Spare parts

[maniatopoulosg]

Good evening everyone I’d like to ask a question regarding spare parts inventory for the MEP803a
When you need the thing to work it has to work in the obvious reasons for you to be running a generator is either off grid or during an emergency or storm either way they need to perform what would everyone recommend having on the side as inventory that can and usually go bad aside from oil belt and filters


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chainbreaker]

I remember asking this same question here after buying my first MEP genset a few years ago. I didn't fully appreciate a recommendation provided by another SS member at the time to "buy a 2nd unit" as the ultimate spare. So I started procuring piecemeal spares for my genset...a spare starter, fuel pump, injectors, AC voltage regulator board, etc. It soon hit me that I was spending enough money on what I considered potential failure points that I was nearing the investment necessary to buy a complete 2nd generator if I shopped around wisely.

The problem with having various spare parts is that you never know what part might fail and stop you dead in the water during a critical power outage situation. That exact situation hit me during a week long ice storm power outage. My main house genset had a major electrical component failure causing output AC voltage to go high. Thinking how prepared I was, spares wise, I thought for sure it was my voltage regulator board and I fought freezing cold and nearing darkness and installed a spare VR board standing next to a silent dark house. However it was not my voltage regulator board and the spare VR board I replaced it with did me no good. Fortunately, I had eventually taken the other members advice and picked up a second genset at a great price a few months before the storm and had adjusted and load tested it earlier. So all I had to do was swap the cabling to my backup generator and our house was powered up and heating before my wife returned home from work. Otherwise, she would have driven up to a dark cold house and seen me outside freezing and swearing at a dead generator!

By no means am I totally discouraging picking up obvious spares. However, where does it stop and how much does that cost to cover all your bases as far as potential failure points go? Even if you have the right spare on hand how long will it take to determine where the failure lies during the added stress of a power outage? You can read on various threads of it taking days to weeks to trouble shoot a problem and implement a fix. At some point its wise to consider a backup to your backup (the saying: 2 is 1, 1 is none came true for me). So, if you can find a serviceable non-working generator same model as yours at a great price and have the time to fix it you will be way ahead of the spares game since you have 100% spares with redundancy! Having a 2nd working genset gives you peace of mind knowing its there for you in time of need.

Edit: Even if you can't economically fix a non-running spare due to a really bad problem (broken piston, cracked block, etc.) your still left with a parts donor unit with 99% spare parts that you might eventually need to make repairs on your unit.

 

[Light in the Dark]

I would second the machine duplication route, but the past year has shown this is not as economical as it used to be.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Very true now after the past few hurricane seasons the Caribbean & Atlantic whipped up. However, there are some deals to be had if you have the time, know where to look and can do repairs to non-runners.

 

[Light in the Dark]

A good basic list is fluids, filters, and fuel (including stabilizing agents, algae killers, winterizers, etc)... to cover the duration of outage you are expecting. After that, never hurts to have a spare set of radiator hoses, or a fan belt. Bulk fuel line (both main sizing and return line) on a spool, with small hose clamps should you need to repair immediately.

If you have modified this (or its been modified) to have the Quad fuse mod... why not a spare fuse or two? Obviously you can go nuts spending money on parts, to cover 'all scenarios'. Spare fuel pump? Extra radiator coolant and radiator leak sealant? Deoxit contact cleaner is handy to have on the shelf too, if you come into issues under use. Maybe consider a new S1 and S6 to keep on the shelf.

I think up and above that, is when you start considering a second machine...

