Valence's M116A3 Mounted MEP-803A (10kw generator)

[Abrant23]

For my own sanity.... not being very electrically inclined, IF ( as described in post #11 ) Valence had no 240V loads and decided that he wanted full rated output from his 803A and put it into 120V only mode, with all the load on L3, wouldn't he have 104A on L3 and not 52A?
I assume you mean you can not have more than 52A per leg when operating in 240V mode, not 120V mode?

In theory, yes, you could load it up that way. I cannot fathom a situation in which you would do that though, unless you had one giant single phase 120v motor or something like that.

For normal operation, I would assume that one would have a regular ole split buss 240v panel that would utilize two legs of 120v to achieve the full rated load of 104 amps.

If there's something that I'm missing, please correct me! I personally have never seen any instance where a mulit-branch circuit panel has only one leg of power input.

 

[nextalcupfan]

This is what I was responding to in post #11.

From that, I believe that 6 gauge wire was sufficient even if the generator was in 120v at 104A,

His next line goes on to say he WILL be running in 120/240v mode.

I was merely stating my opinion that 6awg is not enough for 104A of current.

 

[Daybreak]

With electrical load limits on wire cords. The SOOW cord is nice in a 6awg 4 wire, the same thing in a W-Type 6awg 4 Wire gets you to a 87amp rating.

RV's and stuff are a lot of straight 120v panels.

 

[Valence]

Thanks guys for your input. Yeah, I will be in 120/240, because I'll use it as a whole home generator, but I need a bigger transfer switch now (I only have a 30A Generlink automatic transfer switch)

 

[Valence]

Well, I just purchased a second M116A3 mounted MEP-803A generator! This one directly from Gov Planet auction. It was refurbished in 2012 (vs the 2010 'reset' of the tan generator above) and has 703.4 hours.

The Gov Planet listing said it had a bad starter and the oil pressure gauge was inoperable - both were not true. The GP personnel just hadn't toggled the Dead Crank switch from "Off" to "Normal".

This is the nicest piece of military surplus that I've ever purchased that wasn't NOS. It's nicer than the tan generator with fewer hours. I get the distinct feeling that someone really took care of this equipment and wanted to own it after its and/or their service.



As can be seen above, the safety chains above had been modified to be extended and with spring-loaded safety hooks too.




One of the few things 'wrong' with this generator is that the trailer plug has been damaged and doesn't have the spring loaded cover.


One thing I find very odd though is the "Delivery Date" stamped on the data plate says "1980". I don't know when the M116A3 trailer variety with HMMWV tires and wheels were first introduced (I have been told 1999), but something tells me it wasn't before the the very first HMMWV of 1984.

Edit: A very helpful fellow has suggested it probably means the 198th day of 2000. That'll make it easier to jump through the Utah government titling hoops. It also fits more closely because the generator's data plate is stamped with a Date of Manufacture of 01/00.

 

[Valence]

The trailer's tires were NEW. Maybe not the newest MTR style, but these do not have a blemish on them or sidewall crack and the nubs and writing still perfectly intact. Also, the trailer has the highly sought after 24-bolt wheels.




It came with a decent loadout in the tool box:
3 copper grounding rods, 2 steel mounted under the generator, copper grounding wire, and a 3-prong military extension cord.

The front landing jack crank handle was actually inside the generator acoustic housing, hiding behind the terminal connections. I was very pleasantly surprised to find it.

The documents box on the inside of the left access door was full of technical manuals too! They were only a little water damaged.


And the, probably, field mod added Solargizer bolted to the top of the generator acoustic paneling appears to work too. At full daylight the left battery reads 12.61v and the right battery 12.57v (the batteries read around 12.4v in the dark evening).


I'm not sure the age of the batteries, but as is sort of visible in the last photo, there is a round factory sticker on the left battery that reads "F11". February 2011? The Optima battery in my daily driver has the same style of round factory sticker (albeit orange in color and not white) and it reads "2/17" which is much more clearly a date of manufacture. I haven't load tested the generator's batteries but they have zero problem starting the generator. It starts very quickly/easily.

 

[Valence]

The nuts on all of the shackles had been welded, surely to keep the shackles from "wandering off", but most of the welds look rusted/cracked through now or that they wouldn't hold up against an impact wrench.


I spent a few hours last weekend cleaning off the many GovPlanet stickers. A heat gun made the plastic just roll off with a razor blade, but all the adhesive was left behind.


I used an old bottle of dried "Goof Off" towels that I wetted with hot, soapy water - and scrubbed until my arms were beyond tired. I think it cleaned up pretty decent.

 

[Valence]

...
One thing I find very odd though is the "Delivery Date" stamped on the data plate says "1980". I don't know when the M116A3 trailer variety with HMMWV tires and wheels were first introduced (I have been told 1999), but something tells me it wasn't before the the very first HMMWV of 1984.

