Does Anyone Here Prep for if the grid goes down or a cyberattack?

[TomFord1980]

I have neighbors
1×1 gif

Those with a gun or two will do well. Many of us (myself included) are used to having food readily available. Imagine what happens if the grid goes down and you cant pay for food electronically. Heck, people scavenged for toilet paper during the pandemic. Replace that with food.

 

[SchlongConery]

Uncle's a retired electrician so everything should be above board. I have a rotary switch inside the house similar to this:

View attachment 309455

On the outside, I have a permanently mounted stanrdard 3 prong cord within a weather proof box. I connect the 3 prong cord to the gen only when I need it. Whether or not this setup is considered a "suicide cord" is beyond my area of expertise.

Me and my uncle are fairly meticulous when it comes to engine maintenance so we should be fine for now. Having said that, Murphy's Law will kick in at some point and something will fail at a bad time.

I appreciate the info and video you just shared though.

Suicide cord means both ends are male. You should be safe as far as that goes.

The above is a proper transfer switch It can even be set up for remote relay actuation!

But I'll close by again suggesting you buy a new carb proactively. When I took mine into a small engine shop he said it was common once the old Honda's got to around 20 years. If yours is an EU 2200i (rather than an EU 2000i) then you're ok. The small engine shop also said he'd take 2-3 weeks plus ony uses OEM Honda parts because he is a Honda dealer. And the carb was backordered. When I said I could replace it myself he told me the Amazon one was just as good.

 

[SchlongConery]

I've never had that problem. I use this fuel treatment year-round in my vintage car that sits during the winter months. It eliminates ethanol from the fuel. Give it a try in your outboard. All my friends also run it in their high-performance Merc outboards. Excellent stuff.

I am pretty familiar with various engine oil and fuel additives. I send oil to Blackstone Labs for analysis and became friends with the founder Howard Fenton decades ago.

He calls most additives BSIAB- Bullshit In A Bottle. Most are just solvents. For example, if you read and decode the MSDS for the additive above you'll find it is various fractions of kerosene with some fragrance. It ostensibly works by leaving a bit of oily film on parts to help slow down waterborne corrosion. Some Jet Fuel additives (Like PRIST which is just Glycol Ether) ) contain an antimicrobial because jet fuel (which is also kerosene- which is just slightly more refined diesel) and diesel can host slime causing organisms which are bad news if the slime gets into the combustion chamber of your jet engine!

Marvel Mystery Oil, Seafoam etc... various solvents and lightweight mineral oils like Naptha etc. MMO does contain Tricrysal Phosphate which is good if you have an older engine without hardened valve seats. Leaded fuel used to cushion the valves and seats. But TCP can help.

FWIW

 

[RaphaelD]

Those with a gun or two will do well. Many of us (myself included) are used to having food readily available. Imagine what happens if the grid goes down and you cant pay for food electronically. Heck, people scavenged for toilet paper during the pandemic. Replace that with food.

Exactly!
The point of prepping is to live independently for a few days or weeks while the problems are fixed or resources become available, so that you don’t have to fight other people at the store.
However, in the event of a more serious event, those with guns will be able to defend their stash, or, very likely, take from those without guns.
Prep away, brothers and sisters, but don’t tell anyone about it

 

[explorerzip]

Suicide cord means both ends are male. You should be safe as far as that goes.

The above is a proper transfer switch It can even be set up for remote relay actuation!

But I'll close by again suggesting you buy a new carb proactively. When I took mine into a small engine shop he said it was common once the old Honda's got to around 20 years. If yours is an EU 2200i (rather than an EU 2000i) then you're ok. The small engine shop also said he'd take 2-3 weeks plus ony uses OEM Honda parts because he is a Honda dealer. And the carb was backordered. When I said I could replace it myself he told me the Amazon one was just as good.

Good to know that my setup is above board. Not that I had any doubts, but it's good to be triple-sure. I'm glad you mentioned the model number because I do have an EU2000i. It's about 10 years old now, but it's still a good idea to have a new carb like you said. Better to have it on hand instead of waiting until the next time water is pouring into the basement or I'm in the dark freezing my ass off

Thanks again for the valuable tips.

 

[HEYHEY]

AR-15 and a good amount of ammo for me.
If you're unarmed you're just collecting supplies for those who are.

