New MEP-804B Owner

[jake20]

Sooo, I just became the owner of a 2009 MEP-804B off GovPlanet. Should be arriving sometime this week. Not really sure what I’m getting into but that’s part of the fun.

Will post some pictures once it arrives, I’ve got a general idea of what I’m doing but nothing in depth, it runs and generates power per the listing, going to go through and do all the PMs. Gonna need to find a bunch of microwave ovens to loadbank it

Main question I have at the moment is if anyone has ever pulled one using a Humvee, it’s on an M200A1 trailer, which requires air hookups. My deuce can tow it but it’d be neat if I could do it with the humvee, although the air/brake situation would be the main issue.

The addiction doesn’t end..

 

[Guyfang]

I might have taken lots of gen sets for a spin in the motor pool or on the missile site like you want to, but on the road? Not a chance. Look at the TM for weights. You need the PU set TM. Tell me what kind of PU, Power Unit that you have. Or look at the data plate on the PU. Then think about the weight behind you rolling down the road when you need to stop fast.

 

[jake20]

I might have taken lots of gen sets for a spin in the motor pool or on the missile site like you want to, but on the road? Not a chance. Look at the TM for weights. You need the PU set TM. Tell me what kind of PU, Power Unit that you have. Or look at the data plate on the PU. Then think about the weight behind you rolling down the road when you need to stop fast.

Yea figured as such but figured I’d ask heh, what’s the largest you’d find a humvee towing in any case? a 5kw 802?

 

[Guyfang]

10 KW, PU. Or a PP, Would have to look.

 

[jake20]

Anyone know the exact actual width of an M200A1 trailer from fender to fender? Currently trying to see if it'll fit through a loading dock.

 

[Mullaney]

Anyone know the exact actual width of an M200A1 trailer from fender to fender? Currently trying to see if it'll fit through a loading dock.

.
Found a posting by Eastern Surplus

• 2-Wheel.
• 2.5 Ton.
• 10R22.5 Tires.
• Air over Hydraulic Brakes.
• Overall Dimensions - 162.5" Inches L x 89" Inches W x 40" Inches H.
• Empty Weight - 2,015 Lbs.
• Payload - 5,000 Lbs.
• GVW - 7,015 Lbs.

TM is attached below in PDF. That matches the 89 inch width posted above.

Also found a trailer being haued across the country

M200A1 Trailer Question

I'm getting ready to pull a MEP 804 B trailer system to Tennessee from Alaska. Anyone know what kind of speed this trailer can handle? Thanks.

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[jake20]

.
Found a posting by Eastern Surplus

• 2-Wheel.
• 2.5 Ton.
• 10R22.5 Tires.
• Air over Hydraulic Brakes.
• Overall Dimensions - 162.5" Inches L x 89" Inches W x 40" Inches H.
• Empty Weight - 2,015 Lbs.
• Payload - 5,000 Lbs.
• GVW - 7,015 Lbs.

Got a loading dock that's 94-95" wide, will know if this goes south real quick or not in a few days

Thanks for the find!

 

[jake20]

Welp this was a fun escapade, fender to fender was 96” wide

The loading dock door I was working with was 95”

So basically it turned into a game of how quickly can we unbolt one of the fenders and lift it out of the way. Took about 20 minutes with 3 of us, and then we proceeded to pull it off the 53’ flatbed with barely enough space to spare.


Anyway, checked all the fluids, oil and coolant look completely fresh, will be changing those regardless in the next few days. Added some fuel and jumped it off my deuce as the batteries were dead. Started right up and oh my… this thing is silent as can be for military standards. They weren’t lying when they put “Tactical Quiet” in the name. All temps and pressures came up just fine.


Ended up doing 2 things so far:

1: Flip the Lunette so I can roll it between parking and shop interior using the humvee (it took some convincing with a massive hammer)

2: I noticed that it was set to 50Hz mode, so I set it to 60. After doing so and setting the dial to exactly 60, I noticed it bounces around a lot at 60, no change in engine RPM like when turning the dial though. Meanwhile at 50Hz, it’s rock solid.

Hooked it up to both the humvee and deuce to test the electrical / air systems, all work perfectly. Still going to yank the hubs and re-pack the bearings, along with inspecting/bleeding the brakes as usual.

Off to read the books…

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Welp this was a fun escapade, fender to fender was 96” wide

The loading dock door I was working with was 95”

So basically it turned into a game of how quickly can we unbolt one of the fenders and lift it out of the way. Took about 20 minutes with 3 of us, and then we proceeded to pull it off the 53’ flatbed with barely enough space to spare.


Anyway, checked all the fluids, oil and coolant look completely fresh, will be changing those regardless in the next few days. Added some fuel and jumped it off my deuce as the batteries were dead. Started right up and oh my… this thing is silent as can be for military standards. They weren’t lying when they put “Tactical Quiet” in the name. All temps and pressures came up just fine.


