10:52 – We’re taking the next couple of days off from physical labor to relax and enjoy the holiday. Barbara is baking brownies and a cinnamon crumb cake this morning. This afternoon we’ll make up a batch of no-knead bread dough to bake tomorrow morning.
Someone emailed me to ask why installing solar to power the well pump isn’t a higher priority. The short answer is that we already have a 7KW generator, which if necessary I could run for about 10 minutes a day to pump and collect sufficient water for a dozen people at 3 gallons/day each as well as flushing the toilets a couple dozen times or more per day. I could run the generator for that five hours a month for months on just the gasoline we have stored in our vehicle fuel tanks. I do need to pick up a couple cans of ether-based starter fluid.
It’s another drizzly, foggy day here, with thunderstorms predicted for tonight and tomorrow, so we’ll stay indoors again. Fortunately, the highs and lows are both forecast to be in the 50’s F. We’d have a real mess if we got temperatures below freezing.
I just read the first two-thirds of Jacqueline Druga’s The Flu, yet another pandemic PA novel, before I ended up bagging it. To the good, Druga writes competent English prose. To the bad, she spends the first third of the novel introducing her characters. Nothing much actually happens before that. And when things do start to happen, Druga strains her readers’ credulity well beyond the breaking point. She’s completely clueless about the mechanics of a pandemic. She confuses cause and effect. (Amazing true fact according to Druga: septicemia caused the Black Plague, rather than the converse.) She believes that viral diseases can be treated successfully with anti-bacterial antibiotics. If you know anything at all about viral epidemics, you’ll find yourself throwing your Kindle across the room.
On Steve Konkoly’s recommendation, I also used my KU account to pick up a copy of Tom Abraham’s Home: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Adventure (The Traveler Book 1). I’m glad I didn’t pay for it. Abraham’s writing is mediocre at best, typical of self-published PA novels. He goes into excruciating detail about the hardware. I mean, I don’t need to know the brand and model of his tactical rifle, let alone the barrel length or the fact that he’s using 77-grain bullets. Geez. I managed to get through about 15% of the book, just to be fair to the author, but it didn’t get better. If anything, it was getting worse. I can appreciate that Konkoly wants to help his friends, but he loses credibility by even mentioning bad books like this, let alone giving them a strong personal endorsement.
Around 60-62 here and very windy, overcast but clouds moving and bright skies. We’re messing around with Xmas decorations and electronics stuff and I’ll make crab cakes for supper tonight, and stuffed baked sole tomorrow for dinner, as it will just be me, wife and daughter. Until Sunday night, when the dowager empress great-grandmother arrives, and then Monday, the 28th, I’ll do our regular Xmas dinner with the turkey, etc. I’m expecting daughter to somehow throw a monkey wrench into the works at some point over the next few days, as is her usual SOP, though, but we’ll see. Always many sudden new plans, entertainments, social engagements, and travel involved that inconveniences as many other people as possible and throws everyone’s schedules off.
If any of y’all get a nice new drone in yer stocking for Xmas, ya better pay heed:
http://www.howtogeek.com/213159/what-you-need-to-know-before-flying-a-drone/
I’m talking to YOU out there in Lost Wages, MrAtoz….
And very merriest of Christmas and a happy and prosperous and safe New Year for everyone here!
Per the other day, I registered with the FAA and have a certificate for flying recreational. I’m looking at going the full paper route to register my prosumer drone under one of our LLCs. The FAA says they will have an online version in March, so I may wait. You can’t fly for $$ without that. It is also $5/3yr I believe. A lot of hassle with little benefit. Another money making opportunity for the gummint. These aren’t commercial airplanes/copters. I won’t be carrying peeps on one of these. Although, a large one could lift our Chihuahua.
Any rules for armed drones?
