(Continued from Part 1. This concludes teh article.)
DURING THE POWER OUTAGE
Fortunately, my cell phone service remained on during the entire event. That allowed me to directly access the internet from my phone or connect the phone to my computer and smarty TV for outside access.
After the first day the electric company updated the “outages” page on their web site and showed the extensive outages that they were dealing with. The system had both “grid” issues of downed power poles and system components as well as individual properties and businesses who had service lines damaged or disconnected on their properties. The outlook wasn’t good but they were rising to the occasion. Apparently they had called on mutual support power companies from all over the state and beyond.
The first thing that I did was grab whatever battery operated lights that I could find (of course they weren’t all in one convenient place!). Next, just to be safe, I shut the off the main breakers in the house electrical panel. My emergency electrical systems are not connected to the house wiring but I just wanted to be sure in case anything in the house electrical system may have been damaged by the storm.
Now finally being able to see around inside the house I hooked up the solar battery cables to the inverter. The batteries were still strategically located next to the refrigerators in the kitchen. I hadn’t moved them into their permanent location after testing because I wasn’t yet sure where that was going to end up. I ran an extension cord through the garage door out to the freezer. Finally, I went back to bed knowing that the inverter and batteries were up and running and that the cold and frozen foods were now safe for the night.
The power went out early Sunday morning. After getting the first temporary power up and running I slept for about 3-4 hours. After sunrise I was up and at it again. Firing up the Coleman stove sitting on top of the kitchen range, I made my morning coffee.
The first project was to drag Ol’ Genny out of the garage and get her fired up. Topped her off with gas, checked the oil, choked the carb, pulled the rope and she fired right up! Pulled my Lithium battery charger out of its cage and hooked it up. Ran the extension cord from the Genny to the battery charger and started the charging process. The output from the charger would easily keep up with the constant draw from the refrigerators and freezer.
I kept the Genny running on the sidewalk behind the garage. One day we had an impromptu thunderstorm downpour so I moved the Genny into the garage just inside the rollup door. I rolled up the door a couple of feet and placed a box fan just inside and out of the rain in order to pull the Genny exhaust out of the garage. Because the garage is attached to the house, I didn’t want any fumes finding their way into the house.
The additional devices that I wanted to try running were my computer, a smart TV, fans, and various Wall-Warts for my rechargeable devices. I decided not to overtax the “clean” pure sine wave power from the solar battery system so I ran a separate extension cord from the Genny into the house and split it off to the different rooms that needed power. Surprisingly, all of those additional devices seemed to run fine on the “dirty” modified sine wave power from the Genny. I did notice that an LED light bulb that I mounted in a reflector over the stove in the kitchen seemed to flicker for a few minutes after I turned it on but then it stabilized. No issues with the fans, computer, or TV running on dirty power.
Something that I forgot to do but I recommend is that you test your smoke alarms before you start the entire process. And, you need to have battery-powered smoke alarms and CO2 alarms. Remember, your house power is down!
Because this event happened in the middle of summer when the daytime outside temperatures were in the mid-90s and indoor temps were in the mid-80s, I needed to run the bedroom pedestal fan all night so I could sleep comfortably. As I didn’t want to take power for the fan from the solar batteries and the Genny was not running at night, I deployed two deep cycle AGM batteries hooked up in parallel with a 750-watt inverter to run the fan at night. I recharged those batteries with a standard automotive battery charger during the day when the Genny was running. They ran fine all night until I woke up in the morning and got the fan hooked back directly on the Genny.
The first night I tried the bedroom fan with only one newer fully charged AGM battery. After a full charge it ran out of juice at about 3:00 am. The rest of the night was miserable hot. The next day I charged up an older 2nd AGM battery and it seemed to hold a charge. I hooked them up with battery cables in parallel, attached the inverter and was able to run the fan the entire night on the two batteries.
Those particular AGM batteries weigh 60 lbs. each. The first one I carried in like Charles Atlas (a reference for you old duffers). My old back complained until the Ibuprofen finally kicked in. Then remembering how old I was, I retrieved my handy dandy hand truck (or Dolly for you non-truckers) and easily rolled the 2nd one into the house. They will be going out in the same way!
