Getting house ready for MEP-803 (or am I dumb?)

[spotrep]

Gentlemen!!

Ive been a long time reader but am now a poster!

I need help with 2 things:

First,
I would really appreciate input from you guys as to how much money this genset is worth. It was listed for $6,000 (!!!) but reduced to $5,500.
I want to preface by saying I don't think its worth $5,500 and ill definitely be offering less. I could find a GP unit but I wont be able to justify to my wife purchasing a generator that likely needs work and it seems GP units can be a coin toss. I think honestly $4,000 is not an unreasonable offer, would yall agree? I don't mind paying more than I would for a GP unit- as its been tested and gone through somewhat. I've attached photos to help with yalls assessment.

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Second,
My goal is home backup.
My house is 100% electric. Water heater, stove, furnace, you name it, its electric. I have 1 3ton ac unit with a heat pump and back up resistive heater that is 10kw.

Here is my plan so far.
1. Use Kohler ATS model no: RDT-CFNC-200ASEQS4 with 2 pole ATS switching
2. Use Kohler Load management module model no: GM88281-1
3. Use Kohler's Power relay modules to prevent generator overload model no: GM92001-1
4. Inova Hightech LTD Module for autostart/stop and monitoring

If its not obvious, my goal is to achieve a similar user experience as someone who has gone with a generac but with an MEP behind it!

Ill do my best in the next few days to get more solid data as far as loads on my home. Perhaps naively, I'm confident an MEP-803 will handle my whole home with the exception of the electric furnace. Agree? Disagree? Im excited to hear from you guys!

Also, for those interested I plan on documenting my entire install to help guys in the future. Likely through youtube and posting here. I couldnt find where this has been done before- but there is a lot threads to go through on here!

thanks gents!

 

[Chainbreaker]

Gentlemen!!

Ive been a long time reader but am now a poster!

I need help with 2 things:

First,
I would really appreciate input from you guys as to how much money this genset is worth. It was listed for $6,000 (!!!) but reduced to $5,500.
I want to preface by saying I don't think its worth $5,500 and ill definitely be offering less. I could find a GP unit but I wont be able to justify to my wife purchasing a generator that likely needs work and it seems GP units can be a coin toss. I think honestly $4,000 is not an unreasonable offer, would yall agree? I don't mind paying more than I would for a GP unit- as its been tested and gone through somewhat. I've attached photos to help with yalls assessment.

....

I'll chime in...Considering its a Libby unit mfg'd 10/93 it's almost 30 yrs. old and was Reset 10/06. So it has more hrs than whats showing on the Hobbs Meter. Do you know anything regarding any recent usage & history from current seller... has it been load tested? Or, is this someone who recently bought it from a GP auction site & is flipping it?

Looking over the pictures it "appears" to be a fairly solid unit but looks can be deceiving. Regardless, I would tend to agree that $4,000 is not an unreasonable offer. If it's a local deal with easy pickup that is better than having to deal with remote pickup or having one $hipped.

 

[DieselAddict]

One thing you may want to do is check out the prices govplanet is getting for generators at the closest depot to you. Take the auction price and add 30%. That is about what a bidder will pay for a unit after fees and taxes.

With that info you better judge the market conditions in your area.

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Good morning!

You’re probably aware that it’s not going to “run your whole house.” It’ll do a great job of providing off grid power to a combination of electrical loads, but you’ll have to manage which ones are allowed to be on at a given time.

BTW: I used Generac ATS and a WiFi/ATS controller by Kurt Klopp. I found that Generac was cheaper when bought on eBay. We opted for manual load management. The controller you mentioned is a good unit as is the ATS and load management devices.

If you live in a cold climate and depend on electric heat you will be well served thinking about an alternate source of heat. We have a dual fuel heat pump just for that reason. Propane does the heavy lifting and the MEP-803A runs the fan motor nicely.

 

[Ray70]

That is definitely not a $5500 machine in my mind. Older machine, not the cleanest thing, home-made quad fuse, old style gages, cube style fuel pump that will probably die 30 seconds after you pay the guy.... I'd try to stay under $4500 if it was me.

 

[spotrep]

One thing you may want to do is check out the prices govplanet is getting for generators at the closest depot to you. Take the auction price and add 30%. That is about what a bidder will pay for a unit after fees and taxes.