(disclaimer: just kidding – it’s hard to joke with government robots)
The Washington Post ran a political cartoon depicting Ted Cruz’s daughters as monkeys. “Ted Cruz Strikes Back at Washington Post Cartoonist for Mocking His Daughters: They’re ‘out of Your League’”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/12/22/ted-cruz-strikes-back-at-washington-post-cartoonist-for-mocking-his-daughters-theyre-out-of-your-league/
The left in the USA has no shame. But, we already knew that.
The short answer is that we already have a 7KW generator, which if necessary I could run for about 10 minutes a day to pump and collect sufficient water for a dozen people at 3 gallons/day each as well as flushing the toilets a couple dozen times or more per day.
I would test this theory. My well pump pulls 13 amps at 230 volts. I’m not sure a 7 kw generator could start the well pump motor.
Can you just imagine for a nanosecond what the reaction would be if the Post had done that with Barry’s alleged daughters? Of course, big newspapers back in the 19th-C routinely portrayed Irish and Catholics as monkeys and drunks and Jews with the usual features.
The Left in the West has no shame; those of us who cultivate longer than average memories recall that the Charlie Hebdo krew savaged Christians and Jews as often as they did musloids, but of course it was musloid hadjis who blew their chit up.
“Although, a large one could lift our Chihuahua.”
Do a vid of that and upload it to the Tube, monetize your channel and rake it in, hermano!
Enquiring geek minds wanna know: liquid fuel generator for emergency well pump use or solar panels/batteries?
“More Wattage”
http://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2015/12/24
Now this is how you attract Santa.
13A x 230V = 2990W. A 7KW generator should easily carry that load, even assuming that 3KW is running rather than startup current.
Enquiring geek minds wanna know: liquid fuel generator for emergency well pump use or solar panels/batteries?
Yes. Solar don’t work so well during a two week blizzard.
13A x 230V = 2990W. A 7KW generator should easily carry that load, even assuming that 3KW is running rather than startup current.
I was always taught that starting power for a single phase motor is 3X the running power. Three phase is 10X.
BTW, my well pump is 3 hp, 30 gpm lifting water about 160 ft. Yours may be smaller or larger.
Hmmm…where to store liquid fuel containers on a small landscape/property footprint, preferably not near existing structures, like the house and shed/studio…but also concealed from nosy bastids….
Sure, but start-up current is a very short spike, typically on the close order of 100 ms. Here’s a good article, although it focuses on driving a well pump from an inverter and battery bank rather than a generator.
http://www.homepower.com/articles/solar-electricity/design-installation/ask-experts-running-well-pump-grid
FTA:
“Well pump installers are not used to powering pumps with inverters, and routinely install huge pumps, since they assume that the grid is present. The best solution is to replace the pump. Here’s an example from our own system here on Agate Flat. Our well is 300 feet deep and the pump is located 260 feet down the well. We use a 1/3 hp Franklin motor, running on 120 VAC, driving a standard Goulds rotary pump. This unit can easily be started and powered by a 1 KW sine wave inverter. This pumping setup will deliver 5 gallons per minute to our water storage tanks.”
Your 3 HP pump sounds like an example of that serious overkill. I’m not sure how large our pump is, but if necessary I’ll probably replace it eventually with a 120V model in the 1/2 HP range. Actually, even if it is a reasonable size, I may buy a spare, just in case.
I’m not planning to store a lot of fuel. What’s in our vehicle fuel tanks, maybe 20 gallons on average, plus maybe a five-gallon can or two. Standard generators are fuel hogs, but I’m glad I have a traditional 7KW Generac generator rather than one of the new, more fuel-efficient 1KW or 2KW Honda inverter-based units. That extra capacity may come in handy for powering a well pump. ISTR that our well flow rate is 5 to 6 gallons per minute. At that rate, running the generator for 10 minutes a day would provide 50 to 60 gallons/day, which’d be plenty for us and a few guests. (We’d leave the tap running and fill containers while the pump was running.) With a pressure tank and water heater of about 50 gallons each, we might not have to run the generator more than every couple days if we were careful about water use.