 

[impi]

I would start with what you need for maintenance for an extended run time (All the same things you check daily on a marine diesel Coolant, Hoses, Filters, Belts). Those are the bare minimum. Service intervals are 250 hours - so that gives you about 10 days non-stop running. I carry two of each fuel and oil filter, and enough fluids for at least two full replacements (oil and coolant) and I also have a generic 24V fuel pump of Amazon. Then secondary I would get in to the bigger things unless you have a small standby. I honestly think location and climate plays into how duplicative you get with your spare parts, and whether or not you have any other means of standby power generation. Sitting out the aftermath of a hurricane like we did last year is inconvenient, and as long as you have refrigeration running and water you can stick it out for a while - other than being hot and humid we don't have to deal with the same threats the folks in the north have to deal with during winter storm outages where low temperatures can cause major damage to property (frozen pipes that burst), and life (turning into a frozen popsicle while sitting in your own living room). For us property damage is pretty much done once the storm passes. Last year I managed to make it through the aftermath with a small Briggs 5k storm responder and a Honda EU3000i. The Briggs was used to drive the well pump and keep the refrigerators going. The Honda being a sine wave generator was used for the electronics. This year I've got a MEP hard wired to the house, the Briggs is still there and maintained as is the Honda. The Honda is also used on my RV, I keep the Briggs around as it's portable and I can lend it to a neighbor if we experience the same thing we did last year. With the MEP I don't have to have a lot of gasoline sitting around - I have two 55 gal drums for diesel which will be filled with treatment and stabilizer when the season fires up. Should the MEP decide to stop running I'll fall back on the smaller units - it'll be less convenient, but survivable.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

These generators are prety stought units so i would just keep around general maintenance items like oil, filters, belt and coolant. Always to PM checks and load tests.

Becids that i would keep an eye out for a ran fine 5yrs ago cheap consumer grade generator. I say this because even the 802a around here go for over $2000 and the usef civilian market is non existant.

 

[jamawieb]

Routine maintenance items, fluids, belts, filters. Then the 2 failures I see the most, are the water pump and alternator. I have several people that put several thousand hours on these gensets and those 2 are the largest failures that will bring you to a stop.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Routine maintenance items, fluids, belts, filters. Then the 2 failures I see the most, are the water pump and alternator. I have several people that put several thousand hours on these gensets and those 2 are the largest failures that will bring you to a stop.

The alternator is preaty easy to get around if you have good batterys. Get it started with other batterys and plug in a 24v battery charger. After all it is a generator. They can be run with out batterys if i remember right.

 

[jamawieb]

Unfortunately if the alternator goes, it will slowly drain the batteries. Your fuel pump, fuel cutoff solenoid, and K1 all use DC voltage. Yes, if you have a 24volt charger your fine but 90% of people do not have them.

 

[Guyfang]

I had the advantage of having 5-7 gen sets all running in the same place, so I just hooked up a slave cable between the bad one and another runner and could wait for a part to come in. In the field, I always had at least two sets, side by side. And I once drove around for 3 days on the German autobahn, (we had to change locations every 6-8 hours) in a M818 5 ton, towing a generator set, with a wrecker slave cable, (30 foot) hooked up between them, held up by rope and wire ties, to charge the batteries between locations. When the chips are down, use your imagination.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Unfortunately if the alternator goes, it will slowly drain the batteries. Your fuel pump, fuel cutoff solenoid, and K1 all use DC voltage. Yes, if you have a 24volt charger your fine but 90% of people do not have them.

You can use two 12v chargers or one 12v and switch between batterys. Not ideal obviously but workable and may keep your house from freezing or filling with water.

If theres no will theres no way.

 

[Keith_J]

A running daily driver FMV is the best for charge or jump start. Spare oil and fuel gaskets are a must, filters not so much..as long as the fuel is fresh.

I have the bonus with the 1031 and the working PTO generator. Its still wired in 208 volt three phase but with three phases of 120 volt, its no slouch. I need to make a low zigzag to low Wye panel.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

If you live where it get cold and dont have a set of fuel filters you could be living on borrowed time. Stuff does grow in fuel in warm climates also.

 

[Farmitall]

The alternator is preaty easy to get around if you have good batterys. Get it started with other batterys and plug in a 24v battery charger. After all it is a generator. They can be run with out batterys if i remember right.

I was thinking the same thing. It is a viable alternative as long as the alternator shaft still turns and it hasn't smoked a bearing.
If the alternator seizes up, you'd need some type of idler pulley setup to put in its place for the belt to run on to continue turning the water pump with the belt.

I opted to just keep a used/ working spare alternator.