 

[tml]

For the last few years I've been hoping to get a Generac generator. Their ads are often on tv, and Home Depot carries them. They don't work with gasoline, but rather when the power goes out a switch is triggered and the generator uses natural gas to provide power. The two things that made me hesitate are price and lack of references from people I know. No one I know has one. The price for each model goes up as the number of items hooked up to it increases.

 

[explorerzip]

Just thought of one critical piece of gear outside of guns, ammo, etc. No matter how much canned food you have, you'll definitely need a manual can opener. You could theoretically shoot cans open, but that just makes a mess. We have to stay civilized even during an apocalypse

 

[SchlongConery]

Good to know that my setup is above board. Not that I had any doubts, but it's good to be triple-sure. I'm glad you mentioned the model number because I do have an EU2000i. It's about 10 years old now, but it's still a good idea to have a new carb like you said. Better to have it on hand instead of waiting until the next time water is pouring into the basement or I'm in the dark freezing my ass off

Thanks again for the valuable tips.

Unless you've been leaving ethanol gas in it, ten years should be fine . If you think it is within your abilities you can also just pull the bowl off for a general condition check for rust or residue. But be forewarned, dicking around with smal engine carbs can be a bit black magic. They are simple but for some reason I don't have good luck with them. Give me an old Quadrajet or Holley or Marvel Schebler airplane carb and I can do anything with them. But I curse doing anything to those fucking little lawnmower carbs except bolting on a new one!

So yeah, at 10 years, maybe leave well enough alone! Worst case is that if it fails, you can order a new one on Amazon Prime and get it the next day. That is if there is not a zombie apocalypse!

 

[explorerzip]

Unless you've been leaving ethanol gas in it, ten years should be fine . If you think it is within your abilities you can also just pull the bowl off for a general condition check for rust or residue. But be forewarned, dicking around with smal engine carbs can be a bit black magic. They are simple but for some reason I don't have good luck with them. Give me an old Quadrajet or Holley or Marvel Schebler airplane carb and I can do anything with them. But I curse doing anything to those fucking little lawnmower carbs except bolting on a new one!

So yeah, at 10 years, maybe leave well enough alone! Worst case is that if it fails, you can order a new one on Amazon Prime and get it the next day. That is if there is not a zombie apocalypse!

I don't leave fuel in the tank so I'm good there. I also don't like to mess with anything small because there's always something hiding inside that breaks as soon as you touch it.

Isn't amazing that there was a time when Amazon didn't exist? We had to go to the store(s), look all over, and sometimes go home empty handed. What stone age did we grow up in? All of our prepping is kind of irrelevent if Amazon ever gets taken out My bigger concern is if Amazon is going to have stock of what I need when I need it.

 

[SchlongConery]

For the last few years I've been hoping to get a Generac generator. Their ads are often on tv, and Home Depot carries them. They don't work with gasoline, but rather when the power goes out a switch is triggered and the generator uses natural gas to provide power. The two things that made me hesitate are price and lack of references from people I know. No one I know has one. The price for each model goes up as the number of items hooked up to it increases.

DO NOT BUY A GENERAC STANDY GENERATOR!

They are cobbled together differently from year to year, model to model, Home Depot version to Rona to Costco, to Dealer/Installer models. They can be a mofo to get parts for. Circuit board, relays, sensors and the engines are often Chinesium versions of brand names.

Take my advice for whatever you think it is worth but I recommend Briggs and Stratton's homeowner line. And depending on where you are located Sommers is about the best company you will ever hope to deal with, for anything. https://www.sommersgen.com/

Their prices are fair, their installation is first class and their service is quick and fairly priced. They have tons of parts in stock and Briggs has evolved a long time ago into the best parts and assemblies.

Whatever you do, don't buy a home gennie or installation through Home Depot. They farm it out to third party installers who might not be around in a year or two WHEN you need a repair.

A cottage neighbour had one and had three technicians out five times and nobody could fix the problem. Starter was burned out the first winter. Took 3 weeks ot get a new one insatalled. The is still wouldn't always start. Said it was the carb, then the control panel, then it needed an engine rebuild. Not evn 100 hours on it in two years.. Then it was out of warranty. Sometimes it would work, other times not.