Edit: A very helpful fellow has suggested it probably means the 198th day of 2000. That'll make it easier to jump through the Utah government titling hoops. It also fits more closely because the generator's data plate is stamped with a Date of Manufacture of 01/00.
View attachment 864206

I ended up actually receiving an SF-97 from Gov Planet, and it claims that my green 10KW trailer here is actually a 2006. Unfortunately I already have it titled in the State of Utah as a 2000.



I re-filled out all the paperwork, had another VIN inspection by the local Police (as I was instructed to when I telephoned the DMV about this discrepancy). I then scheduled an appointment and went to the DMV to see if I could have my title corrected. After all, that is the correct thing to do, right? After another 1.5 hours wasted the worker there informed me that they couldn't change the title and gave me a phone number for Special Investigations. That I'd need to call them and have them open a case and work through that to change the title...

After not wanting to waste even more of my life, I filed the paperwork away and have miraculously "discovered" that it really is a year 2000 trailer! Funny how that works after just trying to do the "right" thing the first time.

 

[Guyfang]

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

[Valence]

I bought an Autel AL539B OBD2 Scanner, but mostly for its other testing capabilities, such as the battery CCA tester.


https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B079GXRV1M

And tested the Optima Red Top Group 34 batteries, rated for 800 CCA (Cold Cranking Amps), in both generators:

In the Tan MEP-803A, the batteries have "2/20" and "3/20" manufacture date stickers on them. The measurements were 909 CCA and 891 CCA, or about 113% and 111% capacity, respectively.



In the Green MEP-803A, there are no date stickers, but there are stickers with "F11" on them. Maybe February 2011? That's a different date style than all the other Optima Batteries so I'm not sure, just guessing. However, the test didn't lie, the batteries are old/degraded. The measurements were 599 CCA and 516 CCA, or about 75% and 65% capacity. It still seems to start very easily, but I attribute it to still being a lot of starting power for the 4 cylinder diesel.



For comparison, I have an old Optima Red Top, group 34 in my 1977 Plymouth Trailduster that I installed in July 2014 (mfg March 2014) that tests that it needs to be replaced too at 569 CCA, or ~71% capacity.



My 2001 Dodge Dakota's Optima group 34 that I installed in May 2015 tests at 601 CCA, or ~75% capacity.

I guess 2022 is the year of Battery Replacement. Yikes.

June 19th, 2022:
I used a Father's day coupon to buy all the replacement batteries from O'Reilly. I actually had to do an in-store exchange because I was dumb and ordered the "R" version for "Reverse" (the positive and negative post locations were reversed).

 

[Light in the Dark]

Yeah find the data plate and custom engrave the trailing 6 to a zero and move on with life. Make all the paperwork dorks happy.

 

[Valence]

With much THANKS to Daybreak and the sticky in this forum:
https://steelsoldiers.com/threads/mep-802a-mep-803a-filters-and-parts.186068

Even though the oil in both generators looked clean and still amber in color, and the units are both low hours, I have no idea when they were last serviced, so I assumed many years ago. So I've performed a full fluid and filter service on these two generators (yes, I like labeling things with service date/hours):

• Changed oil (Mobil 15W40 full synthetic, TM specifies a capacity of 5.9 quarts)
• WIX 51374 oil filter
• Checked Air Filter (both appear like new), but ordered spare WIX 42276 for later use.
• New Fuel/Water Separator (found on eBay searching for "85285-F", was listed as a "Cummins 85285-F")
• New Fuel Filter Cartridge, WIX 33348 (the included gasket fits, but it's small and loose in the housing on the generator and hard to get to seal)

I made an easy, reusable oil drain tube (Clear, so I could tell when it was done draining and a clear jug so I didn't over flow it).


The form-a-funnel was useful in redirecting most of the oil spillage from the filter to make it a bit less messy (it was messy on the first generator, oops!)



However, I am in need of these fuel rated rubber gaskets on the fuel filter housing (the current ones are cracked and/or flaking). I haven't been able to find any part numbers. To clarify, I need:

• The two fuel rated gasket/o-rings on the top #10 bleeder screws
  • Also, I managed to fumble and drop/loose one of these bleeder screws. I assume a replacement 10-24 pan-head screw from the hardware store is fine? (The other original appears to have a slightly off-center head, for whatever reason). Edit: I managed to find the little screw! Prayer works folks
• The two fuel rated gaskets on the 1/4" canister bolt

 

[Daybreak]

For the canister fuel filter cup. The little top gasket can be held in place with a little grease. Make sure you also get it lined up in the slot all the way around before tightening up.
Part of the power unit supplies (Trailer mounted genset) included a 90 degree fitting and hose for the oil draining. 1 of mine had it installed, others were not. I also use a pipe piece for skid mounted units as to not dribble down the side when draining oil.

 

[uniquify]

• The two fuel rated gaskets on the 1/4" canister bolt

View attachment 871123

The pair of small rubber washers/gaskets that go around the bolt are Wix 15398. RockAuto used to have those pretty reasonable.

