mep gen sets

[elkslayer316]

Hello, i am new to this..i am looking to get a mep 803 10kw i see there are onan. fermont, and lister petter models. can anyone tell me the difference and what one is the best? thanks

 

[cbisson]

Hello, i am new to this..i am looking to get a mep 803 10kw i see there are onan. fermont, and lister petter models. can anyone tell me the difference and what one is the best? thanks

They are one and the same actually. Fermont was the assembler, Onan was the mfg of the gen head and Lister Petter makes the engines which are rebadged to Onan.

 

[America]

Finding the best unit is a art form. Just make sure you have a decent set of tools.

 

[Guyfang]

First you need to know WHAT you want to do with it. Then you can decide what you want.

 

[Light in the Dark]

What specifically are you looking to power? As Guy said... that should be your true driving force in deciding if the 803 is even the right platform for you.

 

[elkslayer316]

i want one for backup when power goes out. when it does were the last to be hooked up. my 3500 is out of commission so i thought i'd, upgrade. will be hooking it up to house. with only 10kw i will need to be selective on what to turn on. but better than running the little one around with extention cords. I really wanted an 004 but they are hard to find..

 

[elkslayer316]

oh forgot to say i am only running single phase.

 

[Jim Layton]

i want one for backup when power goes out. when it does were the last to be hooked up. my 3500 is out of commission so i thought i'd, upgrade. will be hooking it up to house. with only 10kw i will need to be selective on what to turn on. but better than running the little one around with extention cords. I really wanted an 004 but they are hard to find..

My 003A (10K) runs my entire house including ac, my shop out back and a cord to the neighbors with no problem at all. It did this 24/7 for 7 days last storm season. This is not big box store advertised 10K ratings here...

 

[Light in the Dark]

Do you have electric heat, or any high draw items in your home? Do you have all electric appliances? Wood heat? 803s are a whole LOT of machine... some folks just want to keep the lights on, cook some food, make sure they have heat. Other folks want to run a private airport... what do YOU want to power? I run my home on a 5kw just fine (I cant run my clothes dryer during an outage, but I can literally turn EVERYTHING ELSE on in my home simultaneously).

 

[elkslayer316]

i have propane furnace and a wood stove. i have 3 freezers, two water heaters . they are 18 amps each. i have an electrician i am working with...I really just need to know what model 803 is the best...I thought like the 804a or b. that the 803's had different motors etc..............thanks

 

[Light in the Dark]

802 and 803 are single or 3ph. 804 and larger are 3PH only (so you can get 1PH from 2 of the legs, but its not advisable for extended durations).

Is the 18A figure the run rating, or the start rating? Do you need to concurrently run both heaters? I also have a propane furnace, a wood stove, 2 chest freezers, electric wall ovens, tv, fridge, all manner of lights... my 5kw handles it all.

How and when you run your high draw items will be the deciding factor.

 

[cbisson]

i have propane furnace and a wood stove. i have 3 freezers, two water heaters . they are 18 amps each. i have an electrician i am working with...I really just need to know what model 803 is the best...I thought like the 804a or b. that the 803's had different motors etc..............thanks

There's only 1 model 803.....that would be the 803a. With that said, some would say it's better to get a Fermont built 803a rather than the older Libby built 803a. YMMV

 

[Chainbreaker]

Also, do not forget to consider fuel burn rate. If you expect extended outages it becomes very important to choose the right output generator due to fuel consumption factors. In addition, too much generator for the load can result in a wet stacked engine over time.

It really gets down to how do you want to live during the outage, life as usual with some excess wattage to burn? Or, run just the basics perhaps with some breakers turned off (load management)?

I did an electrical load audit by going around to every appliance and getting the running wattage. I then decided what was necessary, what would be nice and what wasn't really necessary during an outage. That will get you into the ballpark of what is needed. Initially, I thought bigger kW generators were better but was clued in about fuel strategy, especially during extended outages and went with a 5 kW unit (~7 kW effective output at my altitude) and am very glad I did.

However, I have Propane Water Heater and Forced Air Gas heat in addition to a Wood burning fireplace insert. With LED lighting almost everywhere in/out of house plus LED TV's I seem to average 25-30% load until something kicks on (refrigerator, freezer, well pump, septic pump, expresso machine, etc.) which brings it up to 50-90% loading depending on how much kicks on simutaneously. If push comes to shove, I can do a load of laundry during an extended outage and run my 5600 watt dryer running up to ~125% with other small loads still on but I have to manage any high consumption heavy electrical loads (temporarily switch off express machine, well pump, etc...).

