Load shedding in Bryanston from 2pm. At least we get to go home once it hits. Traffic will probably be madness though 
Load shedding.. are you prepared ??
- Thread starter Marzuq
- Start date
3 days
It was a very dark time indeed
Went to visit everyone I know to "bum" some power and charge everything each day
Bad part was that two substations went at the same time and left large parts of Centurion without power, so I had to go "out of town" for power
Load shedding hit the Oaklands area today from 10am and just came on now at 2pm
4 hours
Was ok but not great
Laptop has ample power with my spare batteries but my big screens lose power so I have to switch to the tiny single laptop screen. Thats not really so bad, one gets used to it - but the hard part is hanging on the end of a very flaky MTN 3G signal in my area.
Amazing how dependent I have become on having a good Internet connection.
I dont miss coffee - or even lights - but the Internet is a must have. I wonder how I coped in the old dial up days where I would dial in a few times a day and do what you needed to do. The advent of "always on Internet" has changed things a lot.
I think I need to invest in some decent UPS equipment for my screens and my Telkom modem.
4 hours
Was ok but not great
Laptop has ample power with my spare batteries but my big screens lose power so I have to switch to the tiny single laptop screen. Thats not really so bad, one gets used to it - but the hard part is hanging on the end of a very flaky MTN 3G signal in my area.
Amazing how dependent I have become on having a good Internet connection.
I dont miss coffee - or even lights - but the Internet is a must have. I wonder how I coped in the old dial up days where I would dial in a few times a day and do what you needed to do. The advent of "always on Internet" has changed things a lot.
I think I need to invest in some decent UPS equipment for my screens and my Telkom modem.
@Silver , don't. Just try to adapt to it, would be good for you. You can still use your phone for email.
And eventually it's going to be off for 4+ hours or more, so you'd need a generator as well. The phone, you can use backup chargers. There are cheap ones on ebay that work off 18650's and i saw one somewhere yesterday, DIY with an Altoids tin, 2 x 18650's and a USB port.
And eventually it's going to be off for 4+ hours or more, so you'd need a generator as well. The phone, you can use backup chargers. There are cheap ones on ebay that work off 18650's and i saw one somewhere yesterday, DIY with an Altoids tin, 2 x 18650's and a USB port.
Durban today at around 13h00, for an hour or so. Then on again, but when i was in a shop a bit later, it bombed just as she got to the total on the till. Then i drove around trying to avoid traffic light hassles on the way home. Durban people don't know how to handle it, it's freaking dangerous sometimes.
Yep, any moment. And note, this is worse than last time, last year and before - this time i find the traffic lights out from the start. ...it only goes one way - down, ain't never gonna get any better. Or you can hope for the Russian nuclear power stations.....sometime in the future. Then you can hope they don't blow it.
Jeez,those useless ************s who run Eskom couldn't plan a piss up in a brewery!
Yesterday it went to stage two load shedding during the morning,according to the schedules here in Knysna we would be without power from 2000-2230,power duly went off at 2000 and was back on at 2200.
Today the schedule (stage 2) indicated power to be off from 1200-1430,duly off at 1200 and on again at 14.10,only to find its now stage 3,well that means its off again from 2000-2230.
Well its now 20.56 and I've still got power.
Its bad enough that that well paid management can't do their jobs but for *****s sake,if they need to conserve power and implement load shedding in certain stages,why can't they implement it and stick to it at least the consumer has slight opportunity to plan around it.
OK rant over,vape on!
Yesterday it went to stage two load shedding during the morning,according to the schedules here in Knysna we would be without power from 2000-2230,power duly went off at 2000 and was back on at 2200.
Today the schedule (stage 2) indicated power to be off from 1200-1430,duly off at 1200 and on again at 14.10,only to find its now stage 3,well that means its off again from 2000-2230.
Well its now 20.56 and I've still got power.
Its bad enough that that well paid management can't do their jobs but for *****s sake,if they need to conserve power and implement load shedding in certain stages,why can't they implement it and stick to it at least the consumer has slight opportunity to plan around it.
OK rant over,vape on!
Due to my work involvement in automation systems it often used to freak me out when called out to an automated shut down of a plant or section of a plant due to protection electronic failure. No time to replace or repair due to the high demand and shutdown time might increase the time to restart as in the case of boilers.
