MEP 002A -- Failure to Shut Down Properly

[AndyJ]

I have been using my MEP 002A heavily for the last 3 days due to a primary genset failure. I am offgrid at an oil field.

Yesterday evening, I needed to refuel the MEP 002A and it seemed to wind down slowly when the master switch was set to off.

Just a few minutes ago, I needed to refuel again and it took a good 2 minutes for the generator to finally shut off. The final 30 seconds of runtime were just barely turning over. Pulling the emergency shut off switch had no effect.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Keith_J]

The engine shuts off by the solenoid pushing the control lever down, over-riding the governor's spring. Either the spring link is dirty or the solenoid's spring force is weak. Either way, spray some Berryman B12 over the spring link (telescoping link between governor arm and injection pump control lever) and over the control lever to injection pump. This gets dirty, it needs to be clean.

You can shut them down by manually pushing down on the control lever. If the solenoid spring is weak, Generator Parts

And for hot refuel, get a hose with flare fittings and use the Aux. Fuel switch position. If you get the complete remote fuel setup, you can run off a 55 gallon drum for 4 days between fuelings and oil changes

 

[sewerzuk]

x2 what Keith_J said

I have seen the shutoff solenoid mounting screws back off on several occasions; I put red loctite on all of the ones I work on.

The plunger on the solenoid has an adjustable pushrod; I have also seen those back off and not completely shut down the set.

 

[AndyJ]

Thanks guys! Light pressure on the control lever induced the solenoid to operate properly. The entire linkage does need a general cleaning. In the meantime, it is out there chigging away doing what generators do best. I appreciate the help.

 

[glcaines]

Also common is for the solenoid to not move the lever to the on position if the linkage is dirty. If the genset ever fails to start within a reasonable time, make sure the linkage isn't keeping the fuel shut off.

 

[Speddmon]

Dumb question, why are you shutting it down to refuel? Even if you are not using the built in aux. fuel set-up, you will do no damage to the set if you just open the fuel cap and refuel it while it's running.

 

[storeman]

Yah, this ain't gasoline!

 

[derf]

And, don't let it run at anything other than 1800RPM, 60Hz. Anything else could damage things.

 

[AndyJ]

Dumb question, why are you shutting it down to refuel? Even if you are not using the built in aux. fuel set-up, you will do no damage to the set if you just open the fuel cap and refuel it while it's running.

It is sitting in an M101A2 with the top on. It is way toooooo loud to get inside with the unit running. I also check oil levels and for any leaks while it is shut off.

 

[Speddmon]

It is sitting in an M101A2 with the top on. It is way toooooo loud to get inside with the unit running. I also check oil levels and for any leaks while it is shut off.

Good enough reason. I just couldn't think of a need for shutting it down. Once you trust your set to not leak oil and fuel, you'll just put some ear plugs in and go in there and re-fuel it while running.

 

[AndyJ]

Good enough reason. I just couldn't think of a need for shutting it down. Once you trust your set to not leak oil and fuel, you'll just put some ear plugs in and go in there and re-fuel it while running.

I have a defective AUX fuel solenoid and a new replacement in a box. Once I find time to replace that we will go the AUX fuel source route . I can really appreciate the simplicity and ease of that setup MORE now.

BTW, the oilfield unit that went down was a 12.5kw Perkins unit with 8k plus hours on it -- all put on by me. Good functional unit until the rear seal went out completely. I can't blame it all on the Perkins. We had 70 days of 100+ degree heat here this summer and the Perkins unit was shut down once every 14 days for oil/filter change. It ran continuously otherwise. The rear seal problem started with the high temps. The MEP-002A stepped up and handled the load of the larger unit no problem through 5 days of continuous running. Load averaged between 85% and 105% for the entire 5 days.

Fuel consumption was very consistent with the day tank lasting for 13 -13.5 hours. One quart of oil was added during the 5 days of running.

 

[cranetruck]

.....
Fuel consumption was very consistent with the day tank lasting for 13 -13.5 hours. One quart of oil was added during the 5 days of running.

Not familiar with the 002A terminology, how many gallons would that be equal to?

 

[AndyJ]

Not familiar with the 002A terminology, how many gallons would that be equal to?

I think the day tank is 6.5 gallons which would equate to .05gal/hour. That fuel consumption figure is consistent with published facts.

 

[Keith_J]

I think the day tank is 6.5 gallons which would equate to .05gal/hour. That fuel consumption figure is consistent with published facts.

More like 0.51 gallons per hour. Impressive if actually generating 5 kW.

 

[derf]

Yes, if it was 0.05 gal/hour I would buy many of them.

 

[AndyJ]

More like 0.51 gallons per hour. Impressive if actually generating 5 kW.

Whoops! Can you tell I flunked math?

It was showing a amp load of 25-34 amps during this period. Would that be consistent with the 85% plus load rating?

 

[Keith_J]

Whoops! Can you tell I flunked math?

It was showing a amp load of 25-34 amps during this period. Would that be consistent with the 85% plus load rating?

On 240 volt 3-wire? Yeah, that is a good load. 3-phase 4-wire? Serious over-load. 120 volt 2-wire? Getting good.

What kind of load, power factor wise? This would be on the data plate of the motors. If just lights or heat, PF would be 1.

Not going to explain power factor here...just tell you that when my 002A is connected for 120 volt 2-wire and feeding my 14" abrasive chop saw, it can draw up to 50% on the rated current. Its data plate shows it has a 14 amp load but the meter shows 26 amp load. Meaning its power factor is 14/26 or 0.54. That means it puts a greater load on the generator than the 14 amps it is rated.

 

[AndyJ]

On 240 volt 3-wire? Yeah, that is a good load. 3-phase 4-wire? Serious over-load. 120 volt 2-wire? Getting good.

What kind of load, power factor wise? This would be on the data plate of the motors. If just lights or heat, PF would be 1.

Not going to explain power factor here...just tell you that when my 002A is connected for 120 volt 2-wire and feeding my 14" abrasive chop saw, it can draw up to 50% on the rated current. Its data plate shows it has a 14 amp load but the meter shows 26 amp load. Meaning its power factor is 14/26 or 0.54. That means it puts a greater load on the generator than the 14 amps it is rated.

Keith,

It was powering an office trailer/bunkhouse. 120v via a 50amp RV receptacle. The trailer has a hardwired EMS/surge guard with a very accurate digital readout of cycles, voltage and amp draw. Think electric heaters, microwave, coffee pot, fridge,TV, DISH receiver etc. plus a bank of halogen floods at night.