I’m looking to build an electric setup for use after an EMP. What sort of system is expandable depending on my needs? I’ve seen handcrankgenerator.com and I’ve looked at solar generators. What would you guys recommend?
Posted Mar 10, 2022, 4:12 PM UTC
Kinda curious about this myself. While the odds are slim it's still good to be prepared.
I think one good place to start is to simply have spares of everything and have them in a very well protected shed. Maybe a metal container would be good enough?
If you want to prep for a full blown SHTF scenario like Walking Dead where you can never buy anything high tech again then you probably want to focus on more primitive tech too as a backup. At that point it's a whole other ball game though because it will eventually turn into a full blown self defense scenario when people start to come for your stuff.
The cost of emp hardened equipment and infrastructure outweighs its utility so no modern manufacturers build to that specification. It works by inducing a current into all wiring. So unless you build a bunker with a faraday cage and store a whole set of what you need that is not connected at all there really isn't much use worrying about it. Better to just have mechanical systems as a backup. Spring box refrigerator, hand pump well, rocket mass heaters, mantle kerosene lamps, mountain bike, or really old purely mechanical diesel tractor etc.
Would an EMP impact a generator? I don't know a lot about them.
Yeah most likely it would render a generator useless if said machine uses any electronics. Purely mechanical, or hand operated coil and magnet type generators may still work. An EMP may have an affect on the magnetic material in the stator of any generator, which is a big part of how generators work. Typical generators use an electromagnet, which is copper wrapped around a chunk of soft iron. When there is current through that coil, that iron becomes a magnet. When you shut the generator off, the current in that coil disappears and the magnet goes back to just being iron. So an EMP may stand to permanently magnetize that iron, which would throw the generator all out of whack. But, even after an EMP, a copper wire coil and magnets will produce electricity.
No, if disconnected
EMP isn't as dangerous as people think it is. anything that is powered down during the EMP will likely be fine, and even many things that are powered on will just reboot.
if you're super worried about it, use a jumper wire to connect power to ground on unplugged devices so there is less of a chance for a problem.
Lots of misleading info here
Risk from EMP is like risk from wind …
Is a breeze dangerous? Is a tornado EF5+ dangerous? What in between is too risky? Which will you protect your house from? What’s feasible?
Vast majority of EMP risk is to long wires (think long antennas). Simply disconnecting stuff, like say going off grid, mitigates risk. Unplugging stuff in home & cars makes the antennas even shorter.
It would take nuclear war to reach the scale of EMP relevancy where stocking sealed faraday cages with already-very-short-antenna-stuff you can’t use feasible for most. And in that extreme case, well, there’s lots of other risks to mitigate.
Wrt solar based EMP, it good to have a warning system then you can disconnect things. See https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/alerts-watches-and-warnings
Wrt OP’s question… solar before & immediately after EMP is yer best bet. Just disconnect things if the risk becomes huge.
The difficulty with an EMP is that is scrambles and destroys electronics, so protective things like faraday cages are needed for certain. "Low tech" things like waterwheel generators or wind turbines are the easiest to make and operate in a total EMP blackout scenario.
I think the simplest answer is constructing a Faraday cage inside and around your equipment.
Only thing better would be that plus being stored at least a few feet under ground
Faraday for the win in this situation. For scaling I'd start hoarding old alternators in the cage as well. After the fall, making a few blades affixed to the alternator enables you to create power anywhere the wind blows or water flows.
Oh good idea with the alternators