Ended up doing 2 things so far:

1: Flip the Lunette so I can roll it between parking and shop interior using the humvee (it took some convincing with a massive hammer)

2: I noticed that it was set to 50Hz mode, so I set it to 60. After doing so and setting the dial to exactly 60, I noticed it bounces around a lot at 60, no change in engine RPM like when turning the dial though. Meanwhile at 50Hz, it’s rock solid.

Hooked it up to both the humvee and deuce to test the electrical / air systems, all work perfectly. Still going to yank the hubs and re-pack the bearings, along with inspecting/bleeding the brakes as usual.

Off to read the books…

Nice report! .

I've been told not to change the frequency (50/60 Hz) while it's running or bad thing can happen.

 

[jake20]

Nice report! .

I've been told not to change the frequency (50/60 Hz) while it's running or bad thing can happen.

Yep! Figured I’d not touch things like that while it’s running as well, flipped it while it was off.

 

[Guyfang]

Welp this was a fun escapade, fender to fender was 96” wide

The loading dock door I was working with was 95”

So basically it turned into a game of how quickly can we unbolt one of the fenders and lift it out of the way. Took about 20 minutes with 3 of us, and then we proceeded to pull it off the 53’ flatbed with barely enough space to spare. We did this to about 25 gen sets, going down range. They would not fit in the shipping containers, without removing the fenders. Since the "Duck Hunters" were in a hurry, they used a grinder, for any fastener that they could get at, and the Motor Officer ordered 200 of every size bolt, nut or screw they cut off! All because someone did not pay attention to something as simple as a TM.


Anyway, checked all the fluids, oil and coolant look completely fresh, will be changing those regardless in the next few days. Added some fuel and jumped it off my deuce as the batteries were dead. Started right up and oh my… this thing is silent as can be for military standards. They weren’t lying when they put “Tactical Quiet” in the name. All temps and pressures came up just fine.


Ended up doing 2 things so far:

1: Flip the Lunette so I can roll it between parking and shop interior using the humvee (it took some convincing with a massive hammer) This is normal, for the lunette. Often the threads get buggered up, when trying to remove them.

2: I noticed that it was set to 50Hz mode, so I set it to 60. After doing so and setting the dial to exactly 60, I noticed it bounces around a lot at 60, no change in engine RPM like when turning the dial though. Meanwhile at 50Hz, it’s rock solid. I hope you did not move the switch while the set is running. Bad things can happen when you do. Real bad. Are you reading the panel meter? Or using DMM? Often is a big difference.

Hooked it up to both the humvee and deuce to test the electrical / air systems, all work perfectly. Still going to yank the hubs and re-pack the bearings, along with inspecting/bleeding the brakes as usual.

Off to read the books…

Open to read comments.

 

[jake20]

Open to read comments.

Yep I read all the goodies and made sure not to flip the frequency switch while running. The gauge is still acting up, and I think I might have it ruled out to be the gauge itself.

We checked the frequency transducer per the TMs and it was within specifications for all current values during the test procedure.

Then I bought a cheap oscilloscope off the electronic-bay to verify the actual true signal output.

Here are the videos of the scope tests, first one shows how bad the gauge bounces. The scope outputs also look flashy on video due to the refresh rate on the scope screen. It’s all solid lines to the naked eye:

1 - Frequency check with a non attenuating probe:

2 - Phase and stability check using 10x attenuated probes to see the full sine wave:

First time using a scope in practical application so you may catch some newbie mistakes, but I believe my tests were at least conclusive enough to say it’s probably the gauge that’s bad.

To even further verify, one of my multimeters can measure Hz, and it was also remaining rock solid without fluctuation.

Overall an interesting rabbit hole but I’ve learned a bit so far digging into it. Haven’t had a chance to load bank the unit with high load yet though. Got it up to a max of 20% of its capacity with a power strip across the output lugs, so far so good.

All basic engine PMCS is also complete, changed the following:

- Oil Filter (Wix 51064)
- Fuel Filter (Wix 33390)
- Fuel/Water Separator (Wix 33472)
- Engine Oil (Shell Rotella T5 15W-40)
- Coolant (50/50 Distilled Water / Green Ethylene Glycol Goodness)

The filters I got are pretty much a perfect fit with slightly different dimensions compared to what was in there, all seals up though and I’ve put 10+ hours on the unit after all the PMs and no issues thus far.

Ah… the satisfaction of maintaining one’s equipment

 

[Guyfang]

To even further verify, one of my multimeters can measure Hz, and it was also remaining rock solid without fluctuation.

The best way to measure Freq, is with an old analog meter. It will show freq deviation, better then a Digital DMM. But I think you have a bad meter. But have you checked the R2 rheostat?

 

[jake20]

To even further verify, one of my multimeters can measure Hz, and it was also remaining rock solid without fluctuation.

The best way to measure Freq, is with an old analog meter. It will show freq deviation, better then a Digital DMM. But I think you have a bad meter. But have you checked the R2 rheostat?

I in fact have not, I’ll check that out as well and see what we’re looking like. Then off to find new parts on the electronic bay