 

[Valence]

For the canister fuel filter cup. The little top gasket can be held in place with a little grease. Make sure you also get it lined up in the slot all the way around before tightening up.
Part of the power unit supplies (Trailer mounted genset) included a 90 degree fitting and hose for the oil draining. 1 of mine had it installed, others were not. I also use a pipe piece for skid mounted units as to not dribble down the side when draining oil.

Thank you for the grease suggestion. I shall do that.

The pair of small rubber washers/gaskets that go around the bolt are Wix 15398. RockAuto used to have those pretty reasonable.

Awesome, thank you so much for the part number!

 

[Valence]

Some back log updates:

April 30th, 2022:
I installed a WiFi Manager Remote Start Controller on my tan generator that I purchased from @kloppk (See his listings on SS here or eBay!). Really impressive what he's made and how perfectly well it integrates and will control the generators! I can control the generator from my phone, computer, or it can start from any 2-wire remote start controller (or even a simple, physical switch you wire to it).

He even sold me a spare fuse (both my generators already had the fuse mod) and the "MOV" mod to protect the voltage regulator. To quote Kurt:
"The Fuse Mod protects the Quad winding in the gen head but does nothing to protect the Voltage Regulator. The MOV is to protect the regulator from voltage spikes protecting it from damage. The Metal Oxide Varister (MOV) is essentially a surge protector much like the device in surge protector power strips."

The MOV is the blue tab looking thing between the #7 & 8 ("Quad") connectors on the Voltage Regulator seen well in pictures #6 & 7 below.

 

[Valence]

May 5th, 2022:
I installed the second "WiFi Manager" controller on my green MEP-803A from @kloppk. This time I actually masked and painted the holes, which is what I should have done for the install on the tan generator.




Here is a capture of the controller attached to my network tonight (01/30/2023) as the temperature nears single digits. I had to use my phone to get it attached back to my network as it had "forgotten". (The generator's batteries are currently connected and maintained by two 12v Battery Tender connections.). Honestly though this is a regular thing and I'm rather disappointed with how fickle it is in constantly disconnecting from the network and resetting, waiting to be configured. Yes, my router's "Roaming Assistance" is turned off so it won't auto-disconnect a connected client when its signal gets too weak (default was -70 dBm).



June 21st, 2022:
I cleaned up and re-glued down some of the weather stripping that was coming off the tan generator. I also ordered from Green Mountain Generators for the right side door where a section of weather stripping was missing entirely. It was a perfect match of good, genuine article weather stripping.

Nonmetallic Special Shaped Seal
NSN: 5330-01-367-6329
8325-T-300, 20941, 15 Foot Length
https://greenmountaingenerators.com...d-seal-nsn-5330-01-367-6329-8325-t-300-20941/

 

[Valence]

January 28, 2023:
I made and wired up dual commercial twist lock connectors that will "live" on both generators, both the common "L1430" 30A and "LL550" 50A for versatility. The 50A connector was discussed earlier in this thread:
https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threa...d-mep-803a-10kw-generator.207577/post-2431674


Note to self: Double check that the safety tabs on the terminal bolts/lugs are properly latched/secured...


Doing this, I discovered that the wrench for the terminals in the tan generator might need to be replaced as it's a little gouged/worn down on the very end. I mean, it still works as long as you have it fully seated and it should be a long time until I need it again.
Text on the back of the handle reads:
30554-88-21146
P/N 19500 FSCM 60177



Reference note for myself for wiring on the back of the plugs:
G = Green
Y = Black
X = Red
W = White

The 30A L14-30 connector was purchased from Amazon. Years ago I had bought a Chinese "Utilitec" connector from Lowes (for my MEP-016B). Today, the product images are exactly the same on Amazon and Lowes' websites, just a different "brand" name on the product and photos. I have found this is a very common practice for these Chinese manufacturers. However, surprisingly, I don't feel like this connector is junk and it didn't feel like I was going to break it as I wired it up and it felt solid enough after assembly. We'll see how it stands up to being outdoors long term (though I will keep it tucked under the generator out of direct sunlight & weather).

$12.49 at the time of purchase for the female connector, or $19.99 for a female and male pair combo.
https://www.amazon.com/ELEGRP-L14-30P-Generator-Grounding-Industrial/dp/B08CXQ24K7/



My green MEP-803A is currently wired to my house via an Automatic Transfer Switch that I paid to have installed (more on that later). The Automatic Transfer Switch provides a 2-wire auto start, which I tested and it does work with @kloppk's controller! But I don't have that connected at this time and will just use the web page interface if needed. Soon to start my routine of monthly 30 minute-1 hour full load tests to keep all generators in tip-top shape.

 

[Guyfang]

Looks good! You have this in hand. Looks good. Where do you live in Davis co.? I lived a year and a half in Roy. Nice place to live, butt that was in 71-72.

 

[Valence]

Looks good! You have this in hand. Looks good. Where do you live in Davis co.? I lived a year and a half in Roy. Nice place to live, butt that was in 71-72.

PM sent.