Winter Reliability

[CaptSpiff]

Several have mentioned the "gas in the tank" as available for portable generator use, but I have been unsuccessful in siphoning from my cars in the last dozen years. Seems to me they (manufacturers) have become quite effective at obstructing my ability to get a hose down the fill neck. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Ashful]

Several have mentioned the "gas in the tank" as available for portable generator use, but I have been unsuccessful in siphoning from my cars in the last dozen years. Seems to me they (manufacturers) have become quite effective at obstructing my ability to get a hose down the fill neck. Anyone else notice this?

Interesting. I’ve siphoned cars before, but it’s been many years, so always older vehicles.

 

[fbelec]

noticed it also. i think the car manuf have two ref books. one for normal everyday mech. and one for anything to make it hard for the backyard mech to do anything. and we know which one they prefer. back onto the gas in cars tanks because i don't like to taste gas for two days i bought a tool designed for removing gas from tanks. i can't remember the name of the company but airtex comes to mind it's a long one inch clear hose with a valve at the end of the part that goes into the tank. one is supposed to push in and pull out a number of time to pull out the gas. doesn't work well. my latest is trying to remove the gas in the snowblower to change the disc drive in and out of tank to many times to pull gas out and into the 4 gals i bought. doing so with the hose into the plastic tank was chipping away at the plastic tank so that i made 4 gals of gas with plastic in it. and a carb full of or shall i say over full of gas and plastic.
i guess it's better to suck

 

[peakbagger]

I remember while in high school living through the summer of the arab oil embargo. Cars were a lot easier to siphon as they didnt have evaporative emissions control systems and the tanks were generally located close to the filler. I expect a few folks made a lot of money selling antisphoning devices as it wasnt unusual for folks to be out working parking lots ripping off fuel. The devices usually were a conical spring with larger OD than the filler tube. They would be "screwed" in down the filler tube and once in they were difficult to remove. The car could be filed form a gas pump but the spring coils would block the siphon tube from being slipped in.

Subsequent safety standards usually meant relocating the tanks far away from the back bumper and down low between the wheel wells to reduce the chance of rupture. The combination of the two made siphoning gas far more difficult to siphon. Truckers still use the siphon rig with the check valve on the end as the tanks are lot more accessible. It works pretty well.

 

[maple1]

We can heat the place without electricity. Have to keep an eye on the fire, but that gives me something to do.

Usually enough water on hand to get by a day or two without having to start the pump. Have a couple UPSs that we can charge devices with. BBQ on the deck with a couple spare tanks - I can roll it inside to use the side burner if it's nasty out, gotta have coffee. A side burner on a BBQ is a very good thing to have for outages.

I have a 3000w inverter genny that gets pulled out if it's more than a day or so. Runs everything we need, including the pump, while burning very little gas - a couple jugs should last us a week easily. IMO large gennies are kind of a waste and in some cases a handicap depending on the fuel situation, when you consider fuel burned vs. KW needed.

 

[blades]

Might want research "Tommy Pump" that was the original name - it is a tank with a manual vacuum pump attached. you close off the suction tube and manually pump a vacuum in the tank insert hose into liquid to be moved and release valve, vacuum previously pumped does the rest. These were originally made for petroleum products came with an adapert for hose size so you could go down the dip stick tube of an engine for either oil or tranny fluid removal as well as gas. tubing easily replaced a local hardware store cause you know the ethanol will raise h... with vynil/plastic tubes eventually.
Had mine for some 30 years now every so often it comes in real handy.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Several have mentioned the "gas in the tank" as available for portable generator use, but I have been unsuccessful in siphoning from my cars in the last dozen years. Seems to me they (manufacturers) have become quite effective at obstructing my ability to get a hose down the fill neck. Anyone else notice this?

Dude...I'm an engineer...hold my beer and watch this!

 

[CaptSpiff]

Dude...I'm an engineer...hold my beer and watch this!

Hey,... is this you????

