another generator question...

[filishy]

Reading Mike's post (Navymedic) I started thinking about preparing for the summer season as I already suffered with the hurricanes last year.

Now, this is the thing... I live in an apartment with just a small balcony-terrace as a possible area for a generator.

If you were in my shoes, would you actually get one considering the limitations of an apartment? (lack of space, fuel storage, fumes, noise, etc.)

If not... what options would you recommend?

I have read some threads about people using a power inverter hooked to a car battery or a marine battery.

Would that work for my situation?

Thanks for all the input guys.

Maria.

[bigdaddybo]

Ask waterfall what she did. I think they use a Deep cycle battery and an inverter for a small pump. Bo

[Fuzzy]

Hi Maria,

Yes, a deep cycle marine battery with a power inverter will work. But you will need a charger to make sure you battery is fully charged before the storm hits. I think I paid about $150 for the battery, inverter, and charger.
The problem is depending on load it will only last a couple days. Before we got our generator I had a car battery, a portable car booster and a 700 watt inverter. I hooked up a power head and BakPak skimmer. I ran the skimmer without the bubble trap and had no problems.
Fortunately our power was only out for a day, So we were ok. By the time the last hurricane blew thru we had added a deep cycle marine battery, 25 gallons of gas, a battery air pump, and the generator. That time our power was out for about an hour - I didn't even bother turning on the generator..........

This year we are already having the protective film put on the inside of our larger windows. And are going to buy some type of removable shutter. We went to the home show last week and saw just about every type out there. We haven't decided which one to buy - but I'm leaning towards a new type of Kevlar fabric that passed the Miami Hurricane test of stopping a projectile fired at 200mph! It is secured to the outside wall using a stainless steel anchor that has a removable screw. They said you can paint right over the screw cap and it will blend right in with the wall.

Let me know if you need any help getting set up.


Fuzz

[AJ69]

Fuzz,
Could you send me more info(pm) about this "protective film"?
Thanks
A.J.

[Lutefisk]

If you are in an apartment and need small and quiet (and you have more than a few $'s) check out the small Honda's. You can hardly hear them running.

I have three separate systems (one of them a 155 bowfront) and I did not have a single loss through three power outages from three hurricanes using batteries and inverters.

One the first hurricane I just pulled the battery from my wife's care before Charlie hit. After the inverter had run on it for a long time I put hers back in her car, started it, and used the car to recharge it. I then took the battery out of my truck and put in on the inverter. This way you can get by without a generator.

Of course, I only ran low power circulation in the tanks. On one that was just a HOB skimmer, on another a Rio 2100, and on the 155 I just ran a Tunze Stream.

I did end up doing a lot of work a getting a generator that was given to me (and hadn't been ran for many years) going and used that to power a battery charger.

Once I got the generator running I continued to run the tanks of the battery/inverter and used the generator to recharge the battery. The neighbors appreciated not having a really loud generator running next door all night.

Paul

[johnson1]

The quietest, and somewhat pricey generators are the Honda Inverter series: EU1000i, EU2000i, and EU3000i. Yamaha also has a quiet inverter series with similar prices. They are computer/electronic safe. Quiet enough that you can talk at a normal level only a few feet away from the generator. Popular with the RV folks too.

Other than your car's gas tank, an apartment isn't a good place to store gasoline.

A network of people who will share resources, hold livestock, etc. can be a real asset.

John Vandemark
ORCA Public Relations

[Lutefisk]

Originally posted by johnson1
The quietest, and somewhat pricey generators are the Honda Inverter series: EU1000i, EU2000i, and EU3000i. Yamaha also has a quiet inverter series with similar prices. They are computer/electronic safe. Quiet enough that you can talk at a normal level only a few feet away from the generator. Popular with the RV folks too.

Other than your car's gas tank, an apartment isn't a good place to store gasoline.

A network of people who will share resources, hold livestock, etc. can be a real asset.

John Vandemark
ORCA Public Relations

Yep, those are the ones.

My wife has said, "Go ahead and get one" but I still have sticker shock.

But, once you see and hear one running you'll want one too. They are a whole different breed than the Home Depot models.

[Fuzzy]

We have a Honda EU3000i. It is unbelievably quiet. It also has a separate winding for DC that can be used to charge your batteries or run an inverter without lowering the overall load.
If memory serves we paid about $1900 for the generator, wheel kit, cover, and DC harness.
I'll post the info on the film later tonight.

