MEP-002A Exhaust Question plus Machine Resurrection

[Tinstar]

Battery’s showed up today.
Finally
The Positive cable is way too long.
Will cut to proper length and crimp on new lug.
Same thing for the Negative side (length is fine, just needs a new lug)

Using New Military Battery Terminals anyway

 

[Tinstar]

Clamped down battery’s and installed the connecting cable.

Can’t finish today.
Only had 3 terminals in stock.
More arriving tomorrow.

Hold-downs are a tad too big.
But they’ll work I think.

 

[rickf]

Guy, I am also dyslexic, and I have ADHD. That was not a thing when I was in school, I was just classified as a problem child. But over theyears I have learned to make the adhd work for me, I just generally have several things going at once so I do not have to stay focused on any one thing too long. Has worked for 50 plus years. The dyslexia is simply a PITA! I can't tell you how many times I have to go back to a diagram because when I get to the work piece I lose track of what the diagram said. That was how I learned to be an expert at automotive wiring.

 

[Guyfang]

Guy, I am also dyslexic, and I have ADHD. That was not a thing when I was in school, I was just classified as a problem child. But over theyears I have learned to make the adhd work for me, I just generally have several things going at once so I do not have to stay focused on any one thing too long. Has worked for 50 plus years. The dyslexia is simply a PITA! I can't tell you how many times I have to go back to a diagram because when I get to the work piece I lose track of what the diagram said. That was how I learned to be an expert at automotive wiring.

Ditto. 50 plus years will teach you how to get around the rough parts! I measure EVERYTHING, 3 times. And then do it JUST ONE MORE TIME, to be safe. And sometimes still have to start all over! School was a nightmare for me.

 

[Ray70]

SO lets go back to S7 for a minute. You were 99% of the way there a few days ago, but I think you got a little mixed up with the testing of S7 both hot and cold. Anyway... before you fight things any further and replace the switch, try giving it a tiny bit of adjustment outward ( unscrew ) the adjustment like 1/4 to 1/2 turn. I see no reason to fight yourself trying to replace it. Its probably just barely on the fringe of Out of adjustment.

 

[Chainbreaker]

View attachment 898347

I can get a Dremel in there.

Appears to only need a bit more clearance. Wondering if there is a way to slightly reform the switch cover while it is screwed on up tight... like put something round (A phillips screwdriver?) on the offending edge of cover there where the screw hits & give it a slight whack with a hammer to form a slight dent in cover where it hits the offending screw. Of course, I don't know what is under the cover in that area of the Switch innerds...

 

[Tinstar]

SO lets go back to S7 for a minute. You were 99% of the way there a few days ago, but I think you got a little mixed up with the testing of S7 both hot and cold. Anyway... before you fight things any further and replace the switch, try giving it a tiny bit of adjustment outward ( unscrew ) the adjustment like 1/4 to 1/2 turn. I see no reason to fight yourself trying to replace it. Its probably just barely on the fringe of Out of adjustment.

Will for sure try adjusting it first before replacement.
Don't' want to fight replacing it unless I have to.
I will start with the 1/4" turn at a time.
At least I can reach that.

 

[Tinstar]

Appears to only need a bit more clearance. Wondering if there is a way to slightly reform the switch cover while it is screwed on up tight... like put something round (A phillips screwdriver?) on the offending edge of cover there where the screw hits & give it a slight whack with a hammer to form a slight dent in cover where it hits the offending screw. Of course, I don't know what is under the cover in that area of the Switch innerds...

I thought about that, but don't know what's under the cover in that area and can't find any pictures that show it.

Hopefully the adjustment works and I will not have to find out.

 

[Chainbreaker]

The issue tarps don’t exist anymore for these.
Will keep the bows and rig up an enclosure for it.

Yep the M116A2 trailer tarps apparently dried up in the market. I did purchase a new one a few years ago from a SS member that was new & then affordable.

Last year there was someone selling new ones on eBay that said he had fabricated by one of the OEM mfg's. His price with shipping was a bit steep to West Coast so I hesitated. I went back a few months later looking for one & all ~10 or so were gone. However, in my search using the NSN # for the OEM trailer cover, I ran across one of the contract mfg's for this cover & that may be where he had put in a Qty buy to purchase. Can't remember off the top of my head the Companies name. Might be possible to still get a group buy going with that cover mfg (not sure what minimum Qty is required). Anyway, just a thought...

The other thought I had was not to go the OEM MIL SPEC vinyl cover route. There are problems with those covers over time & in functionality. The straps used to tie it up do not age well due to UV & dry rot. Straps then used to secure side curtains in the rolled-up position, break easily where sewed onto the vinyl at attachment points. Also, it's difficult for one person to roll up the vinyl sides alone, especially when snow & ice are present. Also, they just don't tend to roll up easily when vinyl is cold.

Thus, I've had thoughts about coming up with a better mouse trap! Had ideas about finding someone to fab up an aluminum cover that attaches to top bows with sides that can easily raise up 90 deg horizontal & stay put with lifts or pinned in place. Having it fabricated in lightweight aluminum & with sides that raise to form an awning on all sides would probably require lightweight support framing to support side skins. If aluminum proves too expensive one could use the HD thick black UV resistant vinyl tarp material stretched over top bows & attached to a lower raiseable lightweight frame structure for sides.

Having the side panels raise up 90 deg would be very functional to have protection from rain, sleet or snow (that's usually when pwr goes out) to stand under when checking on genset or otherwise working on it.

If there was enough interest perhaps we could find someone to fab some up & get a group buy as I'm sure one offs would be costly.

Anyway, just my thoughts on the "now unobtanium" M116A2 trailer covers.

 

[Chainbreaker]

I thought about that, but don't know what's under the cover in that area and can't find any pictures that show it.

