how many hope for a power failure
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flashlightDR
Newly Enlightened
Its only the matter of time!
Brock
Flashaholic
don't hope for it but don't dread it either. I do like a good thunderstorm to take pics of though, like this one.
My other hobby...
My other hobby...
Silviron
Flashlight Enthusiast
Great Photo Brock!
Hugo Drax.... Wasn't that the Villian in one of the James Bond books???
Hugo Drax.... Wasn't that the Villian in one of the James Bond books???
Monsters_Inc
Banned
That is amazing Brock, how many shots did you have to take before that one? Its-a-beaudy-mate!
kalengkong
Newly Enlightened
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif Still waiting here in Sydney. NOT YET HAPPENED UNTIL NOW. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
Monsters_Inc
Banned
Didn't you get that powerout for 2 seconds the other day when it rained?
In about 1997 I had a 5 day power failure. Really, really BIG storm! Fortunately, it was May, and the weather was nice. But my Maglites sure didn't cut it. I had a $4 headlamp I had bought at Target.
It used 4 AA's, and a PR base lamp. I quickly discovered that even a crappy headlamp is far better than a good flashlight for everyday tasks during a power failure. I had several sets of nicads, and I brought all of my chargers and batteries to work every day, and charged them up.
I also learned how hard it is to read by candlelight. I was lucky to have some candles on hand; most stores were without power also, and were closed, and those that weren't sold out of flashlights, batteries, and candles in the first day. For the first day or 2, there were hundreds of thousands of homes without power. I remember having to go to about a dozen gas stations before I found one with power
Five days without electricity...it got pretty boring. I was just happy to have hot water, and a gas stove. And free dry ice from work, which kept my food from spoiling.
Now I have a Photon Fusion, which is ideal as a power failure light. And lots of other LED lights, as well. My EternaLight Elite Xray got a fair amount of use, uring the last power failure. During a power failure, it would be nice to have enough CMG Infinities to have 1 or 2 lit in every room.
It used 4 AA's, and a PR base lamp. I quickly discovered that even a crappy headlamp is far better than a good flashlight for everyday tasks during a power failure. I had several sets of nicads, and I brought all of my chargers and batteries to work every day, and charged them up.
I also learned how hard it is to read by candlelight. I was lucky to have some candles on hand; most stores were without power also, and were closed, and those that weren't sold out of flashlights, batteries, and candles in the first day. For the first day or 2, there were hundreds of thousands of homes without power. I remember having to go to about a dozen gas stations before I found one with power
Five days without electricity...it got pretty boring. I was just happy to have hot water, and a gas stove. And free dry ice from work, which kept my food from spoiling.
Now I have a Photon Fusion, which is ideal as a power failure light. And lots of other LED lights, as well. My EternaLight Elite Xray got a fair amount of use, uring the last power failure. During a power failure, it would be nice to have enough CMG Infinities to have 1 or 2 lit in every room.
sld
Newly Enlightened
We were off from mid afternoon Thursday till about noon Sunday due to a broken netural in the drop from the street to out house. I'm still fixing all the electronic devices that fried when the wire broke. ARC LS and AAA used mainly, PAL near the bedroom door for a night light got us through.
Steve
Steve
Brock
Flashaholic
Onyx, I generally take about 150 shot a storm and of those I get about 15 with something, then about 1 or 2 of those are centered and good. This was a nice storm with about 5 good shots. Having a digital camera helps a lot, it would be to expensive otherwise /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
The power did go out with that storm, for about 3 hours, only used about 3% of my 10kw battery bank before power was back on.
The power did go out with that storm, for about 3 hours, only used about 3% of my 10kw battery bank before power was back on.
James S
Flashlight Enthusiast
Brock, beautiful shot! You need to put up some full sized ones for us to grab as wallpaper!
I spent 3 years living in Madison, there are some beautiful places in Wisconsin.
