Maybe this has already been answered but......

If you were going to unhook from the grid to protect your electronics from voltage fluctuations etc. When would you go off?

I hear that many of the subsystems run on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Should we jump off before then? Which of course means 6hrs (or is it 5?) here in the midwest before midnight New Years Evil.

-- (Time Challenged)LM (latemarch@usa.net), December 03, 1999

Answers

LM:

Seems to me that, if in doubt, disconnect before you are disconnected.

Calculate GMT in your timezone, then disconnect 1 hour prior.

28 days to impact...

-- (Kurt.Borzel@gems8.gov.bc.ca), December 03, 1999.

Pacific Time = GMT - 8 hrs. (4pm PST) Mountain Time = GMT - 7 hrs. (5pm MST) Central Time = GMT - 6 hrs. (6pm CST) Eastern Time = GMT - 5 hrs. (7pm EST)

HTH

Luna

-- LunaC (LunaC@moon.com), December 03, 1999.

My guess is that those entities who are thinking of pulling off the grid will be monitoring news from the South Pacific and they'll get a pretty good idea of how things are going.

They could decide to pull away from the grid in a panic based on what they see and it could cause a self-fulfilling prophecy, couldn't it"

Mike

=================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), December 03, 1999.

Now THAT'S a nifty thought Mike!

-- (Kurt.Borzel@gems8.gov.bc.ca), December 03, 1999.

Our company (small as it is) will go off grid from 12-28 to 01-04, we sent a letter out to our clients today informing them that we will be shut down for this period. We have a lot of equipment that is very sensitive to voltage variations and can not afford to repair it all.

Each pump controler costs $4K to fix, and they blow even with 90V brown outs. This shut down is very defensive.

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), December 03, 1999.

I'd throw the main switch or have things unplugged at least by 9 in the evening of the 31st. By noon would be safer, the earlier the better (I'm an extreme case :@). They have to be physically disconnected, turning them off won't suffice.

I disconnected about 3 years ago, the only way I'll get a surge is if my solar panels are exposed to the sun going nova or a largish solar flare. In either case I don't think I'll need to worry about being out of power for a few hours.

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), December 03, 1999.

I've got a whole house surge suppressor/power conditioner, no computer (at home) or other electronics that would be intenet connected (or running) that appears grossly susceptable to flutuations - and want my 120vac/12vdc charger running whenever power is on.

So I'm not disconnecting.....we may, after all, not lose power. If lost, it may only be down for irregular periods - and when/if it recovers/each time it recovers - I want to run as much as possible as regularly as possible. Each time it recovers, if lost, I want the battery charger going immediately.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), December 03, 1999.

Don said:

****I disconnected about 3 years ago, the only way I'll get a surge is if my solar panels are exposed to the sun going nova or a largish solar flare. In either case I don't think I'll need to worry about being out of power for a few hours. ******

Going Nova! And I thought I was a doomer;^)

There's a scenario I hadn't worried about before.

-- LM (latemarch@usa.net), December 03, 1999.

Not going off grid until power hicks up or fails. At 00 UTC (GMT) eastern and central time zones will be dark and we will have lights on. They are good indicators (don't flame me!) for power going squirly. Remember that you have experienced switching disturbances during that last thunderstorm, right?? (the farther out in the country, the worse it was). -- If a brownout occurs (dim lights), I will be RUNNING to disconnect all motorized gear. TV and PC run on small UPS anyway. (Consider that your generator isn't the most stable power either, have you given that any thought?)

-- W (me@home.now), December 03, 1999.

I'll be off the grid (on the genny) from 5 p.m. CST thru at least 1 a.m. If things look good, I'll switch back to city power, then we'll turn in.

-- Dennis (djolson@cherco.net), December 03, 1999.