It's good to be prepared

[Burnsy]

My block is pitch black, no power. My house is lit, fans running, well pump hooked up and plenty of gas. The genny is makeing a pretty good racket on my front stoop, but I will have a shower in a few and sleep well tonight.

 

[lonehoosier]

Where in NWI did you lose power?

 

[Burnsy]

Where in NWI did you lose power?

Lowell, Lake Dale

 

[Burnsy]

Just posting to try and stay awake, not going to sleep with several blocks out around me and I am the only one making noise with the generator and lights on. Thought I was but had to refuel. Didn't understand how fast it sucked down gas. This was my old man's generator. He upgraded and gifted me his old one. I had the carb rebuilt this spring. It's not a beast, only 4400w but it gets the job done. It has a small tank, I have to refuel it every 3.5ish hours, but the wife is asleep and comfortable. Thing is likely to grow legs if I don't notice is shuts down. Anyone local who can fabricate and replace the tank on this? Something big enough to last through the night?

Not as prepared as I thought I was

 

[LtScott14]

No chain or lock securing that Gen? Hope your dog is on the prowl in the yard. A friend in Merrillville had to keep watch in 2-3 hr shifts to keep his from being borrowed, during a snow-storm last year. The noise travels during an outing like crazy. Your area is pretty rural, but it can happen. Good luck.

 

[dudley0]

Why run the genny though the night? Not hot enough for A/c or cold enough for heat. Keep the fridge door closed and don't flush until needed.

That way you don't have to stand guard and you can get some sleep yourself.

Probably too late for that this time since it is tomorrow already.

Best of luck anyhow.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

Ya what Dudley0 said.

 

[t-squared]

Burnsey, I had heard of guys using marine tanks to extend the run time on small tank gennys......found this for ya- How to add an aux fuel tank to a generator | eHow

 

[remington870]

I agree. After those straight line winds/tornado that came through NWI a few years ago, I have had a generator at the ready. Those storms knocked out power for a week and a half for us. Had to buy a generator to keep the sump pump going and run other necessaries. After another storm knocked out power for 4 days last year, my old man backfed the generator to the house. I have the powercord at the ready at all times, so all I have to do is wheel the generator out, fire her up, shut off the main breaker, and plug it in.

 

[jb1911]

I have a whole house generator, city water, 2 Powermatic sump pumps and a battery backup. I also have firearms on every floor and 3 Chihuahuas as an early warning system. I feel prepared.

 

[rvb]

Why run the genny though the night? Not hot enough for A/c or cold enough for heat. Keep the fridge door closed and don't flush until needed.

That way you don't have to stand guard and you can get some sleep yourself.

yea, the only reason i would ever run it all night is if I was worried about basement flooding and was needing to run the sump, but I have a battery back-up unit that should get us through the night in all but the worst downpours...

I keep enough gas on hand to run for about a week, 8 hrs / day (not continuous).

I have a heavy chain that allows me to connect the gen to the hitch of my pickup .

-rvb

 

[LionWeight]

Check with a small engine repair center. There should be a 5 gal gas tank that will fit on the top between the 2 rails and bolt right down. I did this with mine when I lived in Michigan and think the guy only charged me 10 bucks for the tank since it was used. It let me run for over 8 hrs before a refill.

 

[Gdpudge]

I learned my lesson on generators. A few years back I had one that sat in the garage. I maintained it faithfully started it regularly but never used it. One day a guy stopped by and ask if I'd sell it. Thinking I never use it I said why not so I did. The next winter we had a power failure after a ice storm that lasted 3 days and no generator. I heat my house and 2 car garage with a add on wood furnace and that means no power to run the blowers. Although I did manage to borrow one from a friend but Needless to say I now have 2 generators that aren't going to be going anywhere but I haven't had to use them yet still cheap insurance if I don't need them.