You obviously have a fancier digital camera than I do. Mine takes a nice snapshot, but you can't get anything like that with it.
Oh, topic, umm, YES, I hope for a power failure! Power here hasn't gone out since I signed up here on CPF. Normally I have my house and X10 stuff programmed to bring up lights gently as you walk around during the night, but I have a "I'm playing with my flashlights" mode that will leave me in the dark if I wish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I spent 3 years living in Madison, there are some beautiful places in Wisconsin.
You obviously have a fancier digital camera than I do. Mine takes a nice snapshot, but you can't get anything like that with it.
Oh, topic, umm, YES, I hope for a power failure! Power here hasn't gone out since I signed up here on CPF. Normally I have my house and X10 stuff programmed to bring up lights gently as you walk around during the night, but I have a "I'm playing with my flashlights" mode that will leave me in the dark if I wish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
EMPOWERTORCH
Enlightened
Power failures are common in Thringstone... it seems as though you get short ones once a month or so. A torchaholic is nearly always prepared!
Quite what i'd do in a 5 day power outage I don't know. There was widespread disruption in Norfolk and some customers were left without power for 1 or 2 weeks!
I think that we do rely too much on the old 240V 50Hz in this country... if there was to be a major weather event, or, heaven forbid, a terrorist attack on key installations on the National Grid, England would grind to a halt pretty quickly! As a previous person found out, you're ok until you run out of petrol! But such an event would really teach us how fragile our technological lifestyle is without power. I myself would make sure that I could get petrol from somewhere, and fill a jerry can up, as well as the bike's own tank!
I think that it would be an interesting scenario to develop into a short novellette!
Quite what i'd do in a 5 day power outage I don't know. There was widespread disruption in Norfolk and some customers were left without power for 1 or 2 weeks!
I think that we do rely too much on the old 240V 50Hz in this country... if there was to be a major weather event, or, heaven forbid, a terrorist attack on key installations on the National Grid, England would grind to a halt pretty quickly! As a previous person found out, you're ok until you run out of petrol! But such an event would really teach us how fragile our technological lifestyle is without power. I myself would make sure that I could get petrol from somewhere, and fill a jerry can up, as well as the bike's own tank!
I think that it would be an interesting scenario to develop into a short novellette!
Zelandeth
Flashlight Enthusiast
I do. Power here likes going out for about 5 mins at a time - just long enough for me to get the flashlights into action, and the parents to start finding candles...then it comes back on again, and everyone goes blind.
Hasn't gone out for a long time in a fair while though. '96 it was out for 8 days when we were totally snowed in and all the lines were down, but it wasn't really a problem. We knew the weather would be bad, had plenty of batts, food, and cabdles (along with matches). We've an old wood-burning stove (or did in the old house) that provided cooking, house-wide heating and hot water - and had what we reckoned to be about 5 years worth of wood stacked out the back of the house. So we were all right.
Hasn't gone out for a long time in a fair while though. '96 it was out for 8 days when we were totally snowed in and all the lines were down, but it wasn't really a problem. We knew the weather would be bad, had plenty of batts, food, and cabdles (along with matches). We've an old wood-burning stove (or did in the old house) that provided cooking, house-wide heating and hot water - and had what we reckoned to be about 5 years worth of wood stacked out the back of the house. So we were all right.
D
**DONOTDELETE**
Guest
it's no use hoping..off-grid, solar-powered "ConTed" never goes down! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif
JSWrightOC
Enlightened
[ QUOTE ]
sld said:
We were off from mid afternoon Thursday till about noon Sunday due to a broken netural in the drop from the street to out house. I'm still fixing all the electronic devices that fried when the wire broke. ARC LS and AAA used mainly, PAL near the bedroom door for a night light got us through.
Steve
[/ QUOTE ]
OUCH!
