Advice needed - new guy with MEP004A

[Back-in-Black]

More pictures - if there is something you guys want to see, let me know. I'll get more pics tomorrow.

 

[Back-in-Black]

I walked out there a few minutes ago to check on stuff you guys asked about:

The fuel tank is plastic.

I found 3 tags / schematics on some of the panels I removed. Some of them are unreadable around the edges as somewhere along the line, the insides of the panels were spray painted and they didn't tape anything off before spraying. I think I can get the paint off so I can read everything - trick is - getting the paint off without damaging the writing on the tags.

One of the tags looks like a schematic of the DC system. One is a battery / cabling schematic and the other is for the fuel system. I will try to clean them up tomorrow and get pics.

 

[Mullaney]

More pictures - if there is something you guys want to see, let me know. I'll get more pics tomorrow.

View attachment 846414

View attachment 846415

View attachment 846416

View attachment 846417

View attachment 846418

View attachment 846419

View attachment 846420

View attachment 846421

View attachment 846422

.
White vinegar will do great wonders on copper radiators. Lots of it. Connect any old piece of (cheap) hose to the bottom and top of the radiator and let it sit for a few days. It might just be simple calcium where the water evaporated. Or it could some nitwit might have poured brackish water into the system.

I needed radiator repair here in town - and I found an old guy who was willing to fix my 5-Ton (truck) radiator. Used to be plenty of places like that... Not nearly as many these days.

 

[Mullaney]

I walked out there a few minutes ago to check on stuff you guys asked about:

The fuel tank is plastic.

I found 3 tags / schematics on some of the panels I removed. Some of them are unreadable around the edges as somewhere along the line, the insides of the panels were spray painted and they didn't tape anything off before spraying. I think I can get the paint off so I can read everything - trick is - getting the paint off without damaging the writing on the tags.

One of the tags looks like a schematic of the DC system. One is a battery / cabling schematic and the other is for the fuel system. I will try to clean them up tomorrow and get pics.

.
Having a plastic tank is a real blessing.
Even if it was broken, plastic would be better than a rusty steel tank!

 

[Back-in-Black]

.
White vinegar will do great wonders on copper radiators. Lots of it. Connect any old piece of (cheap) hose to the bottom and top of the radiator and let it sit for a few days. It might just be simple calcium where the water evaporated. Or it could some nitwit might have poured brackish water into the system.

I needed radiator repair here in town - and I found an old guy who was willing to fix my 5-Ton (truck) radiator. Used to be plenty of places like that... Not nearly as many these days.

Will definitely try that. Just straight vinegar or dilute it with water??

 

[Mullaney]

Will definitely try that. Just straight vinegar or dilute it with water??

.
As nasty as it looks, I would go straight vinegar.

 

[Scoobyshep]

Id go straight with it. Vinegar isnt strong enough to cause damage

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Guyfang]

I finished the fence project and then jumped back onto this project for the rest of the afternoon. I got most of the case off and am working on the radiator / support removal now. And yep, my radiator hoses are pretty much gone. Will need those and maybe a new radiator too. We'll see. Haven't got to the fuel system yet. Thank you!

When you have the radiator off, take a close look at the loover control assy. See if it has a lot of crap built up on it. Clean carefully.

 

[Guyfang]

Progress report:

I removed some more case parts this afternoon. Worked till the freakin' mosquitos drove me inside. That damn storm apparently blew a lot of them up here from the marshes and swamps down south. they are terrible right now!

Anyway, couple of items:

1. That sensor in the side of the block with no wire to it - I checked better after Scooby's post about it. There is / are no wire(s) / connector for that part present. It and the wires are just gone. Looks like whenever the unit was converted to single phase, they did away with that part of the system. There are lots of post manufacturing spliced wires, cut wires etc. that look like they were probably done during the military to civilian conversion. (Do contact Groban. I do not normly get envolved with gen sets that have been involved "conversions" . I will jump in and comment on things I know for sure.) I know that this unit ran like this and I know that it produced power this way also, so I'm wondering if they did something else to bypass that part. (They had to have done something, if it ran and produced power) Hopefully I / we can figure that out. I may try calling Groban on Monday and see if they can offer any info on this.