Took me 15 minutes to diagnose that the engine block heater was not connected. Wasn't ever connected since new. So it would start only above certain temps. When it got really cold, like -20F it just wouldn't fire up. It would crank a few cycles, then shut down to let the started cool off. Then it would crank again for a while then shut down. Sometimes it would start, other times not. Home Depot and Generac were less than useless. The original installer had gone tits up. Blah blah blah.

Googe to find out about how bad the problems people have with the brand. Disregard the positive reviews because there is nothing to gush about if the generator works. It's not like you can compliment them on the ride quality being smooth enough to circumcise a baby.. or fine corinthian leather. They either start and run or they don't.

Hope this helps.

Oh and Briggs and Stratton has a pretty good webpage to help you decide on the right model. Coiuple things... If you can stay under 10kw, you will use a smaller engine with better fuel economy. And because they are not inverter systems, they run at wide open throttle whether you only have a nightlight on or have AC and the clothes dryer running.

If you don't have an elelctric stove and are ok without using air conditioning and the clothes dryer during an outage, a 3000 sf house should be fine with 10kw.

Also, Briggs has a smart load sensing system that can allow AC, Dryer, Stove to be conencted and the load managed if adequate power is left within the generator's rating.

 

[SchlongConery]

I don't leave fuel in the tank so I'm good there. I also don't like to mess with anything small because there's always something hiding inside that breaks as soon as you touch it.

Isn't amazing that there was a time when Amazon didn't exist? We had to go to the store(s), look all over, and sometimes go home empty handed. What stone age did we grow up in? All of our prepping is kind of irrelevent if Amazon ever gets taken out My bigger concern is if Amazon is going to have stock of what I need when I need it.

All so true!

Ever since I moved into a condo, I have dramatically cleared out so much shit I stored just in case I needed it someday. I couldn't find half of the things when I did anyways. So I'm ok with being betrothen to Amazon! lol. I don't need my own PrincessAuto store in my locker and storage units!

 

[explorerzip]

Whatever you do, don't buy a home gennie or installation through Home Depot. They farm it out to third party installers who might not be around in a year or two WHEN you need a repair.

So true. Dealing with big box stores like HD, Rona, Best Buy and the defuinct Bad Boy are the worst. The sales people don't know anything, are usually pushy and support is non-existant. I've had good experiences with Kooy Brothers for my mower and snowthrower, but I haven't needed service yet.

 

[Not getting younger]

I don't leave fuel in the tank so I'm good there. I also don't like to mess with anything small because there's always something hiding inside that breaks as soon as you touch it.

Isn't amazing that there was a time when Amazon didn't exist? We had to go to the store(s), look all over, and sometimes go home empty handed. What stone age did we grow up in? All of our prepping is kind of irrelevent if Amazon ever gets taken out My bigger concern is if Amazon is going to have stock of what I need when I need it.

Window shopping is fun. Even more so in Amsterdam.

 

[Not getting younger]

DO NOT BUY A GENERAC STANDY GENERATOR!

They are cobbled together differently from year to year, model to model, Home Depot version to Rona to Costco, to Dealer/Installer models. They can be a mofo to get parts for. Circuit board, relays, sensors and the engines are often Chinesium versions of brand names.

Take my advice for whatever you think it is worth but I recommend Briggs and Stratton's homeowner line. And depending on where you are located Sommers is about the best company you will ever hope to deal with, for anything. https://www.sommersgen.com/

Their prices are fair, their installation is first class and their service is quick and fairly priced. They have tons of parts in stock and Briggs has evolved a long time ago into the best parts and assemblies.

Whatever you do, don't buy a home gennie or installation through Home Depot. They farm it out to third party installers who might not be around in a year or two WHEN you need a repair.

A cottage neighbour had one and had three technicians out five times and nobody could fix the problem. Starter was burned out the first winter. Took 3 weeks ot get a new one insatalled. The is still wouldn't always start. Said it was the carb, then the control panel, then it needed an engine rebuild. Not evn 100 hours on it in two years.. Then it was out of warranty. Sometimes it would work, other times not.

Took me 15 minutes to diagnose that the engine block heater was not connected. Wasn't ever connected since new. So it would start only above certain temps. When it got really cold, like -20F it just wouldn't fire up. It would crank a few cycles, then shut down to let the started cool off. Then it would crank again for a while then shut down. Sometimes it would start, other times not. Home Depot and Generac were less than useless. The original installer had gone tits up. Blah blah blah.

