ERCOT Warning Sticker

[HamAndEggs]

I thought was pretty funny to stick on there

 

[APEowner]

That seems like it might be a problem...

 

[FMB4]

I hope you don't have a 'Smart' meter.

 

[HamAndEggs]

I hope you don't have a 'Smart' meter.

How come? I have a smart meter

 

[Lightning rod]

Not to hijack but you have an interesting collection of panels that I'm not use to seeing
Can you give a description of what your setup is ? TIA

 

[HamAndEggs]

For sure, from the left to right

* Enphase Combiner with Envoy - Brings my 4 x Solar AC Circuits and combines them into one, also monitors the solar
* 100a Solar Disconnect - Takes the power out the combiner and through a fused disconnect so you can shut it down
* Meter Box
* Main Panel - 200a main with feed through lugs which then run behind the wall to the house. Has 125a circuit for my garage sub (On the other side of the wall) and a 30a circuit for portable generator input
* Generac ATS - This is actually my "Main panel" Power comes in here from the meter (And solar since its a line side tap) and the 27kw standby generator, and then goes out to the panel to the left to supply power. If the power goes out, the generator starts itself and the ATS flips input power to it

Then at the bottom on the right is the 30a input for a portable generator

 

[mv213]

The irony was that Ted Cruz was trolling California when they had some power issues…”Hope you don’t like air conditioning”. Texas had problems with their grid in cold AND hot weather-hence the decal.

 

[HamAndEggs]

AND he tried to flee to Mexico!

 

[Lightning rod]

Nicely done
i guess you weathered the storm in comfort
i used to tour Texas once a year for a week or so giving training
to the substation techs on our companies products
Always enjoyed the trip

 

[HamAndEggs]

No sir! No comfort! The day of the freeze I requested a quote for the generator and the solar

I was without power for a good 30 hours

No longer!

 

[wyliesdiesels]

good to see the drip-leg was done properly.

whats with the vent line from the regulator going into the ground?

 

[walrus]

2 questions, how does the solar power get to house after disconnect? I see no conduit. And why a 30 portable gennie circuit when you have the standby? Just in case?

 

[PoorUB]

Ham, I sold Generac generators for a few years, and I was to caution you to make sure the generator exercises regularly. It should run once a week for 15-20 minutes. Run it during dinner, run it when you are generally home so you hear it. I can not tell you about the the number of customers that pay zero attention to the generator and then it fails and no back up.

We sold one to a guy with a million dollar home, he refused when we asked about an annual checkup and said he would call if he needed anything. Three years later he called as the generator would not start. I went out and found a bad starter solenoid. Funny thing is the generator had a couple hours of run time. It had failed 2 or 3 months after we installed it and he finally noticed!

 

[HamAndEggs]

good to see the drip-leg was done properly.

whats with the vent line from the regulator going into the ground?

I asked the inspector about that, the vent must be vented away from the generator, as it could possibly vent gas from a failed regulator, and then combust if the generator is running. It runs in the ground and then pops up around 5 feet away

2 questions, how does the solar power get to house after disconnect? I see no conduit. And why a 30 portable gennie circuit when you have the standby? Just in case?

It runs behind the wall with SER cable. I ripped the walls out of my garage a long time ago to repair termite damage, so its full access back there

The 30 inlet I got before this was installed, but it also means if the big generator goes out, I can still have power from my portable running on NG. And the real reason is that if NG goes out, I can run on the 80~ gallons of gasoline I have stored (+36 in my F150 tank if I could figure out how to get it)

Ham, I sold Generac generators for a few years, and I was to caution you to make sure the generator exercises regularly. It should run once a week for 15-20 minutes. Run it during dinner, run it when you are generally home so you hear it. I can not tell you about the the number of customers that pay zero attention to the generator and then it fails and no back up.

We sold one to a guy with a million dollar home, he refused when we asked about an annual checkup and said he would call if he needed anything. Three years later he called as the generator would not start. I went out and found a bad starter solenoid. Funny thing is the generator had a couple hours of run time. It had failed 2 or 3 months after we installed it and he finally noticed!

