PF17! Flashaholic Get Together: NJ, NY, PA, CT Area +

[Stan671]

Excellent. PF#17 is on my calendar!

 

[TranceGhost]

<----------------- NOOB

Hello all,

Gonna Join My buddy Kid9P for this years event. :thumbsup:

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

Hi, Scott. How are you and your kids and wife doing? New Jersey, New York, Connecticut...we all got socked, and I know NJ got hit pretty badly. One of my friends isn't due to have power back until Saturday morning.

 

[milkyspit]

Re: <----------------- NOOB

Hello all,

Gonna Join My buddy Kid9P for this years event. :thumbsup:

Nice!

 

[milkyspit]

Hi, Scott. How are you and your kids and wife doing? New Jersey, New York, Connecticut...we all got socked, and I know NJ got hit pretty badly. One of my friends isn't due to have power back until Saturday morning.

Thanks for the concern. Yup, we got hit pretty bad. Nobody in Califon has power, and nobody in any neighboring town, either. I really mean NOBODY. Not even the fire department. Some phone switches are starting to fail. Gas station is open a few hours each day on a generator. There are trees across some of the major roads.

We have no heat, water, or electricity, with restoration uncertain: they say "maybe" by Thursday night but nobody has even shown up to do repair work yet. It's almost surreal.

Thankfully, the various Milky Labs creations have kept the house lit every night, and done so efficiently! I also temporarily modded the outdoor entrance to our basement into a refrigerator (36deg and holding) by piling snow down the stairs and putting a box of snow on top of a box of refrigerated goods. Also been cooking chicken nuggets each night on a cookie sheet on the barbeque grill. Almost out of propane, though.

Modded a connector from a big gel cell to my cell phone to recharge when needed.

I expect (hope?) to have power again by Friday... and if so, PF17 will take place as scheduled. If not, I'll post here with updated plans.

I have the tank light here, but no power source. If anyone can bring any car batteries (preferably deep discharge), it would be a BIG win! Need two to power the tank light.

 

[nein166]

Hey Milky I'm in the cold with you, though my neighbors aren't, the county line is 300' away and the lights are on over there. But we are supposed to be back on Wednesday. I still haven't seen any action on the mess, guess the crews just swoop in overnight and take care of it. Hope that your back in action soon.
Sitting around thinking by Milky Candle these past few nights I figured wiring up the house with LEDs for emergency lighting would be a good move, actually I though about it after Irene but that was only 26 hours. So I promptly forgot about it.
Maybe I should buy some deep discharge car batteries to power a string of XM-Ls mounted on the ceiling around the house, though I'd probably need to use a heavy gauge wire for near 100' loop, I'd need to figure a mains powered charger to keep it topped off and turn on in case of power loss. Sounds like I'll need a driver like the Chippo or Hyperboost.

 

[milkyspit]

Hey Milky I'm in the cold with you, though my neighbors aren't, the county line is 300' away and the lights are on over there. But we are supposed to be back on Wednesday. I still haven't seen any action on the mess, guess the crews just swoop in overnight and take care of it. Ho
pe that your back in action soon.
Sitting around thinking by Milky Candle these past few nights I figured wiring up the house with LEDs for emergency lighting would be a good move, actually I though about it after Irene but that was only 26 hours. So I promptly forgot about it.
Maybe I should buy some deep discharge car batteries to power a string of XM-Ls mounted on the ceiling around the house, though I'd probably need to use a heavy gauge wire for near 100' loop, I'd need to figure a mains powered charger to keep it topped off and turn on in case of power loss. Sounds like I'll need a driver like the Ch

ippo or Hyperboost.

Nein, what you need to keep the battery charged is a "battery tender." They charge the battery, then keep it charged indefinitely by waking up every once in a while, checking the cell, and topping off as necessary. They work great and are pretty affordable, too.

 

[Juggernaut]

Haven't been on the forums for a long time just popped in and I see PF 17 is going on "MAYBE" I'll come on down:wave:.