Googe to find out about how bad the problems people have with the brand. Disregard the positive reviews because there is nothing to gush about if the generator works. It's not like you can compliment them on the ride quality being smooth enough to circumcise a baby.. or fine corinthian leather. They either start and run or they don't.

Hope this helps.

Oh and Briggs and Stratton has a pretty good webpage to help you decide on the right model. Coiuple things... If you can stay under 10kw, you will use a smaller engine with better fuel economy. And because they are not inverter systems, they run at wide open throttle whether you only have a nightlight on or have AC and the clothes dryer running.

If you don't have an elelctric stove and are ok without using air conditioning and the clothes dryer during an outage, a 3000 sf house should be fine with 10kw.

Also, Briggs has a smart load sensing system that can allow AC, Dryer, Stove to be conencted and the load managed if adequate power is left within the generator's rating.

Another reason why I went my route. If something happens to my genny, it’s easy peasy replaced relatively inexpensive in an hour. Also easy to take with me if/when I move.

something with around 6000 start up will work for most households. just figure out what your criticals are and go from there. In my case
Furnace
Fridge/freezer
Well pump
Sump pump
Stove

If during the outage I want to run anything that might over load it, I just hit some breakers on my panel.
Water heater, Dryer etc but even then there’s breakers on the genny.

To date, anytime I’ve lost power I’ve literally just plugged it in and fired it up. The one downside really is winter and if away for a day or more. Pipes might freeze or if you have a freezer full of meat in summer. That said, my neighbor can get to it, fire it up, run it for a few hours off and on.

 

[tml]

DO NOT BUY A GENERAC STANDY GENERATOR!

They are cobbled together differently from year to year, model to model, Home Depot version to Rona to Costco, to Dealer/Installer models. They can be a mofo to get parts for. Circuit board, relays, sensors and the engines are often Chinesium versions of brand names.

Take my advice for whatever you think it is worth but I recommend Briggs and Stratton's homeowner line. And depending on where you are located Sommers is about the best company you will ever hope to deal with, for anything. https://www.sommersgen.com/

Their prices are fair, their installation is first class and their service is quick and fairly priced. They have tons of parts in stock and Briggs has evolved a long time ago into the best parts and assemblies.

Whatever you do, don't buy a home gennie or installation through Home Depot. They farm it out to third party installers who might not be around in a year or two WHEN you need a repair.

A cottage neighbour had one and had three technicians out five times and nobody could fix the problem. Starter was burned out the first winter. Took 3 weeks ot get a new one insatalled. The is still wouldn't always start. Said it was the carb, then the control panel, then it needed an engine rebuild. Not evn 100 hours on it in two years.. Then it was out of warranty. Sometimes it would work, other times not.

Took me 15 minutes to diagnose that the engine block heater was not connected. Wasn't ever connected since new. So it would start only above certain temps. When it got really cold, like -20F it just wouldn't fire up. It would crank a few cycles, then shut down to let the started cool off. Then it would crank again for a while then shut down. Sometimes it would start, other times not. Home Depot and Generac were less than useless. The original installer had gone tits up. Blah blah blah.

Googe to find out about how bad the problems people have with the brand. Disregard the positive reviews because there is nothing to gush about if the generator works. It's not like you can compliment them on the ride quality being smooth enough to circumcise a baby.. or fine corinthian leather. They either start and run or they don't.

Hope this helps.

Oh and Briggs and Stratton has a pretty good webpage to help you decide on the right model. Coiuple things... If you can stay under 10kw, you will use a smaller engine with better fuel economy. And because they are not inverter systems, they run at wide open throttle whether you only have a nightlight on or have AC and the clothes dryer running.

If you don't have an elelctric stove and are ok without using air conditioning and the clothes dryer during an outage, a 3000 sf house should be fine with 10kw.

Also, Briggs has a smart load sensing system that can allow AC, Dryer, Stove to be conencted and the load managed if adequate power is left within the generator's rating.

Wow, thanks for the great post.

 

[GameBoy27]

I am pretty familiar with various engine oil and fuel additives. I send oil to Blackstone Labs for analysis and became friends with the founder Howard Fenton decades ago.

