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PSA: heatwave and pge shutdown

I bought a nice battery powered rechargeable fan on Amazon a couple years ago I use all the time around the house but also as an emergency fan for tanks. Big battery. The brand I bought isn’t available anymore but there are a bunch of exact clones with same descriptions and same pictures still for sale, and this one is on a lightning deal right now:

 
Da_Neefer said:
Interesting result I've not seen in the past.


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I’m on Block 50 which was previously group 0, as I live down the street from my local Fire station. Power was still shut off for 3 days back in 2019 which obviously caused a catastrophic tank crash and took me out of the hobby for a couple years. I learned that you can’t believe everything that you read or that you’re told and prepare for the worse. Generator and back-up batteries. I did have 2 backup batteries setup during that time but the ice cap didn’t last and the Ecotech failed. So test those batteries regularly also.
 
I'm in block 50 too but it doesn't protect you from unexpected power outages like a truck hitting a power line or tree coming down. We didn't get hit with any of the old Enron related outages in 2000 though.

The ecotech ones die after like 5-6 years for me but there's a good YouTube video that shows you how to replace the inside with a cheap battery that's way less than buying a whole new unit (and more green).

In emergencies you can also use the power strip batteries for computers.
Reefinglens said:
I’m on Block 50 which was previously group 0, as I live down the street from my local Fire station. Power was still shut off for 3 days back in 2019 which obviously caused a catastrophic tank crash and took me out of the hobby for a couple years. I learned that you can’t believe everything that you read or that you’re told and prepare for the worse. Generator and back-up batteries. I did have 2 backup batteries setup during that time but the ice cap didn’t last and the Ecotech failed. So test those batteries regularly also.
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Darkxerox said:
I'm in block 50 too but it doesn't protect you from unexpected power outages like a truck hitting a power line or tree coming down. We didn't get hit with any of the old Enron related outages in 2000 though.

The ecotech ones die after like 5-6 years for me but there's a good YouTube video that shows you how to replace the inside with a cheap battery that's way less than buying a whole new unit (and more green).

In emergencies you can also use the power strip batteries for computers.
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Yeah, I'm on block 50 as well, and we loose power all the time (Felton).
 
Reefinglens said:
I’m on Block 50 which was previously group 0, as I live down the street from my local Fire station. Power was still shut off for 3 days back in 2019 which obviously caused a catastrophic tank crash and took me out of the hobby for a couple years. I learned that you can’t believe everything that you read or that you’re told and prepare for the worse. Generator and back-up batteries. I did have 2 backup batteries setup during that time but the ice cap didn’t last and the Ecotech failed. So test those batteries regularly also.
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I'm not taking being in block 50 for granted. I pull out the generator to test and change the oil at least once every 6 months.
 
garage tank, cooling by one big fan, but insulated wall/door which really helped with locking down the temperature without the help of AC

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Darkxerox said:
I'm in block 50 too but it doesn't protect you from unexpected power outages like a truck hitting a power line or tree coming down. We didn't get hit with any of the old Enron related outages in 2000 though.

The ecotech ones die after like 5-6 years for me but there's a good YouTube video that shows you how to replace the inside with a cheap battery that's way less than buying a whole new unit (and more green).

In emergencies you can also use the power strip batteries for computers.
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I just found out yesterday that I am on block 50 as well... and I was feeling pretty invincible until I read this thread lol. It said on the PGE website that block 50 are exempt from rolling blackouts but not from "emergency power outages". I took that to mean that we are safe from power "saving" measures such as during a heatwave but not when it is a natural catastrophe (wildfire, storm, etc) that causes the power outage. The 3 years that we have lived here, we have been unaffected by rolling blackouts and even during the bad wildfire season. I think it's because we have a firestation down our street and a major hospital 5 minutes away. Regardless, I do have an Ecoflow back up battery ready to go just incase.
 
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That's weird even though CAL-ISO(?) today was saying all over the news that they managed to get through the day without any rolling blackouts.

At least today is cooler, or at least it is in SF, yesterday was 86° when I dropped my kid off at school, today it was only 67°
 
sfsuphysics said:
That's weird even though CAL-ISO(?) today was saying all over the news that they managed to get through the day without any rolling blackouts.

At least today is cooler, or at least it is in SF, yesterday was 86° when I dropped my kid off at school, today it was only 67°
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One of my coworkers yesterday said they were having an outage from a rolling outage, but it was an equipment failure outage instead. Probably a lot of people are similarly misinterpreting their outages during the heat wave.
 
Wow, I’m sure glad I left CA. Although, our governor (Polis) seems intent on taking CO in the same direction. Are the whole house natural gas generators allowed in CA?
 
Flagg37 said:
Wow, I’m sure glad I left CA. Although, our governor (Polis) seems intent on taking CO in the same direction. Are the whole house natural gas generators allowed in CA?
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<Snipped rant, TL;DR i blame the power companies who haven't built out production to adequate levels, not the state... at least on everything except nuclear, that I blame the state>

But ranting against the power companies aside, there is no ban on natural gas generators at least now on a state level. There will be a ban on the sale of gasoline powered generators starting in 2028, but not propane, natural gas or diesel.

JVU said:
One of my coworkers yesterday said they were having an outage from a rolling outage, but it was an equipment failure outage instead. Probably a lot of people are similarly misinterpreting their outages during the heat wave.
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Yeah some up near Davis were out of power for hours but it was because a transformer exploded or something, i.e. an actual power failure outage that coincided with talk of rolling blackouts.
 
Flagg37 said:
Wow, I’m sure glad I left CA. Although, our governor (Polis) seems intent on taking CO in the same direction. Are the whole house natural gas generators allowed in CA?
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I believe the natural gas ban are at the local level. My work place (in San Jose) just installed a generator back up (as part of emergency readiness preparation) and was forced to install a giant Diesel Generator because San Jose bans Natural gas. Talk about freaking craziness!
 
In the same vein, is anyone experiencing brown-out conditions? At the outlets, our voltage is 100 during the heat of the day, then bumps back up in the night. We have not checked it anywhere else yet. Is this PG&E's doing or due to power line equipment and heat or our own wiring?
 
MolaMola said:
In the same vein, is anyone experiencing brown-out conditions? At the outlets, our voltage is 100 during the heat of the day, then bumps back up in the night. We have not checked it anywhere else yet. Is this PG&E's doing or due to power line equipment and heat or our own wiring?
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I’ve seen as low as 105V but I haven’t testing at peak draw time.
 
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