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First MEP-803a

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
Here is who is shown on the Prestolite page... not sure if its helpful.

I would call any local alternator repair shops (if you can even find one) to see if they can service what you have.
I found at least one a bit closer to me, looks like there are a few in Portland as well if I really have to go up there :ROFLMAO:

Thank you gents! You are amazing, Ill go see if I can find a sticker on mine.. Not sure I will being early 90's machine, but we shall see!
 

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
This is not the proper Alternator for your set anyway. Look at the part number on the Alt. Look at the list I sent. See that number?
I went and looked that up, the number that is easily seen is the voltage regulator part which who knows may be bad.. Lol

I think the next time its nice outside Ill go pull the alternator and actually check it all over. As for right now.. I can get by with just using my battery tender, I have it setup to the slave port, I have a Noco G15000 that does 24v so it works out, also have 2 brand new batterys in there, I know 2x individual 12v chargers are better, but that requires buying new chargers and I have this one already.
 

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
@tarster There is always the possibility that your alternator just needs some new diodes. Not generally all that pricey.
Im planning to take it apart when I get it out of the gen set here and see what I can see and test before buying anything.. New ones are dang expensive for what it is..
 

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
Finally had some time to get on this, turns out the alternator that was in there was a prestolite so I may just try putting a new control board on it and see what I get.

Picked up a new alternator from a guy on eBay out of England.

Went to take the old unit off and boy.. I think the military got their use out of this belt!
 

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tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
Although not the correct alternator. Is it possible the Belt was the original problem not making enough contact to produce power?
Highly possible, when disconnecting the wires I did see that the exciter stud was really loose, Im still going to put the new one in place and then my plan is to take time looking over the old alternator or maybe have it tested, if it needs a new control board those are only like 20 bucks and should be easy to put in place and then either i have a spare.
 

ctfjr

Member
83
2
8
Location
central CT
I know I'm late to the party on this interesting thread (also haven't posted on the forum in years) but I would like to throw a comment in about your oil tank setup.
You are correct that by dropping a line in from one of the 2" bungs using a double tapped bushing will allow you to keep your oil draw off the bottom where water & sludge tend to be. That's the problem.

It's been my experience that oil tanks rot out at the bottom, from the inside - probably due to that water and crap that's just laying there. Using the bottom tap gives you the opportunity to remove the water and some sludge/sediment. An inexpensive water filter and separate (or combination) sediment filter can work wonders. Unless you are getting really crappy oil delivered there really shouldn't be a load of water.

If all you are using the oil for is your genset then you might want to consider adding a biocide at each delivery. There are microbes they do eat oil.

Good luck with your 803, sounds like you are on the right track.
 

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
I know I'm late to the party on this interesting thread (also haven't posted on the forum in years) but I would like to throw a comment in about your oil tank setup.
You are correct that by dropping a line in from one of the 2" bungs using a double tapped bushing will allow you to keep your oil draw off the bottom where water & sludge tend to be. That's the problem.

It's been my experience that oil tanks rot out at the bottom, from the inside - probably due to that water and crap that's just laying there. Using the bottom tap gives you the opportunity to remove the water and some sludge/sediment. An inexpensive water filter and separate (or combination) sediment filter can work wonders. Unless you are getting really crappy oil delivered there really shouldn't be a load of water.

If all you are using the oil for is your genset then you might want to consider adding a biocide at each delivery. There are microbes they do eat oil.

Good luck with your 803, sounds like you are on the right track.
Appreciate the comment, I may get something that has a float or like some of the the other folks said using the double tap and just keeping it 6-8 inches off the bottom, you comment about water on the bottom makes me thing maybe I should get a ball valve and attach it down there off the bottom tap and then I could more easily drop any water out of the system.

I have a small farm and burn 50 - 70 gallons of diesel a year through my tractor, so the idea I had was to put a 120v fuel pump on this tank and then the tap for the gen set, that way I can utilize it for both more easily it would also allow me to cycle the fuel more quickly.

We normally only have a few instances of needing to run on the gen, but 2 years ago we had almost 3 days of gen set time and it would have been super handy to have this 803, back then I only had a gas unit and it did the job, but things were not comfy.
 

ctfjr

Member
83
2
8
Location
central CT
yes a valve on the bottom would allow you to drain it - the 1/2" tap is usually close to one end. The tank should be pitched so that is the low side. Usually you can achieve that with adjusting how much the tank legs are screwed in.
At our old house I had 2 tanks twinned together for our heating system. On the second I brought out a valved line with a hose bib that I used to fill 5 gallon buckets for my tractor and MEP-003A. That got old so I fabbed up this:
20211017_204737_resized_2.jpg

The oil man would fill it on one of his regular drops.
 

FarmingSmallKubota

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Wapakoneta, Ohio
Or you just put a water/particulate filter on the pump and every so often cycle the fluid through the pump back into the tank since you fill your tractor. Hand or 12v pump is the way to go. Then you can still use the Military bung adapter without worrying about it and only install it when you have a long outage.
 

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
Got the Genny back and running like a top! I first got the wrong size belt which was giving me some fits, went and found a seller on eBay with this belt, now that I know it works I'll pick up another for spare.

Everything seems to be hooked up and running, let it spin for about 30 minutes to see how it did, at first on startup the charge meter pinned to the top and I got concerned and then it started to work its way down and came to rest at +8, throwing a volt meter on the jump plug it was reading 27.9 so I figured good enough!

Should be ready to go in case the power company decided to cut out power this summer for some road construction, or this winter again.
 

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Light in the Dark

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It was that high sustained because your starting cells (ie batteries) needed it. I would keep an eye on them, if they aren't new.
 

tarster

Member
27
28
13
Location
Oregon
It was that high sustained because your starting cells (ie batteries) needed it. I would keep an eye on them, if they aren't new.
Thats what i was thinking, batteries are only a few months old, but... I have not had them on a trickle charger for the past few months and a few different starts here and there so it doesn't surprise me they were a bit drained.
 

FarmingSmallKubota

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
Wapakoneta, Ohio
Got the Genny back and running like a top! I first got the wrong size belt which was giving me some fits, went and found a seller on eBay with this belt, now that I know it works I'll pick up another for spare.

Everything seems to be hooked up and running, let it spin for about 30 minutes to see how it did, at first on startup the charge meter pinned to the top and I got concerned and then it started to work its way down and came to rest at +8, throwing a volt meter on the jump plug it was reading 27.9 so I figured good enough!

Should be ready to go in case the power company decided to cut out power this summer for some road construction, or this winter again.
My My thats a pretty alternator
 
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