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803a hours

NATCAD

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Port Huron Michigan
803a hours (PHOTOS ADDED!!)

Hello,

I am considering grabbing another 803a with higher hours (over 5000) that looks to be in good shape.

I spoke to someone locally that knows the lister petter well and he has seen this engine go to 25-30k hours.
He said expect or budget to change half the injectors around 10k and the water pump around 15k.

Does anyone have any other experience to chime in with , all the lower hour units seem to be going for about 2K$ right now.

Do the lower hours justify it in your opinion
 
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DieselAddict

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I personally am not afraid of a high hour unit. I find they are harder to sell so if I'm buying ones to resell I look for units with a max of 1500hrs or so. BUT if I were buying one for friends, family, or myself I would have no problem buying a higher time unit.
 

Light in the Dark

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Much like automobiles... you can find a 200k mile truck that has been loved its entire life, be in better condition than an off-lease car which the owner gave no craps... but only drove it 24k.

I second what Chris said... if this is for you, I'd go for it. Low hour generators are going for silly money right now (untested, that is).
 

Bmxenbrett

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I would spend the extra few hundred bucks and get a lower hour unit. One you can pass onto your children.
Im sure the engine will be fine but the rest of it will be prety wooped. It only takes one electrical problem to stop making power when you need it the most.
 

robson1015

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I'm with you Bmxenbrett...I like the lower hour units. Mine only has 236 hours on it but it has been banged around. I had to do some sheet metal straitening and the skids are mangled on one side from forks slamming into them.
 

Chainbreaker

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Personally, I would take a serious look at lower purchase price higher hours (original hours) unit. Even with units that have gone through a Military reset, with low hours displayed, are still suspect to me and deserve close scrutiny before making a purchase decision. How many of the parts in a Reset unit are still original hours parts of unknown hours or unit might have been robbed of parts after Reset or have cut wires and are sent to auction? Craigslist and eBay are notorious for advertising "LOW HOURS" with a photo of a shiny new Hobbs meter and yet the other photo's show a unit that looks as if its been run hard and put away wet.

An original (no reset) high hours unit usually is a testament that the unit was built right and maintained with care. Most higher hour gensets have been run with a purpose usually with a good workout. I would take that high hour unit over lets say...a 5-10 year old unit with low hours and which may have sat and exposed to lot-rot (gummed up internals, seized engines, rusty tank, etc.). Even if you buy a high hours unit, how many hours are you actually going to put on it with monthly tests and the occasional power outage over the next 5 years? If one buys a ~5,000 hrs unit how long will it take to hit 6 or 7 thousand hrs? In all likelihood you will still not hit a rebuild situation for a long-long time. Of course there are no guarantees of any units units actual health just by looking at photo's. Only when you can see a unit running under a load can you really make the call whether its a healthy runner.

Often times the higher hours units are passed over and go for bargain prices. So don't judge a book by its cover, or in the case of generators... the hobbs meter.
 

Daybreak

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http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=12359546

I am pretty pleased with this one and the price, looks like it might have salvageable batteries and has a trickle charger.
Howdy,
If that is the unit you bought. You done did good :goodjob:

I can say this, from looking over the unit, somebody wanted to move that unit onward. From the looks of the outside, and inside, and overall condition, me thinks someone had a old hour meter and threw it on that unit.

At that price, you did really good.
 

Daybreak

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Howdy,
I would suggest you remove each battery and fully charge them separately with a AGM battery charger. The optima batteries do come back to life.
 

NATCAD

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Howdy,
I would suggest you remove each battery and fully charge them separately with a AGM battery charger. The optima batteries do come back to life.
Would you charge them thru the slave on 24v or pull them out and do the 12v agm? I do have the noco 7200 already (It did not want to charge the original mep831a battery that was at 14v when I got it) but it maintains it fine now. The slave port male end is on order.
 

Daybreak

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Would you charge them thru the slave on 24v or pull them out and do the 12v agm? I do have the noco 7200 already (It did not want to charge the original mep831a battery that was at 14v when I got it) but it maintains it fine now. The slave port male end is on order.
Howdy,
To properly bring a Optima back properly would to charge each separately.
OK, You have the Noco G7200.

Take a meter and see what voltage each battery is at.

If it is really low, use the special mode of supply 13.6v for a while to get it up some, and then switch to standard 12v AGM charging. Just put the clips on one battery and charge it fully til its a solid green light. Then put the clips on the next battery and fully charge it. The charging could take a long time.

The solar panel is for maintaining. It will work best when the batteries are fully charged, then you let it do its thing.
 

NATCAD

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Port Huron Michigan
Howdy,
To properly bring a Optima back properly would to charge each separately.
OK, You have the Noco G7200.

Take a meter and see what voltage each battery is at.

If it is really low, use the special mode of supply 13.6v for a while to get it up some, and then switch to standard 12v AGM charging. Just put the clips on one battery and charge it fully til its a solid green light. Then put the clips on the next battery and fully charge it. The charging could take a long time.

The solar panel is for maintaining. It will work best when the batteries are fully charged, then you let it do its thing.
Thank you, I will let you know how it works out. I did try the supply mode on the 831a 24v battery and it was giving an error (fast blinking light red) I'm hopeful these batteries will be salvageable. I should get the unit next week. Have to get some heavy duty castors to roll it in and out of garage.
 

Chainbreaker

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Nice score! With the lower amount you paid you have allowed yourself funds to buy any necessary repair parts or spare parts! I hope it turns out to be a runner for you! If not, your still better off than bidding up a low hours unit only to win it and discover its a non-runner that needs repairs. Of course, buying a low hours unit at a reasonable price that only needs fluids and having it start right up like some have managed to pull off is a BIG win as well!

Anyway, at that price ya done good!!!
 

NATCAD

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Port Huron Michigan
Picking unit up today, have got the boat prepped to exit garage under tarp for winter, does anyone have any recommendations for a dolly to move the 803a around?

My plan was to stick it on two of these furniture dollys (they are rated @ 1000 pounds each)New Bitmap Image.jpg
 
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