Also, with today's ULSD Biodiesel laden bulk storage fuel it will go bad unless you have other diesel powered equipment to burn though your "treated" bulk storage fuel. You really shouldn't go much longer than a year in storage to insure your fuel is safe.

 

[Ray70]

Everything the guys above have said is spot on. To add in my .02$ .... If you need to run the 2 water heaters, go with the 803.
I normally don't suggest anyone with electric heat or hot water run an 802 simply because either of those 2 will consume most of your power. 802's provide plenty of power and are more economical, as long as you have oil or gas heat and hot water, but will probably require some careful load management if you have electric heat and or hot water.
As for fuel, check in you area to see if HHO or Off road diesel is available in 55gl drums and if it is low sulfur or not.
The non low sulfur , non Bio fuel will last several years and will be cheaper than pump diesel, if it is available.

 

[elkslayer316]

thank you all much, fermont it will be.....i have a 300 gal fuel tank almost ready to fill. will be xtra for the gen set and tractor.....this should set me up good if we lose power for a week again.

 

[reo12]

Another option is to put items like refrigerators & freezers on timer controlled circuits so that they can only take power at certain times. This allows you to set which items can run at any one time. Paragon makes good quality timers.

 

[goat4hooves]

A couple years back I was vacillating between the 802 and 803. Leaning more toward the 803 at the time. Had bids on both and ended up with only the 802. At the time I was bummed.

I am very happy with the 802. It runs everything in our house when power is out. It will not run our 5 hp well pump at full tilt at the outside hydrant, but it has enough power keep up with house water demand with nearly everything else running in the house.

I like the fact that the 802 burns less fuel and is loaded between the 75%-100% range.

 

[Guyfang]

Also, do not forget to consider fuel burn rate. If you expect extended outages it becomes very important to choose the right output generator due to fuel consumption factors. In addition, too much generator for the load can result in a wet stacked engine over time.

It really gets down to how do you want to live during the outage, life as usual with some excess wattage to burn? Or, run just the basics perhaps with some breakers turned off (load management)?

I did an electrical load audit by going around to every appliance and getting the running wattage. I then decided what was necessary, what would be nice and what wasn't really necessary during an outage. That will get you into the ballpark of what is needed. Initially, I thought bigger kW generators were better but was clued in about fuel strategy, especially during extended outages and went with a 5 kW unit (~7 kW effective output at my altitude) and am very glad I did.

(This is where a smart man starts. Figure out what you need/want to run, how much it draws, and then you will know what you need.)

However, I have Propane Water Heater and Forced Air Gas heat in addition to a Wood burning fireplace insert. With LED lighting almost everywhere in/out of house plus LED TV's I seem to average 25-30% load until something kicks on (refrigerator, freezer, well pump, septic pump, expresso machine, etc.) which brings it up to 50-90% loading depending on how much kicks on simutaneously. If push comes to shove, I can do a load of laundry during an extended outage and run my 5600 watt dryer running up to ~125% with other small loads still on but I have to manage any high consumption heavy electrical loads (temporarily switch off express machine, well pump, etc...).

Also, with today's ULSD Biodiesel laden bulk storage fuel it will go bad unless you have other diesel powered equipment to burn though your "treated" bulk storage fuel. You really shouldn't go much longer than a year in storage to insure your fuel is safe.

Open to see what I wrote.

 

[America]

S a

i have propane furnace and a wood stove. i have 3 freezers, two water heaters . they are 18 amps each. i have an electrician i am working with...I really just need to know what model 803 is the best...I thought like the 804a or b. that the 803's had different motors etc..............thanks

Are you sure that’s all you need it for? No air conditioning? What about stove and oven? Sounds like you live in a large home? We need more info.

 

[elkslayer316]

ok guys, i am in the country, running a well pump, have 2200 sq ft home a 3400 sq ft barn 3 freezers 2 refrigerators 2 water heaters, no ac but do have a hot tub. already got it figured out about load managment
thankyou all for all the input. looking to get a 803 fermont on 5/2 at an auction near me. 1500 hours on it..will see how it goes.