Winter's coming for our MEP-003a's

[rosie]

Hey guys, may sound silly in the middle of a heat wave, but winter is not far away. Thought you all may be interested in a design for a heated and conditioned enclosure for our beloved generators. The pics are better than a thousand words, but basically there is four 6 x 6 treated posts, one on each corner, generator placed in center of concrete pad with a 2 x 6 attached on top of the 6 x 6's. Screwed for easy removal. The roof is a 2 x 2 tubular steel frame, hinged on one side, for easy maintenance access or quick removal. The panels are aluminum freezer panels, with 4" of foam sandwiched between aluminum These panels come in all different sizes and we cut them down and modified them to our particular size requirements. The are wonderfully light, and have a great R-value. When placed in their openings, they are sistered up to a galvanized piece of channel and a rubber sealing gasket purchased from the local hardware store. When operating, it is so easy to remove 3 of the panels, one for air, one for control panel, and one for the exhaust, but it still remains an all-weather enclosure. During the winter time, this insulated box which has a utility outlet will be able to keep the batteries charged and a little thermostatically controlled heater to keep our little baby nice and warm for easy starts.

Hope this may help somebody out. If you are in NC or close by, we had to buy a lot of these panels to get what we needed and have lots of leftovers. If you are close by and would like some, we've got 'em.

PS If you would like more information, we have a lot more pictures.

 

[Ken_86gt]

Very nice setup!

 

[islandguydon]

I am impressed, what are you going to do with the exhaust, are you going to tie both together and run 1 muffler..? Maybe duct out..?

 

[Terracoma]

Very cool enclosure! Definitely adding this idea to my long-term wishlist...

I'm not terribly familiar with the larger generators, so forgive the noobish questions... But is necessary to remove the side panels of the shelter while the generator is running during inclement weather? Looks like the enclosure is vented through the roof panel for the exhaust to escape, but wasn't sure about the intake air. Another question, would drawing pre-warmed intake air from within the enclosure be best during the winter months, or does the gen unit not care how cold the incoming air is?

Guess I'm simply curious about installing some kind of exhaust stack and a snorkel to allow the side panels to remain in place after you get it fired up. Would save you from having to clear away snow build-up and prevent the intake from sucking in any blowing rain, stuff like that.

 

[rosie]

Hi islandguy, great question. The enclosure is just for storage and maintaining the generator in stable conditions between uses. When the unit is in operation, some of the panels will be removed for air, exhaust, etc, allowing it to operate in the conditions it is designed to do. When the emergency is over, and our little genny is shut down, normal power is restored (winter or hurricane), we tuck her in, and fall back on our utility outlet for battery and temperature control. If one were operating in extreme conditions, you could consider creating a port in one of the panels for exhausting. These removable panels make for wonderful access at all times and don't hinder you as owner/operator as a stick-framed building would do. Here we can in time of emergency, remove the panels, and start 'er up. Remember these units are air cooled.

 

[rosie]

Hey Gary, depending on your climatic conditions, this shelter allows you to remove all panels if you wish or keep some in place. But you need to remove a minimum of 3 panels, one where the fan is for MEP 003a, two, for the control panel, and another for the exhaust. The enclosure as pictured will allow you to take all panels off and operate as it is designed: in all weathers. The advantage of this design allows the unit to be climatically controlled, especially in winter, where batteries can be installed on trickle chargers and at a very low cost temperature controlled. In a bad situation such as winter time, you are comfortable in knowing that your batteries are at their peak (charged) and the old girl is nice and warm (and so is her fuel supply) in the compartment. In any emergency winter situation, she should be ready to start.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Very nice set-up! I have two on a trailer and thinking about closing in the whole thing. Good idea.

 

[rosie]

Hey scrapdaddy, we're there as well. We have two on trailers and they are adapted for quick response with quick-connects directly to transfer switches. The transfer switches on the houses have built-in females, and the trailers have 50ft dropcords with male ends. These generators are in enclosed storage but in an emergency situation we can pull them out and go to where the outage has occurred. The quick connects are permanently attached to the transfer switch panels, ie the generator is pulled to where the problem is, attached to the female connector, generator started, then hope and pray everything works as intended. My biggest concern is that if it fails at the mother-in-law's house, I'm in deep dookey.

Regarding your thought about enclosing the whole trailer, every man walks a different path, and it's not my place to tell someone else how to store their generator. This is what works for us, and hopefully you might be able to adapt what we have done to your personal situation. A portable generator is a great thing to have, and mobility is a +++++. If you are talking about putting panels around the generator on the trailer, it could work, providing you are able to put a roof over it and find panels that will work for your dimensions, plus be easily removable when operating. Interesting thought!

 

[derf]

No real winter worries down here, but I'll bet that helps with the sound those monsters make.

 

[machinist75]

I want one of these gens.

 

[rosie]

Found ours on Government Liquidation. There are mixed opinions on GL from other folks on this site; they can be complex to deal with, to say the least.

 

[derf]

I want one of these gens.

I will most likely be selling mine soon. I have too many gens right now. I just got it and still don't know if it works, though.

 

[steelypip]

That's a great idea. I like the pad, the easy-dismantling shed, and the heavy insulation. Seems that a little extra work would help with sound management as well.

What does the freezer panel cost and what sizes does it normally come in? I'm guessing it has a pretty high R value given the application...

 

[rosie]

Hello steel, Not sure of the R value nor of the cost of new material as we purchased a stack that had been dismantled from an indoor freezer. Since VA next door to NC and we have lots of leftovers PM us and maybe we can help you.