With that info you better judge the market conditions in your area.

Great advice thank you!

 

[spotrep]

I'll chime in...Considering its a Libby unit mfg'd 10/93 it's almost 30 yrs. old and was Reset 10/06. So it has more hrs than whats showing on the Hobbs Meter. Do you know anything regarding any recent usage & history from current seller... has it been load tested? Or, is this someone who recently bought it from a GP auction site & is flipping it?

Looking over the pictures it "appears" to be a fairly solid unit but looks can be deceiving. Regardless, I would tend to agree that $4,000 is not an unreasonable offer. If it's a local deal with easy pickup that is better than having to deal with remote pickup or having one $hipped.

He says he bought it from someone in PA. Ive seen people talk about someone on SS in PA that resells them. The seller sent me videos of it starting (starts great) and running a few space heaters (35% load). But youre right. Its an old unit and I cant really know the history. Can you explain what goes into a reset?

 

[spotrep]

Good morning!

You’re probably aware that it’s not going to “run your whole house.” It’ll do a great job of providing off grid power to a combination of electrical loads, but you’ll have to manage which ones are allowed to be on at a given time.

BTW: I used Generac ATS and a WiFi/ATS controller by Kurt Klopp. I found that Generac was cheaper when bought on eBay. We opted for manual load management. The controller you mentioned is a good unit as is the ATS and load management devices.

If you live in a cold climate and depend on electric heat you will be well served thinking about an alternate source of heat. We have a dual fuel heat pump just for that reason. Propane does the heavy lifting and the MEP-803A runs the fan motor nicely.

Yes I am aware! I'm in Texas so probably less important than other climates, but my alternative at the moment is a fireplace. Not ideal necessarily but was nice to have during the bad snow storm and power outage that we had a few years ago. I'm thinking a few space heaters moved around the home will suffice when on gen power. Id like to put together a system that actively manages the loads for us while on gen power.

 

[spotrep]

That is definitely not a $5500 machine in my mind. Older machine, not the cleanest thing, home-made quad fuse, old style gages, cube style fuel pump that will probably die 30 seconds after you pay the guy.... I'd try to stay under $4500 if it was me.

Yeah im really leaning towards passing on it in lieu of a newer machine..

 

[Light in the Dark]

As I told the OP by private message, I actually sold this machine to the current owner in TX. It was completely gone through, load banked, tested, and confirmed as fully operational. The quad fuse you see came that way from reset (versus the panel mount most are familiar with). I have seen this variation probably a dozen times over the years, but the panel mount is much more common. Fused is fused.

Its been a few years since its been in my garage, but was a good performer when it was here. For whatever its worth.

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

I bought a 2012 New never in service from GP 2 years ago with 5 hours for $4500 and for not much more you could buy a AMMPS 1040 if your willing to go with new technology. In Texas there are a lot of 803a's selling lately that would be a much better buy than this. Even if a good guy like Lite in Dark once owned it

 

[spotrep]

I bought a 2012 New never in service from GP 2 years ago with 5 hours for $4500 and for not much more you could buy a AMMPS 1040 if your willing to go with new technology. In Texas there are a lot of 803a's selling lately that would be a much better buy than this. Even if a good guy like Lite in Dark once owned it

Wow! I would love an AMMPS but I think ill give them a few more years. Light having previously owned it certainly gave me comfort, but like chainbreaker said, its still a 30 year old machine (older than I am). Im actually confident it would work fine for me but as youve said, there are better buys out there.
Now, are you referring to GP units or elsewhere as far as better deals?

 

[Evvy Fesler]

Just a reminder that the hours meter doesn’t mean anything. They get reset to 0 at depot maintenance and sometimes they get replaced. It just means x number of hours since the last depot reset. A unit could have thousands of hours on it and look very pretty because it was washed, painted and parts replaced, and the meter might read 12-hours.

Don’t be fooled by this. I read it in posts all of the time.

 

[spotrep]

Just a reminder that the hours meter doesn’t mean anything. They get reset to 0 at depot maintenance and sometimes they get replaced. It just means x number of hours since the last depot reset. A unit could have thousands of hours on it and look very pretty because it was washed, painted and parts replaced, and the meter might read 12-hours.

Don’t be fooled by this. I read it in posts all of the time.

Thanks for this Evvy! I am aware of this. It is frustrating though to know this