Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #50 – October 26, 2019, 09:44:52 pm If you head west thru Petaluma you can hit the coast at Bodega Bay. Doran Beach, Westside Park are County, Bodega Dunes is State Park. Spud Point Crab Company has excellent chowder. SR 1 North is slow & winding with some uncomfortable stretches, especially when bicycles present. You can skip all the scenics and go up US101.I usually stay at Mad River Rapids in Arcata. The Mexican restaurant is always 'dinner'.Safe travelsJoel 2 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #52 – October 27, 2019, 08:59:33 am Harold, head further north from Vacaville, then to the coast. I just got the word from my son this morning, who is working in the Emergency Operations Center in Santa Rosa, that everything in Sonoma County west of the 101 to the coast, including the town of Bodega Bay is under mandatory evacuation.Things are not looking good there.
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #53 – October 27, 2019, 09:09:16 am Latest Kincade Fire news: Winds whip Kincade Fire, mass evacuations ordered... 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #54 – October 27, 2019, 11:04:32 am Thanks Greg, Joan, and Joel,Winds here picked up over night and it is blowing sustained 40kn. with gusts over 60kn. The air is drier than a popcorn fart and the visibility is down due to the dust. My friend was evacuated last night and is safe at a friend's house. Branches are coming down in this park (Vine Land RV in Vacaville, very nice place and is offering a 20% discount to fire evacuees), so we may move to another site.Our plans had been to take 128 through Healdsburg, but that is the center of the fire, so a re-route will be necessary. Since the winds are both historic in velocity and predicted to continue until Monday morning, we may just hunker down for another day and wait this out. Driving the Lazy Daze and towing the Jeep through the mountains in these winds sounds exciting, but not the kind of excitement I enjoy.A big thank you 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #55 – October 27, 2019, 11:08:00 am Continue:A big THANK YOU to Greg (HiLola) for calling us early this morning and leaving a phone message regarding the worsening conditions and area evacuations. We both really appreciate his thoughtfulness .Harold 3 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #56 – October 27, 2019, 03:55:18 pm Some alternatives1) I80 West to Vallejo, then SR36 around San Pablo Bay to US101, then North under the smoke2) I 80 East to I-505 N & I-5 to Williams, then W SR20 around Clear Lake (it burned over in the last few years) to US 1013) I80/US50 to El Dorado hills and moochdock a couple days in my driveway.Joel 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #57 – October 27, 2019, 04:02:15 pm Thanks Joel,It is still blowing here and we heard that I80 is closed in Valejo.We are planning to go 505 to 20 to 101 tomorrow.Until then, we have 240 videos of underwater and topside grey whale videos to sort and edit. I love shooting but hate editing. This is a perfect opportunity.Scammon's Lagoon grey whale canoodling is wonderful fun!Harold
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #58 – October 30, 2019, 02:11:21 pm Round 3 for this month started at Midnight.
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #59 – January 16, 2020, 09:49:55 am Just a follow up. After much back and forth discussion on solutions to deal with our power outages, we finally decided this will serve our needs for now. Today’s project is to get it running. 4 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #60 – January 16, 2020, 10:26:03 am "...this will serve our needs ..."And the cat says, "we'll see who can purr the loudest". 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #61 – January 16, 2020, 11:41:15 am Greg,That 3000W Honda should keep most of your important stuff powered nicely in an outage. It is remarkably quiet as well.As I have previously mentioned here on the forum, we have a Honda EU2000 and it powers the refrigerator and freezer plus a LED light or two. One problem with generators that only get used on occasion is that the gas goes bad. I've had good success over the past few years buying AV gas (100LL) and adding Stabil when I fill the jug at the airport. The 100LL has NO ETHANOL and seems to last very nicely for over a year with no starting issues. I also use it in my 1976 classic motorcycle with Italian carburetors and it starts every time, even after periods of inactivity.Naturally, 100LL shouldn't be put in any vehicle with a catalytic converter. 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #62 – January 16, 2020, 12:15:42 pm Thanks, Harold. Where does one purchase AV gas? I’m assuming that doesn’t refer to the Antelope Valley . . . 😆
