# Long Beach CA 2 day of no power!!



## ROBIE (Jul 10, 2012)

Is anyone keeping an eye on what's happening in Long Beach CA?

The power has been out for 2 days and nights and has thrown the city back into the stone age!!:eyebulge:
They're not sure when it's coming back on either!!

Alarm bells should be going off in some peoples minds right now!

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-long-beach-power-outage-20150717-story.html

Robie


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Long Beach is an area filled with gangs and criminals. I'm sure the power they do have is being rerouted to the tourist attractions and the shipping port.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

this is news to me


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## ROBIE (Jul 10, 2012)

More from Long Beach

http://www.myfoxla.com/story/29559357/thousands-in-long-beach-still-without-power

Robie


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I found a local news site with up to date info. Not all of Long Beach is without power. It is the down town area where you don't even want to walk during the day even if you are CCW permited.

It was started by an electrical fire. They have to replace and test all the power lines before power can be restored.

And they are on day 3 without power.

http://abc7.com/news/long-beach-power-outage-enters-3rd-day-crews-see-setback/858460/



> LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) --
> Crews trying to restore power in Long Beach experienced a setback overnight as the massive outage entered its third day.
> 
> Just after 2 a.m., Southern California Edison crews were trying to test underground power lines at Locust Avenue and 6th Street when smoke began seeping out of manholes.
> ...


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## ROBIE (Jul 10, 2012)

I heard on the radio that a civilian volunteer had to carry a bucket of water up 17 flights of stairs so an elderly lady could flush her toilet!! :eyebulge:

If that was me, that bucket would be empty by the time I got there!! 


Robie


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

here's more on it..

http://abc7.com/news/long-beach-power-outage-enters-3rd-day-crews-see-setback/858460/

times like this,makes me glad that i've started preparing for power outages.the most important thing i still need to get.is a back up generator,or some other source of power for the fridge and freezer..and maybe for a window unit.so my mom can have her AC..


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

jimLE said:


> here's more on it..
> 
> http://abc7.com/news/long-beach-power-outage-enters-3rd-day-crews-see-setback/858460/
> 
> times like this,makes me glad that i've started preparing for power outages.the most important thing i still need to get.is a back up generator,or some other source of power for the fridge and freezer..and maybe for a window unit.so my mom can have her AC..


Same link I quoted.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

so it is


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## zombieresponder (Aug 20, 2012)

ROBIE said:


> I heard on the radio that a civilian volunteer had to carry a bucket of water up 17 flights of stairs so an elderly lady could flush her toilet!! :eyebulge:
> 
> If that was me, that bucket would be empty by the time I got there!!
> 
> Robie


I'm thinking that some rope and a couple of pulleys would be a much better solution. :dunno:


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

jimLE said:


> ...the most important thing i still need to get is a back up generator,or some other source of power for the fridge and freezer
> ..


Generators work wonderfully... until they run out of gas.

If you own your own home, look into getting a small solar 12 volt DC system set up.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

we're renting.so it has to be something seprate from the house..


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

jimLE said:


> we're renting.so it has to be something seprate from the house..


That's very easy to do. I have a "floating" (extra solar panel not dedicated to a certain place) 65 watt panel I use as a portable battery charger (we live totally off grid). A hundred watt panel, a battery, and a inverter would give you a way to keep some low-watt led lights on indefinitely.

There have been a couple of good threads on this and I've got a book out that tells how to do that and more.

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f16/d-i-y-solar-generator-less-than-208-a-23287/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/solar-power-small-electronics-27320/index4.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NRZXUPM/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00NRZXUPM&linkCode=as2&tag=povertypreppi-20&linkId=ZTJCPW3PYBELLAU7


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

im thinking along the lines of one of these..on account it'll be used just long enough to cool off the fridge and freezer.then it'll be shut down.and of course that'll mean i'll have to start the vehicle time to time.just to keep the battery charged up..i already have a rechargeable and portable jump starter,a 3ft extension cord.and a power converter,so i can keep the jump starter with the vehicle and keep it charged up at the same time..


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

*Zombies at every corner.*

Took my dog to town today
And found me a feather bed
Will be looking for a job tomorrow
Because today I`m going to sleep like if I was dead

So no power wow, Zombies at every corner, the animals attacking the population
The dead are waking and 7-Eleven has run out of coffee .And this is not even Sunday. We in a so-called prepared society should be ready for situations like this and take control of it; we should be able to prioritize our needs accordingly.
1.	Avoid a loaded refrigerator or no refrigerator at all
2.	Keep vehicle gassed up always
3.	Change from electric appliances to natural gas/propane
4.	Have auxiliary cooking appliances
5.	Have solar system power or portable generator 
6.	Have a propane power refrigerator, freezer or solar
7.	Have lots of canned food, water and instant food items
8.	Have portable toilet and supplies associated with it
9.	Have How to Books made with recycle paper, emergency toilet paper
10. Have rinse free bath soap, alcohol mix with water for skin refreshener/cooling
11.	And do not panic, is not the end of the world


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

here's what i already have in the van.for jump starting the van and other vehicles..this allows me to keep the jump starter in it and keep it charged up at the same time..one thing i learned on my last campout.is that i can use my battery chargers with the power converter.the jump starter has a car lighter and a usb port built into it.and a air compreser as well..


