East Coast Winter Storm - JAN 10

[DieselAddict]

In anticipation of the upcoming snow/sleet/ice event predicted for central NC on Friday, I decided to give the MEP1030s a test run. I wanted to see how the new heatpump worked while on generator power. Had no problems with the heatpump. One thing that did surprise me is when the heatpump comes out of a power failure, it ramps the compressor to full power which according to my power monitor is around 4.9kw. Along with the base load of the house that cam to 5.2kw on the display of the 1030. It handled it fine. This is an inverter based heatpump so it normally only runs the compressor and fans at a level that is required to maintain the heating/cooling load.

Graph of the energy demand from the heatpump:






But that did make me think that if my wife flushes and kicks on the water pump when the heatpump is at full blast, that might be a bit too much for a single unit. Well... These are supposed to parallel and I just happen to have 2 of them.

Unit 2 has entered the chat!



Took an extra cord that I wasn't using and connected the two generators together and gave that a go. Seemed to go very smoothly. The procedure to get them synced up was just a couple of button presses. It seemed much to easy to be honest. No complaints though. Easy is nice, especially if you are operating under stress.

I'm expecting since I spent the afternoon getting all this ready that NOTHING will happen!

And that's all right with me.

Hope everyone in the path of this thing stays warm and dry!

 

[rickf]

Your running 50 amps through that extension cord?!

 

[DieselAddict]

You mean the 6 gauge Type W?

Yes I am!

Edit - According to the spec sheet its good for over 80 amps.

 

[rickf]

Looks a lot bigger when in your hand. I have seen people use small cords so many times on generators and RV's.

 

[DieselAddict]

We've all seen our share of bad decisions. Even made a few myself.

Thanks for helping keep us straight!

 

[2Pbfeet]

Love type W cable! It is great material.

Good luck with storm! I'm not sure if that means grid or no grid for you.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[DieselAddict]

I'm half-n-half. All the high power appliances are on grid. Lights, fridge, TV, and internet are off grid.

With the new heatpump doing as well as it is, I'm planning to move it over to the inverter in the spring.

 

[Digger556]

I love it! Way to be proactive.

I was in KC for the blizzard last weekend. Spent a lot of time prepping generators, chainsaws, tractors, and firewood with my inlaws.

 

[rickf]

We have gotten very little snow here but man has it been cold and windy. The wind has been blowing a solid 20-30 mph for well over a week now with gusts over 50 mph.

 

[glcaines]

We've just started getting heavy snowfall here. We are expecting up to 7 inches in the next hours. The temp is 20 deg. F. I went ahead and fired up my MEP003A for a test run to make sure it is available if we lose power. As always, it fired right up. It's capable of running the entire house, including our geothermal heat pump, without selecting circuits. I'm located way back in the woods in the Blue Ridge mountains surrounded by national forest so we routinely lose power, sometimes for days at a time.

 

[Light in the Dark]

We have gotten very little snow here but man has it been cold and windy. The wind has been blowing a solid 20-30 mph for well over a week now with gusts over 50 mph.

Same up here, low teens without wind chill

 

[glcaines]

The snow is now getting deep enough that my DirectTV satellite dish is losing signal. I forgot to turn on the satellite dish heater earlier. I now turned it on the snow is melting off the dish and my wife is now happy that she again has TV to watch. Utility power is still on.

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

Snow is coming down hard here. Had a call about a Generator last night. wondering at what point tonight when they lose power they will call me wanting to buy one lol

 

[DieselAddict]

I got a message today from someone wanting one RIGHT NOW. Had to tell him that I get them ready as people want to buy them and it will take me a week or so to have one ready for them.

 

[Light in the Dark]

I got a message today from someone wanting one RIGHT NOW. Had to tell him that I get them ready as people want to buy them and it will take me a week or so to have one ready for them.

I am sure they did... bet that lack of foresight to spend some $ before the storm tastes pretty bad right now.

 

[DieselAddict]

I hope they aren't in the path of the "icy" part of the storm. The snow is finally falling here at a rate that I would call snowing. Still got a big dewpoint to temperature spread so the flakes are really small. The chickens are really confused. They haven't seen snow before.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Yeah, I certainly can relate to Ice & Snowstorms as well as Firestorms etc. living out here in the Pacific Northwest...we get it all unfortunately. Though I'm a bit of an over-prepper at times when it comes to being prepared to endure an extended power outage. Having 2 wells & 2 pumped septic systems I'm my own Water & Sanitation utility when power goes out.

In summer when we are at "peak fire danger" it's comforting knowing I can keep the wells pumping regardless of any scheduled pre-emptive utility shut down due to high winds etc. The wife, dog & horses all seem to appreciate my efforts in my generator upkeep "once the power goes out". The rest of the time the wife seems to think I'm "just tinkering with those generators again" .

Anyway, sounds like you guys are "on-it" as far as Generator Readiness goes! May the Power be with you!

 

[glcaines]

My wife hates it when I fire up the MeP003A for a test run. Too noisy and she hates the smell of the exhaust. However, when the power goes out and she is either cold or hot, she brags about the generator to her friends!

 

[DieselAddict]

Well, I got called to extract a neighbors vehicle from a ditch. Just got back from that fun adventure. The roads around me are really bad. We have had snow and freezing rain for the last few hours. We may just have to fire the generators up yet...

 

[Ray70]

I'm probably a bit too far away, but I have several nice low hour machines ready to sell if things get bad down there.
2) 002's
1) 802A
2) 803A's