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I would not want to leave even treated water in a Camelbak for more than 30 days.
I am pretty sure that you can add sufficent chlorine to keep it safe for that long. The correct amount would depend on the volume of water you were storing. Then rotate it every month or so. TR |
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Day 4 so far of no power here in NJ. I am lucky that I only had some minor damage to my fence and believe in preparing.
I am sitting in my truck with my laptop/verizon air card plugged into a power inverter and have a few observations so far ( most pretty obvious but maybe worth repeating) -Gas is next to impossible to get. Most stations have the gas in their tanks but no way to get it out. A couple resourceful guys down the street rigged up a hand cranked pump and were slowly getting gas out to people. No idea what they were paying. Defiantly was a reminder to look into getting a similar system for myself. -Generators are loud. I can stand outside at night and pretty much pinpoint the houses that have them. I do not have one ( I will be checking craigslist a week or so after this all passes though ) but if I did I think I would only run it during extremely cold weather to keep the pipes from freezing in my house. -Switching from a relatively healthy diet to a canned/shelf stable diet will reek havoc on your digestive system. I will spare the gory details but it is something to keep in mind. - I am was more than prepared for this but my wife thinks it is just terrible what we are going through. I wish I would have thought of having more stuff on hand to keep her busy. Boredom is definitely a problem. I have yet been unsuccessful in getting her to sleep through the coldest/darkest part of the night and awake during the day. She is just not used to living without electricity. I can only imagine what those with kids are going through. -Looting seems like only a minor problem around here. National Guard was called in pretty fast and curfew put in place. Neighbors are all usually outside during the day and keep an eye out on strangers that come through, which there is a lot of. I am assuming most of these strangers are contractors but I know that there are some wolves out prowling. -Cell networks went down immediately. Luckily my relatives/family friends figured out to call and check in with a relative out of state. It probably is a wise idea to have something more formal set up. Trying to get a hold of someone in New York was next to impossible. It would make more sense to have a comm plan that involved checking in with someone a few states away instead of waiting for the stars to align and having two cells connect to each other. |
Crue:
You don't need an inverter for a laptop, if you have the cigarette lighter charging plug for it. We got hit hard by a hurricane in Hawaii many years ago. The motor pool POL point had no power and we could not pump gas. I took the cover off the base of the pump, got some jumper cables and a 1.5KW genset and hooked the power directly to the pump motor (hey, I was young and bulletproof back then). We were the only unit in the division with a functioning gas pump. If it is your supply, or no one has to account for the fuel, a 12v. electric fuel pump with a long inlet hose will work for siphoning or for drawing fuel up from the underground tanks. Slow, but it works. Some generators are loud, especially cheap ones. Good portables, like Hondas and Yamahas, and good standby generators, like Kohlers, are much quieter. I have seen some that you had to put a hand on to verify that they were running. That (and the fact that the small ones sip gas) could make it very handy if you wanted to keep a low profile. If you are eating the canned stuff to start with, there should be no upset when the power fails. Board games for the wife, or a tablet with lots of books and movies. They run/charge off the lighter as well. You can use a 12v. splitter in the car and plug in several things at once. If you want to cook, look at Amazon and search for 12 v. cooking or trucker cooking. They make 12v. slow cookers, coffee pots, immersion heaters, etc. I would run my car's engine when using higher draw appliances. Or, if you have a deep cycle battery (do not use a car battery for this, it can't take the deep discharges), you can charge it off your car with jumper cables, and then use it as a portable power source. Just try not to run it out of power, it is hard on the battery. I prefer not to discharge mine below 50% unless it is absolutely necessary. What is your normal heat source? Do you have gas, fuel oil, or a fireplace? Ham radio with a patch should be able to work regardless of the networks. More modern is not always more reliable. Think PACE. A good visible presence will discourage many looking for something to steal. You might want to keep your eyes open at night. Glad to hear that you are alive and doing well. Hang in there and stay alert. TR |
Food, Batteries & Fuel
It's interesting to note that within 24 hours some folks were hollering for Food, Batteries and Fuel.