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## Tactic12 (Dec 16, 2012)

Generators are very good for emergencies, but please keep this in mind. I know someone that was without utilities due to a hurricane years ago. Many people evacuated the local area, but some opted to stay. My friends decided to stay because they were in an elevated apartment and well prepped so they thought they would be fine. They had a generator, but when it came time to use it, they did not because they felt others that stayed would know they had resources...


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

plus one of 2 things will happen after a shtf situation,when comes to things that depends on fuel.1st,you'll eventually run out of fuel for it.which means,making more fuel if you can.2nd is.you'll run out of spare parts for it.and you either make more parts for it.or it's now a over sized paper weight.


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## LastOutlaw (Jun 1, 2013)

jimLE said:


> im thinking along the lines of one of these..on account it'll be used just long enough to cool off the fridge and freezer.then it'll be shut down.and of course that'll mean i'll have to start the vehicle time to time.just to keep the battery charged up..i already have a rechargeable and portable jump starter,a 3ft extension cord.and a power converter,so i can keep the jump starter with the vehicle and keep it charged up at the same time..


Couple possible problems with this idea that should be tested. What is the output of the harbor freight power inverter pictured? I have an off grid system that uses their 2000 watt inverter. It really is much less than that output. I can get about 1000 watts out of it without overloading it.

Also you are going to need a deep cycle battery bank if you plan on trying to power up a fridge and freezer. You can not run this off of the battery in your car or truck. It will quickly kill the battery in your vehicle due to drawing on and recharging the battery. Car batteries aren't made to handle draw-down and recharge. I really doubt that your car alternator or battery will be able to keep up with the power usage running full time.

Your Stanley booster pack could handle small loads but doubtful it will last long running a fridge or freezer off of it.

I run 6 deep cycle batteries and recharge with a Honda EU2000i generator and an IOTA 55 amp charger to recharge. Takes about 3 hours. I run a small chest freezer converted to a fridge and some led lights on it. In real hot weather I may run one small window mount AC unit to cool one room to get to sleep at night but try not to use the battery bank for the AC if possible. Will usually run AC off of the Honda Generator.

The Honda EU2000i is a sweet generator, small, quiet with great output. Uses one gallon of gas in about 8 hours depending on load. it can also be converted to run off of propane which stores indefinitely.

Two of these can be piggybacked together to output 30 amps for an RV if need be.

Honda EU2000i generator


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## jnrdesertrats (Jul 3, 2010)

+1 on the Honda generators. I do not own one yet, but we used them at work. We ran them in the desert and were down right mean to them. By that I mean they got bounced around in the truck, ran all day and hardly any maintenance was done. I came accross one the orher day 8 years later and it still works just fine.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

LastOutlaw said:


> Couple possible problems with this idea that should be tested. What is the output of the harbor freight power inverter pictured? I have an off grid system that uses their 2000 watt inverter. It really is much less than that output. I can get about 1000 watts out of it without overloading it.
> 
> Also you are going to need a deep cycle battery bank if you plan on trying to power up a fridge and freezer. You can not run this off of the battery in your car or truck. It will quickly kill the battery in your vehicle due to drawing on and recharging the battery. Car batteries aren't made to handle draw-down and recharge. I really doubt that your car alternator or battery will be able to keep up with the power usage running full time.
> 
> ...


as for the harbor freight power inverters.i plan on asking them,the next time im there..on account i do want all the info i can get,before deciding one way or another.even then,i'll only use it long to cool down the fridge and freezer,then shut it down..as for my jump starter goes.small items only.mainly cell phones and my nook..and as for the power converter i already have.a battery charger for my rechargeable batteries..i am leaning in the direction of a deep cycle battery..


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

I strongly recommend Honda eu2000i, I have two of them and we use them to charge up 16 deep cell batteries when there is no sunshine.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

ROBIE said:


> I heard on the radio that a civilian volunteer had to carry a bucket of water up 17 flights of stairs so an elderly lady could flush her toilet!! :eyebulge:


Hmm. She has an electric toilet? I would stay away from those.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

jimLE said:


> im thinking along the lines of one of these..on account it'll be used just long enough to cool off the fridge and freezer.then it'll be shut down.and of course that'll mean i'll have to start the vehicle time to time.just to keep the battery charged up..i already have a rechargeable and portable jump starter,a 3ft extension cord.and a power converter,so i can keep the jump starter with the vehicle and keep it charged up at the same time..


Consider a 12-volt cooler for a temporary-fridge (I have one similar to the shown below) and skip on the inverter - the one you showed is only good for running "lite-duty" electronics like a laptop


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## fteter (May 23, 2014)

Generators are wonderful for short-term emergencies...72 hours to a few weeks. But if a long-term WROL situation sets in...probably best to eat the stuff in the fridge and freezer first


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