Helping silly friends....

[JRM]

Sorta mep related as my friend skipped a great auction that I showed him of 803's and 804's and picked up what he said was a superior unit for his gigantic homes backup. I have never seen this unit until he called me stating it was shutting down so I drove the 300 miles to his place to check it out. At first glance it looked like one crazy sweet turbocharged unit for the $6K he paid......but after I seen Yangdog (yanmar clone) on the engine I knew we were in trouble, and yup- its using water faster than diesel! Great looking unit but I sure wish my friend would have picked up that 804A I sent him in a IP auction link instead. Now I get to do a chineese head (no pun)
this is the unit I get to tear down, wish me luck guys!
http://www.affordablegenerator.com/30kw_Top_Seller_Standby_Generator_p/agyd30.htm

 

[Triple Jim]

What happened, did he buy a used one that's out of warranty?

 

[Chainbreaker]

Looking at the sellers web site new units are covered by a one year parts warranty. No labor covered.

 

[Isaac-1]

Sounds like he got what he paid for, next time may he will not buy junk

 

[JRM]

Knowing this guy- he probably will, he has a Rhino tractor too. Wouldn't be surprised if he had a Note 7 and a hover board with Chinese battery's

 

[CT-Mike]

The stupid shall be punished.

 

[Sodamo]

So let me add my experience...
i have the 24kw version of this unit, bought brand new from the company after a fair amount of research and back and forth with these people assuring me not only was I getting a good product, but their great support as well.
A bit of background. We built our house completely off grid and I had never owned a diesel anything until I got my tractor in 2005. My first diesel Genset was a Chinese model, New Shanghai 24kw model, bought on eBay. Ran it 5+ years without support, parts became a challenge so I decided I'd upgrade to something newer. It was still running when I sold it.
This Affordable generator has been a royal PITA since the beginning. Unfortunately, I installed it beginning of summer when I had minimal need to run it. That time also coincided with a self inflicted issue with my Outback equipment. I was probably 6 months in when I started suspecting the generator might not be right. It was running unbalanced load, upto 40 volts difference between L1L2. Affordable said everything to assure me the generator couldn't be the problem, must be the off grid equipment. After making sure my Outback inverters etc were all proper and I still had a problem an electrician friend and I set out to prove the generator was the problem. By this time I had about 500 hours, still under warranty, but other problems. The control panel was never right displaying my 100 gallon tank as liters, but not calibrated. Twice the oil sensor failed and then the engine would refuse to shut down, had to block the air. By coincidence the owners son happened to be visiting during this and offered to come take a look. Of course the gen head wiring matched the diagram for Parallel Zig Zig if I remember correctly, which is what it was supposed to be. I watched for about 10 minutes or so as he tried to diagnose the shutdown problem (no, I already knew it wasn't the fuel solenoid), when I said, "you know, still early enough in Phoenix to call and talk to the expert." He replied, " I am that guy". My heart sunk.
Anyway, he fixed nothing. My friend and I rewired the gen to Double Delta. Load is balanced, but my 803A provides more power. I also replaced the fuel pump/governor and it had shut down perfectly. Last spring the water pump went out and it took this guy 6 weeks to finally find one in stock. It was during this time that I acquired my MEP 803A. I have a thread detailing that adventure. I really like my 803 and once I get the aux fuel working right will likely love it. Wish I had been able to find it sooner.
As for Affordable Generators in Phoenix - while I'm at their mercy should I need parts, I'd never buy another generator from them nor recommend them. My warranty proved worthless.

 

[Triple Jim]

I wonder how the Detroit 2-71 powered surplus railroad generators compare in reliability. Does anyone here have any experience with them? I was looking at them when I found my MEP-003A and got it instead.

 

[Korgoth1]

I suspected those were junk, much like the aurora silent diesels that are a poor imitation of yanmar single, they snap rocker arm screws. I have been through a few junk units, the chinese heads from georgia generator that have aluminum windings, the mecce alte pto units from electric generators direct, and anything from generac I have had nothing but trouble.

