Connected my MEP-803A the proper way as my home standby generator... Install pics...

[Glockfan]

It's evolved a long way from digging those first four holes and building the first raised deck for the generator... I thought y'all may find it neat to see these early pics when I was just getting started...

 

[khestee]

Great all around set up. I'm going to do the same with mine but until then it will remain "mobile". When I built my place I had the electrician put an outside RV type plug and a manual transfer switch in the main panel. I have a 50 amp 6/4 wire generator cable that will plug into the external plug at house. If I cut the other end off, how would I connect it at the generator? After seeing your set up I think I should have had the outside transfer put in instead of the switch at the main. And of course the huge question is when to ground and not to ground the gen.

 

[Glockfan]

Great all around set up. I'm going to do the same with mine but until then it will remain "mobile". When I built my place I had the electrician put an outside RV type plug and a manual transfer switch in the main panel. I have a 50 amp 6/4 wire generator cable that will plug into the external plug at house. If I cut the other end off, how would I connect it at the generator? After seeing your set up I think I should have had the outside transfer put in instead of the switch at the main. And of course the huge question is when to ground and not to ground the gen.

Are you connecting an MEP or a commercial genset to your house? If you are going to use an MEP, the connection should be made at the terminal lugs on the generator.



You should leave your ground bonded to neutral via the copper bar while your MEP is "portable". You will notice that my bar has been removed since I'm perm connected.

 

[jimbo913]

Trying to decide between MEP-802A and MEP-803A and have some questions since you had both.

1- Is the 802A louder than the 803A or about the same?
2- I know the full load fuel consumption but do you know the 1/2 load consumption of both? Especially interested in the 803A 1/2 load consumption because 1 gal/hr is more than I would want to use but I like having some reserve power.
3- what is fair price for decent shape 802A with 2500hrs?

 

[Glockfan]

Trying to decide between MEP-802A and MEP-803A and have some questions since you had both.

1- Is the 802A louder than the 803A or about the same?
2- I know the full load fuel consumption but do you know the 1/2 load consumption of both? Especially interested in the 803A 1/2 load consumption because 1 gal/hr is more than I would want to use but I like having some reserve power.
3- what is fair price for decent shape 802A with 2500hrs?

I think there is little noticeable difference in the noise between the 802 and 803. I ran an 802 for five straight days powering my house on just over 5 gallons a day. I dumped one fuel can per day in the 802 and never shut it down for a minute during our ice storm back in Feb of last year. I'm not sure what the 803 consumption would be but I'd bet not more than 10 gallons a day at 1/2 load. 802's are getting cheaper now. If you play your cards right, you may be able to get into one with less than 2500 hours on it for around $1500-$2000.

 

[jimbo913]

Speaking about fuel consumption, I had been looking at automatic LP gensets and the consumption must be terrible for even a 12kw system because someone had posted in reviews that he had a 1000 gal LP tank that would last him a month if necessary. That is an expensive month with LP near $4 per gallon !!

 

[Glockfan]

Speaking about fuel consumption, I had been looking at automatic LP gensets and the consumption must be terrible for even a 12kw system because someone had posted in reviews that he had a 1000 gal LP tank that would last him a month if necessary. That is an expensive month with LP near $4 per gallon !!

Good Lord! That's crazy... $4k for a month of power, I'd rather check in to a Hotel somewhere...

 

[DieselAddict]

I had a friend find out the hard way that his propane generator while convenient was costly to run. His 17kw unit sucked a 500gal dry in a week. The tank wasn't totally full at the beginning of the ice storm but wow. My little Honda EU1000 burns about 2 gal of gas a DAY running the fridge, a few lights and the TV.

 

[tim292stro]

What makes it worse is that NG/LPG doesn't do well cold, it can freeze the tank as it expands. If you've piped your genny into the local gas supply, and there is a huge power disruption, the booster compressors that the gas company uses to deliver NG can also fail meaning that you won't have fuel (so a local accumulator tank before the pressure reducing regulator is a good idea, but hard to get okay'd).

Nothing really beats diesel for reliability, unless you have a stream/river, ocean, windy location, or your own nuclear reactor...

