That morning "Yikes" moment...

[BKHpondcritters]

Our power went out last night around 10:30, but no worries! The generator kicked right on & the pond pump circuit is on the generator panel. So, this morning I look out the window around 7:00 am right after the power came back on and..... Oh CRAP! The large, main waterfall is not running. The small waterfall WAS still functioning, so I knew it was a localized problem to the one pump - but since my husband is out of town until Friday night, it better not be a *serious* problem! (I know nothing about electricity beyond turning on a switch & I don't really do plumbing, either!) Huge sigh of relief when it turned out to simply be a popped GFI (there was that tense moment when I reset it & held my breath waiting to see if it would hold, or pop again immediately)
Fishies all seem happy to have their waterfall back running & the only minor problem is that the water level is a bit low from losing the content of the large biofall due to it draining down & overflowing. Happiness is only having *simple* problems before a second cup of coffee!

 

[Lisak1]

Phew! Glad it was an easy fix!

 

[j.w]

Happy for you and your fish

For all this time for some reason I thought you were a guy, then in this post you mentioned a hubby

 

[BKHpondcritters]

@j.w Nope! Middle aged lady here.

 

[j.w]

@j.w Nope! Middle aged lady here.

Over a big hill one here

 

[poconojoe]

Great job resetting the GFI.
Glad it was that simple.

 

[combatwombat]

That's great that you have a generator to run your pond. I have a feeling I'll be looking into them too as added insurance if I ever finish building mine.

I can relate to the electrical issues. The GFI on the sewage ejector pump for our basement keeps tripping, and I get notified of it via a terrible buzzing alarm. It's a simple fix, but I'm not allowed to do anything but make progress on the pond until it's raining too hard to be outside.

 

[brokensword]

That's great that you have a generator to run your pond. I have a feeling I'll be looking into them too as added insurance if I ever finish building mine.

I can relate to the electrical issues. The GFI on the sewage ejector pump for our basement keeps tripping, and I get notified of it via a terrible buzzing alarm. It's a simple fix, but I'm not allowed to do anything but make progress on the pond until it's raining too hard to be outside.

ah, noooo, just noooo; even if it's raining too hard, you WILL be outside...damnit!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

That's great that you have a generator to run your pond. I have a feeling I'll be looking into them too as added insurance if I ever finish building mine.

I can relate to the electrical issues. The GFI on the sewage ejector pump for our basement keeps tripping, and I get notified of it via a terrible buzzing alarm. It's a simple fix, but I'm not allowed to do anything but make progress on the pond until it's raining too hard to be outside.

When the NC house was being built we were living in Chicago, so lots of indirect communications went back & forth between us & the builder. We knew we wanted a 'whole house' generator installed (which wasn't an unusual request for them to carry out) but it took a bit for us to get them to understand that "We don't know when, but sometime in the not too distant future, we WILL have a pond. That pond will need a dedicated circuit in the panel & it will need to be on the generator." Fortunately they were very good at indulging us with our (to them) strange requests!

 

[addy1]

I have a whole house generator, still sitting unhooked up for 8ish years, gas or propane. So far have never needed it. Longest time without power was around 8 hours one winter. I can count on one hand the amount of power outs we have had in the 12 years here.

Dear electrician hubby is still thinking about hooking it up..................

 

[poconojoe]

I have a whole house generator, still sitting unhooked

Dear electrician hubby is still thinking about hooking it up..................

Ha! Typical of us tradesmen!
We can be diligent with work of other trades, while neglecting our own!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I have a whole house generator, still sitting unhooked up for 8ish years, gas or propane. So far have never needed it. Longest time without power was around 8 hours one winter. I can count on one hand the amount of power outs we have had in the 12 years here.

Dear electrician hubby is still thinking about hooking it up..................

You're very lucky. The power goes out around here if someone looks at the lines wrong. Well, maybe it's not that bad, but I've noticed that the outages seem to be getting more frequent & often last longer than they used to when we were first here, 12 years ago. But, we're in a very heavily wooded area (as in, ALL forest!) so the chances of trees/branches coming down on lines during storms, ice, wind, snow, etc... is pretty likely. Several times a year at least, I'd say and averaging 6 - 8 hours would be typical. Sometimes they're quick with restoring power, sometimes... not so much. Our longest outages were 4 days, which happened on two different occasions. Once in the summer due to a massive thunderstorm and the other time during a blizzard which dumped 2' of snow on us (and in NC, 4" is considered HEAVY snow & grinds things to a halt) I just really like not having to worry about food spoiling or how I'm going to flush the toilet!

 

[Annimalcrackers]

Lost all mine 4 days no power, lessons learned the hard way. Sandy was ruthless to say.

 

[brokensword]

around here, it's typical to lose power for days and often, as in 6-10 times a year. So far this summer, been through 4 and this last saw a line come down and set part of the backyard on fire. Scariest moment I've ever had. Still working on surge issues from that; lost the well pump (only 7 months old, too! sob!), the furnace, 1 multiplug strip got fried, 10 bulbs burst or died, phone/internet/cable tv issues stemming from the fire too close to the pole, and a whole house fan timer got slain.

And you just GOT TO KNOW, I've been thinking/cursing the whole @poconojoe thread espousing the use of whole house surge protectors since then...!

Already had plans to finally get a whole house backup generator this winter and now going to include a surge protector too! Feels like it's 2020 all over again...

 

[addy1]

But, we're in a very heavily wooded area (as in, ALL forest!) so the chances of trees/branches coming down on lines during storms, ice, wind, snow, etc... is pretty likely.

Our lines, neighborhood and others are underground. Every summer/fall they are out trimming trees back from any above ground lines. They use those helicopters with those huge turning blades below them on some of the trimming.
We are surrounded by trees.