Cinnamon Horse C160 reporting for snow duty

[ebinmaine 67,717]

We've got a right regular good ole fashioned nor'eastuh goin' over tonight. 

NWS forecast is for 12"+ but it doesn't seem like it will stack quite that high. 

 

We got the walk behind snowblower out and running. Did some final yard cleanup. Rearranged the outdoor workshop some so we could get the horse in there for winter changeover parts. 

 

Installed new to me 2-link ice cleat chains, put the plow on and added a set of steel weights to the rear wheels. I have another set of the same weights I'll add later but needed longer bolts. 

 

Did a quick test to see how she went. 

 

 

 

 

[OldWorkHorse 3,045]

Might wanna put some lights on it..... could hardly see you...........

[ebinmaine 67,717]

1 minute ago, OldWorkHorse said:

Might wanna put some lights on it..... could hardly see you...........

That's not surprising. That's my camo-for-truckers suit. 

[Lee1977 6,673]

29 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

That's not surprising. That's my camo-for-truckers suit. 

Most people avoid yellow snow! You should be safe enough.

[Turftech 82]

What a difference 20 miles south and a warm ocean (in the low 40s) makes! Nothing to see here folks.As of 8:30 just 1.5 in of wet snow, plenty of wind.

[ebinmaine 67,717]

2 minutes ago, Turftech said:

What a difference 20 miles south and a warm ocean (in the low 40s) makes! Nothing to see here folks.As of 8:30 just 1.5 in of wet snow, plenty of wind.

Watch this space tomorrow morning for the final measurements. And of course more pics/videos. 

[Pullstart 62,923]

It’s hard to imagine snow... when we’ve seen just a dusting so far this year.  

[ebinmaine 67,717]

6 hours ago, pullstart said:

It’s hard to imagine snow... when we’ve seen just a dusting so far this year.  

We ended up with about 6 inches of absolute muck slush cement slurry. Among the wettest snow one can get. 

 

Power's been out all night so we'll have to go get some drinking water or melt/boil snow. 

 

Across the state there's well over 100,000 accounts out. 

 

 

[rjg854 11,389]

no alternate generator Eric?

[ebinmaine 67,717]

20 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

no alternate generator Eric?

We have a small generator that we can use for the fridge or charge phones. Nothing big enough for the well pump or water heater. 

 

Fridge contents can go outside and phones can charge in cars with nearly no noise so that may not get hooked up. 

 

I do have a Sears implement generator but just haven't bothered to get a bracket made for it. 

 

 

We've been looking into buying a 10K or 12K as a hardwired house backup. 

[Stormin 9,981]

7 hours ago, pullstart said:

It’s hard to imagine snow...  

 

The best snow is in my imagination these days.

[rjg854 11,389]

Well that something atleast   I have a 30 amp generator, that I use as back-up power for when the power goes out.  The cord is long enough that I can leave it in the shed, so there's not a lot of noise and it plugs into an outlet on the outside of the house.  All I have to do is shut off the main breaker to the house panel and turn on the breaker that is installed in the panel to power things like the coal boiler, well pump, fridge, and most other necessities. I know when the power comes back on, because the panel over in the barn will come become live again.  Then I shut down the generator, turn off that breaker to the outside generator, and turn on the main breaker to the house panel. Works good for our needs.  Being out in the country, and at the end of the main line, it's come in handy at times.

[ebinmaine 67,717]

17 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

Well that something atleast   I have a 30 amp generator, that I use as back-up power for when the power goes out.  The cord is long enough that I can leave it in the shed, so there's not a lot of noise and it plugs into an outlet on the outside of the house.  All I have to do is shut off the main breaker to the house panel and turn on the breaker that is installed in the panel to power things like the coal boiler, well pump, fridge, and most other necessities. I know when the power comes back on, because the panel over in the barn will come become live again.  Then I shut down the generator, turn off that breaker to the outside generator, and turn on the main breaker to the house panel. Works good for our needs.  Being out in the country, and at the end of the main line, it's come in handy at times.

That's a system we've been considering but might not be able to get it wired. 

 

I heard a rumor "The Gu'ment" is/was trying to make that illegal here in favor of a fully automatic switchover so electric workers don't have backfeed problems. Seems John and Jane Consumer don't have enough common sense or training to run a switch. 

 

[rjg854 11,389]

If the main breaker isn't off when the power comes back on, and the generator is still running , I'd hate to think of the outcome 

[ebinmaine 67,717]

5 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

If the main breaker isn't off when the power comes back on, and the generator is still running , I'd hate to think of the outcome 

Agreed. 

