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Old 12-24-2017, 09:48 AM   #1
ishoot308
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Default Welch Power

If your on Welch and noticed that your cameras are not working, either the power or internet went out yesterday, at least it did on the West side. That will most likely be it till spring unfortunately...

Dan
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Old 12-24-2017, 11:52 AM   #2
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Yup, ours is down too, as well as my in-law's place (several camps down).

Mark

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Old 12-24-2017, 09:56 PM   #3
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Sometimes the island loses power due to an accident on the mainland. It may come back. Keep us posted.
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Old 12-24-2017, 10:07 PM   #4
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It could be just the internet since those lines have been down and on the ground on the island since the last storm....also I still see lights on the south side of the island which are purposely left on over the winter...

Dan
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Old 01-11-2018, 02:18 PM   #5
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I just got off the phone with Mark (forgot his last name) from Eversource and he said they will send crews to Welch when the ice is thick enough. They have an Argo 8 wheel amphibious vehicle that they drive out. They check with NH fish and game for ice reports. He's going to let me know when they go out. They routinely do this in the winter to trim trees and do inspections when the ice is safe. Probably a few more weeks.

I also talked with a tech from Fairpoint who was checking the phone lines. He was able to use his test equipment to detect around 3 miles of cable heading out to Welch (from the mainland) which he thought was about normal. He wasn't able to see my router (no power?) If there was a break in the cable it would have been a noticeably shorter distance.

Mark
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Old 01-11-2018, 02:32 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by welch-time View Post
I just got off the phone with Mark (forgot his last name) from Eversource and he said they will send crews to Welch when the ice is thick enough. They have an Argo 8 wheel amphibious vehicle that they drive out. They check with NH fish and game for ice reports. He's going to let me know when they go out. They routinely do this in the winter to trim trees and do inspections when the ice is safe. Probably a few more weeks.

Mark
Is it the power that is out or is it the Fairpoint lines? I still see some lights on the south side of Welch. I haven’t been out to confirm yet hopefully get out there within the next week if ice is safe enough....

Dan
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Old 01-11-2018, 05:11 PM   #7
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No idea Dan. I just called both utilities to see if they knew about a problem. I originally thought Eversource could communicate with the smart meters but this isn't the case.
The meters can only be read remotely from a few hundred feet. I'm guessing there's a problem along the West branch powerline, like maybe blown fuse.

I did see the photo of the light on the South side of the island. It looks close to feed point from the mainland, and the problem could be the West circuit of just a break farther down the line.

Just to be clear, I didn't expect or request Eversource to go out there over the ice. I was just hoping the problem might be on the mainland. Mark from Eversource said they routinely go out anyway to trim
trees and other normal maintenance if / when the ice is a safe thickness. Probably a good time to do this type of work since nobody is around and the leaves are off the trees, etc.
Also don't have to bother with a boat or barge (when ice is out).

Mark
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Old 01-11-2018, 05:20 PM   #8
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Good info Welch-Time. Thanks for the follow up.
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Old 01-11-2018, 06:37 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by welch-time View Post
I just got off the phone with Mark (forgot his last name) from Eversource and he said they will send crews to Welch when the ice is thick enough. They have an Argo 8 wheel amphibious vehicle that they drive out. They check with NH fish and game for ice reports. He's going to let me know when they go out. They routinely do this in the winter to trim trees and do inspections when the ice is safe. Probably a few more weeks.

I also talked with a tech from Fairpoint who was checking the phone lines. He was able to use his test equipment to detect around 3 miles of cable heading out to Welch (from the mainland) which he thought was about normal. He wasn't able to see my router (no power?) If there was a break in the cable it would have been a noticeably shorter distance.

Mark
They use a "time domain refelctometer" (TDR) to determine distance to a break or end of cable. A pulse is sent and the time measured to when the reflection returns. It is about 1 mile from Belknap Point over to the north/south split. Then maybe 1.5 to 2 miles around to the end of the north line at the most. If the measurement was made correctly then the phone lines should be good to both you and Dan.

Alan
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Old 01-20-2018, 12:41 PM   #10
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Today:

The power is off for most of the north branch. At the 1st pole north of the split there are two fuses: the fuse feeding only the 1st few camps was closed however the fuse feeding the rest of the north branch is open.

The north branch phone cable is on the ground from the split up to pole #4. I did not see a break however maybe 100' was covered with downed tree debris left by the power company. So there may not be a break, I just could not tell. FairPoint will have some work to at least get the cable back up.