Yep, the problem with their test is that its not loaded either. I will be installing Genmon soon so I can have a scheduled, loaded, test

I have it set to run on Sundays at 10am, non quiet test (As it seems thats pretty dumb)

Until I get genmon setup, I plan to just flip the disconnect myself every now and then and make sure it can take the load

 

[yatg]

The gas line blocking the LB cover is a nice touch.

And why is that piece of pipe so big?

 

[HamAndEggs]

Yeah, we talked about it over here - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/better-secure-generator-gas-line.485509/

It was even worse when it was initially installed. I've made sure there is a gap to get the LB cover off. I don't ever expect to need to get back into that LB, but even if for some reason I need to re-run that wire, it shouldn't be an issue

 

[PoorUB]

Yep, the problem with their test is that its not loaded either. I will be installing Genmon soon so I can have a scheduled, loaded, test

I have it set to run on Sundays at 10am, non quiet test (As it seems thats pretty dumb)

Until I get genmon setup, I plan to just flip the disconnect myself every now and then and make sure it can take the load

Do yourself a favor and install a switch that breaks utility signal to the generator. Just a standard light switch, or a toggle rated for line voltage. Walk over, flip the switch, the genny starts and transfers. No need to keep tripping an expensive main breaker that really isn't made to be manually tripped regularly.

 

[HamAndEggs]

Do yourself a favor and install a switch that breaks utility signal to the generator. Just a standard light switch, or a toggle rated for line voltage. Walk over, flip the switch, the genny starts and transfers. No need to keep tripping an expensive main breaker that really isn't made to be manually tripped regularly.

I'd love a nice levered disconnect, but it would be a real pain to install

Once GenMon gets installed, it can just flip the transfer switch without needing to touch the breaker, so that will solve that

 

[alfredeneuman]

I thought was pretty funny to stick on there

Between 210 and 720 lives were lost as a direct or indirect result of this outage.
I don't think it's funny at all.

 

[HamAndEggs]

You might misunderstand the joke, the joke is not "haha people died" the joke is ERCOT and their inability to do their job.

Sorry I hurt you feelings

Oh, and you don't even live in Texas... You weren't even affected. I was for the record

 

[alfredeneuman]

There are better ways to say "look at my new generator and solar" than this.
You got a generator...BFD

 

[HamAndEggs]

I already have posts detailing them...

If you are unhappy or jealous, don't read my posts

 

[FMB4]

How come? I have a smart meter

Smart meters allow the Utility company to reduce your power, and even shut it off completely, while still supplying full power to everyone else (or to those that 'matter' more than you do).

 

[HamAndEggs]

I don't know if that's ever happened, either way, my meter only rolls backwards now anyway

I'd be surprised if that small housing contained anything more than an on/off switch

 

[Modern Garage]

On my grid-tie photovoltaic system the inverter senses line voltage, and more importantly,line phase from the pole so as to match the phase on the outgoing power. If it sees no line power from the pole it simply won't power up at all and the solar panels are just big expensive sun shades on my roof instead of providing power in case of an outage. I've always wondered if applying power from a small generator would "wake up" the inverter thus allowing emergency power production while disconnected from the grid. Have you ever tried anything like that or did your installer mention anything of that sort?
Joe

 

[rabidsquirrel]

Smart meters allow the Utility company to reduce your power, and even shut it off completely, while still supplying full power to everyone else (or to those that 'matter' more than you do).

How exactly do they 'reduce' power?

 

[HamAndEggs]

On my grid-tie photovoltaic system the inverter senses line voltage, and more importantly,line phase from the pole so as to match the phase on the outgoing power. If it sees no line power from the pole it simply won't power up at all and the solar panels are just big expensive sun shades on my roof instead of providing power in case of an outage. I've always wondered if applying power from a small generator would "wake up" the inverter thus allowing emergency power production while disconnected from the grid. Have you ever tried anything like that or did your installer mention anything of that sort?
Joe

No, it won't sync with the power from the generator. You need something that is grid-forming like the solar batteries. I'd love it if you could though

For mine its a line side tap, so I couldn't do it anyway, as the solar is before everything

 

[Knight511]

How exactly do they 'reduce' power?

They can shut your **** off without walking to your house or disconnecting lines. (Can't they? That was an attempt at poor humor.)