You then are asked to disable the protection signal by bridging it out or altering the software for a re start. You then have no protection but can go back home to sleep.
This I think is happening and when these are not repaired, you can have devastating failures that can put a power station out for months.
You then are asked to disable the protection signal by bridging it out or altering the software for a re start. You then have no protection but can go back home to sleep.
This I think is happening and when these are not repaired, you can have devastating failures that can put a power station out for months.
Cause when all my mods are charged and 18650s deployed I have some spare
Just heard once again that the latest eskom technical failure was human error...clearly they have the wrong people monitoring the systems...it's like having an IT service desk agent trying to fix a sql cluster...
Hi @Cat , I hear you - but I'd prefer not to go the generator route - unless one can get one that is nearly silent - which I doubt.
Problem is that I really do need two screens to be effective.
I am not fully up to speed with these things and what's available now - but in the last load shedding of 2008 I bought one of those batteries with an inverter on top from Mica that worked very well. It powered my then PC and two screens for several hours. It was one of those heavy things on wheels - I think it was 2 car batteries inside. Worked very well.
Just a pity that I got rid of it - and now I am in need of finding a good quality one again but this time I need one like that for my Screens - but another smaller one for my Telkom ADSL modem, which is not in the same place as my office. I think if it can give me 6 hours of operation it will be perfect.
Just thought I'd leave this here. A very reasonable priced power bank. Gonna get me two of these. For my phone, vape batteries.
https://oneplus.net/oneplus-power-bank
https://oneplus.net/oneplus-power-bank
Wonder if anyone can give me some advice.
When the power goes off, it's quite obvious. When running the gennie, i have no idea to check if the power is back on again after the scheduled time. Most of the time they don't keep to the schedule, like if it's supposed to be off for two and a half hours, it goes up to 3 or 4 hours. I don't want to stop the gennie to check if the power is back on, and then when it isn't, I have to start the gennie again and then do the same every half an hour.
I need something that I can connect directly to the mains to tell me there is power on the mains again.
Any ideas?
When the power goes off, it's quite obvious. When running the gennie, i have no idea to check if the power is back on again after the scheduled time. Most of the time they don't keep to the schedule, like if it's supposed to be off for two and a half hours, it goes up to 3 or 4 hours. I don't want to stop the gennie to check if the power is back on, and then when it isn't, I have to start the gennie again and then do the same every half an hour.
I need something that I can connect directly to the mains to tell me there is power on the mains again.
Any ideas?
Are you powering your house from the genie and how is it connected?
It's a flat. I'm powering with a gennie straight to a plug with mains switched off. Geyser switched off. Only run lights and pc. Nothing else. But because mains are off, I can't see when power comes back on. Need something to tell me.
I'm not an electrical engineer,but I have a close friend who is and he has a hell of a lot of experience,thats why I asked the question.We were talking about this the other day with someone who does exactly what you do,this can apparently have fatal consequences if you don't power back up to the mains in the correct manner.I'll check with him for you (but he his currently in Tanzania) and get back to you.
I know exactly what I'm doing. My landlord and neighbour are both electricians.
This is how I do it:
When power fails. I switch off the mains and geyser and anything that requires high power, like kettles etc.
Then I connect the gennie to an outside plug that's part of the mains. I start the gennie, then switch on the outside plug.
Power is supplied to the whole flat.
It's perfectly safe and when the power grid comes back on, I switch everything off. Switch the outside plug off and then stop the gennie.
Then I just switch on the mains and good to go. Nothing to it. Been doing it for years because of constant power failures (very small town with very old power infrastructure.)
But now with the loadshedding, I need something to warn me when there's power again. At night it's not a problem. I just look outside and can see the street lights, but during the day I have no way to know the power is back on.
This is how I do it:
When power fails. I switch off the mains and geyser and anything that requires high power, like kettles etc.
Then I connect the gennie to an outside plug that's part of the mains. I start the gennie, then switch on the outside plug.
Power is supplied to the whole flat.
It's perfectly safe and when the power grid comes back on, I switch everything off. Switch the outside plug off and then stop the gennie.
Then I just switch on the mains and good to go. Nothing to it. Been doing it for years because of constant power failures (very small town with very old power infrastructure.)
But now with the loadshedding, I need something to warn me when there's power again. At night it's not a problem. I just look outside and can see the street lights, but during the day I have no way to know the power is back on.
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