The Liberal Gun Club Forum

Hi Folks,

I've rigged a laptop and modem to a car battery. Not much rigging actually; a couple light extension cords, a power inverter, and the modem and back in business!

A series of storms has knocked out the power all along here for more than 24 hours now, and I'm hearing that it will be at least another 24 before they turn it back on. This is rumor-mill only; the power company won't answer its phones.

I can charge the batteries, and with the type of fridge I have, everything that's supposed to be cold still is; everything that's supposed to be frozen still is.

Cooking is via camp stove or fire. It's in the '90s and I'm wishing for the A/C, but oh well. It cools at night almost like the desert so it's not too bad.

So, I'm enjoying myself. Might make a better, non-aluminum heat sink for this laptop as I simply cannot run the cooler for the laptop. I'm currently drawing a little under 5 amps peak right now with the modem and computer. I'd like to try to keep the computer's fan from running as much as possible, too.

Business is totally dead and I'm seeing holes that I need to plug for next time this happens. Anyone know what's going on? Is it slow all over? This is the time I need it to speed up! Down time on machines = really good time to take orders, and not be rushed about it!

This is always good practice for when the lights finally don't come back on!

I'm glad I switched back to non-electronic scales for handloading. I have a bunch of 7.62x54R to finish up!

Josh

Top of the list for prepping: a cheap small generator to pull you through days like this. Not some monster that can run your house (and consume lots of fuel), just a camping size to run a few fluorescent lights and charge essential batteries, maybe run a fan to help keep cool. Eat everything in the fridge first, then start with the cans. As soon as the stuff in the fridge reaches room temp, the fridge actually turns the stuff poisonous due to the humidity and lack of air circulation.

Hang in there, wish the best for you...

I hope your power comes on soon.

Here near Flagstaff the old lines going through the forest short out in high winds. Every time this happened they had to send a repairman to replace a fuse which could take 2 to 4 hours. After years of complaining they finally put in..are you ready?... a CIRCUIT BREAKER with a 5 minute reset. So now they have moved out of the 19th sentury.

Our DSL box runs off of a UPS. When we get power outages we don't lose the precious internet.
We also use magic jack so we don't lose phone as well.
We also have a 1000 watt generator 35 pounds. Just in case. Bought it for Y2K



Features

1000 watts, 120V
Ideal for TV, lights, fans, small power tools and more
Super quiet
Less than 29 lbs!!
Fuel efficient - up to 8.3 hrs on 0.6 gal of gas
Inverter - stable power for computers and more

MSRP
$949.95*

http://powerequipment.honda.com/generat ... ls/eu1000i

Off the grid is easier when you get to pick when. We can downshift on everything here in a pinch but we haven't found a way to ignore the heat. Wheew!

Pain in the butt...sorry for your loss.

Spouse and I have been thinking of a whole house natural gas fired generator...we lose power around here quite often. It's not too bad in the winter, I've a fireplace and lots of wood...but in the summer it sucks as it usually happens when it's hot.

Anyway, we've been thinking...thinking doesn't cost anything...actually doing it would be rather expensive.

I have a 16KW generac that runs off of propane, no natural gas where I live, the best $3500 I've ever spent on the house.

whitey wrote:I have a 16KW generac that runs off of propane, no natural gas where I live, the best $3500 I've ever spent on the house.

no shit! we're looking at close to 8k for the natural gas thing installed...
perhaps propane is a better option? 'cept I'd have to get a tank...a big tank.

No power for over 3 million folks in DC area, including us. We're getting close to the 24 hour mark. Comcast also offline so no landline or internet through Comcast. I'm using the cell phone, hooked to a SLA battery.

Power company representative says some folks could be out of power for the week!

I'd like a generator but I balk at the price. Next purchase might be a modest solar panel.

I paid $25 a couple of weeks ago for a solar charger for a cellphone. Given time, it will recharge or run almost anything that powers through USB, including lights.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ZS ... 04_s00_i01

I'm looking at a house on four acres about 20 miles out of town. First thing, build a garage (with a basement). Second thing, get a generator hooked into the house that runs on propane (since that's what I'd heat it with). Third thing, get another massive tank out there so I can have electricity and heat if shit goes south.

Hi Folks,

Power is back on but I'm showing it's dirty. Sticking to batteries a bit longer. Good enough for the fridge compressor though.

