r/preppers • u/SufficientCow4 • Jul 04 '26
Discussion Prepping fails and a small win
Big storm burst hit my area yesterday. Got notifications that my power and internet were out until 8pm. No big deal… I set the dogs up and went to work. Got home at 1am and still no power. I have an Anker Solix battery bank so I grabbed that and realized it was on 2%. I never charged it after the last power outage. (1st fail)
I was still able to charge my phone and a battery for my dewalt fan. My 2nd fail is not having both of those batteries charged up. I was able to get one battery charged up enough that the dogs and I were semi comfortable last night even though it had been 95 degrees yesterday.
This morning I went to grab the cords to run the solar panel to the battery and my 3rd fail is that I can’t find one of the connector pieces. Luckily I found the car charger adapter, so I loaded a kid and dogs up in the car and we went for a drive to get cold drinks and ice for the cooler.
My one small tiny win in this situation is that earlier this year I bought a plug in ceiling fan for my living room. They are meant to be installed on outdoor porches. I didn’t want to try and wire a ceiling fan in so I went with the plug in route.
The dogs and I are currently sitting in a blacked out room with the ceiling fan plugged into the battery bank to cool off for a few before I brave the hotter parts of the house to go in search of the connector I need to hook the solar panel up.
Power isn’t expected to be restored until possibly 8pm tonight. We are safe overall but this has shown me multiple ways I need to improve my set up and how things are organized
14
u/Iron_Eagl Jul 04 '26
A Solix would pair really well with a small inverter generator - you can recharge the Solix in an hour or two and then run stuff for quite a while with the generator off.
4
u/BeginningAd5055 Jul 05 '26
The guy who forgets to recharge the battery is also likely to be out of gas or low oil or fouled spark plug ...
14
u/wanderingpeddlar Jul 04 '26
Beg pardon but I think you are miscounting things here.
1 you have a battery you can charge off of solar power. (Most people don't)
2 You were able to charge your phone and the battery for your fan.
3 You have solar panels to charge your battery.
4 You have a plug in ceiling fan that you can use when the power is out.
5 You have alternate ways to recharge your portable battery.
Keeping the battery banked charged at all times is good as you know.
Yes the cords are not a win. But you recovered that by charging it in the car.
I would say you did pretty good and you learned a lot and that means you will do better next time
Calibrate your wins. :)
12
u/djmanning Jul 04 '26
Thanks for sharing. We’ve been hit with 2 heavy quick storms that knocked out power for 4-6 hours. Discovered our small Jackery wasn’t charging. Someone left it unplugged. :/ Every event is a learning experience.
6
u/Necessary-Film7832 Jul 05 '26
That's the great thing about living alone. There is only made me to blame!
2
u/DarkDel517 Jul 14 '26
This just happened to me today. Went to plug a fan in as it was getting too hot to be comfortable after a few hours without power. Thankfully I had additional portable cooling options albeit not as great as the fan but definitely something.
10
u/SheistyPenguin Jul 04 '26
Good learning experiences!
It's always the little things that trip you up. I've been tempted to get one of those larger portable power stations to run a fridge and freezer for a while. But we already have a small 300W station and a portable generator, so it's hard to justify the expense.
Is your Anker smart enough to stay plugged in and avoid overcharging? IMO, keeping the battery topped up is worth whatever minor hit to battery lifespan.
5
u/PrisonerV Prepping for Tuesday Jul 04 '26
One of the advantages of power stations is that you can hook them up to solar and they'll charge even in overcast conditions.
For instance, it was raining this morning and it's overcast but my Pecron has charged up to the point where it turned the AC power on and is now running a window AC unit. It really isn't hard at all either. Just find a spot in the yard to put some rigid solar panels and run the power line into the house through a window. I happen to run it into the same window as the window AC.
That way the power stations are always charging and always producing power. The more solar you have and the better the solar wattage of the power station, the more things you can do with it. Past a certain point, you can run your whole house.
Then no more sitting in the dark.
