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Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 11:59 pm
by JohnC
Yamaha makes the gasoline generators just as good as Honda :wink: They're equally expensive, though... On the other hand, the market is getting flooded by Chinese models (using all kinds of "American" brand names), and even American-built gasoline models from Generac seem to have plenty of serious issues (I've been reading reviews on various sites), so it may be actually worth it to spend a lot of $$$ once on good (but expensive) Japanese model instead of spending less $$$ on cheaper pseudo-domestic brand then spending even more $$$ on shipping it to repair center or on new model once the 1-year warranty expires :wink:

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:04 am
by JohnC
These are the photos of Sea Gate area in NYC:


https://picasaweb.google.com/ywphotos/D ... Goldstein#

:(

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:17 am
by just brew it!
JohnC wrote:
These are the photos of Sea Gate area in NYC:


https://picasaweb.google.com/ywphotos/D ... Goldstein#

:(

Mother Nature is a bitch.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:01 am
by Arclight
Is it over yet? Have there been casualties?

I don't watch the news, though i did watch a bit on the youtube live stream yesterday....it's was just the weather man talking about air fronts so i got bored fast....

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:07 am
by just brew it!
The storm system is still puttering along, albeit much weakened. Several dozen casualties due to various causes -- falling trees, electrocution by downed power lines, etc...

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:56 am
by just brew it!
BIF wrote:
superjawes wrote:
just brew it! wrote:
Speaking of things that don't like being submerged in salt water, I wonder how many vehicles were wrecked by the storm surge?

Plenty, I am sure. I've seen a few pictures from NYC where water was up near the roofs of cars left on the street.

This is a problem after any major flooding event. Those cars will always have problems now, from musty, mildewy stink to rust in weird places or electronic gremlins popping up without warning.

Many will be refurbished and some will attempt to be sold in non-flood locations without proper disclosure. Always get the CarFax!

Anyone want a used and slightly waterlogged taxi? :lol:

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:33 pm
by MadManOriginal
Yeah, the pictures from this are pretty horrific. The closest recent event is Katrina, and they are still not truly recovered from that. This storm will have significant long-term impact.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:08 pm
by Darkmage
All done and back at work. We lost power a couple of times, never more than 40 minutes. There were a couple trees get knocked down in the distance, but nothing on our property. All in all, it wasn't bad. Now we're figuring out which friends need to move in for a day or two while power gets repaired to their houses.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:10 pm
by vargis14
I knew it was going to be a terrible storm from the sheer size and ultra low barometric pressure easing the pressure of the atmosphere pushing down on the ocean to keep it at its normal sea level. But I Though coastal flooding would have been be more confined towards the center and north of the storm. Boy was i wrong. But it seems to have been much more severe to the north of landfall with those winds from the eastern direction.

The damage is so widespread it seems you cannot drive anywhere and not see something destroyed by it. This will be much more costly then Katrina i believe, property wise! But fortunately there was ample warning and the loss of life is very minimal thanks to most people evacuating and being prepared. Katrina if i recall did not give half as much time for tons of people to get ready or evacuate!

We have a waterfront beach house on the indian river in millsboro delaware "it lies between rehobeth to the north and ocean city MD to the south of us" We were very lucky The only damage was some missing boards and steps off the boat dock. The house is elevated off the ground around 3ft so the water luckily just went under the house with no foundation damage whatsoever. It has been in the family for 50 years or more on my wifes side.

If NY's subways that are now flooded are fixed within 2 weeks i will be surprised.

I also want to add my heart goes out to anyone who lost there home or loved one because of this storm. It could have been much worse if it had not sped up so much and lingered longer directly on the coast.
I am still amazed to see so much circulation over such a large area still !!!!!!!!

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:20 pm
by just brew it!
vargis14 wrote:
If NY's subways that are now flooded are fixed within 2 weeks i will be surprised.

I think I read something earlier that they had the water pumped out of most of the flooded sections. That's probably still a long way from ready to reopen though.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:13 pm
by paulWTAMU
The damage looked like it'd be severe as hell; the news had footage from a security camera that showed the water breaking down elevator doors and flooding in--apart from water damage, what did those doors (and all the other debris) do to destroy stuff on its way through?

John, you dodged a bullet as did your employer. Please, do not tempt fate. If it had rained another couple inches you'd have been calling S&R.