 

[churchmouse]

I have taken the time/effort to make a decent battery inverter back up for the house. I have found 2 inverters from about to be scraped motor homes. 6 battery's using 1 (4) circuit and (1) dual circuit smart chargers. If I cycle the bank all night it will run both refrigerators and the furnace fan. Run Genny in the morning and top the batts. to run those systems most of the day. Irt will also run TV and low draw lighting. This keeps everything very quite at night.

 

[alabasterjar]

Installing a 17 kW propane powered generator with an automatic transfer switch at my in-laws this weekend. This will be at up to power the entire house. By my calculations, it's overkill, but based on various internet calculators, it's undersized. Of course the interweb calculators are provide by purveyors of backup generators. Go figure.

We've had portable 6k generator with a manual transfer switch there since we built the place, but fil isn't as nimble as he was 8 years ago. Getting the generator wheeled out and started it difficult for him in good weather. The 6k powers all the basic functions: core lighting, well, core power outlets, pellet stove. Does a great job, but it will definitely be nice to not have to worry about them...

 

[churchmouse]

Installing a 17 kW propane powered generator with an automatic transfer switch at my in-laws this weekend. By my calculations, it's overkill, but based on various internet calculators, it's undersized. Of course the interweb calculators are provide by purveyors of backup generators. Go figure.

We've had portable 6k generator with a manual transfer switch there since we built the place, but fil isn't as nimble as he was 8 years ago. Getting the generator wheeled out and started it difficult for him in good weather.

If running whole house sizing is the sum total of all motors starting at the same time as in Refers. furnace etc. plus light load plus 20% to cover inrush.
17K is a lot of genny.

 

[LarryC]

Several years ago, we had an ice storm in my town, power was out for a week. One of my son's and I purchased a small (5000 watt) generator, it was equipped with a small tank that held 2 or 3 gallon.

I obtained a 5 gallon metal can with an integral top and screw on cap. I drilled a hole in the side about an inch from the bottom and soldered in a piece of 1/4" copper tubing about 3 inches long. I purchased a piece of 1/4 inch rubber gas line from NAPA and an inline gas filter, clamped the hose over the copper line, cut it in two and installed the filter, then disconnected the gas line from the carburetor on the generator (be sure to drain the generator gas tank first), and installed my new line in its place. The long line allowed me to set the metal can on cement blocks far enough from the generator so that I could fill it with the generator running. Obviously the metal can must be high enough above the generator so that the fuel flows into the carb!

This worked very well, and was in use for several years by all my children when the need arose. I currently have a 7,500 watt electric start generator setting in my shop for emergencies, with an adequate supply of fuel for 3 or 4 day steady running.

 

[Scout]

I have a 17kw natural gas genny on an automatic switch at my house. It runs everything but the detached garage and the hot tub. It runs once a week for 15 minutes or so. Ive needed it about twice in the past year. A friend lives 3 blocks over, and last time a big winter storm rolled through he lost power for two weeks and went through three generators.

 

[Informed Decision]

I was afraid my fathe-in-law 's generator would disappear when we were borrowing it years ago.. So when I was finally able to afford one I installed it in my garage & with a few breakers switched around I'm able to pwr the whole house if need be. Pwr left us in May for about 5 days & I ended up sharing with the neighbors on both sides of me. Ran during day & shut down at night to save fuel. One thing I need to stress is to make sure you isolate your house from the grid so you don't create a safety issue for workers trying to get pwr back on!

 

[singlesix]

I was afraid my fathe-in-law 's generator would disappear when we were borrowing it years ago.. So when I was finally able to afford one I installed it in my garage & with a few breakers switched around I'm able to pwr the whole house if need be. Pwr left us in May for about 5 days & I ended up sharing with the neighbors on both sides of me. Ran during day & shut down at night to save fuel. One thing I need to stress is to make sure you isolate your house from the grid so you don't create a safety issue for workers trying to get pwr back on!

Throwing the main break accomplishes this?