Just won another GL generator, MEP-003a

[storeman]

Ike,
I made the mistake of using a power washer to "clean" the tank of a recently acquired superbly running unit. Won't make that mistake again. Have spent 3 days trying to solder the leaks caused by the pressure of the power washer without success. Finally removed all solder and used a quick weld epoxy with success. Lesson learned.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

Well one thing to think about is if the tank leaked after the pressure washing then there were pinholes in the metal that were just getting ready to go anyway. Metal must have been as thin as tinfoil in spots. Your really better off finding the weak spots and taking care of them now.

 

[storeman]

I agree Jim.

 

[Triple Jim]

This phenolic epoxy coating has been used on a lot of badly rusted and/or leaking motorcycle tanks with great success. It's thicker than some of the other coatings like Kreem and POR-15, and resists all the common fuels like diesel and today's gasoline.

http://www.caswellplating.com/restoration-aids/epoxy-gas-tank-sealer.html

 

[Isaac-1]

Stupid question, which way does the lever go (toward or away from the engine) on the cold/warm operation lever on the air intake? I could check my MEP-002a, but it is stored 15 miles away and this new MEP-003a has no markings).

thanks Ike

 

[Jimc]

Down is warm weather, up is cold

 

[storeman]

Jim, the JB weld I used seems to be fine. jerry

 

[Ray70]

Hi Jerry, I had the same problem with the tanks on both of the first MEP-002A's I got a few months ago. I used some metal etching acid and a bunch or screws, bolts and misc. hardware, sloshed it all around to clean the inside of the rusty tanks. Then I power washed them. They came out spotless.... except for a bunch of pinholes near the tank drains!
I used the Caswell Plating tank sealer with great success. It took much longer than expected to kick over, but once it dried it left a rock hard lining which I would anticipate will last me a lifetime. Searching the internet, Caswell seems to get much better reviews than all the others.

 

[Jimc]

Yeah, i have been using the caswell stuff in all the custom motorcycle tanks i have painted over the past 6 years or so. Both alum and steel tanks. It works great. Nothing can beat a novalac epoxy. All the store bought stuff is junk. Kreem etc.

 

[Ray70]

N1oty, in regards to your question about running a pair of -002A's in parallel, I saw Sewerzuk's video and I plan to do the same thing. I think a single -002A will cover most of my needs, but I know for sure it will not start my air compressor and if we loose power in the dead of summer it won't start my central air either, so my plan is to set up 2 5K's and only fire up the 2nd if I need the extra power.

I'd also like to congratulate you guys that won sets from Del. and Ft. Meade the other day. I was trying to grab a 5K to use for parts to fix my 3rd generator, but couldn't justify going any higher than i did, plus I'm traveling to VA in 2 weeks and wanted to pick it up ( if I had won ) on my way down but GL said they are pretty strict about the 10 day policy and I would be at about 12 days min. plus trying to coordinate a pickup time and get there on-time with the wife and to babies while heading out on vacation might be problematic! So I'll be bidding from my hotel room in a couple weeks so feel free to let me get one cheap!

 

[storeman]

Thanks guys for your comments on Caswell. Its breaking my budget, but I think I'll try it, even though the tank seems fine now. Have not yet put fuel in it and guess I won't if Caswell is the next step. BTW: Jim, hope your dad appreciates this.

Ray 70, out of respect for your predicament, I'm sure we will all lay off. I don't travel anymore for pickups, so count me on your side. Enjoy your vacation.

Jerry

 

[Jimc]

jerry, stop the presses for a min. if its just the bottom of the tank thats real bad and not really the ends then i can just as easily cut the bottom of the tank off and tig weld in new sheetmetal so you dont have to mess with it. also another thought is for the price of the stuff from caswell, last time i checked saturn had brand new old stock tanks for sale for like $70. not sure if they sold them all or not.

 

[storeman]

Jim,
I don't weld. It's just the bottom and I just ordered 6 kits from Caswell. When I jump in, I jump in.