It is very strange for me to be, essentially, a member of hte public during these events. We had our quarterly meeting in Austin and this pretty much dominated the small talk between stuff. Most of the staff at that meeting had experience during Ike and Gustave, as well as the wild fires this summer and winter storms a year or two ago. Some of them go back to Katrina. None of us felt right not being involved somehow in this as massive as it is and as stressed as we know they are over there. I couldn't even watch some of the stuff about S&R though; started breathing fast and shaking a bit. I've taken those calls and done that **** for real, more than once now and I always functioned fine then.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 4:26 pm
by Captain Ned
And now they're evacuating Bellevue Hospital.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:06 pm
by vargis14
Man its like the never ending stormy....with a fire breathing red dragon instead of the fluffy cute white dragon.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:09 am
by BIF
It's easy for us humans to become so over confident. Normally, that is a good thing. Except when it's not.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:43 pm
by mnecaise
To continue the previous generator discussion, this is why I'm not sure a gasoline powered generator is such a good idea:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/01/news/economy/gas-stations-supply-sandy/index.html?source=cnn_bin

I understand the convenience; but, it's difficult to store a 3 to 5 days worth of gasoline safely. I've personally seen this kind of thing happen twice; people lining up with gas cans, forming long lines, waiting to buy fuel for their generator. Seems like a justification for a gas or diesel powered machine.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:43 pm
by Captain Ned
Depends on the threat. For me it's suicidal trees taking out power lines, so a whole-house NG-powered gennie makes sense. If surface water makes it to me, Noah ain't getting me off the hook.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 7:35 am
by vargis14
Finally the power that was knocked out down the street is back up. Was getting tired of that genny noise coming from a pretty large portable system....7000 watts i believe. I plan on going down there today to ask him how much fuel and oil it used since he ran if for 5 days.

My new generator was pretty loud, I fixed that problem though with a small strip of steel wool I stuffed into the muffler. It cut the sound in half. but i wonder if it will melt over time with a heavy load? Mine is a single cylinder 3500 watt unit. No idea on what motor or anything. But it would be nice if they incorporated a catalytic converter into the muffler....that would quiet down most generators and clean u p the exhaust a bit.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 8:51 am
by mnecaise
Captain Ned wrote:
Depends on the threat. For me it's suicidal trees taking out power lines, so a whole-house NG-powered gennie makes sense. If surface water makes it to me, Noah ain't getting me off the hook.

Pretty much same here. I'm 3-4 blocks from the 100 year flood line originating at a nearby creak, 20' above MLLW for the major river about a mile away. Trees are my biggest concern.
vargis14 wrote:
Finally the power that was knocked out down the street is back up. Was getting tired of that genny noise coming from a pretty large portable system....7000 watts i believe. I plan on going down there today to ask him how much fuel and oil it used since he ran if for 5 days.

When I was looking at generators and sizing them, in that range, my research was coming up with 10-15 gallons a day usage. They burn a lot of fuel even when under no load because the typical generator has to "idle" at 3600 rpm. Bet his fuel bill was enormous. Have to admit though, the newer inverter generators should do much better.
My new generator was pretty loud, I fixed that problem though with a small strip of steel wool I stuffed into the muffler. It cut the sound in half. but i wonder if it will melt over time with a heavy load? Mine is a single cylinder 3500 watt unit. No idea on what motor or anything. But it would be nice if they incorporated a catalytic converter into the muffler....that would quiet down most generators and clean u p the exhaust a bit.

Muffler quality is one of the small thing that separates the better units from the cheaper ones. I bet the neighbors generator is designed for job-site use, where having a loud generator running during day-light hours isn't an issue. Exhaust gasses shouldn't get hot enough to melt the steel wool -- although it might oxidize right rapidly. If it does get hot enough, you've got bigger problems. Putting the generator into a well ventilated enclosure would help deaden the sound too.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:54 am
by ludi
A bigger problem with steel wool is not melting, it's fire. A single spark is enough to ignite it, and once its starts to oxidize, it rapidly loses it's structural integrity -- i.e., I would be a bit worried about having glowing chunks of steel wool come flying out of the muffler at some point.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:19 pm
by JohnC
Photos removed

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:35 pm
by just brew it!
Glad to hear you're safe and sound.

Holy crap, you're right on the shore! Now I am even more amazed that you opted to stay put.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:00 pm
by BIF
It is human nature to want to stay home and protect the cave. I get this because I've been through it.

But when the threat is bigger than the human, then the human needs to use that big brain and get the lead out of his ass. And bring woman human and small humans with him, by the hair if necessary.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 11:06 pm
by JohnC
Photos removed.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 12:29 am
by JohnC
mnecaise wrote:
I understand the convenience; but, it's difficult to store a 3 to 5 days worth of gasoline safely. I've personally seen this kind of thing happen twice; people lining up with gas cans, forming long lines, waiting to buy fuel for their generator. Seems like a justification for a gas or diesel powered machine.

