"New" MEP-002A Purchase

[Forester]

Wow what a recovery story! That had to be pretty unsettling at the time, you dot the i's and cross your t's beforehand and something like this pops up! At least you knew who you were!!! You may have already thought of this but this guy may also be harming your credit. Could be a case of identity theft as well. Might want to pull your credit report and look for any signs of fraudulent activity. You also might want to consider putting a freeze on your credit with the credit bureaus. I just received a letter from the IRS that two other people filed an income tax return against my SSN last year besides myself. Boy were they in for a surprise as I owed last year. Guess those two fraudsters get to help pay!��

Anyway sounds like all's well that ends well despite the stress you probably endured at the time. Now the fun begins getting to know your MEP-002a!

I have been reviewing identity protection websites all morning as a matter of fact!! Sorry to hear about your stolen identity woes!!

 

[Chainbreaker]

I have been reviewing identity protection websites all morning as a matter of fact!! Sorry to hear about your stolen identity woes!!

Not to drift to far off topic, but this personal identity topic seems relevant given the situation you suddenly found yourself in during your recovery. Corporate hacks, which significantly aides access to personal identity information, are increasing the identity theft and credit card fraud aspects (the recent Anthem/Wellpoint breach comes to mind). I subscribe to the "Krebs on Security" blog and it is eye opening and I highly recommend this free blog if you want to stay in the loop of breaches that are affecting millions!!! I also received a free identity protection service (AllClear ID) for a year thanks to the Home Depot breach . Seems to be working...I think. Not sure who's service is actually the best though.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/02/defense-contract-management-agency-probes-hack/

If you look in the right column of highlighted "Recent Posts" you will also see one on the ongoing tax return fraud issues. Here is a link to Brian Krebs take on Identity Protection Services which is quite informative:

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/03/are-credit-monitoring-services-worth-it/

 

[Forester]

She's a runner..I think

Hmmm. I wrote a new reply this morning, but it appears that it didn't take. Here it goes again:

I ran through all the pre-start checklists:

Batteries take charge - YES!
Fuel tank clean - yes - spotless
Fuel pump screens clean - yes
Fuel strainer/separator and filters clean - yes
Oil filter change - yes
Add oil - yes
IP plunger moves when engine rotated manually - yes

Fueled her up and primed/ran pumps. Fuel returned to tank. Cracked fuel lines at injectors and bled out the air. Recharged the batteries, preheated 1 minute, cranked a bit a vroom - she came alive!! Took a few seconds for the hertz meter to move...a nervous few seconds.

I ran it for about a minute + then shut it down. We had a "blizzard" the night before so I had to go and blow some snow. I returned and planned on starting and running the unit for an extended period of time - under load. Well... She didn't start the second time. The governor linkage fell apart. Specifically the rod came apart from the plastic lower ball holder. By the time I spotted that, and put it back together, I had drained the batteries enough that I felt I wasn't getting enough cranking power to give the set a fair chance to start. I'm going to charge the batteries back up and try and run her for a bit this evening.

Keeping my fingers crossed.


Pics coming!!

 

[gimpyrobb]

Dangier makes those ball pivot ends. If he is out, I have some old take-offs, but I recommend his new ones.

 

[jacobsk]

Hmmm. I wrote a new reply this morning, but it appears that it didn't take. Here it goes again:

I ran through all the pre-start checklists:

Batteries take charge - YES!
Fuel tank clean - yes - spotless
Fuel pump screens clean - yes
Fuel strainer/separator and filters clean - yes
Oil filter change - yes
Add oil - yes
IP plunger moves when engine rotated manually - yes

Fueled her up and primed/ran pumps. Fuel returned to tank. Cracked fuel lines at injectors and bled out the air. Recharged the batteries, preheated 1 minute, cranked a bit a vroom - she came alive!! Took a few seconds for the hertz meter to move...a nervous few seconds.

