Geek tips for before the next big hurricane...

LOL, this has got to be the first tech preparedness article I have read that doesn't tell us to back up our files.

Some interesting points, like the observation that although stores might be stripped bare of batteries before an approaching storm, the computer store will probably have plenty of UPS units that can run/recharge a number of gadgets.

One gotcha w/ UPS's: I have seen at least one model that once turned off, will not turn on if it does not sense incoming AC power. I suppose that's to prevent you from thinking that power is on and booting up only to have it die in a few minutes.

I've been tempted to hook an old UPS to a couple of big deep cycle batteries, say to keep the furnace running...

Well worth the read. I didn't see any mis-information.

DO NOT use a UPS with Compact Floro's (a lesson I learned during this blackout). LED's Work fine, in fact BETTER than anything else (lower power draw).

one of my favorite lines from the artical


Relying on Amazon.com isn’t cheating.

Yes, I needed batteries for my emergency lanterns. No, I couldn’t find any, and it was three whole days before the hurricane. After striking out at a fourth store I sat in my car, had a thought, blinked twice, realized I’m an idiot...and then ordered a dozen D-cells right from my phone, which arrived the next day.

the battery's going bad or sold out is another good reason to have a Coleman lamp.a couple cans of fuel can be set aside and will never go bad.you have to be in the right situation to use a gas lamp and be able to store fuel but it's a thought.

I find this advice rather suprising.
I use CFLs on a UPS without any problems.
CFLs with magnetic ballasts probably wont work so well, but these are now virtually unknown in the UK, the ones with electronic ballasts work just fine.
At my Mothers home I installed a UPS for essiential lighting, almost all the lamps are CFLs of various brands and they work fine.

Over here we use 240 volts at 50 cycles rather than the 120 volts at 60 cycles used in the USA, but I doubt that this is relevant.

What happened when you used/attempted to use CFLs from a UPS?

A lot of the "don't use X with a UPS" (or a generator) thype items are really dependant upon the UPS/Generator. A LOT of them to NOT really produce clean sine waves, and produce a stepped wave that approximates a sine wave, and a lot of electronics does NOT like that (remember that a square step produces a LOT of harmonics (every Odd harmonic out to infinite for a pure square wave, but with each harmonic being at a reduced power, if I remember right 1/n with n being the harmonic)

Usually USP/Inverter/genny mfgs are worried about lightbulbs, fridges etc. The GOOD units worry more about clean signals

Back in the late 80s (I stopped working in electronics in 1992) the company I worked for made an AC power supply that COULD work off a battery bank - aka could be a UPS. It worked with everything from pure capacitive to pure inductive loads, and had a CLEAN sine wave, enough so that we had to use test gear usually meant for high end stereos to measure the number, and handled any amount of mismatch load wise on the phases (unless programmed to drop out). Of course Uncle Sugar was paying a LOT of money for them, but needed them for uses that didn't fit my 'need to know' (but the guys doing acceptance tests often showed up in undress whites)

I run a cfl off of a very cheap inverter. No problems found. Used this setup for lighting on field day (ham radio portable training exercise ) with no eelectrical noise on any band. Lots of light....little power requirement.

Nomad.