Random Chit Chat

My utility co. came out here at 11:30 last night to start fixing the telephone pole that on the property line. Finally got the chance to shut down the generator. It's been running since wednesday and still have a few gallons of petrol left over. I burned up about 15 gallons in that time period.
 
I thought generators worked on diesel. Unless you mean so by petrol.
Glad it's back to normal for you in this regard.
Just runs on regular gas. Gasoline generators are quite common around here. It's not very often that you need to use one but it's good to have one when you need it. The neighbor behind me is still running his. When it's cold out you have to have the furnace on (frozen pipes) and keep the fridge working too.
 
Got hit with a bad ice storm. Large branches in the back yard and even bigger branches in the front. My neighbor directly across from me has his power lines in the road. The telephone pole cross member is sitting veritcal rather than horizontal as it should be. This is a F'd situation here. I have a generator and that the only reason I can post. My power company tells me it will be until Saturday before they can restore power to my neighborhood.
Sounds like y'all got it worse than we did with the ice. We went relatively unscathed this year.
I live in north central Texas. a little train town called Wichita Falls Its about 60 miles west of Fort Worth
You forgot the NORTH in there, Wichita Falls is on the north border basically. Somebody noth from Texas might think you mean Weatherford.
Just runs on regular gas. Gasoline generators are quite common around here. It's not very often that you need to use one but it's good to have one when you need it. The neighbor behind me is still running his. When it's cold out you have to have the furnace on (frozen pipes) and keep the fridge working too.
Speaking of that, I might wind up with a small Generac in my renewable setup after all. We've had 4 years consecutively of serious ice storms and couldn't figure out a way of keeping the windmills and solar panels unfrozen without draining the main batteries. If the windmills are frozen up and cloud cover for several days I won't have any generation of electricity and don't want to pull from the grid (which probably wouldn't be an option anyway if it's out). So now I have to draw up a way of keeping the windmills warm and ice off the panels. My only problem is how the F do you keep a windmill warm :ROFLMAO:
 
They do make stuff called heat tape. My main water line from the street runs into my garage (not heated) and along the wall in the garage so it is wrapped with heat tape. It has a built in thermostat so all you need to do is plug it in in the fall. I had to replace mine a few years ago, just tape it on and insulate with some foam stuff to your windmill head?
The stuff I have kinda looks like this:
Heat tape link Amazon

Around here any local hardware or even wally world sells this stuff
 
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They do make stuff called heat tape. My main water line from the street runs into my garage (not heated) and along the wall in the garage so it is wrapped with heat tape. It has a built in thermostat so all you need to do is plug it in in the fall. I had to replace mine a few years ago, just tape it on and insulate with some foam stuff to your windmill head?
The stuff I have kinda looks like this:
Heat tape link Amazon

Around here any local hardware or even wally world sells this stuff
Hmm neat. Idk how I'd keep the motor/etc of a windmill warm with it but it puts me in the right direction. If I can somehow automate this to turn on at a specific temperature or threshold that'd be good. Adding to my sheet and will need to look further. I think if I can keep the windmills going with the wind we normally have during these storms it might be enough to cover for the panels and not need a generator. I'd need to recalculate efficiency numbers etc for a snap freeze. I suppose at 4-6 grand a piece if I keep adding one year by year I won't have to worry about it lol.
 
no... it does not get hot but I think it will get warm enough to keep the ice off of it. If your concern is the interior, then you might possibly want to change out the grease in the bearings for cold climate and switch for hi temp in the spring. A 120w light bulb would just about do the same on the inside of the windmill housing. Mine is auto regulating which means it does not have it own thermostat separately. It's all built into the cord. just plug in and forget it, You'll need one for outdoor use. I no longer have the bag it came in but I think it kicks on around 32f
 
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no... it does not get hot but I think it will get warm enough to keep the ice off of it. If your concern is the interior, then you might possibly want to change out the grease in the bearings for cold climate and switch for hi temp in the spring. A 120w light bulb would just about do the same on the inside of the windmill housing. Mine is auto regulating which means it does not have it own thermostat separately. It's all built into the cord. just plug in and forget it, You'll need one for outdoor use. I no longer have the bag it came in but I think it kicks on around 32f
I would need to make an automated system for it because I wouldn't need it to turn on automatically at 32f. It would be more to keep the precipitation accumulation off so there isn't a thick layer of snow or ice on either.
 
Beautiful weather today and warmer than today tomorrow. 70's today and close to 80 tomorrow. I could really enjoy this if it hadn't been so cold Friday and Saturday that it caused the battery to die. New one in today. Under warranty and no charge. Just my time to get it done. Job done.(y)
 
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