I ran it for about a minute + then shut it down. We had a "blizzard" the night before so I had to go and blow some snow. I returned and planned on starting and running the unit for an extended period of time - under load. Well... She didn't start the second time. The governor linkage fell apart. Specifically the rod came apart from the plastic lower ball holder. By the time I spotted that, and put it back together, I had drained the batteries enough that I felt I wasn't getting enough cranking power to give the set a fair chance to start. I'm going to charge the batteries back up and try and run her for a bit this evening.

Keeping my fingers crossed.


Pics coming!!

Outstanding!

I'm crossing my fingers that the governor joint is all the trouble you'll have.

 

[Forester]

Well... I started her up again. Backed the trailer out into the -2 great outdoors for more tests. Right out of the gate there were some issues. After I started it it held on 60 hz, but soon become irregular with the motor momentarily cutting out/bogging down - like you were throwing a kill switch on and off quickly. I let it warm up for a few minutes, running irregularly the whole time, I then put a small load on the generator. I left it to run and the cutting in and out continued, a couple times the HZ gauge would vary wildly - bouncing across the scale. The generator would recover, but continue to cut in and out. In conjunction with the rough running I could watch the governor lever bouncing up and down. Eventually the motor ran so poorly I shut it down before it died on its own. I could prime the pumps and it would fire right back up, but continue to run rough...

Thoughts? Fuel - fuel delivery related?? IP gummed up somewhere and it will clear up???

 

[jacobsk]

Check for a loose ground.

what goodies came in your trailer?

 

[Forester]

Check for a loose ground.

what goodies came in your trailer?

A length of new auxiliary fuel line - nice stuff

New in box ground rod

That's it

There's enough new paint sprayed everywhere it very well could be interfering with a ground.

 

[dangier]

Dangier makes those ball pivot ends. If he is out, I have some old take-offs, but I recommend his new ones.

Gimpyrobb,

Can't take credit for them. Jimc is the master of production and sales on these.

David

 

[gimpyrobb]

Whoops! I knew someone here made them, my bad guys.

 

[jamawieb]

Well... I started her up again. Backed the trailer out into the -2 great outdoors for more tests. Right out of the gate there were some issues. After I started it it held on 60 hz, but soon become irregular with the motor momentarily cutting out/bogging down - like you were throwing a kill switch on and off quickly. I let it warm up for a few minutes, running irregularly the whole time, I then put a small load on the generator. I left it to run and the cutting in and out continued, a couple times the HZ gauge would vary wildly - bouncing across the scale. The generator would recover, but continue to cut in and out. In conjunction with the rough running I could watch the governor lever bouncing up and down. Eventually the motor ran so poorly I shut it down before it died on its own. I could prime the pumps and it would fire right back up, but continue to run rough...

Thoughts? Fuel - fuel delivery related?? IP gummed up somewhere and it will clear up???

It sounds like you have a governor linkage issue. How did fix the problem, when the linkage came apart? With the motor fluctuating up and down its going to be the linkage. If it was the injectors or ip pump you would have smoke or zero power (the motor wouldn't be able to increase rpms).

 

[Forester]

It sounds like you have a governor linkage issue. How did fix the problem, when the linkage came apart? With the motor fluctuating up and down its going to be the linkage. If it was the injectors or ip pump you would have smoke or zero power (the motor wouldn't be able to increase rpms).

Just the bottom of the linkage (lower ball connector) so I put it back together adjusted (guessing based on paint and wear) it as close to original as I could. Interesting enough when you have a freshly painted unit one can tell where others have been working. Scuffs and missing paint on the linkage and general governor area.

I'll read over the governor section and see what I can do...

 

[Ray70]

Definitely sounds like a governor adjustment problem. Sounds like something is causing the droop adjustment to be out of whack.
When the ball end came apart I wonder if it slacked off the tension on the linkage and let the spring on the droop adjuster to drop down?
If my memory is correct, the spring being too low causes excessive RPM hunting, but sitting here at work I don't recall how the linkage and spring are kept taught.