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #63 – January 16, 2020, 12:21:15 pm Quote from: HiLola - January 16, 2020, 12:15:42 pmThanks, Harold. Where does one purchase AV gas? I’m assuming that doesn’t refer to the Antelope Valley . . . 😆Any general aviation airport should have AV (aviation) gas.AV gas is a high octane fuel with no alcohol and a dose of lead additive to protect the engine's valve guides.Larry
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #64 – January 16, 2020, 12:25:10 pm Greg, 'AVgas' is 'aviation gasoline'; the only remaining 'leaded' fuel. There are many websites/references on its use, properties, hazards, pricing variations, and availability. 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #65 – January 16, 2020, 12:25:39 pm Greg, the two small airports near me allow purchases of 100LL in plastic jugs. At Palomar airport in Oceanside I can't drove to the pumps, so I bring a wheelbarrow for the two 5 gallon jugs. It's kind of funny when I'm filling a jug at the pump and a prop plane taxis up behind me in line. At Ramona, I just drive my truck out by the hangers and the fuel tanker comes to me! AV gas is about 50 cents more than premium auto gas. It is blue and I use translucent (white) jugs, so there is never any confusion what is in the jug.Last time I bought AV gas, a guy was there buying some for his Model A. He said the stuff lasts damn near forever and never has carb issues, even after long periods of not running the car. 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #66 – January 16, 2020, 12:45:10 pm Greg, As an additional precaution and at the end of each season, I fill the generator fuel tank with treated 100LL, turn off the On/Off dial (which shuts off the fuel to the carb), and drain the float bowl with the drain screw. This way the float bowl is empty through the dormant time. When I turn on the generator at the beginning of season, the fuel in the tank fills the float bowl and the generator starts right up. 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #67 – January 16, 2020, 02:55:16 pm Harold, did the gen pass the cat scan? When you do the followup lab tests?I presume you will not be wiring it with an automatic transfer swictch?I'm considering adding a Tesla Powerwall to my home solar system. Definitely overkill for the LDJoel
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #68 – January 16, 2020, 03:19:25 pm GregTreat your new home generator the same way LD recommends maintaining their RV generators, run it each month for a half hour or more, under as much load as possible. This way you do not need to worry about the carburetor gumming up.The AV gas is still a good idea for long term storage.Larry 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #69 – January 16, 2020, 04:29:44 pm During one of my two stints at Keesler AFB a good friend of mine would 'liberate' stale Avgas and use it to power his old pickup truck. We were poor back in those days!
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #70 – February 27, 2020, 12:43:38 pm We have planned maintenance outages today, and next week, so finally am getting the opportunity to give the home backup generator a real test. Getting ready for this summer PSPS outages,Greg
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #71 – February 27, 2020, 01:19:58 pm Good to have a live-fire smoke test under benign conditions.... 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #72 – April 13, 2022, 08:32:37 pm Reviving this thread as we just had a home standby generator installed in preparation for another bad wildfire season here in Cali. Now I need to sell my almost new Honda 3000! 1 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #73 – April 14, 2022, 02:57:15 am Quote from: HiLola - October 12, 2019, 09:45:23 amThis is the longest we have ever lost power, about 33 hours. We think these pre-emptive power shut downs will become more common in the future so we are considering a backup generator for the house. What do you all use at home?At our cabin in the mountains, we have 6200W generator and a manual transfer switch that allows us to use everything except the garbage disposal. The generator is noisy and the tank only lasts about 10hrs, but I have converted it to also run on propane, so I can switch tanks as needed. Since we are up there infrequently, I haven't poured a pad to keep it locked up, so it gets hauled out as necessary.If on Edison, you should look into their Tesla backup batteries - they may provide them under some program depending on need. They keep charged when you have power, and provide it when the power is out. At 13.5 kWh capacity, that can run a long time if you are very conservative.Steve 2 Likes
Re: Power is out. (SoCal Fires) Reply #74 – April 14, 2022, 10:30:22 am Steve, would love to see your mountain cabin sometime when It works out to do so! We still want to get you and Nancy up to our place as well!We are on Edison so I’ll take a look at the Tesla batteries. We are still contemplating a solar set up as well but will probably need to re-roof prior to that.
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