J R Hollingsworth MEP-005A conversion

[Rekabnivek]

I have just purchased a 1986 JR Hollingsworth MEP-005A. I olny paid $1400 delivered!! Currently it is 120/208 3PH. I have watched several videos for the 120/240 1PH conversion. In all of these the controll panel looks different than mine. This one only has an amp meter (broken), a voltage meter, an hour meter, temp, and pressure (assuming oil). It also only has 2 switches, on for run and the other for start. She only ha 521.6 hours on her (and the meter works). Is there a document explaining the conversion. I don't want to do something wrong and ruin my gen.

 

[Scoobyshep]

Somebody has already modified that set

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[Ray70]

Somebody has already modified that set

Yea... It's been "modified" alright!
Do you know if it runs and makes power or not?
Without knowing what was done to this machine previously there is no way of knowing what you would need to do to convert it to single phase.
Looks like most of the original controls and probably all the safety equipment has been removed / bypassed.
Can you take a picture inside the control cube? I'm wondering if there's an aftermarket AVR hiding in there somewhere?

 

[Scoobyshep]

There must be, I dont see one in the picture. I bet the contactor controller is missing/ bypassed as well.

I would be very interested to see what they did, and its probably best to do a recontrol (theres a fairly new thread about this)

 

[glcaines]

Personally, I wouldn't buy one that has already had unknown modifications made. However, since you already own it, I would try to find out who the previous owner was and try to find out what modifications were made.

 

[Rekabnivek]

I bought it from a scrapyard that was using it at 208v 3PH. I don't know where they got it. I will get pics of behind the control panel and post when I get off of work. There looks to be newer components in ther from what I remember. It runs like a top and does provide 120v each phase to ground and 208v between any 2 phases. Guess I should have done a little research before buying, but it was kind of thrown in my lap and I figured $1400 for a 30KW gen wasn't too bad.

 

[Scoobyshep]

I bought it from a scrapyard that was using it at 208v 3PH. I don't know where they got it. I will get pics of behind the control panel and post when I get off of work. There looks to be newer components in ther from what I remember. It runs like a top and does provide 120v each phase to ground and 208v between any 2 phases. Guess I should have done a little research before buying, but it was kind of thrown in my lap and I figured $1400 for a 30KW gen wasn't too bad.

Still not bad, if you do need to do a full re control it can be done fairly easily

 

[Guyfang]

If it works, don't fool with it. It needs cleaning. I saw cut off wires. The shutter Assy needs to be checked along with many other things. But if it works, good. Check it out, service it and clean it up. Then maybe spend some money on it.

 

[Triple Jim]

What do you plan to power with it? Very often 120/208 is fine for residential use.

 

[Rekabnivek]

Here are the pics of inside the controll panel. The blue meter is a digital Hz meter (shown running at 60Hz). Please help me understand what I am looking at.

The reason I want to convert to 120/240 is that most of the stuff in my house will work with 208, my well pump will not tolerate that low of a voltage and needs at least 220-240.

 

[Scoobyshep]

Okay so they've added an aftermarket AVR and an aftermarket engine controller. This can be retapped for single phase however keep in mind that you're going to have to look up the AVR instructions to see if it'll tolerate 240 otherwise it's going to try to keep correcting to 208

 

[Guyfang]

I have seen this set before. Someplace, sometime. I THINK, it was a problem with oil in the coolant. Easy fix. It may have been in a PM, just the owner/me. And I seem to remember me asking him about all the safety stuff, and he did not reply.

 

[2Pbfeet]

Is that 24v fuse bypassed?
I suspect that engine ECU would have a longer longevity if the relay had a cover put on it...

 

[Rekabnivek]

Ok if the AVR will handle 240v, would I just follow the youtube video of a member here and cut the bar between lug 11 and 12, the put a jumper from 12 to 2 on the power board?

 

[Rekabnivek]

Is that 24v fuse bypassed?
I suspect that engine ECU would have a longer longevity if the relay had a cover put on it...

Yes looks like the 24v and one of the 120v fuses are bypassed. This is the way I got it. Not sure why they are bypassed???

 

[Rekabnivek]

Assuming this is the AVR. It is a McPherson Controls SS053. Just doing a quick spec search it shows voltage ranges from 180 to 265.

 

[Scoobyshep]

Assuming this is the AVR. It is a McPherson Controls SS053. Just doing a quick spec search it shows voltage ranges from 180 to 265.

That will need adjusted

 

[Rekabnivek]

I have downloaded the manual for the AVR, and am going to study it some. Guessing I still have to do the cut and jumper on the power board also.

 

[Scoobyshep]

I have downloaded the manual for the AVR, and am going to study it some. Guessing I still have to do the cut and jumper on the power board also.

In the reconnecting board? There's another way that makes it easier to revert. Either way that will need rewired to make it zig zag. You also need to know where the AVR source is. If tapped incorrectly you will get some really weird voltages

 

[Triple Jim]

The reason I want to convert to 120/240 is that most of the stuff in my house will work with 208, my well pump will not tolerate that low of a voltage and needs at least 220-240.

There's the option of a boost transformer for just the well pump.