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Grid reliability with current administration

Hussah ! :)

Looks like we're at the brink of a new war and there's nothing we can do. I am not into politics, can only shake my head over the stupidy.

Whatever, i will not connect my energy supply to the internet, if that is a requirement e.g. for warranty, then that is a no go for me. They simply can't pay me enough to take an incalculable risk.
 
BaronVerde said:
Hussah ! :)

Looks like we're at the brink of a new war and there's nothing we can do. I am not into politics, can only shake my head over the stupidy.

Whatever, i will not connect my energy supply to the internet, if that is a requirement e.g. for warranty, then that is a no go for me. They simply can't pay me enough to take an incalculable risk.
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I seriously doubt we're going to go to war with Russia.

Back when they invaded Crimea, we threatened to kick them out of the SWIFT network.. Putin said if we did that, Russia would consider it an act of war.. The problem is that they were already in Crimea and we threatened them after the fact... that, and the fact that Crimea was culturally mostly Russian anyhow, we let Crimea slide and told Ukraine tough luck.

This time, we told Russia we WILL kick them out if they invade, and the takeaway is that yes, you might consider it an act of war, but so is invading Ukraine.

For those of you who have never sent money to other countries via bank wire transfer, the SWIFT network is required for all transactions.. either that or you load up a wheel barrow of cash or gold and physically transport it to the destination.

Basically, kicking Russia out of SWIFT would absolutely and totally crash their country.. it would send them back to the days when the USSR collapsed. It would put an almost instant halt to all import and exports.

With that in mind, Putin will come to the table and negotiate a settlement.. probably some kind of deal were NATO stops expanding right up to his buffer zone.

With all that said, I'm sure Russian hackers are probably primed and ready to do their best to crash our power grid... I'm not sure if they're capable of that, but American's have become pretty lazy and stupid these past 40 years while the Russian's new found freedoms have removed all kinds of barriers to their progress.

My wife is Russian and I have family in Ukraine so I kind of get an insider look at some of this stuff. Her mother is laughing at how the American media is blowing things out of proportion. Not sure if "mom" is a valid and reliable source but there it is..
 
Yeah, I'm not as concerned with war as cyberattacks, etc. Years ago important circuits were on secure leased lines dedicated end-to-end. Having everything on the net may be cheap but it's also dangerous.
That was interesting info on the complications of a Black Start I read yesterday. Who would think it could take a month or more to get a power grid back online?
"On Feb. 15, 2021, the Texas power grid was four minutes and 37 seconds away from completely collapsing, an event that would have triggered a “black start.” It would have taken months to mend Texas’ electric infrastructure, and left millions without power for just as long." https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/t...g-how-has-it-improved-1-year-later/ar-AATUrOJ
 
Globally, governments spend more than $500 billion on direct subsidies for fossil fuels that contribute to inefficiency, inequity, and negative externalities. If you add the cost of pollution we are looking at 10 times that.

www.brookings.edu

Reforming global fossil fuel subsidies: How the United States can restart international cooperation | Brookings

Johannes Urpelainen and Elisha George discuss fossil fuel subsidies, their effect on the climate crisis, and the United States' role in reforming these subsidies in the Biden era.
www.brookings.edu www.brookings.edu

Fossil Fuels Received $5.9 Trillion In Subsidies in 2020, Report Finds

e360.yale.edu e360.yale.edu

Regardless if you are a climate change denying tea party conservative, or a socialist environmentalist democrat, surely you can agree to end those subsidies, even if it is for different reasons?
 
Yeah, I was unclear. I meant a war generally, like Russia against Ukraine, not specifically the US or any other country/conglomerate going to war with Russia. Which imho would be foolish, there'd be no winners.

Gosh, I should stop hang around here in the forum basement, it costs too much time :) See you in the technical departments.
 
MurphyGuy said:
I seriously doubt we're going to go to war with Russia.

Back when they invaded Crimea, we threatened to kick them out of the SWIFT network.. Putin said if we did that, Russia would consider it an act of war.. The problem is that they were already in Crimea and we threatened them after the fact... that, and the fact that Crimea was culturally mostly Russian anyhow, we let Crimea slide and told Ukraine tough luck.

This time, we told Russia we WILL kick them out if they invade, and the takeaway is that yes, you might consider it an act of war, but so is invading Ukraine.

For those of you who have never sent money to other countries via bank wire transfer, the SWIFT network is required for all transactions.. either that or you load up a wheel barrow of cash or gold and physically transport it to the destination.

Basically, kicking Russia out of SWIFT would absolutely and totally crash their country.. it would send them back to the days when the USSR collapsed. It would put an almost instant halt to all import and exports.

With that in mind, Putin will come to the table and negotiate a settlement.. probably some kind of deal were NATO stops expanding right up to his buffer zone.

With all that said, I'm sure Russian hackers are probably primed and ready to do their best to crash our power grid... I'm not sure if they're capable of that, but American's have become pretty lazy and stupid these past 40 years while the Russian's new found freedoms have removed all kinds of barriers to their progress.