 

[jeanw]

y'all guys are so confident.....Listen to Republic Broadcasting network. org... How long y'all think y'all stash will last? every word we type or say is monitored. Soon the thoughts we hold will be transparent and we will all be divide
all it take is a solar strong flare... or an EMP strike
YOU RE can be sure IT WONT COME FROM N KOREA. but prob our own Government or such posing as such. I guess y'all also know how they want to off most of us first.. then will ban all gas appliances, crowd us into cities, impose the death panel. restrict our travel and even water usage. I guess y'all havent examined any who have utility bills how they mention "carbon
credits". Yeah y'all know the CAPTINS AND KINGS who run this planet...
I read in the small local paper that Ky Utilities and LGE are installing more updated smarter meters. Ha. those are the ones that monitor real time usage. Like I heard about and read about many years ago.. It not for us, its to MONITOR every single time a fridge is open etc.
REREAD or watch "Solyent Greens "and "1984". soon they want a cashless society within next two years... Just keep using those debit cards and credit cards and go thru self scanners at big box stores. keep watching that mind numbing BOOB Tube.. Yeah Im a pessistmist but mostly a realist.
but I do take one day or week at a time I hope for the best. I just feel sorry for the later generations...nd even the younger present generations
The local traditional Amish ear the smartest. The ones who are pretty self sufficient. Not the ones who use debit cards, have electricity in their homes. eat processed foods, drink the colas. wow I was flabbergasted when I saw that. LOL
God Bless y'all all and be good to each other

 

[Ashful]

y'all guys are so confident.....Listen to Republic Broadcasting network. org... How long y'all think y'all stash will last? every word we type or say is monitored. Soon the thoughts we hold will be transparent and we will all be divide
all it take is a solar strong flare... or an EMP strike
YOU RE can be sure IT WONT COME FROM N KOREA. but prob our own Government or such posing as such. I guess y'all also know how they want to off most of us first.. then will ban all gas appliances, crowd us into cities, impose the death panel. restrict our travel and even water usage. I guess y'all havent examined any who have utility bills how they mention "carbon
credits". Yeah y'all know the CAPTINS AND KINGS who run this planet...
I read in the small local paper that Ky Utilities and LGE are installing more updated smarter meters. Ha. those are the ones that monitor real time usage. Like I heard about and read about many years ago.. It not for us, its to MONITOR every single time a fridge is open etc.
REREAD or watch "Solyent Greens "and "1984". soon they want a cashless society within next two years... Just keep using those debit cards and credit cards and go thru self scanners at big box stores. keep watching that mind numbing BOOB Tube.. Yeah Im a pessistmist but mostly a realist.
but I do take one day or week at a time I hope for the best. I just feel sorry for the later generations...nd even the younger present generations
The local traditional Amish ear the smartest. The ones who are pretty self sufficient. Not the ones who use debit cards, have electricity in their homes. eat processed foods, drink the colas. wow I was flabbergasted when I saw that. LOL
God Bless y'all all and be good to each other

Okay... will whoever took away Jean’s med’s please return them?

Yes, monitoring of our every keystroke and action is being implemented at a furious pace, but not by some sadistic US government. It is by capitalists trying to compete and extract every last penny from their customer, in an ever-increasing competitive world market.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Okay... will whoever took away Jean’s med’s please return them?

Yes, monitoring of our every keystroke and action is being implemented at a furious pace, but not by some sadistic US government. It is by capitalists trying to compete and extract every last penny from their customer, in an ever-increasing competitive world market.

Actually, it is by the government. The NSA/CIA has been recording all kinds of stuff including private cell phone conversations without warrants for some time. This was a big part of what Snowden uncovered..a big part of the Patriot Act..and is still a big issue with FISA.
This isn't pie in the sky conspiracy theories..this is debated in congress and the senate and is happening openly right now.

 

[Ashful]

Actually, it is by the government... This isn't pie in the sky conspiracy theories..this is debated in congress and the senate and is happening openly right now.

Really? This isn’t conspiracy theory? Really???

they want to off most of us first.. then will ban all gas appliances, crowd us into cities, impose the death panel. restrict our travel and even water usage.

I bequeath unto you, one tinfoil hat.