 

[jamawieb]

The throttle cable is attached to the control arm, the arm is attached to the governor spring, then the spring is attached to the governor arm. Then the governor arm is attached to the linkage. Ray70 is correct, if the spring is to far down the droop screw if will act as you are describing. It sounds like they already had a problem because you say it looks like others have been working. If you could post a picture of the linkage and spring assembly, we may be able to tell more.

 

[Forester]

The throttle cable is attached to the control arm, the arm is attached to the governor spring, then the spring is attached to the governor arm. Then the governor arm is attached to the linkage. Ray70 is correct, if the spring is to far down the droop screw if will act as you are describing. It sounds like they already had a problem because you say it looks like others have been working. If you could post a picture of the linkage and spring assembly, we may be able to tell more.

I looked at the linkage that i put back together and did indeed see that there was some unpainted threads showing at the bottom. All things being equal those threads should be all the way in I suppose. So i, very painfully, screwed the bottom linkage in until there was no bare metal present.



At the top of the linkage I can't tell if something is off. The linkage hits/rubs on the far side of the opening and/or the solenoid - see pic:



Finally you asked to see the spring assemble. You can tell that someone has moved the adjuster nut. I am thinking that the generator was painted prior to installing the linkage? Or it was painted and the governor in general was repaired.

 

[Ray70]

Pictures really are worth 1000 words! Now I remember how it looks. If the linkage comes apart the spring is going to be able to compress fully and loose all its tension on the adjuster. I'd be willing to bet it fell down a notch or two, it probably belongs back up 2 turns where that bare spot is on the adjuster. I'd try moving it up a bit then follow the droop adjustment procedure in the TM to dial it in. Too low on the adjuster and you'll get wild RPM hunting, too high and the RPM's will drop excessively and possible even stall out under a load. As for the rod binding up as it travels, that is very common on these. Maybe find the spot where it touches and file away the opening to make a little extra clearance. Otherwise you may occasionally have a "no-start" condition caused by the linkage being stuck holding the fuel solenoid in the off position.

 

[Forester]

As a side note when i checked the IP for free movement of the plunger I was told to make sure not to loose the spacer. It is number 38 in the pic below:



Well...I don't recall ever seeing it. Number 37 came/fell out when i was disassembling and i just don't recall see a spacer when I looked in the hole. The generator ran so I assume that it is in there. Should i pull it apart again to make sure? Or will it simply not run without it?

 

[jamawieb]

As a side note when i checked the IP for free movement of the plunger I was told to make sure not to loose the spacer. It is number 38 in the pic below:

View attachment 543222

Well...I don't recall ever seeing it. Number 37 came/fell out when i was disassembling and i just don't recall see a spacer when I looked in the hole. The generator ran so I assume that it is in there. Should i pull it apart again to make sure? Or will it simply not run without it?

More than likely the spacer stayed in the ip or stayed on number 37 when you took the cap off. The spacer is an orange plastic piece. Don't worry to much about that because the unit is running. If the plunger guide is broken (which usually happens when the plunger doesn't move) the motor will not run.

1st thing: Your governor spring is way to far down. I'm 99% sure that is why the motor is running rough and hunting rpms. If you take a large flat head screw driver and put it on the left side of the adjuster star (the part at the top above the spring), then hit the screw driver so it will move the adjuster star in a clockwise motion. Most of the time your spring should rest no lower then the middle of the adjuster. You can do this when the unit is running.

2nd: If the above does not totally fix the problem. The next item to look at is the top of linkage where it is binding. You can carefully bend the arm away from the shut off solenoid, if you put a pair of pliers on the flat portion of the arm (towards the spring) and slightly bend the arm outwards. Also you can loosen the nut at the top of the arm and move the linkage further out on the arm. It takes patience to dial everything in.

3rd: After you put a full load on the unit. Let us know how it handles when a large load is applied. If you have large drop in hertz, then move the adjuster screw counter clockwise so the spring will move down. If the spring is to far down the adjuster, you will see the motor hunting for rpms and running rough like it is now.

