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Thread: First concern - basement flooding in electric blackout.

  1. #21
    Member NJHeart2Heart's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grizz123 View Post
    At the moment I'm a NJ resident but not for much longer, and I encourage as many as possible to leave
    Sure, we'd love to, trust me.... We just recently had our house appraised by a realtor (I work at a real estate company) and we'd lose THOUSANDS even if we put it as low as possible to sell (we unfortunately bought it at top of the market in '05, just before it crashed, and then dove and then fell "down through the floor"). So yeah, would love to, but not even getting close for at least a few years.


  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    The likelihood of two pumps going down to mechanical problems is pretty remote. So your concern over loss of power is a good one. There are two things you can do to remedy the situation. The first is as Wildthang suggested is to purchase a generator. I am assuming the sump pumps are 1/4 or 1/2 horsepower motors so just about any gennie would run them. You would, of course, have to verify the wattage and amp ratings on the motors. The second thing is to purchase a portable water pump. You can purchase one that will run off of just about any fuel including 12V. So it could be run off the battery of a vehicle. Make sure it is self priming. They are not all that expensive.

    http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...FQkJaQod0kMOgA
    Thanks Rick and Wildthing. I have looked into generators a bit, but then am concerned about the need to store/ rotate gas - and then figuring out how much is "appropriate" is tough too. AT first I thought your idea of a portable pump was interesting, but then after thinking about it I realized we aleady have a backup pump with battery, as well as the additional battery...

    I guess it's really a question of what's easier - buying more batteries and rotating them, or buying gas, and rotating that.. and of course the biggest problem.. convincing husband that we need to do SOMETHING about it...I guess the advantage to going the generator route is 1) we don't already have one, and 2) it can be used on other things in our house as well, when not used solely for the sump pumps...

    Can someone point me to useful threads/ outside articles comparing storage/rotation of batteries vs. generator gas?

  3. #23
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Burn propane and you don't have to worry about rotating gas.

  4. #24
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    I had looked into a Generac generator....you can get a whole house 20K for around $4K....and will take duel fuel Propane or NG...
    House has NG...... and wondered about gas service if there is a power outage....so called the power company.

    They were acting dumb....Like "Why wouldn't there be NG ?"......
    So I asked if it was shut off during a Tornado?....Or Big fire....and kinda got a "Why do you ask?"
    Figured I had better shut up or get a visit from HS.

    Question I had was "If the power oes off what good would a genset do if gas was shut off as well?
    So kinda gave up....

    Fact is I could use the genset more at "The Place" on a rural line.....but don't really need it as much as here at the city house.
    So a pair of gas generators are in place ....although not real convenient......
    Need to work on that.
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  5. #25

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    Bear in mind that batteries can produce hydrogen gas when charging. This is flammable. They can also produce sulphur gas. Very irritating in an enclosed space like a cellar room.
    Here's a somewhat confusing link regarding the care and feeding of deep cycle batteries.
    http://www.batteriesnorthwest.com/ba...hool.cfm?TID=2

    As for the generator, just get one that runs on propane like Rick said. The only maintenance on those is a spring and fall oil change (or after a certain number of hours as noted in the owner's manual). Some generators, like mine, require a different weight of oil for summer and winter. I change the oil and air filters and top off the battery in spring and fall as well. When you buy the generator, buy a case of matching oil and air filters. My genny is 6 years old and I have a hellacious time finding oil filters for it, so last time I did, I bought a case. The maintenance is simple. Also when getting quotes for your genny, ask if the company does service calls. Sometimes they also have a maintenance contract you can get where you pay for the two service calls and for anything else they come out for a minimal charge or simply charge parts. Kinda like what you get with a furnace tune up contract.
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  6. #26
    Member NJHeart2Heart's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LowKey View Post
    Bear in mind that batteries can produce hydrogen gas when charging. This is flammable. They can also produce sulphur gas. Very irritating in an enclosed space like a cellar room.
    Here's a somewhat confusing link regarding the care and feeding of deep cycle batteries.
    http://www.batteriesnorthwest.com/ba...hool.cfm?TID=2

    As for the generator, just get one that runs on propane like Rick said. The only maintenance on those is a spring and fall oil change (or after a certain number of hours as noted in the owner's manual). Some generators, like mine, require a different weight of oil for summer and winter. I change the oil and air filters and top off the battery in spring and fall as well. When you buy the generator, buy a case of matching oil and air filters. My genny is 6 years old and I have a hellacious time finding oil filters for it, so last time I did, I bought a case. The maintenance is simple. Also when getting quotes for your genny, ask if the company does service calls. Sometimes they also have a maintenance contract you can get where you pay for the two service calls and for anything else they come out for a minimal charge or simply charge parts. Kinda like what you get with a furnace tune up contract.
    Thanks for the useful information LowKey. Fortunately I don't think we've had any problems with the batteries we do have (currently two) in our basement. I spend some time down there and don't have any bad effects from being down there. I suppose it would be more concerning if we did start piling batteries up

    Propane generator.. interesting. We are ticking off a laundry list of other immediate house needs right now, but I'll do some research on that shortly!

  7. #27
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Do you have Natural Gas service to your house?
    If so, although it's a step up ....cost, size and service ...but NG unit will run on propane as well, with a minor mods....
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  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by hunter63 View Post
    Do you have Natural Gas service to your house?
    If so, although it's a step up ....cost, size and service ...but NG unit will run on propane as well, with a minor mods....
    Yes.. one of the few benefits of our tiny cape cod is that it does have NG.

  9. #29
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NJHeart2Heart View Post
    Yes.. one of the few benefits of our tiny cape cod is that it does have NG.
    I would look at duel fuel Gen sets if that's where you are going with this.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
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    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  10. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by LowKey View Post
    Meanwhile looking for a new house without a wet basement.
    I hear ya on that one... Wish our house wasn't thousands underwater or we'd be out of here in a flash.. As it is, we're stuck here for at least a few more years until we get our stupid mortgage down to a point where we can at least break even.

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