13A x 230V = 2990W. A 7KW generator should easily carry that load, even assuming that 3KW is running rather than startup current.
@RBT – this page has the simplest yet most complete explanation I could find that my old Navy Nuke Electricians Mate brain recalls:
http://powertips-elec.blogspot.com/2010/11/motor-starting-and-running-currents-and.html
I think the key to using your generator, is to use it and find out. Why wait till the crisis.
I’ll be setting up my new Honda gennie to see how well it powers a PA, check the output wave, etc. Mine is more for portability than crisis. Powering a freezer full of stuff if the power comes out would be nice, also.
“I think the key to using your generator, is to use it and find out. Why wait till the crisis.”
This especially. You can do all the figuring you want, and then not have the tools or connectors to actually do the work. That’s one thing you’ll find by trying.
I wouldn’t count on getting the fuel out of your vehicles. Any vehicle built in the last couple of decades will have anti siphon shields built in. I found this out first hand when I actually tried to siphon. If you are fuel injected, there is a schrader valve (sp?) on the fuel rail, that you could connect a hose to, and remove fuel with the vehicle running- or at least that was the consensus on another forum when this discussion came up. (You could try poking a hole in the tank as a last ditch, but I’d try to avoid that.)
I found that I wanted a hand pump or hoses with a siphon pump for refueling the geni too. Gas cans are heavy, and awkward, and the spouts are F’d up with new EPA nonsense. Leave the gas can on the ground, pump the fuel. SOOOOO much easier and safer.
nick
North Carolina in the news some more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3373599/Witnesses-say-gunman-shot-seven-times-North-Carolina-mall-killed-police-officer.html
Bad guy DRT.
nick
“…and the spouts are F’d up with new EPA nonsense.”
No chit, homes. Real PITA even just for filling the lawn mower, let alone lifting it to the vehicle intakes. I also got a siphon hose and pump for that purpose, leaving the bugger on the ground. No fuss, no muss.
“North Carolina in the news some more:”
Man, that’s a tough state, lately; at least one bad guy gone from the world, and a legit shoot according to the report.
What to do, what to do; active shooter in crowded mall and you’re Mr. CCW on the scene and assessing the situation. R U alone or wid somebody? If I had someone with me and they weren’t similarly heeled, I’d grab them and make for the nearest cover-and-concealment exit, probably a back door to one of the stores, get on the phone and dial 911 while heading for even better C&C. If alone and I thought I had a good chance to drop the SOB, I would. Same as if not alone and he or they were in our faces and being lethal threats.
No ID on the suspects involved so I guess we know what that means.
Rapper, thug
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/12/breaking-shooting-at-northlake-mall-in-charlotte-south-carolina/
BTW, NoCarolina, SoCarolina, don’t seem to make no difference to the newsies….
nick
For filling my truck tank, I have a funnel with a long (14″?) flexible spout and a bungie cord to hold it in place. That leaves both my hands free to manage the can and spout.
But the geni, and esp. when my wife fills it, pump it up….
nick
And… the religion of peace keeps spreading the love:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/12/islamic-extremists-commit-two-more-terror-attacks-in-france-this-week/
Coming soon to a gathering near you.
nick
Sure, but start-up current is a very short spike, typically on the close order of 100 ms. Here’s a good article, although it focuses on driving a well pump from an inverter and battery bank rather than a generator.
That is for an unloaded motor. I have seen heavily loaded motors take 45 seconds to come up to speed. Of course, that was a three phase 3,000 hp motor speeding up to 3,600 rpm. And, well pumps are loaded motors since they are trying to push that water up and out from the first revolution.
Your 3 HP pump sounds like an example of that serious overkill. I’m not sure how large our pump is, but if necessary I’ll probably replace it eventually with a 120V model in the 1/2 HP range. Actually, even if it is a reasonable size, I may buy a spare, just in case.
