Power out late 10/29

Power out? How about an inverter connected to your car?
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

Around 11:30pm we lost it.

12 hours later, still out. Estimated time for restoration is 5:30pm but that may move to the left as the day progresses.

Started up the generator maybe 7am ish. Shut down to refuel and check oil around 9am. And again around 11am. So far I have not added any oil although it is slowly working its way down the dipstick. But the consumption is much slower than it was with the M1 5W-30 which is admittedly just way too thin for this old engine. I am using my favorite Delo 400 which is an HDEO, in 15W-40. I use that year-round so I don't have to switch from straight 30 to something more winter appropriate depending on the season.

I also have added 2 ounces of MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) to the last 2 tanks. It seems to have cleaned up the unloaded governor hunt that it had. It's probably doing other good things in the carb and inside the engine (piston, rings, valves, head).

2 ounces is like 4x the amount they recommend which I did on purpose. It could probably take an even higher dose for more cleaning action. But I figure over the course of the day it'll still do its job.

When I initially switched the breaker on at 7am, I "accidentally" started up the following loads:
- Dehumidifier
- Hot water heater oil burner
- Well pump
- 2 refrigerators
- Lights

The continuous rating is only 4000W and it did all that, at the exact same time.

I have since flipped off the following breakers as part of my "RRE" process:
- Dehumidifier (I can wait to run it when I am back on the grid)
- Oven/range
- Dryer

Fuel up 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b8kOqM ... e=youtu.be
Fuel up 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gfVFEw ... e=youtu.be
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

Fuel up around 2pm. And around 5 pm for number 4. Oil has like 1/3rd of the crosshatch left so after the 4th tank I will probably add oil, depending on how close to the add line it is.

The 5:30pm estimate has been replaced by "assessing damage" so they must have restored power and are moving down the line to the next issue which is still impacting us. Or that is my guess.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

7:45pm for number 5. Finally added some oil though it was still in the crosshatch. I did not use MMO this time. Each tank of MMO it has not done the exhaust bang after shutdown. Very interested to see if that continues even when not using MMO. I think it definitely did it some good.

Running the dishwasher which it seems to handle. Still being careful about loads per phase. I think I have shown it is totally possible to run an entire house with well pump on a 4000W unit. But obviously more power capacity would make things more convenient.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

Shut down around 9:30.

Started up around 6:50am. The house didn't get down to the temp that we set it to at night, though it was close.
Still no update other than "assessing damage."

I may get some gas today when my current 5 gal can is done, then I will have two to fill, plus my 2-1/2 gal. And I still have two more 5 gals that are full.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:I have since flipped off the following breakers as part of my "RRE" process:
- Oven/range
Jamie informed me that we have some meat that needs to be cooked.

I did briefly test one of the cooktop burners some previous time ago and it technically powered it but my real concern was how they are actually wired. And it should be obvious by now that my main concern is phase balance. I am sure the oven heating elements are 240V but what about the burners? The cooktop AND ovens are on a single 40A 240V breaker (which is a lot of power). So, are two burners on one leg of 120V and the two other burners on the other leg? That would be a hell of a load on a single leg.

So I removed a burner, and probed the receptacle with my DVM. Result? They are 240V! This is great as a 240V load lets me tap into the full capacity of my generator (this applies to any generator). Oh, and since unloaded my 120V voltage is actually ~130V, it makes sense that I actually measured like 262V. That's RMS. That's a lot.

However, it seems to be by design in this unregulated generator. Because as it loads up, the voltage basically drops (resistance in the windings). So when I turned a small burner on, my 130V dropped to ~122v. And when I tried a big burner, it went from 130V to ~115V. I will have to check the load but I think a single big burner may constitute like 50-60% generator load which is significant. At least it is all DC/resistive which is something (i.e. there's no startup transient).

Anyway, TL;DR: Jamie can cook the meat, provided I am careful with the other loads.

As usual, I am having fun with this...
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

Oh, refueled around 9:30am. 2-1/2 hours seems pretty much a safe bet and that could possibly stretch to 3. I've probably already stretched past 2-1/2 anyway.

It did pop after shut down on the first tank without MMO. I think I could actually run an amount in each tank if I wanted to. It is still running well, though - still no light load governor hunt.

I may think about changing the oil today. I wish I installed an hour meter.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

Just changed the oil. Pretty easy. Takes 44oz. Best way to do it is just dump a quart in, and the oil will be somewhere on the crosshatch. Then just top off until full. Added 3 oz MMO (to the gas - could also do oil) just because. Also refueled.
WP_20171031_12_21_29_Pro.jpg
And here's a shot of what I was telling Bill about the analog power meter. It glows both lights between levels. Each LED is 15% load.
WP_20171031_06_55_47_Pro.jpg
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

Shot from yesterday when it was raining on and off.
WP_20171030_10_32_57_Pro.jpg
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

The town EMA director says we are still at a 57% outage and that:
power is slowly being restored with a priority on 2 main feeder lines that come into Exeter and West Greenwich.
I see.
kevm14
Posts: 15201
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out late 10/29

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote:Jamie informed me that we have some meat that needs to be cooked.

I did briefly test one of the cooktop burners some previous time ago and it technically powered it but my real concern was how they are actually wired. And it should be obvious by now that my main concern is phase balance. I am sure the oven heating elements are 240V but what about the burners? The cooktop AND ovens are on a single 40A 240V breaker (which is a lot of power). So, are two burners on one leg of 120V and the two other burners on the other leg? That would be a hell of a load on a single leg.

So I removed a burner, and probed the receptacle with my DVM. Result? They are 240V! This is great as a 240V load lets me tap into the full capacity of my generator (this applies to any generator). Oh, and since unloaded my 120V voltage is actually ~130V, it makes sense that I actually measured like 262V. That's RMS. That's a lot.

However, it seems to be by design in this unregulated generator. Because as it loads up, the voltage basically drops (resistance in the windings). So when I turned a small burner on, my 130V dropped to ~122v. And when I tried a big burner, it went from 130V to ~115V. I will have to check the load but I think a single big burner may constitute like 50-60% generator load which is significant. At least it is all DC/resistive which is something (i.e. there's no startup transient).

Anyway, TL;DR: Jamie can cook the meat, provided I am careful with the other loads.

As usual, I am having fun with this...
Cooking now. Load jumps from 15% to 67.5% with the big burner. So yeah, that's 52.5% which matches my previous estimate. Volts on my UPS in the bedroom go down to about 114V when the burner cycles on. Also this UPS has kicked in twice for a second in the past 2 minutes when the burner switches on.

I shut off the furnace breaker while she is cooking. The well pump may kick on and that may be interesting...

Getting a pretty good workout I guess. I wonder what the voltage dips to closer to 100% load. Maybe below 110?
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