2. An stated in an earlier post, I started working on getting the radiator out and I will most definitely need new radiator hoses. Anyone got a part number for those? (we need to get you up to speed on the TM system. In post #13, Mullaney mentioned two different manuals for the sets. That is true for newer sets, but not the 004A. Open the -24P, parts TM and use the TOC to find the cooling system. The picture shows you the ITEM number. Then look at the following pages for the ITEM description. Part number is there. If you spend some time reading in the forward section of the -24P, it explains what the entrys are on the Item Description page. When looking for parts in the internet, using the NSN, (National Stock Number) and the part number is a good idea. How do you look up part number for this type stuff? I hate to keep asking dumb questions. (There is no dumb question. Or better said, the only dumb question, is the question not asked. If you need more help understanding the -24P, say something. We can break it down some more.)

3. Looks like they also did away with the air filter sensors too. The sensors are still there but no wires / harness for them. (not a big worry)

4. Was not encouraged when I got the lower radiator hose off. The cooling system was completely dry - not surprising after it sat for 10+ years. See pictures below. Might need a new radiator. Will probably drop it at a radiator shop and see what they think. Do people still work on radiators??


5. There's a mil-spec connector under the radiator. Looks like it's wired up to connect an aux 24VDC supply for starting. Any reason to leave that there or can I remove it and greatly simplify the wires running from the batteries to the starter? (If you have something else that has the same "slave recpt." on it, it makes for easy starting when the batteries are dead. But if not, you can do away with it. But jumping the batters in the set without it, can be exciting.)

6. As noted in an earlier post, I made some progress on getting the case off. Holy cow! Thankfully I have air tools. I must have removed 100 bolts so far!!!

7. Oil and fuel filters ordered.

8. Thinking I might want to also order a water pump for it. After seeing what came out of the bottom of the radiator, I'd be stupid not to.... Anyone got a part # for that? (See above.)

Pictures:

View attachment 846404

View attachment 846405

View attachment 846406

View attachment 846407

View attachment 846408

View attachment 846409

View attachment 846410

View attachment 846411

View attachment 846412

View attachment 846413

Oh boy. Open to see comments. Also, open the control cube and take a picture.

 

[Back-in-Black]

Oh boy. Open to see comments. Also, open the control cube and take a picture.

I figured out that I was looking at the wrong TM for parts. Got the right one opened up for motor parts last night and started digging around on the internet using NSN and part numbers. Got lots of hits but all but one place seem like suppliers to US Gov't type operations. Oshkosh has some of the parts but their prices seem a bit crazy. Is this normal? I sent them (Oshkosh) a list of what I need (water pump, radiator hoses, bypass hose, thermostat and gaskets. We'll see what they come back with. Will any of the Gov't suppliers even bother with little guys like us with quantities of one ea.? Any reccs on where to go with those NSN / part numbers?

I'll try to get more pics of wiring, sensors and such today.

And yes, the control side of this thing seems to have been "butchered" . Not sure how this thing worked going from what you guys are telling me about how it was originally setup and how it is now. If I didn't already know it ran and produced power like this, I might throw my hands up at this point and say "screw it". I know for sure that my friend didn't fool with it after it broke but it sounded like he at least consulted someone or someone may have even looked at it and gave him an opinion. I'll try to get more details from him soon but he is hard to get time with. VERY busy business owner. Guess I'm gonna have to start tracing wires at some point.

 

[Mullaney]

I figured out that I was looking at the wrong TM for parts. Got the right one opened up for motor parts last night and started digging around on the internet using NSN and part numbers. Got lots of hits but all but one place seem like suppliers to US Gov't type operations. Oshkosh has some of the parts but their prices seem a bit crazy. Is this normal? I sent them (Oshkosh) a list of what I need (water pump, radiator hoses, bypass hose, thermostat and gaskets. We'll see what they come back with. Will any of the Gov't suppliers even bother with little guys like us with quantities of one ea.? Any reccs on where to go with those NSN / part numbers?

I'll try to get more pics of wiring, sensors and such today.

