Camp French, CA MEP003A- Who got one?

[rat4spd]

Right now is not much of a problem. They are off loading hundreds of them through GL. But that's the downside. Now you have hundreds of them that are going to need spare parts in the future, and where do those parts come from? They come from gensets that people are snagging up for parts, which will make it hard to find parts in the future.

And yes, parts are relatively hard to find. Ask someone that needs an injection pump. They are out there, but it's cheaper to pick up a gen-set for parts. It won't be like that in the future.

I've got a good feeling that if you have a set that was maintained well, that even if you can get a couple thousand hours out of it, it will more than last longer than most of us need, or until some other buy comes up.

 

[Wrench Wench]

60 Hz generators sold 6/11/09 on GL

MDL = Model (004 = MEP-004A, 005 = MEP-005A, 016 = MEP-016B, 017 = MEP-017A)
YR = Engine Year (two digit)
MK = Engine Make (WT = White Engines, Inc.; HL = Hercules Engines, Inc.; WS = Wisconsin)
ASK = Acoustic Suppression Kit (* = yes, = no)
TLR = M200A 2.5 Ton Trailer (* = yes, = no)
CND = Condition (0 = pile of rust, 9 = factory new)
LOC = Location (PA = Chambersberg, PA; MD = Fort Meade, MD; FL = Eglin AFB, FL)
HRS = Clock Hours
PRC = Price ($)

MDL,YR,MK,ASK,TLR,CND,LOC,HRS ,PRC
------------------------------------
004,78,WT,   , * , 7 ,MD ,3925,210
004,85,WT,   , * , 8 ,MD ,850 ,320
004,77,WT,   , * , 9 ,MD ,6   ,540
004,88,HL,   , * , 7 ,MD ,2331,269
004,89,HL, * , * , 7 ,MD ,4422,219
004,97,HL, * , * , 7 ,MD ,4422,219
004,85,WT, * , * , 7 ,MD ,1346,370
004,84,WT, * , * , 6 ,MD ,137 ,249
004,??,??,   , * , 6 ,MD ,4666,239
004,83,WT, * , * , 6 ,MD ,2372,239
004,83,WT,   , * , 7 ,MD ,1860,249
004,91,HL,   , * , 8 ,MD ,15  ,210
004,82,WT, * , * , 6 ,MD ,11  ,210
004,86,WT,   , * , 7 ,MD ,165 ,230
004,83,WT,   , * , 6 ,MD ,627 ,270
004,89,HL, * , * , 5 ,MD ,4213,230
004,90,WT, * , * , 5 ,MD ,6002,230
004,89,HL, * , * , 6 ,MD ,2746,239
004,75,WT, * , * , 5 ,MD ,108 ,239
004,85,WT, * , * , 4 ,MD ,6430,230
004,85,WT,   , * , 8 ,MD ,470 ,259
005,98,HL, * , * , 5 ,MD ,?   ,400
016,??,??,   ,   , 7 ,FL ,1313,320
016,??,??,   ,   , 9 ,FL ,9   ,400
016,??,??,   ,   , 8 ,FL ,208 ,400
016,??,??,   ,   , 9 ,FL ,229 ,380
016,??,??,   ,   , 8 ,FL ,1306,190
016,??,??,   ,   , 8 ,FL ,201 ,340
016,??,??,   ,   , 8 ,FL ,454 ,320
017,68,WS,   ,   , 6 ,NJ ,166 ,210

 

[Speddmon]

Spades,
I wouldn't be too concerned about these things wearing out any time soon. Remember they were built for the military, which means they were build to last.

Yes, they are air cooled, but it's still a diesel. With proper care and maintenance diesels run a long, long time. Ask some farmers about their diesel tractors or look at excavating equipment. It's not uncommon for some pieces of equipment to get 30,000 hours on them, or more if they are taken care of. I've heard reports of 60,000 plus hours on portable light sets from some construction companies.

Be sure to change the oil, and make sure you use dry diesel fuel. CHECK you water separators REGULARLY....Water and a hot diesel DO NOT MIX!!!! As for the parts, yes, they are hard to come by if you need some, I had to buy a third set because I needed a few parts for one of mine, that were missing/burned up when I got it. But the great thing about these sets is that some of the electrical parts can be repaired. The printed circuit boards have a schematic in the TM and a testing procedure to verify operation., Some of the other things can be replaced with different types of components if you have the electrical knowledge to do it or know someone. And the gen heads can be repaired because they have all the information a good motor rewinder would need to rebuild it, right in the TM.

The biggest thing is, research, research, research and read the manuals before you try to work on something yourself. This forun and the "somkstak" forum are great places to find out the information you will need.

Seriously, take care of the engine and fuel system with regular maintenance and you should never see a problem with these sets as long as you have them. Run them regularly to keep things lubed and moving free. And by all means, when starting, do not hold that starter switch over on start for more than 15 seconds like stated in the TM. My one unit had the bridge rectifier board and a few other components totally fried because someone before me probably held the switch too long trying to get it running, when the problem was really a stupid wiring issue they didn't see.

If you have troubles, use the search function on the forum here, or post up a question, we'll be glad to help out. If you've never run one of these units before, I didn't either, do a lot of reading before you try to fire it up. It will save you some heartache down the road!

 

[Isaac-1]

Issac,
Are the military and the civillian ones about the same or did they screw up the military ones to get them to fit "SPECS".

​

From what I have read, they have a bored out block with larger pistons, different control system, of course the 24 volt dc electrical system and I think a different injection system than the civilian DJ series engines, this is just speaking about the Onan engine end, as the Generator end was not built by Onan on the MEP units, still when dealing with a diesel powered generator as long as the engine internals, the injector pump and the generator windings are good it should be possible to retrofit generic parts for almost anything else.

Ike

 

[jbk]

does anyone have a good used or new fuel tank for the002 or 003? i do have some nos dc regulators that i would swap.

 

[Isaac-1]

You might try ebay, a few months ago there was someone selling NOS MEP-002 tanks cheap.

Ike

p.s. I think the guy selling them was even in your part of the state (maybe Covington)