More by 48 hours - and now in some parts - according to the news - it's starting to get real testy. Food, Batteries and Fuel are things you use every day. When given notice that a major storm is going to hit your area how hard is it to start buying the basics a few days out? Too hard for many it appears. Crue had a plan - it appears many of the neighbors in the greater area didn't. Oh, well........ |
Glad you're surviving.
A couple observations to your points.. We have had two major and 11?? minor canes here in the last 16 yrs. Quote:
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Battery system.
Ok, test day since it is now cold enough to run wood burner all day.
System currently on a pallet to move around until I make a storage pack Batteries fully charged, started testing at 0900. Switched house to batteries. Initial charge showed 25.8vdc. House being kept at 68 degrees Currently running 15 to 48 amp draw average, based on whether the wood stove fan and house furnace fan are running or not. Two computers running, Freezer, fridge, and well pump from time to time when using water. So far 2 hours 40 minutes into it and batteries still at 23.7vdc , With an auto shut off at 20vdc. System 4 gel pack batteries hooked up in a 24vdc system. Magna Sine magnum MS Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger Mini Magnum Panel MMP ME-RC Basic Remote Control Hoping to get a minimum of 6 hours out of the system, that will hold me until I can add more batteries. |
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In bringing your system up to 25.8VDC has that turned out to be pretty linear, in terms of being able to predict regeneration time based on discharge? |
Well just over 4 hours now, still at 22.2 vdc. The batteries, charged until the unit hits its auto shut off, the initial charge showed what it did, simply based on the capabilities of the batts. As far as duration, the temp is not super cold, but I started the wood burner at 0900, so the fan inside it to keep fire going and get water tank up to 170 degrees ran along time that first hour. So far its fairly nice watching it drain. With woodburner only turning on a lil each hour to keep water temp up, I am seeing a reduction in drain since first hour. It looks like I will hit my 6 hour goal fairly easily.
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Are we going to get a picture or two of the setup?
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Attachment 23540Here is the Pallet and set up for batts. Generator is next to it and cable running from Inverter to wall that is underground to main house breaker box 80 feet away. Goal is to add a 1 gauge connector to be able to disconnect the batteries and have them in a self contained pack that one guy can load/unload. At present, I can put pallet on my ATV trailer or Horse Trailer and move the system to wherever. Have considered getting one of those electric chainsaws and using the system when I cannot acquire fuels. Someday, a solar panel would be nice, but for now the gasifier and generator will have to do.
The cables are long, so I can place the system on a trailer etc. Ok, 5.5 hours low bat shut off kicked in, My 6 hour goal not reached, but I did keep house temp at 68 and ran two computers, with outside temperature at only 48 degrees the system is adequate. Colder outside temps, will probably reduce current system to around 5 hours running the house, fridges, freezer, wood burner, well pump, interior fan in ducts. Good enough to get sleep at night but not luxury. Will invest in 4 more batteries over next year and that should fix me up. Now to get gasifier input valve all setup. For gasoline, gasifier and propane. Currently can only run generator with it. |
Destrier,
Is your well pump "on demand" from the tap or a "lift pump" to a storage tank? We are 100% off-grid on a Solar/Propane set up. The well pump would be our biggest drain on the system, so I left if off and use a generator once a week to top off our 1500 gal. storage tank. A small pressure tank feeds the house. Pat |
The well pump is on demand. The house also has a cistern from when it was built in 1830 but I have it empty at present. In the garage, we have a 250 Gallon portable water tank we can toss on a trailer and fill with a second well that is below the garage, and a hand iron pump in the garage. I could probably do better in that department, I like the idea of pumping only when using the generator from time to time. I will look into it.
Modifying the existing cistern seems the easiest route. Thanks |
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