He calls most additives BSIAB- Bullshit In A Bottle. Most are just solvents. For example, if you read and decode the MSDS for the additive above you'll find it is various fractions of kerosene with some fragrance. It ostensibly works by leaving a bit of oily film on parts to help slow down waterborne corrosion. Some Jet Fuel additives (Like PRIST which is just Glycol Ether) ) contain an antimicrobial because jet fuel (which is also kerosene- which is just slightly more refined diesel) and diesel can host slime causing organisms which are bad news if the slime gets into the combustion chamber of your jet engine!

Marvel Mystery Oil, Seafoam etc... various solvents and lightweight mineral oils like Naptha etc. MMO does contain Tricrysal Phosphate which is good if you have an older engine without hardened valve seats. Leaded fuel used to cushion the valves and seats. But TCP can help.

FWIW

Star Tron breaks down excess water and sludge to sub-micron size allowing it to be safely burned away during normal engine operation. Therefore Star Tron prevents phase separation and fuel gelling, eliminating ethanol fuel problems.

 

[LTO_3]

I've had a home 8kw generac for many years and had no problem. Get the yearly maintenance done on it and very happy I have it. My opinion is the opposite of SchlongConery but I'll admit there are other home generators as good as Generacs. At the time, me and my neighbour got one that was the best value/performance for the money spent. But I will say I am very shocked by the price for a home generator if I had to buy one today.
Every person has to do their homework before buying any kind of generator, gas powered (had one of these before the one I have now) or natural gas.

LTO_3

 

[SchlongConery]

Star Tron breaks down excess water and sludge to sub-micron size allowing it to be safely burned away during normal engine operation. Therefore Star Tron prevents phase separation and fuel gelling, eliminating ethanol fuel problems.

Sounds like marketing BSIAB to me.

Maybe a real organic chemist can analyze that marketing claim quote better than I can.

I wonder what exactly do the "enzymes" break the H2O down into? AFAIK the next step to break water down into is two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.

Has this boat wax company finally made the quantum leap in H2O catalysis? Well then they will certainly be awarded the next Nobel Prize in Physics as they will have solved the world's clean energy problem by chemical water splitting into clean energy hydrogen!

And they say they are even breaking down the water into "sub-micron size"?

Again, not even theoretical physics has attempted that! Again, I'm no Startron marketing scientist, not even a dumb petro-chemist So maybe there is a Sheldon Cooper level Theoretical Physicist on TERB that can reboot my understanding of the size of atoms..

A single water molecule of 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of water is already only 0.27 of a nanometer across! So I guess StarTron could even say that their bottle of kerosene breaks down water into sub-meter sized particles...

One micron is a millionth of a meter. > One nanometer is one billionth of a meter.

I'm not clever as the Startron marketers to know the word or to express the relative size of 0.27 of a nanometer. But again, that is already how small a water molecule is!

But I hope y'alls get the spirit of the true magic formulas of Bull Shit In A Bottle marketers and products!

 

[SchlongConery]

I've had a home 8kw generac for many years and had no problem. Get the yearly maintenance done on it and very happy I have it. My opinion is the opposite of SchlongConery but I'll admit there are other home generators as good as Generacs. At the time, me and my neighbour got one that was the best value/performance for the money spent. But I will say I am very shocked by the price for a home generator if I had to buy one today.
Every person has to do their homework before buying any kind of generator, gas powered (had one of these before the one I have now) or natural gas.

LTO_3

I'm super happy you have had a trouble free experience with your General. Like I said in my post, it's all good... until it isn't.

Value/performance is a very subjective analysis. Simple dollar per watt measures how cheap or expensive the installed generator is.

The value of reliability when you need it, the ability to get parts, repair time etc is different for every application. If all you need is to keep meat frozen and the furnace running, then you can get a 3000 watt used Chinesium off Kijiji for $200.

If you are running a data center, or hospital then you'll want redundant Caterpiller or maybe even German MTU diesel engines.

That's why I have found Briggs and Stratton to provide the best balance in cost per watt, reliability and servicability. As the cost of installation involves a lot of wiring, gas piping, controls and switches, labour etc, the cost of the actual genset itself becomes les and less of a fraction of the total installed cost.

But that's just my experience that and opinion.