Hurricane Season is Here

[MudHog]

Time to get the generators out and make sure everything is running and load tested. For those that have generators on auto transfer switches that start the generator every so many days, that is fine and dandy for the engine to know it starts, but serves little to no purpose for the generator head or even for the engine itself. Just because the engine is running, doesn't mean that the generator is producing voltage, can produce the rated wattage, or that the engine can maintain power with a high wattage draw. A good load test (70% is a general rule of thumb) gives peace of mind that the generator will be ready when the time is needed. Also will a load, the engine comes up to operating temperature quicker and boils any accumulated moisture in the engine oil or engine itself, as well as do the same with accumulated moisture in the generator head. Accumulated moisture in a generator head can short out the excitation field which then causes the head to produce no power.


Also a good time to get supplies stocked up. Although a "slow" season is projected by NOAA, it only takes on storm to knock things out and cause problems.


Here are a couple videos of my homemade load bank I built last year. This is simply just a water heater, but I can pull 11,500W at 240V using three water heater elements (2 @ 4500W and 1 @ 2500W). My Kubota is a 12,500W generator so I can pull 92% of its rating if I wanted to or pull 72% if I turn on just the 2 at 4500W elements. Having a lower rated element also lets me load test smaller generators. The little Briggs in the other video is my dad's generator that I fixed for him and was load testing it. It has a 5500W rating and in the video I had it on a 4500W element.


You can use your home as a load bank (although you will want to turn everything off and then you will have to reset any clocks and such), you can use electric room heaters, or you can even use a number of light bulbs to build up the load. Ideally, 240V is best, because your checking both legs of the generator field. If you only check with 120V, make sure you check multiple outlets so that you are checking both legs of the generator. A generator can produce voltage on one leg and not show any signs that the other leg is not producing voltage.


Kubota: https://youtu.be/XDego8Nf5Gc


Briggs: https://youtu.be/c_J9_M2OB5g

 

[skyhightree1]

Nice test... I only test the things I need are freezers fridge and plug in ac units and im good.. Typically we don't stay without power very long.

 

[backhoeboogie]

There have been times we wanted hurricanes to break the drought. The whole dang county was burning up. People lose houses, barns, fences, stock etc. All completely gone. Hurricanes saved our butts many times. This year we don't need any.

I was in Orange TX when Hurricane Karla hit. Some of my earliest childhood memories right there. It was terrible. Not as bad as complete loss to fire tho.

 

[Caustic Burno]

There have been times we wanted hurricanes to break the drought. The whole dang county was burning up. People lose houses, barns, fences, stock etc. All completely gone. Hurricanes saved our butts many times. This year we don't need any.

I was in Orange TX when Hurricane Karla hit. Some of my earliest childhood memories right there. It was terrible. Not as bad as complete loss to fire tho.

I seen many a dead cow in Carla hung up in fences.
Already ran all the generators and filled the bulk diesel tanks.
Live one mile north of the imaginary line NOAA has drawn for mandatory evacs.
As bad as the chaos was in Rita Lord helps us if we get another Cat 5 storm.
People today do not know how to function without a debit card and a store.

 

[highgrit]

CB, if you guys get a hurricane this year your whole landscape will change. As wet as the ground is their now, the majority of the trees will be blown over.

 

[Caustic Burno]

CB, if you guys get a hurricane this year your whole landscape will change. As wet as the ground is their now, the majority of the trees will be blown over.

Amen to that the only thing going for us is historically they show up when it is hot and dry.
We are actually having a pretty cool time for this time of year. Now that can all change tomorrow
as we all know. Tomorrow is only 88 with the real feel temp of 104.

 

[greybeard]

There have been times we wanted hurricanes to break the drought. The whole dang county was burning up. People lose houses, barns, fences, stock etc. All completely gone. Hurricanes saved our butts many times. This year we don't need any.

I was in Orange TX when Hurricane Karla hit. Some of my earliest childhood memories right there. It was terrible. Not as bad as complete loss to fire tho.

I seen many a dead cow in Carla hung up in fences.
Already ran all the generators and filled the bulk diesel tanks.
Live one mile north of the imaginary line NOAA has drawn for mandatory evacs.
As bad as the chaos was in Rita Lord helps us if we get another Cat 5 storm.
People today do not know how to function without a debit card and a store.

And 99.9% of stores today can't function without a card reader. I saw a little store in Jacksonville Tx after Ike that sold everything they had in the store, and the only "cash register" they had was a cigar box. She made coffee on a camp stove and sold it for $1 a cup.

 

[backhoeboogie]

We lost power in the storms back on Memorial Day. Our house was full. I lit lanterns. Six total. Had three spares on the shelf. We gave the grandkids small flashlights. Then the wife broke out some glow sticks and they were all on the living room rug doing creative things with those. Never fired the generator. 30 minutes later the power came on and they all sighed disghust. A friend suggested I cut the lights on FB so I reached up and shut off the light switch.

 

[Caustic Burno]

The thing that blew my mind was all the people that live on the coast during the Rita evac.
Most didn't have any cash, had not packed any water, food or meds. I guess they figured every
Mc Donalds and Jack n Box would be open along with the WalMarts.
You could understand if they were new comers and had not grown up on the Gulf Coast.
Had DPS guarding the gas stations and stores when they got portable generators in and controlling
the number going in and out. Mob mentality was in control thousands of people with nowhere to stay,or
food and water.
I guess they had thought this will not happen to me and had no family planing.
Major problem was Katrina evacuees where being housed in all the hotels being paid
for by Federal government.
After that if you had a favorable opinion of NOLA it was gone.

 

[MudHog]

Yep. All kinds of people out there and the ones that don't do just a little bit of planning get so confused and cause more problems than good. They are the ones that start yelling and complaining when they are the reason for their problems.


I didn't have to build what I built for mine, but I have peace of mind that my generator works as it should. Some distant family had a power outage a while back and their standby generator didn't work. It was one that was on a timer that ran every so many days, but come to need it, the generator produced no voltage. Engine ran great, just no voltage.


Also, diesel generators are in my mind the best. In the event of a disaster, what do the vehicles and equipment that will come to clean up will run on? If you guessed diesel, bingo! You have a greater chance of diesel coming into the disaster area than you do gasoline.