My week of the blackout that proved everyone wrong

Last August during that 3 day blackout in Phoenix, my neighborhood freaked out and bought every generator at Home Depot. I sat there with my 20 year old inverter and a deep cycle battery I got off Craigslist for 40 bucks. Kept my fridge running, charged phones, and even had a fan going at night. Meanwhile my neighbor's brand new 5000 watt generator died after 6 hours because he didn't break it in right. Has anyone else found that old junk actually works better than new stuff in a real emergency?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy62821d ago

Those old inverters are notorious for voltage sag under load. I had one from the 90s that wouldn't even start my fridge compressor if the battery was below 70%. Your neighbor's generator probably had a dirty jet from sitting in the box too long, not a break-in issue. New stuff might be finicky but it's way more efficient. My cousin's little Honda 2200 ran his whole house setup for 2 days straight on 3 gallons of gas. That old battery setup would've needed a solar panel the size of a garage to keep up. Craigslist deals are hit or miss, you just got lucky.

drew_reed6221d ago

Throw in how nobody's talking about the actual wiring gauge people use with these setups. I've seen guys run a 2000 watt inverter through 14 gauge zip cord and wonder why the whole thing trips under load. Voltage sag isn't always the inverter's fault sometimes it's just undersized cables cooking themselves. That old 90s inverter might've actually been fine with proper 4 gauge welding cable and a battery bank that wasn't 50 feet away. Your cousin's Honda is impressive but running extension cords rated for 15 amps through a house is just asking for a fire eventually. The real upgrade has been better wire standards and accessible copper, not just the electronics themselves.

tara_patel21d ago

Hold on, 14 gauge zip cord for a 2000 watt inverter? That's insane. That stuff is basically lamp wire, it'll melt before it carries that kind of current for more than a minute. I've seen people do that and then blame the inverter for shutting off when really the wire was getting hot enough to soften the insulation. Welders cable is the only way to go for anything over 1000 watts, you need that thick copper and the flexible jacket that can take the heat. And you're dead on about the distance too, I had a buddy run 30 feet of 10 gauge to his battery bank and wondered why his lights dimmed under load. Did that guy actually use romex or just cheap speaker wire?