Surviving the eastern Ice Storm.

[MiradaMegacab]

After hurricane Sandy.
I had an Onan 4000w unit in my motorhome for hurricane Sandy but after consuming 28 gallons of gasoline, I was done. No gas was available on Long Island. Actually there was gasoline at the distribution depot but didn't have the ethanol additive blended in. So it wasnt able to be distributed to gas stations. Several fist fights on gas lines added to aggrivation.
So now I removed the Onan gen set from the Motorhome and installed the TriFuel unit.
One benifit of the generator in the motorhome is, I can drive to a friends/ family house and provide them with power.
Another benifit is being self contained, self sufficient, stocked with food, guns and ammo, and yet again being mobile for any condition(Natural Disater)
Typically I backfeed the main panel.
I turn the Main circuit breaker off, and install a 2 pole 30 amp circuit breaker for the generator feed.

 

[slant6billy]

Nice set up- having that thing mobile. I looked at CNG/Diesel 8000 watt back in 2005/06. Then 3rd kid came along. So, I'm long overdue for a backup gen. I thought about a trailer mounted unit for the same reason to keep it mobile. Just to state my advice when hooking into a house panel in a temporary set up. 1.) open the main breaker and keep it open until power comes back stable. depending on the generator size drop off as many feeder breakers as you can (open them). The big demand is for food and heat, so I recommend trading between to two. If a the generator is big enough to handle it- just remember the amount of power cable from the generator back into the house panel. Get the biggest conductor and as many you can send into spare breakers in that house panel. Now, a more permanent panel would have a alternate mainbreaker that can only be closed when the normal main is opened. Usually coupled by a bar or mechanical link to prevent both closed. Again, I have a set up in mind, but my $$ for that is on hold.

 

[mirada80]

Power came back on Sunday afternoon, all's well, but I don't think there is a generator available anywhere on the east coast. Every where is sold out, We are looking at a couple generators at the Tractor Supply store in Calais Maine, (most likely have to order them in) I am lucky to only be a couple hours from Calais, any thing I order from the US have have shipped to Calais and pick up there, shipping cost across the border into Canada is crazy.

 

[ramenth]

No ice storm here, just finished up with a small amount of snow. We got about a foot

That doesn't bother me. There's two four wheel drives sitting in the driveway (granted, one doesn't crank at the moment, bad ignition switch). It's the wind chills that are the worry. Wind chills are forecast to be -35F. Thankfully, I've had the past two weeks off from work and don't have to be back until Monday. Some of my co-workers signed up to work over the holiday. The plant finally closed last night and told everyone to stay home. Surprisingly, they didn't put profits over safety.

 

[ramenth]

Power came back on Sunday afternoon, all's well, but I don't think there is a generator available anywhere on the east coast. Every where is sold out, We are looking at a couple generators at the Tractor Supply store in Calais Maine, (most likely have to order them in) I am lucky to only be a couple hours from Calais, any thing I order from the US have have shipped to Calais and pick up there, shipping cost across the border into Canada is crazy.

Sarah spent about six months in Calais. I loved that little town.

 

[My imp]

My wife's boss told her when she finally got to work after the mishap, "What're you doing here?" then asked her if she was staying. They do care about their employees there. She had no ideas the roads wouldn't be plowed by 8am, or she would'nt have gone in until later.

 

[ramenth]

My wife's boss told her when she finally got to work after the mishap, "What're you doing here?" then asked her if she was staying. They do care about their employees there. She had no ideas the roads wouldn't be plowed by 8am, or she would'nt have gone in until later.

Yeah, well the place I work is rather ridiculous when it comes to safety. Wear your safety glasses! Wear your bump caps! Put the netting at the end of the train! But the move crew will move a train car over another car with people in it and never once say a word that you have a damn near completed train car over your head.

Hell, we had a guy tie off a harness to a high voltage power line while in test. Thankfully, the high voltage line wasn't powered up. The "safety" crew was there and proceeded to chew the guy a new ass for tying off on the line. His boss proceeded to rip them a new ass for not labeling the damned line! If he had fried, it would have been their fault, yet they tried to blame him.

Every time I hear the overhead crane moving I get out of the car and see what the move crew is doing. They'll move a car between two lines of cars sitting on the mezzanine without telling anyone. One of my co-workers will stop work and go to the other side of the shop. Not that I blame him. If one of the straps breaks or a clevis lets go, the car will swing into the mezzanines and create a domino effect.

But, remember! Where your bump caps! (Easier to identify your remains that way.)

 

[My imp]

That's why they have motorcycle helmet laws! Hey, could be the difference between an open & closed casket! Don't want the poor funeral director to miss a payment on his kids Beemers!

 

[mirada80]

I enjoy Calais a lot, and Eastport too, it is a fantastic place, we have gone done there the last couple years for you 4th of July celebrations.

 

[ramenth]

I enjoy Calais a lot, and Eastport too, it is a fantastic place, we have gone done there the last couple years for you 4th of July celebrations.

For the six months that Sarah worked there, I'd go up twice a month and spend a weekend with her. One of the most fun trips I've ever had was running up 95 in a rental car, chewing up the mileage behind an empty flat bed doing 105mph from just inside the Maine border all the way to Bangor.

It was a Memorial Day weekend. We went to Nova Scotia and did some touring for a day. Spent another day just traveling the ME countryside. Eastport rolled out the carpet for tourists. Of course, they rolled it back in come Labor Day, but the in-between months were great for fresh seafood on the cheap.

One of these days I'm making the trip back, just to reflect and remember on some good times.