Oh well. Lots of folks looking for tanks, am surprised they are available at that price. Please confirm.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

haha no jerry i meant i can weld it.

since you bought the epoxy, here is the prep:


the key to tank sealer is all in the prep. the metal need to be 100% rust free and etched. the process of course is it needs to be degreased and deoiled inside. a nice strong degreaser so slosh around inside to melt away any oil. then you pour in a quart or two of lacquer thinner which will dissolve any varnish. this is important. slosh that around for maybe 20 min or so. dump it out. depending on how bad any rust is in the tank you need to pour in 1/2-1 gal of muriatic acid to dissolve any rust and clean out any pits. you may even need to do this step twice. if the tank has borderline pits that are getting ready to leak then most likely they will be leaking after the acid wash. after 1/2hr of sloshing the acid around, rinse the tank out with water so its nice and clean. the metal should be 100% clean, dull silver metal. no black specs. shake out as much water as you possibly can. dump in 1 qt of acetone and slosh that around. the acetone will absorb the remaining moisture so when you dump that out the tank will be dry and clean. you can blow the tank out at that point with some compressed air to fully dry if needed. mix the epoxy and pour it in as soon as you can. roll it around so 100% of the surface is coated inside. remember cold epoxy can get very thick so in the winter months stick the metal tank by a heater to warm it. i put mine in front of a forced air heater for a few seconds to get it hot and i can get the epoxy to flow like water. it makes it easier to coat all the surfaces.

 

[Jimc]

if you have tanks that are really bad jerry i would just give a quick call or email to saturn. a couple months ago they had some. i saw them listed on ebay. a few went at that time from $59-$79.

 

[storeman]

Thanks Jim. Only one problem tank but am looking to the future and will resell the kits at discount to Caswell if needed.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

Well the nice thing too is epoxy doesnt go bad. It can sit in a shelf for years with no problem

 

[Isaac-1]

Well I had a few minutes to play with the new to me MEP-003a this evening, changed out the oil filter, old one did not look too bad, oil was a bit black, but at least not chunky. I checked cleaned and reinstalled all 3 fuel pump strainers, only the primary one from the onboard tank was the least bit dirty, larger rust particles mostly, these had the newer style white ceramic filters, which were still white. Oddly enough I have 3 different fuel pumps, all have the new style capacitors, 2 may be the same style, but only 1 of the 2 is covered in CARC, the 3rd pump (primary of the two inline pumps) is also of the gold finish type, but it uses a 7/8 inch socket instead of 5/8ths like the others use. Did not get to the other fuel filters before dark / mosquitoes though.

Ike

 

[Ray70]

Hey Jerry,
Thanks for the comment... I'll try to have a good time if the kids behave! Anyway, 6 Caswell kits, **** your wallet must have suffered a coronary after that!
I got a "double" kit, guess it was a quart, on ebay. It was a left over someone bought and didn't use. anyway I would estimate the quart kit would do 4 MEP-002A tanks if done all at once, so I think you can get 2 tanks out of each of your pint kits. I used the quart on 2 tanks and threw about 1/2 of it away. And like JimC said, heat is your friend when it comes to this stuff. I used a heat gun on mine and it really made a big difference in viscosity, made it flow nice, but had to tip it around every few minutes until it kicked otherwise a lot of it would pool up in the bottom, even after dumping out the excess. Make sure you clean out any epoxy that gets in the drain valve's threads before it hardens. A 1/4 NPT tap makes short work of cleaning the threads.

 

[tow2gunner]

Got the generators home yesterday. Went over both
The 2500hr one started right up . Checked fluids , hoses and output is good. awesome!! Need to change oil - filters and fuel filters. Not bad for 650

The "newer" one , 47hrs...
Brand new filters, fresh oil, ...
Looks like a bad fuel pump (no thing on run, but the aux units run) or maybe IP??

I am leaning towards the fuel pump as there is no flow /pressure to fuel filters or into IP..

Thoughts???