Not really difficult. First of all, people should NOT purchase an oversized generator (the smaller it is = less fuel it consumes). Also, it is possible to buy one with "Eco" function, where generator can vary RPM's by a large amount depending on a load. Then just buy a few large fuel cans and refill them in advance if the weather prediction center predicts something nasty :wink: Also, the fuel is STILL available daily in NY/NJ, it's just you have to know when exactly the gas tanker will arrive at your local working gas station (you can find that out by doing a little bit of talking with the "right" person working at that station) :wink: At the very worst you can run generator intermittently, just so you will have enough heat at home and enough cooling capacity for your fridges.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 12:47 am
by ludi
JohnC wrote:
Not really difficult. First of all, people should NOT purchase an oversized generator (the smaller it is = less fuel it consumes).

Depends on what is meant by "oversized."

First, most construction-site and residential standby generators really do mean "standby," as in "occasional duty." They are not really intended to run more than a few hours at a time, on an intermittent basis. The harder they're run, the quicker they burn out. Second, single-phase 120/240V units are normally rated for kW output at unity power factor, thus gen kVA=KW, but common residential loads may be pulling kW at 0.85-0.95 pf, so load kVA=kW/pf. Many amateurs don't realize this when estimating a size. Third, the smaller the unit, the worse the voltage regulation (unless operating through an inverter, and good inverters have a high investment cost).

What this means in practice is that for end-of-the-world, don't-know-when-it's-coming-back operation, sure: economize fuel by purchasing a smaller unit and planning to support only the critical loads. But for longer-duty applications including medical life-support equipment, it's better to buy an appropriately large, or even slightly oversized unit, and make appropriate fuel provisions.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:15 am
by BIF
I predict one offshoot of this hurricane (as with other natural disasters) is a new influx of apocolyptic/survivalist themed television shows and radio talk show hosts.

More crossbows on the way.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:34 am
by JohnC
ludi wrote:
JohnC wrote:
Not really difficult. First of all, people should NOT purchase an oversized generator (the smaller it is = less fuel it consumes).

Depends on what is meant by "oversized."

First, most construction-site and residential standby generators really do mean "standby," as in "occasional duty." They are not really intended to run more than a few hours at a time, on an intermittent basis. The harder they're run, the quicker they burn out. Second, single-phase 120/240V units are normally rated for kW output at unity power factor, thus gen kVA=KW, but common residential loads may be pulling kW at 0.85-0.95 pf, so load kVA=kW/pf. Many amateurs don't realize this when estimating a size. Third, the smaller the unit, the worse the voltage regulation (unless operating through an inverter, and good inverters have a high investment cost).

What this means in practice is that for end-of-the-world, don't-know-when-it's-coming-back operation, sure: economize fuel by purchasing a smaller unit and planning to support only the critical loads. But for longer-duty applications including medical life-support equipment, it's better to buy an appropriately large, or even slightly oversized unit, and make appropriate fuel provisions.


That it is all true, but I was speaking from the point of view of an average NYC/NJ citizen :wink: For example, one of our friends has a small Honda generator (b.t.w, ALL of "good quality" small generators from Honda/Yamaha already include built-in inverters), EU2000, and he was able to use it to power his refrigerator, natural gas hot water (tankless) heater and sump pump (plus charging the mobile devices and rechargeable flashlights) throughout 3 days, using only about 4 gallons/day of gas. He certainly didn't need a large, permanently installed generator, especially considering that our area is not supposed to even have such long-lasting outages.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 6:42 am
by vargis14
Glad you and your family are ok........I second what JBI said. I would consider yourself quite lucky If the storm had not sped up to almost 3 times the speed we thought it was going to be and lingered longer or made landfall a bit more northernly closer to you you just may have gotten hurt or worse. But everyone was pretty lucky it did speed up or waves could have been crashing into your 1st floor and possibly causing your house to collapse or start a fire ETC.

JohnC Quote:considering that our area is not supposed to even have such long-lasting outages.

No place is supposed to have such long outages unless your like bagdad iraq and the USA is popping your power stations.
Plus you should be happy you have power already. Lotsa people still are without.

Good before and after pictures! I was going to say nice....but nothing is nice about them.

Water is one of mother natures most powerful tools and nothing to take lightly, it is incredibly powerful as you have witnessed 1st hand. Imagine if it was moving faster or a tsunami. We all saw Japan and the jaw dropping life taking power of water.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 7:38 am
by JustAnEngineer
JohnC wrote:
Eh... The worst thing that could've happened is that our first floor would get flooded and we would move up.
I believe that you've underestimated the power of the water and waves to float or smash entire buildings.

Re: Who else is getting ready for superstorm sandy!

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:12 am
by bthylafh
Indeed. Some people have to be beaten about the head and shoulders with what is before they will believe.

Mind you, when Joplin got hit by the tornado last year I sat quietly on the couch (about 10 miles away) and ignored the sirens, reading the news. Don't think I'll try that stunt next time the air-raid sirens go off.