Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Power cut  (Read 2927 times)

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Power cut
« on: December 23, 2018, 08:42:06 pm »
It went out this morning. Well, that put me in the proverbal doghouse 'cos i still haven't got around to sorting out the carburettor on the genny and V likes to think the worst of every situation... as in turn a nuisance into a panic. Yes, Christmas was going to be cancelled, she'd have to put off the relatives, there's no water from the borehole etc. etc.

It's gone off before and always come back in an hour or two except for one time it was 36hrs so naturally this was going to be out for the whole christmas week and into the new year..

We are reasonable organised as one has to be..a couple of camping gas stoves and plenty of battery led lamps and some bottled drinking water and we have the woodburner.

Of course the fancy cordless phones all stop working and we can't get a mobile signal anywhere near and two freezers are going to thaw out as well as the fridges..

V did calm down a bit after I boiled a kettle and she had the second coffee. It's peeing down with rain so waterbutts full for loo flushing with a bucket and save what's in the tank for more important. I got the woodburner fired up to keep a kettle warm on it.. so long as i keep pouring coffee down her she stays calmer (paradox).

I dug out an old-fashioned simple phone and plugged it in.. we had a line. I offered to bring tractor up and  attach an inverter to it that should at least power up the internet and mobile phones can always be recharged in my fancy indulgence of a Tesla Car - not that we could top that up with the home charging system but it had 100 miles of power stored.

When V had calmed down enough and the outage was still on-going she rang up the leccy company. It turned out we were the only outage reported. Suprisingly, especially since it was the sunday before christmas, and apparently since we're over 60 and therefore a priority (we were stunned at that) they'd have a crew out within an hour!! Wow it takes most folk longer than that to find us when they're local.

In case it wasn't an easy fix I bailed out of the on-going doom-mongering and took the Tesla for a drive to Telford for a free recharge. It's 45 miles away but I enjoy driving the thing and half the trip can be done on autosteer. In fact by the time I got there and called back home the leccy crew had arrived mob-handed - still i get free recharging at Tesla superchargers and topping it up free to the full 300miles is always nice and i get to play on the car's free internet while it charges.

My theory that it was the pole transformer that failed was proven correct.. they found a fried pheasant that had shorted it out and it was a simple fuse replacement and V's panic was over by the time I had charged up and was on my way back.

Of course my name is still mud over the genny but if it wasn't that then something else would be my fault....

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: Power cut
« Reply #1 on: December 24, 2018, 10:00:43 am »
Oh, the joys of country living! been there done that etc... I didn't rea?ise the over 60s thing though - is that in england? Weve been offered a generator in the past when we had incubators running but they seem to be getting better at fixing the lines these days - albeit we haven't been hit by severe storms. Now, thats tempting fate!

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Power cut
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2018, 10:38:02 am »
Oh, the joys of country living! been there done that etc... I didn't rea?ise the over 60s thing though - is that in england? Weve been offered a generator in the past when we had incubators running but they seem to be getting better at fixing the lines these days - albeit we haven't been hit by severe storms. Now, thats tempting fate!
We're in Wales. Dunno how national the priority list is or how comprehensive (V heard the list)

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Power cut
« Reply #3 on: December 24, 2018, 12:17:36 pm »
We are both priority here in Scotland, although we thought it was because of major health issues, not just age.  They positively grovel to sort us as quickly as possible  :thumbsup:   The longest our power has been out was 5 days back in about 2001 (before either of us was priority), when the whole countryside was buried under snow.  Power company had choppers out trying to find the lines.  We are all set up for power cuts with 2 generators, a wood stove for emergency cooking as well as a flat camping stove, candles, torches, loads of food.  What is really annoying is that when the road finally gets cleared of snow, the plough reblocks our access by dumping extra huge piles of snow there  :rant:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
Re: Power cut
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2018, 04:30:38 pm »
We are both priority here in Scotland, although we thought it was because of major health issues, not just age.  They positively grovel to sort us as quickly as possible  :thumbsup:   The longest our power has been out was 5 days back in about 2001 (before either of us was priority), when the whole countryside was buried under snow.  Power company had choppers out trying to find the lines.  We are all set up for power cuts with 2 generators, a wood stove for emergency cooking as well as a flat camping stove, candles, torches, loads of food.  What is really annoying is that when the road finally gets cleared of snow, the plough reblocks our access by dumping extra huge piles of snow there  :rant:

I'm not the only one then

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Power cut
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2019, 10:51:19 pm »
You can sign up for priority  resupply  for many reasons  over sixty , physically disabled  or long term health such as needing  an oxygen supply , intensive live stock production critical service supplier ie. doctor .

 Go on line and check it out on the suppliers website 

 But you can't beat a small 2.2 K pure sine wave suitcase petrol stand by genny genny with an auto  infrared fob start . all ready  ready to be plugged in to an independent set of sockets in your home with a long heavy duty extension lead  is handy .
I can unplug my heating  & run it from a live genny socket , same with the internet , computers and plug in LED  lighting such as bedside lamps , a lamp stand .

 We run a four burner gas hob with two of the large four foot six tall propane cylinders hooked up to it . The heating is by 32 second oil .

So for a prolonged sixteen foot deep fall of snow(  :yuck: )  we can  use a pressure cooker and pans on the hob and still have central heating , lights and perhaps the internet via the router or  use Alison's or Holly's smart phones if the BT line is down . . .
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Power cut
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2019, 11:41:27 pm »
We're both over 60 and both disabled so are classed as priority so someone was out to us very quickly recently even though it was late evening. They got it back on but it blew again as soon as they left so OH switched everything off then switched on one at a time to find out what was causing the shorting. Turned out that when he had knocked over a glass of water earlier, some had splashed into the electric extension sockets. As soon as he had removed that from the power socket, all was well. A night on the radiator and the extension sockets were back in use.


pgkevet, I didn't realise you are so near to us. We are in Telford.

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Power cut
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2019, 09:36:16 am »
......
pgkevet, I didn't realise you are so near to us. We are in Telford.
It's an hour drive from me (nearest town is Llanfyllin) but I enjoy driving the Tesla at the moment and we retired folk have time... plus I save a tenner on electricity with a free top-up and get to do any needed shopping in Shrewbury on the way

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Power cut
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2019, 09:44:19 pm »
......
pgkevet, I didn't realise you are so near to us. We are in Telford.
It's an hour drive from me (nearest town is Llanfyllin) but I enjoy driving the Tesla at the moment and we retired folk have time... plus I save a tenner on electricity with a free top-up and get to do any needed shopping in Shrewbury on the way



If you fancy a cuppa next time you come this way, give us a pm.

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
Re: Power cut
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2019, 10:16:49 pm »
Our power went off this evening, oh well, another log on the fire, kettle just on the boil ,battery lantern and a good book.
SSE rang (as a priority raspberry ripple pensioner  :eyelashes:  )   said lights will be out for 2 to 3 hours, nice of them to call. No need for the genny for that time.

 

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