ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
200LB or gallon? I think 500 gal is a normal tank for this area.
ice storm
- Thread starter electricmanscott
- Start date
- Status
Rampage_Rick
Senior Member
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada
My bad. It's a 420LB tank. I think that's 100 Gal. Just for the furnace, everything else is electric.
They just filled it a couple of hours ago. Bobtail couldn't make it up my driveway (a foot of snow, uphill) so he parked on the road and spooled out all the way to the tank. Had about 4 feet of hose left on the reel.
Still choked that I didn't get a fillup on Monday like I asked (the usual day on this route). Driver probably was choked too, since we didnt' have snow then...
They just filled it a couple of hours ago. Bobtail couldn't make it up my driveway (a foot of snow, uphill) so he parked on the road and spooled out all the way to the tank. Had about 4 feet of hose left on the reel.
Still choked that I didn't get a fillup on Monday like I asked (the usual day on this route). Driver probably was choked too, since we didnt' have snow then...
marissa2
Senior Member
- Location
- Connecticut
Was talking with someone from Mass today and he said there are some areas that may not get power unti after Christmas.
Lou
Lou
electricguy
Senior Member
- Location
- British Columbia Canada
just gotta love that 12 year cycle for the sumas prairie Highway shut down due to blowing snow.
bjp_ne_elec
Senior Member
- Location
- Southern NH
There's areas in NH that won't have power until after Xmas as well. I was out three days - and consider myself one of the more fortunate. Didn't even see a line crew in town for the first two days and I live 1/2 mile from a PSNH office that has about 10 rigs parked there.
Rampage_Rick
Senior Member
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada
I remember the snow drifts that buried cars and shut it down for a week.
Yesterday afternoon there was a charter bus and a jackknifed semi tangled up on the highway, I could watch the traffic mayhem from my house.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/fraser-valley/Snow+storm+causes+havoc/1089620/story.html
Greg Swartz
Senior Member
- Location
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
must be that global warming thing.
That's what I like about "Global Warming:"
--> If it gets warmer, then it's global warming.
--> If it gets colder, then it's global warming because it has to get colder before it gets warmer...
Got both sides covered. :wink:
I just love the media...
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
We had a storm that went through here a few years ago that started as rain & within 30 minutes a total white out conditon. Not much more than 1" of snow but 70+mph winds buried some cars. Hate to think what 12" would do.
Cell phone service was non existent. Do not think that you can rely on it in a large scale emergency. Won't happen.
Cell phone service was non existent. Do not think that you can rely on it in a large scale emergency. Won't happen.
marissa2
Senior Member
- Location
- Connecticut
Friday night 4:30, on the scanner the power company just told there crews that the weather doesn't look too good for the rest of the weekend so don't expect to see too much of there familes for the next couple of days. Heavy snow and winds.
Lou
Lou
electricmanscott
Senior Member
- Location
- Boston, MA
First breather in seven days. Major snowstorm right now so I get to sit down for a while. Phone still ringing just not as frantic.
Much power has been restored but still thousands without.
So many services ripped off homes, that is all I have been working on. Power was only being restored to homes with intact services.
Desperation is kind of setting in. POCO juicing up just about everything now creating some major hazards. Many services are now just hung there from the drop and must be replaced. That's the focus of my work now. Some drops are still laying across trees,bushes and yards and have been energized.
This storm has become an unprecendented business opportunity for me. Business had pretty much screeched to a halt and I had almost nothing to do this week. Turned out instead of sitting on my tush I brought in about $4K daily and have expanded my customer base by hundreds.
I now have a waiting list for generator installs and will be doing as many as material availability will allow after I get through all the services that need repair/replacement.
People have been amazingly easy to deal with. They are so happy to have me show up, not gouge them, and get them setup so they can be reconnected. Many have given tips, sent cards, and made referrals.
I've dealt with hundereds of people over the past week and every single one with the exception of one absolute witch, and one grumpy old man, have been great.
I am pretty much exhausted but I'll be back out tomorrow although a fresh foot of snow will certainly make things slower.
Much power has been restored but still thousands without.
So many services ripped off homes, that is all I have been working on. Power was only being restored to homes with intact services.
Desperation is kind of setting in. POCO juicing up just about everything now creating some major hazards. Many services are now just hung there from the drop and must be replaced. That's the focus of my work now. Some drops are still laying across trees,bushes and yards and have been energized.
