Community Resources & Connections

Hey Ohana, here is a guide I wrote for the Red Road Resiliency Network regarding Storm Prep. We have another system moving in this weekend and I know most of us are still soggy. Most of this is specific to off-grid/semi off-grid living, you can skip those parts if you’re on grid. Maybe some of this will help:

Generators are great but like all internal combustion engines they need maintenance. You wouldn’t leave your car to sit for years and expect it to start right up!

Generators should be run at least twice a year, if not quarterly. The problem with doing that in Puna is that gas goes bad, ambient moisture bonds to the alcohol in our newer gas and humidity will seep into a gas tank that isn’t 100% full. Getting ethanol-free gas helps some but only if you’re going to use the gas. Ethanol free serves to protect hoses, lines, seals, and floats that ethanol can corrode and it reduces water getting into the gas but it doesn’t stop it or mean that the gas won’t go bad. Gasoline, a part of crude oil/petroleum is made up of several chemicals that will, with time continue to separate thus continuing to separate into light and heavy bits. After 6 months gasoline will separate into varnish which coats, clogs, and gums up very important parts of your motors. It literally glues them shut. Water and alcohol will rise to the top and don’t burn very well. If your generator is carbureted that varnish and alcohol can cause numerous issues that can not only prevent start up but ruin parts of the machine. So first things first if you have gas over a year old drain it, you can discard it or add it to a larger full tank of gas, like in your car where it will be diluted. DISCARD any gummy, honey-like varnish! Conveniently many carburetors have a screw on the bottom of the carburetor bowl where collected water, varnish, and debris can be drained. If you’re really lucky there’s even a hose attached to drain it neatly. Once you do that refill with fresh gas, and even a cleaning agent to dissolve any left over varnish. Sea foam, carburetor cleaner, or injector cleaner can work. Once started the generator might run a bit rough but should improve. Ideally you never have to address this. Fuel preservative additives like Sta-bil or Fuel Fresh when added to gas will greatly extend the life of gas in Puna. Follow instructions on mixing. If you’re not going to regularly run your generator then it’s best to run it entirely dry. Try to start it once or twice after it dies to get all the gas out. If you are going to use it more regularly, add fuel stabilizer and try to keep the tank full. Run it for at least 10 minutes to get up to temperature and make sure it’s producing electricity correctly. This really goes for all ICE motors, generators, mowers, chainsaws, cars, pressure washers, whatever has a gas motor.

Fuel injected generators are superior in that they are easier to start, don’t have finicky carburetors, and are less to maintain. Propane generators avoid gasoline all together at the cost of a slightly lower output. A tank of propane virtually never goes bad and never clogs a carburetor, many generators can be converted to propane, but it can void the warranty. It goes without saying that Honda brand generators are highly superior in most every aspect but price. The EU line is very quiet, portable, and use very little gasoline. Even a non-EU Honda tends to be much quieter, fuel efficient, and reliable than every other brand. They’re also about the only brand that you can get worked on here. A generator can last as long as a car. If you have the option, buy once, buy right.

The last big issue with generators is those with a battery start. The small batteries they use are only good for an average of 5 years under our conditions. Running the generator recharges the battery, but it should be run for at least an hour or two to do that. Starter batteries lose charge with time. The longer they sit at low charge, the weaker they become permanently. To avoid this if you’re not regularly using the generator, you can spend $15-25 for a trickle charger/battery tender. You simply attach this to the battery and plug it in and your battery will always be charged and last as long as possible. It’s good to mark the date you buy a battery so you know how old it is, if you’re smarter than me you can do that with gas too.

Oil changes are easy on generators and should be done according to manufacturers instructions. Oil color should be like dark tea or lighter. If it’s opaque, looks like coffee or is black it needs to be changed. Air filters are also easy, if your generator is over 5 years old or regularly used, you probably need a new air filter.

Make sure to always use the shortest thickest extension cord you have first. A long skinny cord is a fire hazard and will strain the generator and devices it’s powering. The more power you’re using the thicker the cord needs to be. The water pump is probably your biggest draw. Some are 220v, if you’re trying to power those make sure you have a 220v outlet on your generator and/or extension cord. There are various 220v cord ends. Make sure you have the right ones! Make sure cords aren’t a tripping hazard or that they aren’t arranged so that water runs down the cord and cause damage or electrocution. Any joints between cords out in the rain should be elevated out of water and have a cover over them that will keep rain off. Check those plugs occasionally! You don’t want a heart attack or electrocution because of an extension cord!

Don’t put your generator next to flammable items, fuel, or things that will melt with the exhaust. Never put a generator inside. Carbon monoxide kills many people a year. In colder climates people will put a generator in the garage and then the exhaust can seep into the house under the door or through vents and kill people. Don’t go looking for a Darwin Award. If you spill gas wipe it up and give it a second to evaporate. Make sure your propane connections are tight. Make sure the generator is on stable ground and won’t shimmy somewhere where it can start a fire, short a cord, or cause damage.

Don’t run your generator unnecessarily and drive your neighbors nuts. I only use my generator for a couple hours a day if that when the power is out. Charge your devices. Phones can be charged in cars. If you can let your water pump run. Use buckets for flushing toilets, pour the water into the top of the tank right after flushing. If you have a pressure tank you likely have a decent amount of water that can be used before the pressure drops. There are lots of light options without a generator. Headlights, battery worklights, or emergency lights are great. Propane stoves light and work fine with a match or lighter.

