Weather damage in central michigan (Cont.)

I detailed my damage below - a few shingles, branches, and the 120" tower. Now we got flooding to deal with. Two LARGE ponds popped up in the fields where almost nothing existed before the storm. Considering, I got off lucky. Other farmers in the area (many) had damaged center pivots, barn and tree damage - many large trees broken or tipped out of the ground. Saw one grain bin picked up and rolled 1/4 mile. Lots of power line damage, wires broken, poles broken etc. And I"ve only seen a small amount of the damage. Still out of power, running on generator. Can only run house, barn, or water pump, one at a time - not altogether. Trying to keep refrigeration going, as I have an investment in there! Power company seems to think they"ll get it back today. We"ll see. Reports filtering back, that large areas of state took a hit.

Ray,
I designed a smart circuit for my 3500 w RV generator. I didn't want to buy a bigger generator that uses more fuel, is louder and still doesn't have a 110v 30 amp out.

So, I designed a smart circuit, using relays, contactors, current sensors, 24 vac transformers and timers. Many of the parts I already had. All the parts are commonly used on furnaces and air conditioners. None of the parts were expensive.

My smart circuit will automatically turn off all other loads when it senses the pump is on. After pump shuts off, another circuit instantly powered up. This circuit is for hotplates, lamps, coffee pot. Then a timer will later send power to the refrigerator. I have the timer set for 5 minutes delay. If pump ever comes on, all the other loads are turned off and the cycle starts over.

I no more than finished building the smart circuit, and the power went off for 7 hours. At which time it my smart circuit worked perfectly.

So, I made a new and improved circuit, bought a second RV generator with electric start and a 15 second delay before generator produces electricity. This genny also has a remote start, so I can push a button and start it inside, sweet.

The third generation to my smart circuit, has a feature that will put a shunt in line with the output. Currently I'm using a diode as a shunt. I'm using the diode for up to one second. I'm using this feature for my 4 hp electric chainsaw, which draws very close to 70 peak amps when it's first turned on. The diode soft starts motor. After one second motor gets full power. Because the motor is turning and generating a reverse EMF after one second, the peak current stays within the range of genny when full power is applied. Genny is never stressed. I never have to plug or unplug loads. I can get buy with the genny I already had.

Not to mention, it was fun building something that I can't buy.

George

Great idea, George, but way my farmstead is wired, would be difficult at best. All three legs - house, barn and pump only meet at the main power pole. Each leg is separately backfed. Son has my "good" generator - which has two 220v outlets - he was in that ice storm fiasco in December/January nad gene never made it home. I'm runing my backup, which has a few more watts, but only one 220v outlet, so it's plug and unplug.....

I keep it simple, use only extension cords. No back feeding for me. No transfer switches. I don't lose power many times a year. A few times in the last 30 years, I have lost power for 6-8 days. So, I want to keep the water running and the refrig working. Always camp out in the house. I use portable propane heaters in winter.

My biggest problem is mud from all the rain. Son of a B..... if I didn't have a cow calve in the barn overnight when I wasn't expecting anything for at least another week. The calf must have flopped outside while it was trying to get up and it suffocated in the mud. I've spent all day cleaning up as much of the mess as I can,but there's still just solid ice under it,so when that melts I'll be back to square one. I'm scared to death now that one of them will slip on the ice!
I'm still so scarred from the same mess last year that I was shaking this morning.

Here's a link to the list of flooded roads in the county. Most are up your way Ray.
Flooded roads in Montcalm County

We lucked out a little south and east of you all. We had wind but not enough to do much damage, we never lost power. I hope all is well up there.

Yeah, and they Missed Holland road at 6th Lake!