Alan
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Old 01-20-2018, 03:25 PM   #11
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Wow, Excellent. Thanks for the information Alan.

I passed this info along to Mark at the Eversource (Tilton office / answering service). He returned my previous call promptly so maybe I'll hear from him on Monday. Mark seems to be a guy who manages the electrical service + repairs to Welch. He's probably gone until Monday. FYI, His number is 603-286-8374 ext 555-5430.

Fingers crossed.
Mark

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Old 01-20-2018, 03:38 PM   #12
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You can see the blown fuse hanging down.

I reported the outage online a little while ago and left my cell #. No place on the page to indicate that I have more info. Just got a text saying that power will be back on by 5 today. Right! Maybe someone at Eversource with local knowledge will give me a call.

You could pass it along as well.

Alan
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Old 01-20-2018, 04:14 PM   #13
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I just got another text from Eversource saying that power has been restored. Unless they already had someone on the island (doubtful) there is no way. And I have no way to remotely check.

Alan
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Old 01-20-2018, 04:23 PM   #14
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My cameras are still offline so power must still be down.

Mark

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Old 01-21-2018, 12:15 PM   #15
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Our neighbors, one camp south of us. are on the island now. They just reported that the power is still off.

Alan
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Old 01-21-2018, 05:55 PM   #16
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How is the ice thickness heading out to the island?
It looks like some warmer weather is coming.

Mark
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Old 01-21-2018, 05:59 PM   #17
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Quote:
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How is the ice thickness heading out to the island?
Coming from Glendale the thinnest ice I encountered was 9” and that was over 100’ of water.

Please be sure to check ice thickness on your own.

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Old 01-22-2018, 05:24 AM   #18
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Might be time to get a solar backup system for the winter! Seems every winter I only have my cameras and weather station up for a short period.

Jeff

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Old 01-22-2018, 03:04 PM   #19
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Default Backup power

I guess you my orientations are obvious Solar is the way to go!
It does require both solar panels and a battery to make up a complete backup power supply. I installed the first StorEdge/LG battery system in the State in Sandwich during late August and within a month the clients had to weather a 3 day power outage. Their StorEdge inverter immediately switched their essential loads over to the LG battery. Essential loads are usually water, heat, and refrigeration but in their case the most appreciated one seemed to be their internet connection.
Readers of this forum would probably be most interested in the security of powering for cameras and dock circulators, but there is also a financial incentive to adding energy storage. The excess power generated by the solar array during a summer day would be stored in the battery and used in your home later during the evening. This is called self consumption. The inverter will know to draw the battery down first to power your evening loads before beginning to buy power from utility company. It only amounts to a savings of a couple of bucks per day but it does add up over time. Here's a link to an excellent short video that explains how a StorEdge system works The LG RESU battery has 9.8 kWh per day energy capacity and comes with a ten year warranty.
While it is necessary to have both a battery and solar panels to be able to be fully independent of grid power, you need not have a huge array of panels if your only interest is powering your essential loads. More panels does mean more usable power for your home and a much greater utility bill savings, but it would only take 6 to maintain the battery well enough to keep your circulator running consistently during a long power outage.
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Old 01-27-2018, 10:28 AM   #20
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Default Power back on for me @ 10:30am

Weather station and cameras just came online for me
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Old 01-27-2018, 10:51 AM   #21
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Yup, Mine too! Woo-Hoo!
Thanks Eversource.

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Old 01-27-2018, 12:16 PM   #22
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Thanks for the updates. We may walk over tomorrow and it would be nice to run the heat pump and brew some hot coffee.
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Old 01-27-2018, 12:19 PM   #23
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Thanks for the updates. We may walk over tomorrow and it would be nice to run the heat pump and brew some hot coffee.
Have fun out there

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Old 01-27-2018, 12:23 PM   #24
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Making a new thread

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Old 01-27-2018, 07:14 PM   #25
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Weather station and cameras just came online for me
Woo hoo!!

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Old 01-29-2018, 08:56 AM   #26
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This morning I got a follow-up call from Mark at Eversource (Tilton office). He wanted to let me know the power had been restored on Welch (which we already knew).
He said the crew took down about 6 trees as well as fixed the blown fuse.

I thanked him and asked him to thank the crew for a job well done.
Good guys.

Mark

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