Fuzz

[Navymedic]

My wife found one (unknown brand) for 950w for under $200.00 I didn't want to make the buy without consulting with you guys, because I value your opinion as well as my $$$ :D
I'm in the same boat Maria, my other problem would be theft, kinda sucks worring about the Gen being stolen in the middle of the night while your sleeping :mad2:

[filishy]

Thank you all for ideas and opinions.

I agree that an apartment is not the best place to store gasoline; I worked for way too many years in the oil industry to know its dangers. So, even if I had the money to buy one of these marvels, I know I wouldn't do it.

That leaves me with the battery-inverter-charger combo, I guess. That alternative would not work if we get hit like we did last year simply because after Charlie we were out of power for 11 days. Yes, 11. Fortunately at the time I only had FW tanks and while I lost 4 fishes and all of my plants (they both were planted aquariums) the financial loss was not really severe.

This year though, I would take a hit if we had an outtage like that one.

This brings me to something... do we have a list with people's addresses, phone numbers and emails of ORCA members that we can distribute BEFORE the storms in case we need each other this coming summer-hurricane season? As John mentioned (thank you John... :)) "... A network of people who will share resources, hold livestock, etc. can be a real asset."

If we are hit like last year, I'm certainly going to need some of your kindness and help.

Maria.

[johnson1]

ORCA's membership privacy policy is to not disclose contact information for our general membership. Of course, members may exchange contact information as they desire. Last year several members exchanged this information specifically for hurricane preparation. You are welcome to pass around a sign-up form at an ORCA meeting for this purpose.

ORCA has some really exciting things in the works!

John Vandemark
ORCA Public Relations

[filishy]

Thank you, John.

Maria.

[Aquaman]

You will need to check with your apartment management before renting or buying and using a generator. I heard several people last year got into trouble for using them.

[Navymedic]

Originally posted by Aquaman
You will need to check with your apartment management before renting or buying and using a generator. I heard several people last year got into trouble for using them.

I plan on getting one never the less, I'll jump that hurtle when I get to it, besides I would LOVE for someone to tell me after a hurricane and power outage that I can't feed my kids or keep milk in my fridge for my little one, They don't want to see when I'm angry :HULK:

[orb]

here's a good thread about a diy battery/charger combo. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64918&highlight=battery this server dumped the pictures of course, but good reading none the less. some pics are on that guy's site that started thread, http://mistressreef.homestead.com/ i'm going to build one to run my pumps during the day while i'm gone at work.

[johnson1]

It's pretty easy to spot a house with a generator running... the neighborhood's dark, the homes lights are on, the generator's making noise. Can't run it in the garage either because of carbon monoxide poisoning. NEVER run inside the home. Generators become a theft target.

Home Depot and Loew's sell cable locks, it took about a week last year after the hurricane for them to sell out. Tough to cut, buys some time. Buy a generator, buy a cable lock.

John Vandemark
ORCA Public Relations

[Navymedic]

Good idea, I was thinking of one of them bicycle cables myself ;)

[jay24k]

I don't own a gun but I down one of those large swords. If I hear my generator turn off or my lights cut off, you better believe I'm going to go medieval on someone's ***.

Another idea is to build a small wood enclosure outside your garage. Leave enough opening to vent the fumes and heat. Use a cheap piece for the roof so it doesn't get wet. Then anchor it into the cement using tap cons. It should deter someone stealing it. Then make sure the door that you access the unit is facing the garage door so only when it's open, can you get the generator out. :)

[Navymedic]

sorry I made a booboo :o

[jeffbrig]

Originally posted by jay24k
If I hear my generator turn off or my lights cut off, you better believe I'm going to go medieval on someone's ***.


Yep....my generator setup includes a big fat chain, a padlock, and a big oak tree :D. Whenever the lights go out, I'm outside in a flash, even if it just needs more gas!

[skuntking]

lets pray we dont have a year like last year, hopefully it dosent happen for another 20 years or so like before.

[Damn Yankee]

I know a guy who woke up in the middle of the night sweating and didn't see his fan turning. He thought it blew a fuse or the plug came loose because he could still hear his generator running.
When he went out to fix it, to his surprise the theives stole the generator but left a run down old lawnmower running in it;s place