 1890, and I live two blocks over from the site of the original capital.

What town are you in?

We live in Clayton, about 10 miles from the NC border and 7 miles from the SC border. Been there since 2002 and love it. Are you going to the egg fest in Hiawassee in May?

johnkitchens · February 2014

I haven't decided yet. I hope to.

OT - Ice Storm Coming - Generator Question For The Pro's

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