I don't know about the genny. I camp all the time in primitive to modern conditions, and my favorite is primitive though.

If it weren't for food in the freezers and fridge, I'd not be the least concerned. Take the dog out back in the woods where it's cooler, build a small fire, put coffee on for the morning, roll up in a blanket and go to sleep.

Thinking about it, I believe I may still have a camping generator in the garage. My parents usually drop by and get it when they take the travel trailer out. They're gone right now but I don't know that they took it this time.

If the power fails again (it looks iffy!) I'll probably go see if it's out there.

To be honest, I really don't miss much without electricity. Dishwater and such can be used to flush the toilets. Been meaning to get LED lights for a while now, and that's something I need to do. Run those suckers on a string off a 9v battery for a week!

Let me charge the phone for tunes if I want them and make sure I'm stocked up on books, and I'm really good.

If I didn't have an online presence to maintain, I'd have just dropped in, said I'm fine, and dropped back out.

Regards,

Josh

When hurricane Ike hit Houston a few years ago we were without power for 8 days. If a cool front had not come in at the same time we would have died from the heat. That was a really bad week. No lights, no AC (naturally), no gasoline available, no way to cook in the apartments (all electric kitchens here) no candles allowed for fear of fire. Several old people and some handicapped were trapped on the upper floors since the elevators weren't working. Many fire dept. rescues here at the apartments. No way to charge the batteries on our cell phones. That was a really bad week. When the sun went down, you just sit in a dark quiet apartment like it was a ghost building. Really depressing and boring. If it happens again I'll probably follow my brother's advice and leave town until it's over.

My wife now gets to deal with this current disaster, she's an insurance claims adjuster, catastrophe duty for the next month or so until another one hits. It sucks for people on both ends of the spectrum.

whitey wrote:My wife now gets to deal with this current disaster, she's an insurance claims adjuster, catastrophe duty for the next month or so until another one hits. It sucks for people on both ends of the spectrum.

Oh it's worse than that, between the wildfires and the upcoming hurricane season, she's going to be very busy

Yeah, she's stressed already and it just started. Her worse stretch last year was 3 months of 7 days a week 12 hour days. The sucky part for me is that I may not be able to go to the meeting in august

Yeah, all our adjusters were flat out from Irene until December.

No improvement here.

Fridge stuff not safe to eat anymore but we have emergency provisions that will keep and can be eaten without cooking.

Took time to measure how many amps the phone drains while charging, when running etc. I have time and opportunity to make those measurements now.

Some folks have to boil their water. Not us, yay!

Unfortunately criminals take advantage of situations like this to burglarize homes. Alarm systems have limited battery capacity, communication are impaired, etc. I heard on the radio that some folks in Colorado who were evacuated found their home burglarized when they came back. No evacuations here, but still...

Well, the power is back but the heat pump's coils took a hit and vented the freon.

This is a split-level and I've retreated to the part that's mostly underground. I have the dehumidifier running along with the fan. I'm misting with the shower – cold well water, plus evaporative effects – and am blowing air across a hastily-made evaporator set made from blue ice.

I had a cooler A/C unit planned for tent camping when it's just too hot or muggy otherwise that would have used a 12vdc fan and a heater core for an evaporator. It would have been perfect for this, but I just kept putting it off... dangit!

I'm tempted to go to the junkyard tomorrow and beg, borrow, steal or buy a cheap heater core.

Now, question: Why does it look like it's dusk out, in the peak of summer, at 3pm?

Oh! I see. 46992 Weather Forecast and Conditions - weather.com

Maybe it will kill the humidity.

Probably should go fill the canteens back up just in case.

Josh

Simmer down wrote:Off the grid is easier when you get to pick when. We can downshift on everything here in a pinch but we haven't found a way to ignore the heat. Wheew!

This.

I was in Raleigh, NC, when Hurricane Fran hit in '96. My wife was at home here in VA when Isabel hit in '03 (I was on active duty at the time and missed that one). Now this. We just got power back this morning. The noisy, smelly gas-powered generator sitting outside kept the fridge and a floor fan running, and gave us light to see by. No A/C, and no water - the well is hard-wired to the breaker box. We'd already been thinking off-grid, but now we're seriously looking into it for the next place. We'll probably be building, so the place will be designed for it.