Eskom power cuts expected over weekend

Still off 34.5 hours later. Neighbor has lost an entire tank of tropical fish. We've lost one so far. **** you Joburg, **** you anc, **** you Eskom.
 
Sinbad said:
Still off 34.5 hours later. Neighbor has lost an entire tank of tropical fish. We've lost one so far. **** you Joburg, **** you anc, **** you Eskom.
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Are you in Randburg, friends there have also been affected quite badly ?

I have been sitting on eBay, ordering car chargers (12v) for everything.

Of course, the Post Office is buggered as well, so whether I receive the stuff is another matter.
 
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Sinbad said:
Still off 34.5 hours later. Neighbor has lost an entire tank of tropical fish. We've lost one so far. **** you Joburg, **** you anc, **** you Eskom.
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Why are your fish dying when on the genie?
 
biometrics said:
Why are your fish dying when on the genie?
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Because I can't run it all night or when I'm not home, and was out all day today. But the spells I have been able to run it are why I've lost one and they've lost them all
 
Jeffreys Bay had an unscheduled load shed about an hour ago. No-one is answering the phones, no-one knows what the schedule is.
 
Sinbad said:
Because I can't run it all night or when I'm not home, and was out all day today. But the spells I have been able to run it are why I've lost one and they've lost them all
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I have a small solar electric setup ... but you could get a cheap inverter and car battery and it should keep your pumps going for days until power comes back at which time you can charge the battery again.
 
biometrics said:
I have a small solar electric setup ... but you could get a cheap inverter and car battery and it should keep your pumps going for days until power comes back at which time you can charge the battery again.
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Yeah will have to look into it I think...
 
Sinbad said:
Yeah will have to look into it I think...
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For a quick fix maybe R1,000 but not an expandable system.

Ideally get a deep cycle battery and a sine wave inverter. Then you can expand it with a solar panel and regulator. Then you're permanently sorted and don't need to recharge.
 
The cheapest combo from Makro:

150 W square wave inverter (fine for lights and pumps, sensitive electronics don't like it but it will still work): R519

http://www.makro.co.za/diy/moto-quip-150w-power-inverter-124501EA

40 Ah battery (can run low power devices like fish tank pumps for days): R829

http://www.makro.co.za/diy/probe-630-battery-164204EA

TOTAL R1,348

And if you are with FNB with eBucks and a decent reward level, it's obviously cheaper ...

Alternatively, rather spend a few R100 more and get:

300 W inverter: R569

http://www.makro.co.za/diy/moto-quip-300w-power-inverter-124500EA

66 Ah battery: R1139

http://www.makro.co.za/diy/probe-652amp-battery-164210EA

I got a new 110 Ah deep cycle battery for about R1,200 earlier this year btw ...
 
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I have seen reasonably priced 12v 18 Ah batteries on the internet. Will look for these tomorrow, ideal for a router, charging a notebook, and possibly for a fishtank. They are deep cycle.
 
Jola said:
I have seen reasonably priced 12v 18 Ah batteries on the internet. Will look for these tomorrow, ideal for a router, charging a notebook, and possibly for a fishtank. They are deep cycle.
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Deep cycle is only useful if you charge solar. If not just get the cheapest with the largest capacity.

And 18 Ah is very little tbh.
 
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Will need about a450 watt setup. And then find a way to get around the aesthetics (wife) issues.
 
biometrics said:
Deep cycle is only useful if you charge solar. If not just get the cheapest with the largest capacity.

And 18 Ah is very little tbh.
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A deep-cycle battery is a lead-acid battery designed to be regularly deeply discharged using most of its capacity. In contrast, starter batteries (e.g. most automotive batteries) are designed to deliver short, high-current bursts for cranking the engine, thus frequently discharging only a small part of their capacity. While a deep-cycle battery can be used as a starting battery, the lower "cranking amps" imply that an oversized battery may be required.

A deep-cycle battery is designed to discharge between 45% and 75% of its capacity, depending on the manufacturer and the construction of the battery. Although these batteries can be cycled down to 20% charge, the best lifespan vs cost method is to keep the average cycle at about 45% discharge.[1] There is a direct correlation between the depth of discharge of the battery, and the number of charge and discharge cycles it can perform.[2]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_cycle_battery

So you need deep cycle batteries for these applications, car batteries just die if you drop the charge too low.

18 Ah is OK for certain things, like charging a notebook, running a router, etc.

And they are cheap, I have seen them advertised for just over R400.
 
Sinbad said:
Will need about a450 watt setup. And then find a way to get around the aesthetics (wife) issues.
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That's a crap load of pumps or does that include heating (which is always a killer). This is an emergency setup not aesthetics.
 
Heating too. Point taken on aesthetics ;-)
 
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