Is this load bank suitable?

[Jayhawk#44]

MEP-803a on the way. Found this load bank locally on craigslist. Guy says it 120volts single phase 6KW capacity.

I know thats way below what 803a can pull. He's asking $275, but its been on there for awhile so I might low ball him.

Is it worth getting for my initial test run on the 803a and periodic exercise?
Thanks for helping out the new guy! Is this an addiction? I just bought an Snowbird S9150-18KH-1 Air Conditioner.... The MEP-003a I wanted in Tucson went for $2200, thats retail for a runner. Although I know where it came from and have reason to believe it was maintained very well. If I hadn't bought that 803a I would have gone pretty hard after that 003a.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Chainbreaker]

Hmmm.... I don't know. Its under rated for fully exercising your genset. You should load it to at least ~80% or greater to prevent wet stacking on a water cooled engine. It also appears a bit bulky given its 6 KW capacity.

Home Depot has a 10 KW Comfort Zone garage heater (~$315) that would provide a better a load and is more compact and has several wattage settings. Additionally it can be used for other heat purposes if needed... garage heater, emergency indoor heat and other utility purposes where localized heat is needed.

I use a 5 KW Comfort Zone on my MEP-002a 5 KW gensets and it only gets it up to ~ 75% load by itself. A 7 KW would be ideal for my 5 KW. So 6 KW for a milspec 10 KW is not what I would use.

Edit: Also you want to make sure you use a 240 VAC unit so you can load both legs (120VAC x2) so it is electrically balanced.

 

[Guyfang]

MEP-803a on the way. Found this load bank locally on craigslist. Guy says it 120volts single phase 6KW capacity.

I know thats way below what 803a can pull. He's asking $275, but its been on there for awhile so I might low ball him.

Is it worth getting for my initial test run on the 803a and periodic exercise?View attachment 850350
Thanks for helping out the new guy! Is this an addiction? I just bought an Snowbird S9150-18KH-1 Air Conditioner.... The MEP-003a I wanted in Tucson went for $2200, thats retail for a runner. Although I know where it came from and have reason to believe it was maintained very well. If I hadn't bought that 803a I would have gone pretty hard after that 003a.

Thanks,

Matt

If you do not have the TM's for the snowbird, say something. I might have them. But you need to look at the data plate and tell me what TM it needs to make it simple to find.

 

[Jeepadict]

@Chainbreaker nailed it withe the Comfort Zone space heaters...best value for loading these other than an old electric range off Craigslist.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[Jayhawk#44]

Thanks guys, I'll pass on this load bank and keep my eyes open for something along the lines suggested. I'm space constrained so an old electric range is out. I did see the homemade one using 3 electric hot water heater elements plumbed to a pool pump. Might go that direction.

I'll pick up that AC unit next week. For $25 I'll just bag lunch for a week. If its hard broke, bulk trash day. I've wasted more in worse.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Jeepadict]

@Jayhawk#44 the 5K Comfort Zone heaters were going for $100 ea when I got mine from Amazon. They're available from many online retailers and occupy the space of about 4 stacked shoeboxes. My opinion, unless tinkering is your preference there's no better or cost effective solution I'm aware of.

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[csheath]

Thanks guys, I'll pass on this load bank and keep my eyes open for something along the lines suggested. I'm space constrained so an old electric range is out. I did see the homemade one using 3 electric hot water heater elements plumbed to a pool pump. Might go that direction.

I'll pick up that AC unit next week. For $25 I'll just bag lunch for a week. If its hard broke, bulk trash day. I've wasted more in worse.

Thanks,
Matt

If you want to build your own you might be interested in the one I made.

Homemade Load Bank

Finally got around to putting my load bank together and testing it. I used four 5400 watt dryer elements, hooking two of them in series to cut one circuit load in half. This makes the total theoretical load 13.5 KW. I bought a 100A six space panel to create three 240V circuits. I used two 25A...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[Jayhawk#44]

If you want to build your own you might be interested in the one I made.

Homemade Load Bank

Finally got around to putting my load bank together and testing it. I used four 5400 watt dryer elements, hooking two of them in series to cut one circuit load in half. This makes the total theoretical load 13.5 KW. I bought a 100A six space panel to create three 240V circuits. I used two 25A...

www.steelsoldiers.com

Thanks for the heads-up on that. Seems like there's several doable homemade LB designs on here that work well!

Matt

 

[robson1015]

Here's mine - small electric range/oven

 

[robson1015]

Cant load picture ...

 

[dependable]

I use a 240V 30A heat element in a homebrew vessel for normal run exercise, makes hot water too!

 

[Jayhawk#44]

I use a 240V 30A heat element in a homebrew vessel for normal run exercise, makes hot water too!

I like the homebrew idea!!!

I've got a 11KW spa heater for sale locally on Craigslist. That, a cheap used pool pump and some 1.5" hose might make a nice load bank. Although the thermostat is just on or off.

Genny shows up tomorrow, hopefully I can get her running without too much trouble.

Thanks all!

Matt

 

[Zed254]

I understand space constrained, but......I love my stove. I bought it off craigs list for $50, set it on 2 moving dollies, put a canvas cover over it when not in use and I can adjust the load to what I want. This stove will put my MEP-803A over 100% on the per cent rated power meter. I usually run it at 80% for quarterly tests.

 

[m32825]

I understand space constrained, but......I love my stove. I bought it off craigs list for $50, set it on 2 moving dollies, put a canvas cover over it when not in use and I can adjust the load to what I want. This stove will put my MEP-803A over 100% on the per cent rated power meter. I usually run it at 80% for quarterly tests.

Same here, and the burners are handy if you need to form your own offsets in 2" electrical conduit.

 

[Abrant23]

I've got a dual oven Z-line 48" range in my kitchen. For monthly run time, I'll flip the transfer switch and tell the wife to fire up a couple batches of cookies! It works nicely because you can control the (4) separate elements independently to put varying loads on the genny....

 

[robson1015]

Here is mine....