On the third outage da,y I heard on the radio that some gas stations had reopened. I didn’t want to leave to go get more gas because I wanted to be there when the repair crew showed up. Of course, every repair crew needs their self-appointed sidewalk supervisor on duty! I finally took a chance and went to the gas station and filled up a few more gas cans. No repair crew yet and everything was fine while I was away. That is one of the things I like about not living in the city.
The power was down for 4 days before it was finally restored. My daily routine was:
1. Up in the morning and fire up the camp stove for coffee.
2. Take the Genny out of the garage, pre-flight check, fire it up and plug her in.
3. Multi-meter check of Genny output and all battery voltage status.
4. Check thermometers for temperatures inside refrigerators and freezers.
5. Recharge deep cycle AGM batteries to have the fan ready for night sleepy-time.
6. Monitor the Genny gas tank level and refill it as needed.
7. Keep in touch with my neighbors, friends and family on my status and theirs.
8. Check with the power company on the status of my repair order.
9. Cook dinner on the old reliable Coleman camp stove.
10. Enjoy a little ice cream for dessert because the freezer was working just fine!
11. Pray and study my Bible.
12. At sundown, disconnect the Genny and move it into the garage.
13. Hookup the bedroom fan to the AGM batteries for night bedroom cooling.
14. Final voltage check on the solar batteries.
POST-POWER OUTAGE
Until the evening that the power was finally restored I hadn’t realized the physical and mental toll on your body during an extended emergency situation. Your normal daily/weekly routine is interrupted and you have to immediately adapt to a new and more stressful one. At sundown, I was so physically and mentally exhausted that I shut down the Genny and disconnected everything, brushed my teeth and finally crashed into bed.
It is now the next day after the power has been restored and I feel a little refreshed after a good night’s sleep. I’ve stopped to write this while it is still fresh in my mind. Next, I need to complete the following post-power outage list:
1. Roll up and stow all of the extension cords, splitters and adapters.
2. Clean, empty the fuel tank and stow the camp stove
3. Plug in and reset all of the digital clocks including the kitchen range clock.
4. Check the power levels of all of the batteries in the flashlights, camp lights, radios, etc. Replace or recharge as needed. Check backup battery stock quantity (AAA, AA, C, D, 9V, etc.)
5. Move solar batteries, charger, and inverter to their “safe” Faraday cages. Before storage, drain solar batteries to the manufactures safe storage level of charge.
6. Service generator and prepare for next use. Change oil. Check and clean air filter. Check for loose hardware and wiring. Fill tank with fresh treated gas. Enter gas date on attached tag.
7. Check backup gas status and fill and stow full cans.
8. Return electric test meters to their respective “safe” boxes.
9. E-mail to the power company thanking them for their quick response and expert help.
10. Disconnect and move deep cycle AGM batteries back to their garage storage place.
11. Purchase a small folding table to hold all of the rechargeable devices (e.g., Dust Buster, electric tooth brush, phone charger, etc.) during the next power outage event. Add power bars as needed for the quantity of items that require charging.
REPAIRS NECESSARY TO RESTORE POWER
When the repair crew finally made it out to evaluate the situation and make the needed repairs, they determined that the transformer on the street power pole had been damaged and needed replacement. The wires connected to the transformer had been ripped out causing damage that couldn’t be repaired in the field. A ceramic insulator attaching the neutral line to the first light pole was shattered and had to be replaced.
They were able to extract the service wires from under the downed tree and then repair and rehang them between the street pole and the first security light pole. A new transformer had to be retrieved from their repair yard in another city.
After returning and installing the new transformer and reconnecting the service wires to the first light pole, we turned on the house main breakers and gave it the old “smoke test”. That is a term we used when putting the first electrical power to a new or repaired aircraft. (I’m a former aircraft mechanic and engineer!) Everything seemed to work, and no smoke! Thank you, repair guys! And, thank you Heavenly Father for bringing them!
I hope that this helps you prepare for your next power outage and reminds you of a few things that you might need in order to be ready for it. Now I need to eat lunch and take a nap! Maybe I’ll just wander down to look for an open restaurant and have the chef cook me a nice meal. An excellent sidewalk supervisor deserves a good meal out once in a while! Especially one who is a “PRO” and almost as strong as Charles Atlas!
Then I will get to working on to that pesky TO-DO list!