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Well wouldn't you know it...the Westerly winds died down overnight and the thick smoke returned late this morning. Back to closing windows & donning masks. :mad: Good news/bad news...Rains are coming but they are now issuing a "Flash Flood Watch" and possible debris flows where the burned out...

Well some good news...the Westerly winds coming off the ocean picked up and blew into our area around 6:00 pm this Wednesday evening and have pushed out all the smoke FINALLY! I was even able to go outside w/o a mask and open windows in house and let some fresh air in. To think I took all this...

It was quite smokey and the winds were easterly winds blowing from the direction of the fire towards us, so there certainly could have been less oxygen content in the air. However, my #2 generator just 10' ft away started up right after #1 suddenly quit, and it ran just fine in that...

I looked at Grainger and Fastenal for those masks, out of stock. All sold out probably due to the run on them for Covid protection. The 95 masks I have seem to be doing a pretty good job, but I have to change them often. AQI today is 228 so that is better...

When our fires suddenly hit here some local firefighters had deployed to CA as well. Typically working fires across state lines only strengthens the efforts all the way around. What goes around comes around, however when every state on the West Coast is ablaze there is going to be a shortage...

Not sure if that is directed to me, nevertheless I am at 500 ft.

Yes these type of events certainly get your attention and are definitely a wake up call! I have now reassessed our position on being prepared for these types of mega-events. I plan on doing more fire mitigation efforts like taking out trees too close to house and possible installing a series...

Yes smoke is really bad here as well. We are going on our 5th day of smoke filled air but not as bad as the first day with falling ash. Still its bad for health there is only so much a mask can do. I've gone through 5 N95 masks so far & come into house smelling like a campfire pit and have to...

Looks like you were successful in protecting the property! (y) I completely agree with your assessment that garden hoses with sprinklers wouldn't fight or stop a fire. I do have everything mowed where it can be mowed. However we have Douglas Fir and Oak trees within 50 yards of house. My...

OK, so that gives me an idea... Lets say Its hot and dry out with an approaching fire and utility power is suddenly cut off. So, as a last ditch effort before evacuating property, I turn OFF all the house circuits except well pump and activate sprinklers all around the house with perhaps some on...

Just before it shut down I was outside about 75' away with my back towards it and it did not sound terribly labored at the time. Sounded like a normal load on engine when it shut down. But the well pump had been cycling on & off for over an hour plus as I watered outside with all normal house...

You got me to wondering about electrical loads so I read through the very long but very informational sticky Mep-002a and -003a main breaker (same Circuit Interrupter breaker is used for -002a 5 kW & -003a 10 kW) and there is an Army spec that the Circuit Interrupter was spec'd at...

Yes, I had considered that the legs could become uneven. Actually with the way I have this generator's panel set up I do check the readouts on the 2 meters for L1 & L3 from time-to-time & I do see imbalances as various 120V loads kick in. I think as long as they are random and not long term...

This afternoon I added more diesel fuel to dilute the remaining ~1/2 tank of Seafoam treated fuel and ran a load test. I started out with a 3000 watt load to get unit warmed up then stepped it up to 4000 watts and then ran for 1 full hour at 5000 watts with a nice balanced 240 V load running at...

Had some time before it got dark so I decided to do some troubleshooting. Ray's suggestion above got me to thinking the unexpected shutdown just might have been due to an over temperature and here's why: 1. At the time of shutdown it was running the whole house & I was outside watering all...

Yep, filled the truck & its transfer tank with 65 gallons of diesel now onboard & our horse trailer is hitched and ready to move out if necessary. The thought of having a "bug out bag" ready to go has a new level of urgency, that's for sure! I think with our property being on West side of...

Yes, these fires were a surprise to everyone the way they developed. We almost never get Easterly winds. Usually they are Westerly off the ocean. So being very dry Easterly winds, the humidity levels were around 15-20% which makes for tinder box like brush & forests conditions coupled with...

Tuesday morning got up and power was out. Went outside & nothing but thick acrid smoke in the air and could barely see an orange sun through smoke and there was black & grey ash coming down like light snow! Edit: Here's a picture from my phone I took of sky/sun this morning. Very eerie to say...