This all confirms what Ray70 stated above.

Hope this helps.

Jimmy

 

[Forester]

More than likely the spacer stayed in the ip or stayed on number 37 when you took the cap off. The spacer is an orange plastic piece. Don't worry to much about that because the unit is running. If the plunger guide is broken (which usually happens when the plunger doesn't move) the motor will not run.

1st thing: Your governor spring is way to far down. I'm 99% sure that is why the motor is running rough and hunting rpms. If you take a large flat head screw driver and put it on the left side of the adjuster star (the part at the top above the spring), then hit the screw driver so it will move the adjuster star in a clockwise motion. Most of the time your spring should rest no lower then the middle of the adjuster. You can do this when the unit is running.

2nd: If the above does not totally fix the problem. The next item to look at is the top of linkage where it is binding. You can carefully bend the arm away from the shut off solenoid, if you put a pair of pliers on the flat portion of the arm (towards the spring) and slightly bend the arm outwards. Also you can loosen the nut at the top of the arm and move the linkage further out on the arm. It takes patience to dial everything in.

3rd: After you put a full load on the unit. Let us know how it handles when a large load is applied. If you have large drop in hertz, then move the adjuster screw counter clockwise so the spring will move down. If the spring is to far down the adjuster, you will see the motor hunting for rpms and running rough like it is now.

This all confirms what Ray70 stated above.

Hope this helps.

Jimmy

Pictures really are worth 1000 words! Now I remember how it looks. If the linkage comes apart the spring is going to be able to compress fully and loose all its tension on the adjuster. I'd be willing to bet it fell down a notch or two, it probably belongs back up 2 turns where that bare spot is on the adjuster. I'd try moving it up a bit then follow the droop adjustment procedure in the TM to dial it in. Too low on the adjuster and you'll get wild RPM hunting, too high and the RPM's will drop excessively and possible even stall out under a load. As for the rod binding up as it travels, that is very common on these. Maybe find the spot where it touches and file away the opening to make a little extra clearance. Otherwise you may occasionally have a "no-start" condition caused by the linkage being stuck holding the fuel solenoid in the off position.

Thanks for the help gents.

I will start the generator and move the adjuster UP. Jamawieb/Jimmy I assume that you intended to tell me to move the adjuster counter clockwise? Righty tighty lefty loosie..

And there was a washer/spacer on #37 when it fell out. I didn't know if that was all one piece or if the spacer was separate - THANKS!

I'm going to have to do this after...I buy a very small, inexpensive, part that I will never admit to ruining even though my intentions were perfectly sound and it wasn't like I wasn't paying attention. OK I the crushed copper washer on the one of the fuel filter bolts because I wasn't paying attention, and it not being ON the bolt got jammed between the bolt and the housing - smash.... No i didn't have any real reason to want to change the first filter I was that was just days old....just spinning nuts and bolts and apparently tempting fate...sigh...

Todd

 

[jamawieb]

Thanks for the help gents.

I will start the generator and move the adjuster UP. Jamawieb/Jimmy I assume that you intended to tell me to move the adjuster counter clockwise? Righty tighty lefty loosie..

And there was a washer/spacer on #37 when it fell out. I didn't know if that was all one piece or if the spacer was separate - THANKS!

I'm going to have to do this after...I buy a very small, inexpensive, part that I will never admit to ruining even though my intentions were perfectly sound and it wasn't like I wasn't paying attention. OK I the crushed copper washer on the one of the fuel filter bolts because I wasn't paying attention, and it not being ON the bolt got jammed between the bolt and the housing - smash.... No i didn't have any real reason to want to change the first filter I was that was just days old....just spinning nuts and bolts and apparently tempting fate...sigh...

Todd

Play with the adjuster, moving it left or right to see which way the spring will move up. I'm pretty sure turning the adjuster clockwise will move the spring up but I could be wrong. Every mistake is a learning experience.