 

[jimbo913]

I just checked specs on an 11kw propane and it was 1.2 gph at 1/2 load and 1.92 gph at full load - ouch! The propane companies should give them away free.

 

[Glockfan]

What makes it worse is that NG/LPG doesn't do well cold, it can freeze the tank as it expands. If you've piped your genny into the local gas supply, and there is a huge power disruption, the booster compressors that the gas company uses to deliver NG can also fail meaning that you won't have fuel (so a local accumulator tank before the pressure reducing regulator is a good idea, but hard to get okay'd).

Nothing really beats diesel for reliability, unless you have a stream/river, ocean, windy location, or your own nuclear reactor...

Prior to me going the MEP route, I always thought the supply of natural gas would never really be disrupted. You learn a lot here. I never considered compressors used to boost the NG supply to my home. Now it looks like diesel is the way to go for long term storage and efficiency and true reliability. I know I can run at least 10 days on my supply. I've debated on filling about ten cans and storing them off site for real emergencies. It wouldn't be too difficult to drive a couple of miles to my storage unit for another 50 gallons of diesel.

 

[tim292stro]

Not a hidden problem, but not a frequently publicized problem.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterde...-grid-at-its-worst-how-about-the-gas-network/

 

[Glockfan]

Not a hidden problem, but not a frequently publicized problem.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterde...-grid-at-its-worst-how-about-the-gas-network/

great article!

 

[jimbo913]

Gas cans are not cheap. Store my fuel in the plastic 55 gallon drums and pump it into 5 gal can via cheap hand crank vane pump. I have 3 drums and rotate them, plus I use PRI-D.
I also use it in my tractor so it doesn't sit really long. That said, I recall my dad (mechanic) once bought a diesel tractor that sat in the woods over 10 years. He cleaned a mouse nest out of the intake, put jumper cables on it and fired it right up on the old fuel. Mouse nest blew out the exhaust! I was forever sold on diesels.

 

[tim292stro]

...I've debated on filling about ten cans and storing them off site for real emergencies. It wouldn't be too difficult to drive a couple of miles to my storage unit for another 50 gallons of diesel...

Or if you want to get really serious, perhaps a some 55Galon drums? With oil prices where they are right now, it's probably a good time to do the cash outlay for the first fill-up. Keep it circulated by using it in vehicles (if you have diesel vehicles) or your generator (to replace what you use during your genny exercise cycle).

 

[Glockfan]

Good point Tim. Maybe I'll pick me up a blue poly drum and fill it instead of fuel cans.

 

[jamawieb]

I've bought a couple of deuces that sat in a field for 12 years. I drained, filtered the fuel with a t-shirt and reused it in the truck. They ran without any problems. The problem is the build up of algae in the containers diesel is stored in. I believe diesel will last a lifetime if store correctly, just my opinion.

 

[Ratch]

Diesel starts to degrade the moment it leaves the refinery. It will not evaporate away like gasoline, but it doesn't last forever. Diesel sitting in a tank for ten years will not burn as efficiently as diesel that was trucked out of the refinery a week ago. Though who knows with the enviro-friendly diesel now, maybe old decayed fuel would burn better...

But propane generators have their benefits. I have one at work that had a broken block heater for a year, and it always fired up immediately in 10 degree temps. V6 Ford engine, sure quiet and smooth, you'd have to look at the flapper to know it was running.
I also think we would not have been allowed to install a diesel tank at the site.
My neighbor has a 20kw propane gennie with a huge tank. When I'm down behind my garage at 3am with a flashlight trying to figure out why my mep shut off, he has lights on and not a sound from his property...

 

[jimbo913]

I wouldn't dispute benefits of propane but I can't justify the cost. Be cheaper to go on vacation at $150-200 per day to operate.

 

[Ratch]

For sure, but my company has to have 100% uptime at this site, and my neighbor is some kind of specialized surgeon, I don't think he cares what it costs... But it went in when propane was $1 per gallon. Just like our old meps were built when diesel was $.50 per gallon...days we'll never know again.