My wife is Russian and I have family in Ukraine so I kind of get an insider look at some of this stuff. Her mother is laughing at how the American media is blowing things out of proportion. Not sure if "mom" is a valid and reliable source but there it is..
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And shes Russian too? How about those bikini pics, lol.
Seriously, educate us. What is such a prize about Ukraine that Putin wants to invade? Sure its a warmer climate, but with the long term liability of Chernobyl, whats in it for them? Access through it to nations on its borders? Agriculture? Industry? Or simply more perceived power through reunification of former Soviet bloc nations?

And how much does the US care? We dont want to see Putins Russia get stronger, but its doubtful we are going to spill blood over there, Ukraine is only an implied NATO member. Our support for them had largely been to annoy Putin.

Or is his sole purpose to invade Ukraine, simply to prove he could if he wanted to? In that case best to step aside and let him.

I joined the US Navy in 1979, partially out of anger at the Ayatollah Khomeini, but also at the time war with the USSR was an imaginable reality. I was an avionics tech in an F-4 squadron on the USS Coral Sea, much of our time was in the northern pacific intercepting Soviet Beat nuclear bombers.
It was ingrained in me to hate communism, but the Soviet Union is gone. Why again are we still mortal enemies with Russia? You would think we would have more in common than differences. There are a lot of brilliant minds there, think of what could be accomplished if we didnt spend so much energy opposing each other.

And theres a lot of hot women over there (see Olympics pairs figure skating!) and Ive got quite a few years left to live.
 
KellyDood said:
Good points. Portability is important but I wasn't familiar with those skinny Lithium batteries I see in Will's videos. I use gel in van install for price and I was also nervous about the explosions/fires I'd seen with smaller Lithiums.
I have a gas generator and I used to use a Honda out camping but, even though it's one of the quietest, it still seemed pretty darned loud to me especially when others were camping nearby.
So, current plan is to run gas generator in day and switch to solar generators at night. My fridge/freezer stuff isn't critical so I don't have large power needs beyond CPAP.
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I feel your pain regarding noisy generators. I have a predator 2000, several tests on youtube shows its about identical to the honda eu2200i in db readings. Still I hate to pull it out and use it in parking lots at the beach when anyone is closer than about 50 yds. To that end I started designing and building a hush box last year, got about 2/3 done but stalled when it looked like one of the cooling blowers wasnt going to fit. Then other priorities took over.
During that time I did a lot of research on the web, a guy in an rv forum had a lengthy thread on a hush box he did for a honda. Apparently he didnt need any additional cooling, just used the factory inlets and outlets. In that thread there was a link to a youtube video with a compilation of japanese honda generator owners and their DIY hush box designs. Some of them were simply amazing, the generators were virtually silent. I guess noise is frowned upon in japan.
Anyway Im going to go back to finishing my box in a few months, if its a success maybe Ill post a thread on it.
Ive built hush boxes for a shop vac, and air compressor before. They worked well, but with a generator having a small engine its challenges are formidable, and the cooling apparatus often defeats much of the noise abatement.
The box Im working on also wasnt going to be much bigger than the genny by design, I was working with fractions of inches.
Ive got a way to overcome any cooling problems but the compromise involves mounting a fairly large and noisy 4" duct blower on the outside of the box. It may come to that.
 
Yes, I went through the time, effort and expense to build a foam-covered hush box for my Champion 3500 during Maine outage but then it started overheating, so most of it came off- the idea was to close all but the top but best I could do is direct the noise away from favorite neighbors ;)
My solution camping with Honda was staying further from others
 
KellyDood said:
Yes, I went through the time, effort and expense to build a foam-covered hush box for my Champion 3500 during Maine outage but then it started overheating, so most of it came off- the idea was to close all but the top but best I could do is direct the noise away from favorite neighbors ;)
My solution camping with Honda was staying further from others
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You have to really pay attention to thermodynamics when attempting this. A common mistake is trying to enclose open frame generators with the thinking you could just move air through the box with a fan. Most successful schemes with inverter gens involve utilizing the original thermodynamics and certainly not working against them.
(Like those laptop cooling trays, which usually try to pull air out from the bottom. By not allowing heat to rise they are counterproductive)

Still sound doesnt like 90 degree angles, the foam panels must have some good effect.

The hush box Id been working on for the predator is made from 3/4" birch plywood and will be interior lined on all sides with old wetsuit material. Both air intake and exhaust sides have a labyrinth structure built in with 2 directional switchbacks. Adds a couple of inches of length to each end. Thats an easy way to deal with sound, merely requires routing channels into the cabinet sides, but you have to boost airflow through it. This time Im trying using pvc pipe cut into halves and quarters to smooth the airflow.
 
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Hello, Ms. Dood! :)

Grid outage from current admin vs. any other cause?

Start with 50-50 odds and adjust these odds based on evidence.

I'm a city slicker and I dislike all politicians but I'd say 5-95, admin vs. other causes.

BTW, I've studied conspiracy theories six ways from Sunday and there is actually a limit to what they can do and when they will be debunked.
 
Abodyofscience said:
Hello, Ms. Dood! :)

Grid outage from current admin vs. any other cause?

Start with 50-50 odds and adjust these odds based on evidence.

I'm a city slicker and I dislike all politicians but I'd say 5-95, admin vs. other causes.

BTW, I've studied conspiracy theories six ways from Sunday and there is actually a limit to what they can do and when they will be debunked.
Click to expand...

Dood = Dude ;)

I only discovered solar generators a month ago but I sure would wished I had some in Texas a year ago.
 
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