Reset info

[csheath]

At what hours is a MEP-803A required to be reset? What all is done besides changing the hour meter?

 

[kloppk]

See TB 11-6115-741-24

 

[Gunzy]

http://generators.tpub.com/TB-11-6115-741-24/TB-11-6115-741-240013.htm

 

[csheath]

Thanks for the replies. This is good to know. In theory a machine with low hours and a reset decal will have at least 3500 hours plus the current hour meter reading. I guess the subsequent resets are every 3500 hours so actually no telling how many hours a machine has by pictures. Sounds like many machines either did not have the reset done at the interval in the table or the hour meters are not always changed at the reset interval.

It seems hour meters are useless indicators of use.

 

[Gunzy]

I had an M804A that was reset at 21 hours according to the tag. It was done at Letterkenny and they did not change the hour meter but did complete rebuild to include a new diesel engine.

 

[Chainbreaker]

...In theory a machine with low hours and a reset decal will have at least 3500 hours plus the current hour meter reading. I guess the subsequent resets are every 3500 hours so actually no telling how many hours a machine has by pictures. Sounds like many machines either did not have the reset done at the interval in the table or the hour meters are not always changed at the reset interval.

It seems hour meters are useless indicators of use.

Except that on pg 14 of the above link it states:

"3.7.4 Replace hour meter on generator sets that have a new or remanufactured engine installed. Generator
sets that retain their original engine shall retain their original hour meter."

So in theory... The hour meter should be indicative of engine run time on either the: Original engine, remanufactured engine or new engine. So if you think of it strictly as an engine hour meter and the rules were followed the hour meter should provide good clues as to remaining engine life. However, it would seem that everything else outside the engine could be either original, replaced with new or repaired with no idea of # of hours except for any mandatory replacement items when a reset occured or any necessary repairs were made.

EDIT: OK, after further reading a TIER 2 RESET should never have the original engine as by definition under 4.2.1 a Tier 2 always gets a remanufactured engine or new OEM engine. Also on pg 21 it states: 4.7.4 Replace hour meter 100%.

So, an hour meter of say 1,000 hours on an all Original 802/803 unit that has never been reset should indicate that the maximum run time on all the components is no greater than 1,000 hours. But a first Tier 2 reset hour meter, say of 100 hrs, would only be accurate for the engine (remanufactured or OEM) plus any other components that were replaced at time of reset. The rest of the gen set components could have 3600 hours on them (excluding mandatory replacement items) if I am reading this document correctly.

Then again...if a units hour meter failed while deployed and was replaced I guess all bets are off unless they applied a tag that indicated the hours when it was replaced. So as many have said "take the hour meter with a grain of salt". In some cases it may only be an indicator of how long the hour meter has been run.

 

[Isaac-1]

You have left out the condition where an hour meter dies and is replaced by a new one, but the engine is not serviced.

 

[Daybreak]

At what hours is a MEP-803A required to be reset? What all is done besides changing the hour meter?

Howdy,
Everyone is answering what is reset.....

A perfectly performing MEP-803A might not have a defined "Has to have tier 2 reset" timing. That is also why you can find units with 9000 hours being sold. A unit going through a Tier 2 reset might be because of various other reasons. Catastrophic failure. Engine seized, blows oil, valves bent, hole in piston, etc... That is why you could see a 2011 unit which was reset with a replaced Lister-Petter engine, and sent back out. There could be a maintenance issues, injector issues, fire damage, etc... Any model which is gone through a reset should have gone through quality control and made sure all gauges work. 1 gauge might not work and they replace that 1 gauge. I have seen 94 MEP-803A after a reset with all the old gauges, with a new hour meter. I have seen a 94 MEP-803A where the entire control panel was new.

As some members here have also said, just because it was a tier 2 reset, does not mean its perfect and ready to go. (right Guy)

Look over the unit, look at the engine, wires, panels, exhaust, screws, gauges, behind control panel etc..

With being fair, a unit that was broken in properly and cared for could very easily be a 10,000 hour unit

 

[Guyfang]

That's what I have been telling you guys forever.

AND, here's another twist. I saw this several times. Unit goes down range. DOESN'T take its own generators, so some smart guy in the headquarters decides to do something "good". He submits the entire fleet of gen sets in his battalion for tier 2 reset!. Why do such a thing? The sets are low hours, not in need of maintenance. So why? Well, everything left behind, still has to be maintained. Services pulled, or prepared for long term storage. Why go through all that work? And to tell you the truth, often the stay behind personnel were not barnburners. Send it away, and one less headache. One unit I know of did this on two consecutive rotations.

This was not always the case. One unit that I will name, the 173rd ABN, stationed in Bamberg. Stay behind guys were great! We contractor's took over the motor pools under the direction of the stay behind troops and all equipment left behind was maintained, repaired, upgraded IAW the Army guidelines. When the troops got back, the equipment was in better shape then when they went down range. Without unnecessary tier 2 work.