We didn't have our power cut during the Feb event that Cruz ran away from. I checked our voltages each morning when temps were the lowest out of curiosity because our lights were notable dimmer. The voltage would be down to ~90 volts in the 120 circuits (I don't have a 240v that is easy to access).

 

[rabidsquirrel]

They can shut your **** off without walking to your house or disconnecting lines. (Can't they? That was an attempt at poor humor.)

Well, yes they can. I was referring to the ******** claim about 'reducing' power draw. That's a Facebook/chain email level amount of
misinformation.

 

[Knight511]

I bet some people did like I did and checked their voltages, found them low, and then blamed the smart meter instead of the extremely (for TX) low temps and power delivery issues. Living at 90v was weird!

 

[bbbarracuda]

Well, yes they can. I was referring to the ******** claim about 'reducing' power draw. That's a Facebook/chain email level amount of
misinformation.

Some Co-ops can reduce load by shutting off power remotely to high usage items. Like water heaters and HVAC.

 

[HamAndEggs]

Some Co-ops can reduce load by shutting off power remotely to high usage items. Like water heaters and HVAC.

The only way they would do that is with a voluntary program and smart switches

There is no way for them to do that from the meter. Power is power, there is no way to tell where its going from the meter and then shut down just that power

 

[bbbarracuda]

The only way they would do that is with a voluntary program and smart switches

There is no way for them to do that from the meter. Power is power, there is no way to tell where its going from the meter and then shut down just that power

Yep, but it can and does happen.

 

[HamAndEggs]

But then you've agreed, so why it be a problem? Its also not got anything to do with the meter

 

[bbbarracuda]

Not saying its a problem. But in my area the smart meter is what the utility communicates with to tell the switches what to do.

 

[Sumboodie]

For sure, from the left to right

* Enphase Combiner with Envoy - Brings my 4 x Solar AC Circuits and combines them into one, also monitors the solar
* 100a Solar Disconnect - Takes the power out the combiner and through a fused disconnect so you can shut it down
* Meter Box
* Main Panel - 200a main with feed through lugs which then run behind the wall to the house. Has 125a circuit for my garage sub (On the other side of the wall) and a 30a circuit for portable generator input
* Generac ATS - This is actually my "Main panel" Power comes in here from the meter (And solar since its a line side tap) and the 27kw standby generator, and then goes out to the panel to the left to supply power. If the power goes out, the generator starts itself and the ATS flips input power to it

Then at the bottom on the right is the 30a input for a portable generator

I have an Enphase system, has none of that stuff.

Just a 50 amp disconnect on my shed.

 

[HamAndEggs]

It could be an earlier system, or perhaps a smaller array with only one circuit? Do you have an Envoy?

I'm using IQ7A Microinverters

 

[walta]

How exactly do they 'reduce' power?

I agree most people have not signed up for the program that allows the utility to control individual loads in your home but some have for ACs and water heaters.

Almost every electric meter in service today allows remote meter reading and disconnection allowing the utility to monitor your power usage and disconnect your service if you use more than they want you to use, so all or nothing control.

Walta

 

[Bert_]

Smart meters allow the Utility company to reduce your power, and even shut it off completely, while still supplying full power to everyone else (or to those that 'matter' more than you do).

They absolutely do NOT have any ability to do this. A smart meter is still just a meter, it can't turn anything on or off. They do basically eliminate the need for someone to go around and read meters.

Some utilities do have load shed programs. Around here the co-ops all do it with water heaters. It takes an additional switch wired to the water heater.

I'm not a lineman but I know several. The local guy still has to go out to pull meters for no payment.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

They absolutely do NOT have any ability to do this. A smart meter is still just a meter, it can't turn anything on or off. They do basically eliminate the need for someone to go around and read meters.

Some utilities do have load shed programs. Around here the co-ops all do it with water heaters. It takes an additional switch wired to the water heater.

I'm not a lineman but I know several. The local guy still has to go out to pull meters for no payment.

May be the case for the brand of SMART meters your PoCo uses however the ones ours uses most definitely can shutoff the power. Ive seen them do it remotely for non-payment. No one has to come out to the house to pull the meter.

As to load shesding, that is not possible.