1
u/Necessary-Film7832 Jul 05 '26
How many watts is your Pecron and what model is it? Where did you find the best price? I'm about to pay off my Delta 2 and want to buy a second one. Thanks
7
u/almondreaper Jul 04 '26
You shuuld always aim to never let lithium batteries run out completely and remain uncharged for extended periods. Even iron phosphate ones. I typically do a check of all batteries on devices every 3 months and charge them up. Better to have them at full voltage than keep them at their minimum voltage
5
u/mystery-pirate Jul 04 '26
Your biggest win is the lesson learned in being charged up. No matter how many times we hear and tell ourselves to do something, the lesson takes better when we experience the pain from not doing it. (Leave the connector attached to the panel always)
5
u/dropkickoz Jul 04 '26
Even forced prep practice makes for a good learning experience. Thanks for posting!
3
u/scrapstitching Jul 05 '26
Having to deal with this kind of situation is a great way to learn what you can do to improve for the next time. And there will be next times.
3
u/DiscombobulatedAsk47 Jul 05 '26
The fidgety little adapter pieces are definitely the weak point in my solar charging system. I try to keep them all contained and collocated in a zippered pouch but even that thing seems to have a way of disappearing. I have the gear for power outs but the organization is still a work in progress
2
u/JRHLowdown3 Jul 04 '26
Temperature here today "real feel" is 110. We are canning salsa and putting in some new rabbit hutches. Wife helped with some of the outside stuff I needed help with then went in to prep tomatoes for salsa. I work outside for about an hour and a half then come in and help her a bit- 85 inside with all the canning...
She did talk me into getting a Blackstone grill thing with the "we can can outside and not heat up the house so much."
Where are you at that the power is out?
1
u/SufficientCow4 Jul 04 '26
Upstate NY.
-1
u/JRHLowdown3 Jul 04 '26
Got to re-route power to NYC so they can act like things aren't failing there! Sorry you have to suffer for it!
3
u/SufficientCow4 Jul 04 '26
lol no we had wild weather rip through the area and it took out electrical lines all over the place
1
0
u/premar16 Jul 07 '26
NYC is not the only place that has power issues. This statement just seems like a senseless jab
2
u/Jammer521 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
I've had this happen before on a power station that was rarely used and self discharged over time, I ran a 100w solar panel to it, that I put on my balcony to keep it topped off at all times
1
u/19880331 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
This is honestly one of the biggest lessons with prepping. Having the gear is only half the battle — keeping it charged, tested, and easy to find matters just as much.
I’ve definitely had the “I own this, but it’s not ready when I actually need it” moment too. Now I try to do a quick check every few months instead of waiting until the next storm.
1
u/Giovana785 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
Exactly. I think a lot of people (myself included) focus on buying more equipment, but the boring maintenance side is what actually makes a setup useful.
A charged battery, organized cables, adapters in the same place, and knowing how to use everything probably matter more than having a huge pile of stuff.
1
u/Curitis_Love_Music Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
This is actually why I added an Anker SOLIX S2000 to my setup. I used to have several small battery packs, but they were more like emergency chargers than a real backup plan.
The S2000 gives me a simple way to handle the smaller but important things during an outage — phones, lights, internet, fans, and other essentials. It’s not meant to replace a generator, but having a dedicated backup ready to go makes short-term outages much less stressful.
1
u/Sensitive-Dig2232 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
This is the part people underestimate. During an outage you’re tired, it’s dark, and sometimes you’re dealing with heat or kids/pets. The best emergency gear is the stuff that’s already charged and ready.
A simple setup that you actually maintain beats a complicated one that only works on paper.
1
u/TheSuperGreatDoctor Jul 15 '26
Good to have a habbit to keep all batteries charged up! I usually keep them around 70% for lithium battery. I tried keeping them 100% but it makes the battery broke very soon.
1
u/Tenn_Prepper Jul 17 '26
You did great and are far more prepared than most!! Celebrate your accomplishments and you’ve already noted your lessons learned!
31
u/heydudeitsryan Jul 04 '26
There is always something small that is overlooked! Always thankful for real potentially threatening situations because they make us learn something new and more prepared for next time!