Before a storm fill your freezer, fridge, and chest freezers with water and ice. Empty plastic bottles are great. (Anything works, but avoid glass) Fill 7/8ths with water so they don’t expand too much as they freeze. Do this days in advance, a gallon jug can take two days to freeze. A bunch of water can take a while. This will give you clean drinking water, save you electricity, and can be used for keeping coolers cool. A full chest freezer unopened can go at least 3 days with no ill effects. My fridge was still cool and the frozen section entirely frozen after 2.5 days. Don’t open them more than absolutely necessary. Fridges with freezers on top will stay cool as the air in the freezer seeps down. Fridges with freezers on the bottom don’t fare as well, though the freezer section will last longer. Side by sides are the least durable for outages. Don’t open the freezer more than necessary and consider putting ice in the fridge section. Thermal mass is very efficient. A full fridge/freezer will stay colder much longer. Put in those water bottles! There will be condensation on the outside of the fridge and freezer, that’s normal. Normally there is electrical heating element that keeps that from happening. Crazy that we heat and cool our fridges and freezers. Two hours daily of power is MORE than enough to keep most fridges going for a week. Maybe skip eating week old deviled egg leftovers in the side by side fridge 😉 Also you can fill your fridge with your favorite hurricane party beverages to help keep it cool. SOP.

Solar systems will be heavily strained during heavy storms. It’s not uncommon to have incoming light drop by 90% in heavy storm weather. Anything over 3 days of rain is wearing on most systems. PLAN ahead. Start conserving. Charge everything before the storm. Check any generators you might have. Most systems will charge better and faster with bigger generators or 220v models. The bigger the generator the more gas it uses. You can spend hours running a generator at max to recharge batteries. That’s tough on the generator, and everyone’s ears. Better to plan ahead, make sure your batteries are full before the storm, don’t plan on doing laundry, take quick showers, unplug fridges, and don’t run the water/toilet unnecessarily. MAKE SURE YOUR PANELS ARE CLEAN. I constantly see panels that look like they’re getting like half the sun they could be. Puna black mold, loves to grow on the wet, warm surface of solar panels. Be careful with water on a roof, let alone water and soap. Don’t make an unfortunate slip and slide. Each day of heavy overcast you will be lucky to get 20% of the energy from the sun you normally do. So each day you use your batteries you’re slowly using up more cpacity and never catching up. It’s like drinking half a glass of water every day but only adding a quarter back. After three days your glass is empty. The lower you run your batteries the shorter their overall lifespan. That’s call your battery’s SOH/state of health. SOC is state of charge, how much usable capacity they have at a moment in time. SOH will diminish with time, just think of an old cell phone battery that won’t hold charge as long. SOC goes up and down most days. The ideal charge state for lithium batteries is 80%. Lead-acid/wet batteries want to be full. Draining either really low is harmful and can substantially shorten how long before you need to replace all of them. Leaving them low for extended periods is much worse. If your solar system is setup correctly it should charge and shut off in such a way that you don’t terribly strain your batteries. A decent lithium battery setup can easily cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Getting 10-15 years out of that investment instead of 5 is a lot of money saved. Be nice, not selfish. Your batteries charge and discharge most every day. Asking them to give it their all without any refill is cruel and expensive. Like humans, they’ll live longest if kept cool, mostly full, have mild regular exercise, and aren’t asked go past their limits. The smaller your system the more fragile it is. Make sure you know how to cycle your system on and off. Make sure you understand what happens if your system shuts down. Most will charge back up when sun is available then turn on automatically, but they won’t be full! Some systems need to have switches flipped if you want to hook to a generator. Have all this figured out before the storm. I don’t like doing this sort of work in the dark with sideways rain. Don’t be that person.

Lastly make sure your cachement cover is on tight. Make sure your overflow is working. Having water lap over the side and blow out a liner sucks. Look for trees that will come down and hit your tank, roof, panels, and gutters. Cut them down NOW, it’s cheaper. Make sure your gutters are clear or heavy rain can pull them off your fascia. Take down any tarps/carports/light greenhouses. They’re expensive trash. Don’t leave any sheets of plywood or roofing around that can go flying and cause damage or injury. Don’t park your vehicles under trees or where they can get flooded. Fill your gas and propane tanks. Handle any meds or medical device needs. Make sure someone will check on you as you can’t likely call 911 or rely on emergency services. Yell over that fence at your neighbor, better than wondering what that smell is on the first sunny day after they slipped and fell or ate an old egg sandwich. Check your chainsaws. Get a book or two, a shelf-stable drink, or snack. Plan on getting wet feet. Have extra boots and socks. Towels won’t dry so have many. Close your windows, wind can come from all sides in a big storm. Put anything on porches and lanais inside that could break or move around. Unplug expensive stuff in case of lightning. Surge protectors are very unreliable. Have a ladder in case a smoke alarm with a low battery or lack of power starts screaming at you.

Make plans to hang out with friends/family/neighbors for meals, games, or socializing. Take a walk in the rain! Talk to your neighbors before and during weather events. Take care of one another. Share your electricity/communication with them. Eat your perishables. That hollandaise sauce and ice cream are early casualties, grill up that fresh fish you JUST bought. Invite the neighbors. Disasters or even mild weather events get us out of our shells and media loops. Duress forces us to remember we aren’t alone and need other people, they need us too. Our communities are often at their best during these times. Once it’s safe, get out, lollygag at nature, be awed at the destruction, think. We are meant to follow nature’s cycles. We evolved that way. Storms wash away the stale, they leave a cleansed palette and help us remember to shake things up a bit every once in a while.