A broken neutral is the next-to-last kind of power problem you want to have...unless all of your electronics have 100-250V switching power supplies (a few, but not many). Just for the reference...a bad neutral can be observed by lights getting *brighter* on the opposite leg as a large load when you turn it on (vacuum cleaner, for instance). You can also check it with a voltmeter--if it rises above 125-130V RMS continuously, you have a problem. Don't worry, this is a highly feared problem among the utility companies. All you have to say is "bad neutral" and they will come.
On the subject, we had a brief (~2 sec.) outtage a few nights ago during a bad thunderstorm, and without even thinking I snatched from its holster my light and turned it on! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif
sld said:
We were off from mid afternoon Thursday till about noon Sunday due to a broken netural in the drop from the street to out house. I'm still fixing all the electronic devices that fried when the wire broke. ARC LS and AAA used mainly, PAL near the bedroom door for a night light got us through.
Steve
[/ QUOTE ]
OUCH!
A broken neutral is the next-to-last kind of power problem you want to have...unless all of your electronics have 100-250V switching power supplies (a few, but not many). Just for the reference...a bad neutral can be observed by lights getting *brighter* on the opposite leg as a large load when you turn it on (vacuum cleaner, for instance). You can also check it with a voltmeter--if it rises above 125-130V RMS continuously, you have a problem. Don't worry, this is a highly feared problem among the utility companies. All you have to say is "bad neutral" and they will come.
On the subject, we had a brief (~2 sec.) outtage a few nights ago during a bad thunderstorm, and without even thinking I snatched from its holster my light and turned it on! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif
Silviron
Flashlight Enthusiast
Ahh, man you guys that pray for a power outage. BAH! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif
We had just a little squall here at 5PM. Only rain at all was concentrated in about a 1/2 mile radius around here; One bolt of lightning. A couple of pretty rainbows.
Hit the two utility poles closest to my house, even though there are taller trees all over the place. Took out the transformer on the power pole and the distribution "box" (including my broadband internet on the other)
Well, the power was back on by about 7PM...
Lightning sure can do weird things though.
Everything inside OK, but the light bulb by the driveway was burned out and both power garage door openers are messed up.... One will work with the remote, but not with any of the manual controls. The other one opened on its own when I unplugged it and plugged it back in, but after that, it won't do anyting at all. Everything else on that circuit is fine. Guess I'll rip them apart tomorrow and see if they are repairable.
Cable guy finished about 9PM. Both computers and the cable modem is just fine (Thank God, that's the most important thing.)
But here is where it gets really strange: The splitter that divides the cable line between the modem and the TV here on my desk is messed up on the TV side, as is the cable itself between the splitter and the the TV set. There was a very fine coating of black sooty looking stuff all over the threads on all the cable connectors and the splitter itself. Have to head back over to Radio Shack tomorrow.
Well, it very easily could have been worse.
We had just a little squall here at 5PM. Only rain at all was concentrated in about a 1/2 mile radius around here; One bolt of lightning. A couple of pretty rainbows.
Hit the two utility poles closest to my house, even though there are taller trees all over the place. Took out the transformer on the power pole and the distribution "box" (including my broadband internet on the other)
Well, the power was back on by about 7PM...
Lightning sure can do weird things though.
Everything inside OK, but the light bulb by the driveway was burned out and both power garage door openers are messed up.... One will work with the remote, but not with any of the manual controls. The other one opened on its own when I unplugged it and plugged it back in, but after that, it won't do anyting at all. Everything else on that circuit is fine. Guess I'll rip them apart tomorrow and see if they are repairable.
Cable guy finished about 9PM. Both computers and the cable modem is just fine (Thank God, that's the most important thing.)
But here is where it gets really strange: The splitter that divides the cable line between the modem and the TV here on my desk is messed up on the TV side, as is the cable itself between the splitter and the the TV set. There was a very fine coating of black sooty looking stuff all over the threads on all the cable connectors and the splitter itself. Have to head back over to Radio Shack tomorrow.
Well, it very easily could have been worse.
