Honda Generators

[midget]

ok Mike you know it's not that easy around here Where did you get it and what did you pay!!!!!!?!

[mike]

ok Mike you know it's not that easy around here Where did you get it and what did you pay!!!!!!?!

I got it from a local Honda dealer... and I paid too much. $1035. I knew I was paying more than what I could get it on the internet for, but I'll probably lose power tonight/tomorrow with the incoming T.S., and I wanted to have it on hand in case. The Coleman doesn't produce clean enough power to reliably run my internet stuff (ADSL box, Airport, etc.).

--Mike

[midget]

You're pretty pessimistic (as am I as a rule), do you think it'll be that bad?!?! (you're talkin to someone who lived in the Houston area since 1957 and Cape Coral, Fla for the last year and 1/2!!!!) Honda's are never cheap, but are definitely quality!(former 1984 CRX and 1983 Goldwing ownwer) OK-enough parentheses... congrats on your genny.

[mike]

You're pretty pessimistic (as am I as a rule), do you think it'll be that bad?!?!

I don't think it will be too bad... however, I have my suspicions that the electric company here preemptively cuts power when hurricanes / tropical storm hits are eminent. I began thinking this several years ago when Georges was coming (ended up hitting well to our east, but only due to a last-minute turn... it was heading right for us). The storm was to make landfall late at night / early morning, but that day at precisely the top of the hour (7:00, I think), with no rain and only a very modest breeze blowing, the power suddenly went out. I'm guessing they cut it off intentionally, thinking there would be lines knocked down during the storm causing a potential safety hazard.

It's happened a few other times since.

So, it wouldn't surprise me at all if we lost power tonight!

--Mike

[richandlori]

ICEBERG,
Thanks for posting the infomation about the proper placement of CO detectors. It is such an key issue that I will start a new thread relating to it so that more can see it.

Rich

[DLT]

I'd be surprised if they actually cut power intentionally.

I used to work for a power company, while in college. Of course, it wasn't on the gulf coast, so maybe they are different...

But, they aren't making money if your meter isn't spinning. Thier overhead costs never take a break...

The weather is gonna do the damage its gonna do to their equipment whether the power is on or not. If line comes down, they'll have to install new poles and line either way... The system is fused to minimize the damage caused by shorts...

I'm sure all of you know what most people call "exploding transformers" are just explosive fuses protecting the transformers.

I actually reset one, with a short still on the line, once. You only do that once... We were doing storm restoration and had inspected all of the line that we could reasonably get to. It looked good. So, the Engineer I was with said "hey, co-op, go set that fuse"... When it went off I thought I was back in the Army getting shelled... Anyway, we had to go off road to get to the only stretch that we hadn't cleared. Sure enough, a small tree had falled on the line. While he and I were wrestling it off, we remembered that the fuse holder hadn't fallen and there was no air gap in the line... Luckily, and luck had a great deal to do with it, we did die...

[kmclemore]

Honda generators are wonderful.

Here's our 11,000w genset for the house... and someday - after I convince the Admiral - they'll be a quiet little 1000w for our Mac as well.



(Note also the BatteryMinder on the wall just to the right, keeping the generator's starter battery nicely charged up! It's hard-wired, and the clips hanging from it are a second 'tail' for charging up my Morris Minor.)

[Divecoz]

Actually makes a lot of sense and that is what they do on Cozumel. Emily just went thru as many may know and she did a lot of tree damage go figure cat 4. . . but most power was on and tree mess cleaned up in 3 days . . because there were no concerns about live wires . . .No Doubt one of the fastest clean-ups and restoration of power jobs on record

[Moe]

Endless Breeze Fan at West marine

The Endless Breeze fan is a portable version of the Fantastic Vents we have in our Airstream. Problem is, they draw about 2A on low, 2.5 on medium, and 3.0A on high. We've been using the Hella fan WM had on sale for $49. No blade guard on the back, but WM says it only draws 200mA (but doesn't say whether that's on low or high. We've been running it with a lighter plug sitting on the table, on high all night and it doesn't make much difference in the battery voltage in the morning. Moves a lot of air, too.