In need of a generator for storm outages--Suggestions?

Done. I just fueled up and ran it for a little while. It runs a 3.5 amp=20 electric drill with no problem. It's a bit noisy, about like a weed = whacker,=20 so it is not appropriate for campground use. But for emergencies, it = should=20 work well enough to power essential electrical items such as the heat = tape=20 to keep my water supply from freezing, and certainly my computer, TV, a = few=20 lights, and my electric blanket. I could get a small = refrigerator/freezer=20 for essential food items (such as beer!), but most real emergencies will = be=20 in the winter where I can just put the food outside in a cooler chest.

I might run a separate "emergency" line in the house with, say, one = outlet=20 per room, and have them specially labeled. I have the heat tape on a=20 separate GFI circuit so I might want to install a simple manual transfer =

switch. Or I could make it automatic with a 20A DPDT relay with the coil = on=20 the incoming utility supply.

Paul=20

I see only one review per item, do I need to register to see more, or did I pick items that had been reviewed only once. Mikek

You need to view the item from the item description page, not the hfreviews link above. When viewing the item description, you can then click on the reviews to see them. For example, there are 220 reviews on the generator. See the description at:

(watch for line wrap above)

Ed

Funny, my review did not appear in that list. I think HFreviews is a=20 different website, and mine was the only review:

I posted essentially the same review on the HF website but it has not=20 appeared. Maybe the responses are moderated?

Paul=20

Enter the item number you're interested in.

I think yer supposed to isolate yer work and leave the scope grounded.

We used to float the scope by using one of those 3-prong female to 2-prong male "grounding" adapters, and taping (or cutting off) the grounding flylead.

Or, of course, simply ignoring it if it's a tab:

Of course, that won't work for people who are too stupid to know not to handle the scope's frame/enclosure while standing on a wet basement floor barefoot.

Cheers! Rich

We had "approved" adapters to do the same thing. One was basically an extension cord through a 6"x6"x8" triangular wooden block, painted yellow, with red "Danger" written on it. It was supposed to be set on top of the scope warning others that you were using ungrounded equipment. Others had red lights on top of a box, again supposed to be placed on top of the equipment. Some places had ungrounded (red) outlets.

Likely about half, here, these days.