Nope, I’ve got a commercial setup. My holding tank is 120? 200? 240? gallons (need to go look again, it is six foot tall and four foot across). I’ve got five restrooms, three with showers, on my property. About 25 people working around the place at the moment and we go up to 35 people occasionally. Plus the landscaper renting my warehouse uses a lot of water cleaning his equipment and watering the plants that he has staged for planting. I’ve also got a 2,600 gallon aerobic septic tank for depositing the dirty water in and cleaning it up a little bit before sending it to the lawn sprinklers.
Went and saw the new Star Wars movie today with my Dad and my son. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. They gave it 4.5 stars. Definitely a setup for movie #8.
just opened presents with the kids. Much squealing delight was had. Then we sprinkled reindeer food around to attract the pests.
Not sure of TX law on baited hunting…..
Well, reindeer is kind of dry and stringy anyway, since it’s really lean. Or at least the restaurant where I had it served it that way.
Elves on the other hand….
nick
“Rapper, thug”
Naturally, but when will the MSM nooz cretins put that info out? If ever. Musta been a bad shoot somehow by the rayciss cop. Need some riots now, whoops, I mean, demonstrations, “hands up don’t shoot” and “BLM.”
“…the religion of peace keeps spreading the love…”
Those are anomalies, aberrations…the vast majority of musloids are peaceful and devout people, etc., etc.
They start doing this shit regularly over here and they’ll get a somewhat different reaction than they’re getting in old Europe…which I’d feel better about if we just got our military out of those shit-holes for good and minded our own business. I note that we mucked around pretty good all over SEA and yet we didn’t get swarms of commie scum lighting off terror attacks in the U.S. for years afterward. Must be something about musloids…
…also, the commies were already here…in government, the media, the schools and colleges, etc.
What, pray tell, does one use a 3000 hp motor for?
I’ll be attending the 7pm service at The Church of the Holy Dauber and then the 8:05pm showing of Star Wars. The last service is at 1am, so MrsAtoz and I will be out late. Her ADHD keeps her up.
3,000 hp boiler feed pump on Stryker Creek #2. I was the availability management group rep in 1987 when we were thinking about retiring the 175 MW #1 unit. We had to be able to start 510 MW #2 unit off the five GE locomotive engine generators, 2000 kw each.
Anyway, long story, did not happen because we would start tripping the generators on over amp timeouts and generator temperatures with that 3,000 hp boiler feed pump. We needed another locomotive engine generator which was not going to happen.
I was just happy that we did not burn that huge motor up since we might have, might have, exceeded the two starts per hour recommended by the manufactor. That would have gone over well with the plant manager. Not!
I’d seen something long ago when I lived in LA that the plan for a long term disaster was to use locomotives to generate power locally. I don’t know if anyone ever did the planning and preparation to make that possible.
It was an interesting thought. One that most people would miss, since they don’t think of them as what they are– diesel electric locomotives, ie giant generators hooked to electric motors.
Another plan was to use rail road flat cars as “legos” to rebuild bridges and roadway. They are some of the most engineered things in the world, apparently. There were some interesting bridge designs.
nick
I’d seen something long ago when I lived in LA that the plan for a long term disaster was to use locomotives to generate power locally. I don’t know if anyone ever did the planning and preparation to make that possible.
Most generators in locomotive engines are DC (not a long distance to the wheel motors to lose much power). The power genset for power plant black start capability is a special generator, cooling, container, and hookups for controls and power leads. We owned about 20 of them back in the 1980s at TXU. We also had used PT boat engines, submarine generators, etc. Nowadays they use gas turbines instead of supercharged V12 and V16 diesels.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”
nick
+1,000,000
Requiescant in pace.
well
I read a lot about motors, inrush currents, and so on
things to look
delta-wye, pwm starters, I assume that everyone here knows about that, but, since here we had some kind of near blackout and there is a lot of gensets around the country
the simpler the better
a full container of spare parts, or, KISS, delta wye big bang relays and nothing else.
Last, dual or triple gas, question, nobody here talks about biodiesel from soybeans, its simple, cheap and distillate it is cake.