Surprisingly, the predator generators(honda clone 8750peak watts) from horror fright have been great. I had 2 that I put a bunch of hrs on last summer. I did blow both up with contaminated fuel, went and exchanged no problem with extended warranty. The gen head in them has 6500watt labeled on it though.

 

[DieselAddict]

Well, that confirms my gut feeling about those generators. Wow.

 

[JRM]

the 2 stroke Detroit diesel 2-71's have always intrigued me- never found one for sale though, I'm sure they are solid as a rock but I would guess they can wet stack easily as every old timer says to keep those screamin jimmys to the floor. young people tell me GM cannot make a good diesel, until I have them google 12v53 or 8v53 on youtube then they change there mind after they see what year those engines were designed

 

[rustystud]

I wonder how the Detroit 2-71 powered surplus railroad generators compare in reliability. Does anyone here have any experience with them? I was looking at them when I found my MEP-003A and got it instead.

Those old "Jimmys" are great little engines ! They just go on and on and on.......
They do like to leak oil though. In fact oil loss is calculated into their design. They also are not very fuel efficient. The main problem with them today is parts, especially the blower units. Since the EPA basically destroyed the market for all 2 stroke diesels in the early 1980's there has not been a huge demand for aftermarket parts. Personally I would rather have a "Yanmar" diesel today. They are extremely dependable and sip fuel like a "miser" . Plus parts are available everywhere for them.

 

[Guyfang]

The government spent a whole bunch of money on these sets down range. No one will talk about it, and you can find them in the DRMO's. Wonder why?

 

[steelypip]

the 2 stroke Detroit diesel 2-71's have always intrigued me- never found one for sale though, I'm sure they are solid as a rock but I would guess they can wet stack easily as every old timer says to keep those screamin jimmys to the floor. young people tell me GM cannot make a good diesel, until I have them google 12v53 or 8v53 on youtube then they change there mind after they see what year those engines were designed

Everything I've heard (from people who manage(ed) them over the years) was that a two stroke Detroit Diesel 1) is loud, 2) leaks oil, 3) often has a sticky control rack, so make sure the strangler flap works, 4) is happiest worked hard, 5) wet stacks and carbons up the head easily (see 4)), and 6) makes power pretty much at one speed, so run it at that speed and be happy.

They're great engines for industrial/agricultural/fire water pumps, for instance, because you don't run a water pump at partial loads and you don't try to slow it down. A 2-71 is kind of big for most residential backup power uses, so it's fairly common to hear about wet stacking problems in this application. If you wanted to use one to charge a big enough battery bank it would likely be very happy as it would be above 50% load most of the run cycle.

 

[JRM]

I have a 6v53 in my 10 yard dump truck, everything you say is correct. Drive it like its a small block chevy! I also have a Yanmar in my john deere tractor- fires up quicker than my Honda civic without pre heat.

 

[Jakob1944]

I use to work on those 2 stroke Detroits....Nothing like hearing them go through the gears on the road.....**** sweet music.....especially when they are double clutching and letting her wind out....I afraid those days are gone.....

 

[rustystud]

I use to work on those 2 stroke Detroits....Nothing like hearing them go through the gears on the road.....**** sweet music.....especially when they are double clutching and letting her wind out....I afraid those days are gone.....

Out here in Washington you would here the semi-trucks with Detroit's start to wind-up when going up the pass's like Snoqualmie. They would be screaming when they hit the top of the pass !

 

[Jakob1944]

Out here in Washington you would here the semi-trucks with Detroit's start to wind-up when going up the pass's like Snoqualmie. They would be screaming when they hit the top of the pass !

I here ye......They are trying to keep on the power band and can't reach the upper gear for fear of loosing the torque.....

 

[Jakob1944]

The Govt. has all but killed the 2 stroke dirt bike industry.....about the only thing out there are Thumpers

 

[Korgoth1]

Everyone is holding onto their old saws, weadeaters, and gas cans.