Hopefully the adjustment works and I will not have to find out.

Well just so happens my recently aquired #5 Genset didn't come with a cover over S7 start switch. So I snapped a picture for you to view whats underneath cover in that area.

If you select the photo & zoom up it shows the clearance more clearly to the lift solenoid screw you are having the interference with. Also, if you had the oil cannister taken off, perhaps it might allow you some additional room to work a slight deflection crease in the switch cover to obtain the necessary clearance.

Of course, I really don't have any reference to how close it comes to the switch contact arm when cover is screwed down tight in place. It might only be 1/8" to 1/4" of clearance... Though looking at your 1st photo in your post #159 above, it looks like the interference you are experiencing is off to the side of the cover so that area underneath cover might be somewhat open.

 

[Guyfang]

Good pictures!

If I remember right, I had to adjust the S7, 2-3 times to get it right. Take your time and test it 20 times before putting the cover back on.

 

[Tinstar]

Thanks for the pics!

I can really tell now how the heat might affect this switch.
Wouldn’t take much distortion/expansion to cause issue “if” that’s the reason.
Doesn’t look like trying to bend cover would be a very good idea.

Going to work on it today.

 

[Tinstar]

Good pictures!

If I remember right, I had to adjust the S7, 2-3 times to get it right. Take your time and test it 20 times before putting the cover back on.

As much as this this vibrates, will probably be more for me.
Will try Ray70’s recommendations.
If I’m lucky, that will work.

 

[Tinstar]

Lots of parts

 

[Tinstar]

SO lets go back to S7 for a minute. You were 99% of the way there a few days ago, but I think you got a little mixed up with the testing of S7 both hot and cold. Anyway... before you fight things any further and replace the switch, try giving it a tiny bit of adjustment outward ( unscrew ) the adjustment like 1/4 to 1/2 turn. I see no reason to fight yourself trying to replace it. Its probably just barely on the fringe of Out of adjustment.

So worked on this for the last two hours.
Did the 1/4 adjustments as recommended.

Finally…….After 2 full and then 1/4 turn, it finally doesn’t do it.
Have done about 12-15 starts now without issue and unit was nice and hot.
About 83* outside.

It kept getting better as the adjustments were made.
After about 1 complete turn, It would start great right after an adjustment while hot, but not start back up.
It did this a few times while adjustments were made and then finally would start back up without issue.

12-15 starts now and would run engine long enough in between to keep hot.

Letting machine cool off now and then will do more starts later today after engine is hot to make sure issue fixed.

Looks promising so far.

Edit:
For whatever reason, the Hz meter is working again.
Had been pegged to the far right of dial since unit was first started.
It’s about 0.5-0.8 off from digital meter.

 

[Ray70]

Once you're satisfied with the hot start, make sure you go back and verify that the starter won't engage if you try to crank while its running.
The TM will give you the specifics, but the interrupt switch is supposed to break the circuit at somewhere around 600 RPM ( IIRC ) so you can hold in the crank position while it builds oil pressure to close that circuit.
Just need to verify you don't adjust too far out and mess up the "disengage" side of things.....

 

[Guyfang]

Mostly, the S7 gets out of adjustment, due to "Knob Dicking". Knob Dicking is the fine art of fooling with things that don't need to be fooled with. In the HAWK ADA (Air Defense Artillery) world, back in the 70's to 90's, Everything in the system had self checks. The accepted readings were in the TM, and that is what the inspectors wanted to see. As born overachiever's, 2nd LT's would keep a tiny screwdriver in the left shirt pocket, to "Adjust" the meters, to get the "Right", called for adjusted voltage. Insuring that they would not fail an ORE, (Operational Readiness Evaluation).

When it would be seen, by Professional Maintenance Mechanics, (CWO's) a meeting would be held. And after due course, the Senior CWO would hold a formation. The 2nd Lt. would be requested to attend. The Young officer would be called to the front of the formation and presented with the Order of Hobby Electrician First Class, and issued the below depicted screwdriver. This entitled him to adjust anything he could find to adjust, with his new screwdriver. Normally one award was all it took to fix the "Problem".

 

[rickf]

I thought it was supposed to have the end ground of to the round part?

 

[justinn]

Well just so happens my recently aquired #5 Genset didn't come with a cover over S7 start switch. So I snapped a picture for you to view whats underneath cover in that area.

If you select the photo & zoom up it shows the clearance more clearly to the lift solenoid screw you are having the interference with. Also, if you had the oil cannister taken off, perhaps it might allow you some additional room to work a slight deflection crease in the switch cover to obtain the necessary clearance.

Of course, I really don't have any reference to how close it comes to the switch contact arm when cover is screwed down tight in place. It might only be 1/8" to 1/4" of clearance... Though looking at your 1st photo in your post #159 above, it looks like the interference you are experiencing is off to the side of the cover so that area underneath cover might be somewhat open.

getting that cover on can be a bear. I think on my 003, I had to actually grind off some of the adjustment screw(shorten it) to get it to fit.

For adjustment, I followed the TM and it was still slightly off, so I had to back and tweak it once or twice to make it perfect. Guyfang is right... leave that cover off until you are certain it's good

 

[Tinstar]

Once you're satisfied with the hot start, make sure you go back and verify that the starter won't engage if you try to crank while its running.
The TM will give you the specifics, but the interrupt switch is supposed to break the circuit at somewhere around 600 RPM ( IIRC ) so you can hold in the crank position while it builds oil pressure to close that circuit.
Just need to verify you don't adjust too far out and mess up the "disengage" side of things.....

OK
After my last post, I jumped on the tractor and mowed most of the day.
Then had to jump on the garden tractor and mow around the buildings.
It was past time to do it and I had been putting it off.

I will verify that tomorrow.