This storm has become an unprecendented business opportunity for me. Business had pretty much screeched to a halt and I had almost nothing to do this week. Turned out instead of sitting on my tush I brought in about $4K daily and have expanded my customer base by hundreds.
I now have a waiting list for generator installs and will be doing as many as material availability will allow after I get through all the services that need repair/replacement.
People have been amazingly easy to deal with. They are so happy to have me show up, not gouge them, and get them setup so they can be reconnected. Many have given tips, sent cards, and made referrals.
I've dealt with hundereds of people over the past week and every single one with the exception of one absolute witch, and one grumpy old man, have been great.
I am pretty much exhausted but I'll be back out tomorrow although a fresh foot of snow will certainly make things slower.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
I think we need another ice storm a bit further south of you to boost things up for a bit.
Pierre C Belarge
Senior Member
- Location
- Westchester County, New York
Scott
Good for you. Taking advantage of work you needed, but not taking advantage of the people who need you.
I am glad it may even lead to building your business.
Just be careful, exhausted people make mistakes...we do not want to read about you in the papers. Rest some and then go after it. Good luck!!!
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
How are you handling billing? On the spot or when you get a chance to breath again?
electricmanscott
Senior Member
- Location
- Boston, MA
Taking checks on the spot for 99% of the calls.
Billing customers I know.
Writing everything down. Everyone gets a receipt.
Everything I have done is covered by homeowners insurance. My work doesn't usually exceed the average policy deductible but most people have enough overall damage that the bill will be submitted with their claim and reimbursed.
Not looking forward to going out today. 13 degrees and lots of snow. Another big storm for tommorrow with more snow and then 50 mph winds and frigid cold. I sense more problems to come with many weakened trees and lots of limbs that were damaged inthe ice storm still hanging in the trees.
Fulthrotl
~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
- Occupation
- E
electricmanscott
Senior Member
- Location
- Boston, MA
Still going, 11 days now.
Still many without power. Two feet of new snow, frigid temps and wind.
Worked through snowstorm yesterday.
Called by town manager to work for poco. Teamed up with the town inspector going house to house temporarily reattaching services that were ripped of and connecting them to the drops at the house side. Bucket truck follows and connects at pole.
I am beyond worn out. Had to blow off everything for the rest of the day and get some paperwork done.
Still many without power. Two feet of new snow, frigid temps and wind.
Worked through snowstorm yesterday.
Called by town manager to work for poco. Teamed up with the town inspector going house to house temporarily reattaching services that were ripped of and connecting them to the drops at the house side. Bucket truck follows and connects at pole.
I am beyond worn out. Had to blow off everything for the rest of the day and get some paperwork done.
I was called at home by my boss who was called by the town of Holden, they were calling every electrical contractor they could to try and get as much manpower as possible together and get services back onto houses. I declined, but I think we may have sent a few guys.
What's kinda sad is that people don't understand that the power company doesn't rebuild services, so if your service was ripped off the house you need to call an electrician and get it taken care of. Most of these people were with out power for a week or more waiting for the utility company only to have them show up and say "we can't connect until you get an electrician to fix your service" there should have been some kind of notice given, maybe in the newspaper, explaining this to people.
This was happening to people all over the state, we received many calls from desperate people wanting us to come out right away and fix their service but we don't do resi work, except for our commercial/industrial customers houses.
We had our hands full just on the comm/industrial side of things with generator issues and things of that nature. A few of customers found out the hard way that some things they thought were on generator power actually were not. A few of our customers found out the really hard way what happens when you don't run/load test your generator regularly and then just expect it to run in an emergency.:roll:
What's kinda sad is that people don't understand that the power company doesn't rebuild services, so if your service was ripped off the house you need to call an electrician and get it taken care of. Most of these people were with out power for a week or more waiting for the utility company only to have them show up and say "we can't connect until you get an electrician to fix your service" there should have been some kind of notice given, maybe in the newspaper, explaining this to people.
This was happening to people all over the state, we received many calls from desperate people wanting us to come out right away and fix their service but we don't do resi work, except for our commercial/industrial customers houses.
We had our hands full just on the comm/industrial side of things with generator issues and things of that nature. A few of customers found out the hard way that some things they thought were on generator power actually were not. A few of our customers found out the really hard way what happens when you don't run/load test your generator regularly and then just expect it to run in an emergency.:roll:
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