[ohiofarmer 3,276]

  My fail safe on never backfeeding the generator to the house is just having plugs on the boiler and well pump instead of hard wired.I was running the genny one day and the power company guys stopped in and asked me about it and then still wanted to check out to see if i was telling them the truth..  

  A friend of mine had me pretty much remodel his entire house and we are doing one project at a time pay as you go.  When i saw how much water was coming in his basement, I told him that I did not want to be paid again until he bought a propane automatic self testing generator. He travels out of country and I do not want to have to keep his basement [lots of electronic toys there] from flooding.   So he did all that and still has security cameras monitoring his sump pumps and his cell phone keeps him informed about how warm the house is and all that.

[ebinmaine 67,717]

7 minutes ago, ohiofarmer said:

having plugs

We've considered that also. 

I'd have to recheck codes. 

[Pullstart 62,923]

@Sparky @ZXT @oldlineman? With transformers knocking the power down from power lines to a home, how much juice could back feed from a 4500w 240V unit?  With the talk above of making laws to require an auto switch, I wonder what the harsh details are of the matter.  Obviously I’m not going to run out and try it or anything, but just wondering.

[ebinmaine 67,717]

1 minute ago, pullstart said:

@Sparky @ZXT @oldlineman? With transformers knocking the power down from power lines to a home, how much juice could back feed from a 4500w 240V unit?  With the talk above of making laws to require an auto switch, I wonder what the harsh details are of the matter.  Obviously I’m not going to run out and try it or anything, but just wondering.

 

 

I'm not sure what the actual distance involved is but I've read  multiple times of line workers being severely injured or worse because of improperly informed customers feeding the main line. 

[squonk 41,169]

24 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

I'm not sure what the actual distance involved is but I've read  multiple times of line workers being severely injured or worse because of improperly informed customers feeding the main line. 

Remember, Transformers can step down voltage or step it up. You back feed 120 volts to the t,former and it may step it up to say 480 or more! That's the issue. 

[wallfish 17,023]

25 minutes ago, pullstart said:

how much juice could back feed from a 4500w 240V unit?

All of it is my guess.

My question is, would the meter turn the opposite direction? Maybe the old school type but doubt the newer digital type would.

[Pullstart 62,923]

4 minutes ago, squonk said:

Remember, Transformers can step down voltage or step it up. You back feed 120 volts to the t,former and it may step it up to say 480 or more! That's the issue. 

I was wondering that.  Like I said, I’m not going to try it... but I was curious if that could happen.

[JCM 9,213]

From what I have gathered for info on this From Inspectors and Licensed Electricians there is a device that goes over the Main panel breaker. This main must be in the off position before the power to the Generator is switched on. There is a bar that keeps the main off so the Generator does not backfeed. I just asked the inspector in town about this and confirmed it by several Electricians. Sorry for the poor explanation, Remember I am a Master plumber not electrician. Also this replaces the Transfer switch that used to be required.     Does this sound correct @squonk

[squonk 41,169]

2 minutes ago, JCM said:

From what I have gathered for info on this From Inspectors and Licensed Electricians there is a device that goes over the Main panel breaker. This main must be in the off position before the power to the Generator is switched on. There is a bar that keeps the main off so the Generator does not backfeed. I just asked the inspector in town about this and confirmed it by several Electricians. Sorry for the poor explanation, Remember I am a Master plumber not electrician. Also this replaces the Transfer switch that used to be required.     Does this sound correct @squonk

Never heard of that one. I would imagine any authority having jurisdiction would want Transfer switch.

[Handy Don 12,257]

3 minutes ago, JCM said:

From what I have gathered for info on this From Inspectors and Licensed Electricians there is a device that goes over the Main panel breaker. This main must be in the off position before the power to the Generator is switched on. There is a bar that keeps the main off so the Generator does not backfeed. I just asked the inspector in town about this and confirmed it by several Electricians. Sorry for the poor explanation, Remember I am a Master plumber not electrician. Also this replaces the Transfer switch that used to be required.     Does this sound correct @squonk

That's correct @JCM

The issue isn't strictly common sense. It's also confusion from the stress of not having power and hurrying to get it back on. And don't discount simple lack of understanding, i.e. uninformed!

Interlocks, transfer switches or auto-transfer are required in my county by code. Yet some still self-install connectors to the dryer plug. Sigh.