And yes, the control side of this thing seems to have been "butchered" . Not sure how this thing worked going from what you guys are telling me about how it was originally setup and how it is now. If I didn't already know it ran and produced power like this, I might throw my hands up at this point and say "screw it". I know for sure that my friend didn't fool with it after it broke but it sounded like he at least consulted someone or someone may have even looked at it and gave him an opinion. I'll try to get more details from him soon but he is hard to get time with. VERY busy business owner. Guess I'm gonna have to start tracing wires at some point.

.
Guy is a wealth of information about making power. The statement about the "-24" TM is dead on. I slipped a little when I was trying to get you started down the TM Trail. Part Target is a good way to get part numbers to NSN's. Sometimes, those numbers together will get you to somebody selling other than the government suppliers. AND YEA, they could give a darn about you (us) and our need for parts. Oshkosh does have a public site though and sometimes they will sell what you want - if your pockets are deep enough. Occasionally I stumble across something @ Oshkosh that is reasonable but just don't count on it.

 

[Back-in-Black]

Some good news. I was back in the shop a few minutes ago and decided to walk over and pull the dip stick on this thing just to see what's what on that front. It's full of oil and it actually looks like the oil was poured in yesterday. It's still gold colored and clear. Not like the coal black oil in my diesel pickup and diesel tractor.

 

[Back-in-Black]

more pictures:

 

[Back-in-Black]

more:

 

[Back-in-Black]

.
Guy is a wealth of information about making power. The statement about the "-24" TM is dead on. I slipped a little when I was trying to get you started down the TM Trail. Part Target is a good way to get part numbers to NSN's. Sometimes, those numbers together will get you to somebody selling other than the government suppliers. AND YEA, they could give a darn about you (us) and our need for parts. Oshkosh does have a public site though and sometimes they will sell what you want - if your pockets are deep enough. Occasionally I stumble across something @ Oshkosh that is reasonable but just don't count on it.

So, last night when I was digging around, I actually submitted a request for a quote from one of the Gov't supplier sites. Just got a reply via email. Lower radiator hose - $500. Why did he even bother??? Guess that's his way of saying "screw off".

 

[Mullaney]

So, last night when I was digging around, I actually submitted a request for a quote from one of the Gov't supplier sites. Just got a reply via email. Lower radiator hose - $500. Why did he even bother???

.
Wow... Can't say anything else without spitting out four letter words. At that rate they should drive it to you and install the hose and pour in new coolant.

 

[Back-in-Black]

Yeah, and he should probably kiss my azz while he's here

 

[Back-in-Black]

Bummer: Tried to contact Groban. Find all kinds of listings for the business on sites like Dun & Bradsteet. One site listed their website and phone number. Phone has been disconnected and website doesn't exist.

But looking in the control box of this thing, I see a lot more solid state electronics than I figured there'd be for an older, military generator. I'm guessing most or all of that was Groban's doings and they completely reconfigured this thing for civilian use. I'll just have to figure out which piece does what and what's broke.

Willing to bet that one of those solid state parts is blown up. The business where this thing was located for years was right next to a Bell South facility that had a microwave repeater tower. I used to go over there quite often and replace serial com boards in their computer equipment that would get blown out by lightning strikes. Bet that's what happened here too.

 

[Mullaney]

Bummer: Tried to contact Groban. Find all kinds of listings for the business on sites like Dun & Bradsteet. One site listed their website and phone number. Phone has been disconnected and website doesn't exist.

But looking in the control box of this thing, I see a lot more solid state electronics than I figured there'd be for an older, military generator. I'm guessing most or all of that was Groban's doings and they completely reconfigured this thing for civilian use. I'll just have to figure out which piece does what and what's broke.

Willing to bet that one of those solid state parts is blown up. The business where this thing was located for years was right next to a Bell South facility that had a microwave repeater tower. I used to go over there quite often and replace serial com boards in their computer equipment that would get blown out by lightning strikes. Bet that's what happened here too.

.
Well, once you get her to fire up and run - maybe a little investigation into the solid state parts will bring the power making on-line. The good part is that more than likely Groban pulled parts off the shelf rather than designing parts from scratch.

 

[Back-in-Black]

pretty sure you're right about off-the shelf parts. From what I've read about the company during my searching, they made generators.