 

[semipro]

I think summer is maybe a worse time to lose power.
We were without power for 8 days in mid-summer. We had to keep the fridge on a generator because of the heat. Our generator wasn't big enough to run the central HVAC so we opened the windows and ran our fans for cooling.
Unfortunately, open windows don't mix well with a loud and stinky generator. That made for some long nights.
This event convinced me to get a smaller, quieter, more efficient generator for base loads.
The event also convinced me to work towards solar PV with backup for future events.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Really? This isn’t conspiracy theory? Really???

Really..where have you been for 10 years not to know this? Lol

Rand Paul (senator KY) is fighting the legislation right now.

 

[Ashful]

Really..where have you been for 10 years not to know this? Lol

Rand Paul (senator KY) is fighting the legislation right now.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But that is not the part of Jean's post to which I was referring. Sorry I wasn't clear on that. Once again:

they want to off most of us first.. then will ban all gas appliances, crowd us into cities, impose the death panel. restrict our travel and even water usage.

 

[velvetfoot]

When we know a storm is coming, we fill up the bathtubs. It'd be good to check the water tightness of the plugs ahead of time.

We also have a doo dad that warbles when the power comes back while running on generator.

We have an Aladdin Lamp that uses a mantle and runs unpressurized on lamp oil. Even though it's bright, I still kind of like the ordinary wick lamps, which we have several.

I have a sort of collection of 2 d-cell led mag lite flashlights. The batteries don't seem to leak after storing for years in the flashlights.

I also have several led head lamps. Also good for snow blowing or taking out the garbage in the dark.

 

[firefighterjake]

When we know a storm is coming, we fill up the bathtubs. It'd be good to check the water tightness of the plugs ahead of time.

We also have a doo dad that warbles when the power comes back while running on generator.

We have an Aladdin Lamp that uses a mantle and runs unpressurized on lamp oil. Even though it's bright, I still kind of like the ordinary wick lamps, which we have several.

I have a sort of collection of 2 d-cell led mag lite flashlights. The batteries don't seem to leak after storing for years in the flashlights.

I also have several led head lamps. Also good for snow blowing or taking out the garbage in the dark.

On behalf of folks still grounded in reality, thank you for putting this thread back on track.

 

[velvetfoot]

On behalf of folks still grounded in reality, thank you for putting this thread back on track.

Did I mention we have plenty of guns in case of zombie attack?

 

[firefighterjake]

Did I mention we have plenty of guns in case of zombie attack?

Well of course . . . but as we all know the zombie apocalypse will occur from the government spreading the mind control spray. I see it every day when I look up in the sky and see it streaming out from behind the jets.

 

[fbelec]

you guys are funny. velvetfoot what brand batteries do you use that don't leak?

 

[jeanw]

you guys are funny. velvetfoot what brand batteries do you use that don't leak?

just heard Debbie Tavares tonite again on "ground zero with Clyde Lewis" y'all just don't want to believe reality
and remember People will accept most anything if done incrementally Reread "1984" or listen to the library CD....
ill take that tinfoil hat.. nite all

 

[Raithi]

I've always wanted to build a downdraft gasifier to run a gen on wood gas. Not so much because Im a doomsday nutjob, but rather a cheap bastard. It would give me something to do with my treetops. Maybe a summer time welding project for me this year.

Currently though I just run a 3kw inverter hooked up to my old 1710 tractor. I normally always have 50 - 100 gallons of diesel on hand so thats not really a problem for me. Drilled and hand dug wells on my property.

 

[semipro]

I've always wanted to build a downdraft gasifier to run a gen on wood gas. Not so much because Im a doomsday nutjob, but rather a cheap bastard. It would give me something to do with my treetops.

Similarly, I've always wanted to be able to make pellets from my tops using my tractor...and for the same reason.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Well of course . . . but as we all know the zombie apocalypse will occur from the government spreading the mind control spray. I see it every day when I look up in the sky and see it streaming out from behind the jets.

Thats me...just using the lavatory after Wednesday night dollar tacos.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Thats me...just using the lavatory after Wednesday night dollar tacos.

Well, $ tacos definitely sound good...