 

[Juggernaut]

After looking into it, the only way I can go is if I hitch a ride with one of you guys "otherwise my bold tires say NO:scowl:!" Anyone near MA?, I can drive out and meet you at your place if you don't mind giving me a ride, of course gas money compensation will be given:thumbsup:.

 

[WadeF]

Hope everyone gets power back soon! They are still trying to restore power to people around here. I was fortunate and our power only flickered at times. Fortunate in the sense we're not without heat, hot water, etc, but I didn't get to use my flashlights.

 

[carrot]

After looking into it, the only way I can go is if I hitch a ride with one of you guys "otherwise my bold tires say NO:scowl:!" Anyone near MA?, I can drive out and meet you at your place if you don't mind giving me a ride, of course gas money compensation will be given:thumbsup:.

Maybe check in with mac or radio? I forget who else lives in MA.

 

[carrot]

After looking into it, the only way I can go is if I hitch a ride with one of you guys "otherwise my bold tires say NO:scowl:!" Anyone near MA?, I can drive out and meet you at your place if you don't mind giving me a ride, of course gas money compensation will be given:thumbsup:.

You might try checking in with mac or Radio.

 

[milkyspit]

Hope everyone gets power back soon! They are still trying to restore power to people around here. I was fortunate and our power only flickered at times. Fortunate in the sense we're not without heat, hot water, etc, but I didn't get to use my flashlights.

The flashlights are the part that's working well! I know I'm the creator of the Milky Candles and this may sound self-promotional, but I'm still amazed with just how long they've been running in practice: been feeding them with mostly dead cells, and still they run several nights without missing a beat. One has been running 24/7 since Saturday with only one battery change.

 

[milkyspit]

I still have no car batteries to power the tank light, and with no power at home yet, I'm not terribly focused on finding any. No batteries, no tank light. Any chance anyone might have one (or two) sitting around? They don't need to be in super great shape... if they hold a charge but cannot start a car, they could still work with the tank light.

 

[Juggernaut]

I still have no car batteries to power the tank light, and with no power at home yet, I'm not terribly focused on finding any. No batteries, no tank light. Any chance anyone might have one (or two) sitting around? They don't need to be in super great shape... if they hold a charge but cannot start a car, they could still work with the tank light.

If I can get a ride, I'll bring mine.

 

[Roger Sully]

I'm still not sure of I can make it yet (I have to drive my daughter and some friends to PA. at some point and I hope it doesn't cut into my PF time) However...I do have 2 car batteries in my garage that i keep forgetting to take back to AutoZone. I'm about 60% towards making it on Saturday and If I do I will drag these along with me.

 

[nein166]

Got my power back yesterday now I just need to start charging batteries up

Scott how many amps does the tank light pull maybe we can put together a bunch of those A123system cells :devil:

 

[Lighthouse one]

I have a jump start battery that I carry. It's only a motorcycle battery inside.

 

[KartRacer31]

Hey everyone I have some cool news! Dorcy has provided me with some great little giveaways for PF17!

As many of you know Dorcy is quite supportive of the CPF community. The offer CPF members 20% off and free shipping all year long! For more info check out www.dorcydirect.com

I'll also be bringing some of their latest lights for everyone to check out, including their brand new 600+ lumen (ANSI rated) MG-XML, which runs on 6xAA. It is really nice, and rather impressive. I'll be doing a full review on it here on CPF, but you guys will get to check it out first at PF17.

Along with the giveaways (there should be enough for every CPF member to go home with something that lights up), Dorcy has also provided some of their new DieHard batteries. These batteries are said to be as good or better than the competition in energy/runtime/quality/price! I'll have some in AA and AAA with me, and I'll be looking for anyone who is willing to do some testing against the competition, just let me know you want some for testing.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at PF17! --Tim

 

[Data]

Milky,

That sucks that you do not have power. How are you keeping your house warm? I hope you get it back soon.

I was out for about 30 hours. Had the generator, fireplace and pellet stove running the entire time to keep the house warm.

The tank light will run for a short time off two big car batteries, it pulls 140 amps on high.

We all understand if you have to cancel the PF. It is such a pain to keep the family happy without power.


Cheers
Dave