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MEP-002 Outside

Clayshootr

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I have to move my generator outside for a few weeks. Will it be ok outside in the elements?? I plan on throwing a tarp on it when I get back up to the farm next weekend. I assume they are built to withstand more than a dry Nebraska winter.
Thanks for the info!
 

timntrucks

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they stay outside all the time in the storage places in the army camps. i too have a tarp on mine just in case.
 

Jasonz in MO

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From MO for years but was born at Offutt. My Dad was in the Air Force.

Clayshootr, is that a 720 diesel? I have a 720 LP and a few others.

Even with a tarp, the worst thing I can think of concerning long term outdoor storage for any engine/machine are mud daubers. They cost me a pinion seal on my F350 when they plugged up the differential vent tube but not a problem this time of year.
 

Clayshootr

New member
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Location
NE
From MO for years but was born at Offutt. My Dad was in the Air Force.

Clayshootr, is that a 720 diesel? I have a 720 LP and a few others.

Even with a tarp, the worst thing I can think of concerning long term outdoor storage for any engine/machine are mud daubers. They cost me a pinion seal on my F350 when they plugged up the differential vent tube but not a problem this time of year.
It is a diesel. I had it for the past 20 yrs. Just sold it last month to purchase a grain trailer to put behind my M931.
 

steelypip

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Charlottesville, VA
My MEP-002A has been outside for about three years now. It has always started up when asked, but it was happier once I put a tarp over it. The tarp is mostly necessary to cover up the control box - it keeps driving rain from getting into the gauges and dampening the screw terminals. I do also have a proper muffler/stack/flapper screwed into an elbow on the exhaust that serves to keep critters out (and direct the exhaust noise up). All the other openings seem to be sufficiently screened to manage the most likely problems.

The long term plan is to get it under a shelter roof, but that'll probably be another year or two down the road.
 

1800 Diesel

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Santa Rosa County, FL
I have to move my generator outside for a few weeks. Will it be ok outside in the elements?? I plan on throwing a tarp on it when I get back up to the farm next weekend. I assume they are built to withstand more than a dry Nebraska winter.
Thanks for the info!

If you have any trees on your property or can set up a couple treated 2x4s in the ground about 14' apart you're better off setting up a low "tent" over the generator with stakes in the ground & 1/4" rope keeping the tarp stretched tight. Keeping a tarp over a generator in a "cocoon" arrangement invites condensation on a daily basis...Down here in the south it also creates a haven for roaches & rats...the rats just love chewing on the wiring insulation. Understand you may not have the rodent problem, but the condensation does no good for the electrical components nor your paint job... As to the tent arrangement, you have the snow factor that we don't have to deal with so that would dictate how you set up the pitch of the tarp. Another thing I find works good is to use the poly tarps for the tent part & then a good canvas tarp for the one that lays directly over the generator. The canvas breathes well unlike the poly tarps & by having the poly tarp over the canvas one, things stay much drier & the canvas tarp won't rot so quickly...

Basically stretch the rope between two trees...this becomes the "peak"....lay the tarp over the rope along the center of the tarp & then secure the 4 corners (& other eyes as needed) to other trees or stakes driven in the ground....we use what the crabbers call "pot warp"--a black poly-pro line that is UV stabilized so the sun doesn't eat it up....Orient the sloping sides of the tarp to best block the prevailing winds, rain, snow, etc...
 
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