Mep 701a - fired them up today, what next?

[Blythewoodjoe]

I had a little time today and my father-in-law was hanging out with me, so I thought it would be a good time to check out the generators.

I have two Mep 701a gens with fairly low hours. Had them a few weeks now. Any way both had no oil or fuel so I started with one and filled it up with oil and fuel. Hooked up my 24 volt booster set up and started turning it over. It did not fire up. I then decided to look and see if it had a primer on the pump. Why don't I look for stuff like that to start with? Anyway, found the primer and pumped it a few time, and it fired up.

Watched the gauges and noticed the frequency gauge not moving. Run it a few minutes and then played with the throttle. I notice the gauge move when I revved it up, so I adjusted the speed to keep it on 60 hertz. I unhooked the battery pack and it shut down.

Took the other unit and went through the same thing. Ran great. It did not shut down when I removed the battery pack.

So here's the question. Do you adjust the hertz with the engine speed? What is a common thing to look for in the one that appears to not be putting out 24 volts? Both have batteries in them and I have removed one and will try to charge it. I will check with my battery place to see if they can get them. I might run them a little tomorrow and check some other stuff. These puppies are loud. I can't imagine being around one without the ASK.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Isaac-1]

First off the tech manuals are available for download, its a good place to start on the one that seems to not be charging. These units have DC voltage regulators was well as built in DC charger alternators . The DC charging voltage regulator is behind the fold down gauge panel, all the way at the left screwed to the back wall, with a heatsink and 4 wires . There is a test point for the built in alternator/stator behind the fuel tank, next to the aux. fuel pump.

Ike

 

[Boatcarpenter]

Joe,
In working on my MEP-002a, I discovered from reading the TM's that the gauge for the battery charging system operates somewhat differently than say the one in a Deuce. Basically, the gauge indicates the state of charge of the batteries, not the output voltage from the charging system.
This is a quote from the TM.
" Battery Indicator--indicates the degree of charge of the batteries. Needle in left of green indicates discharged battery, green area normal condition, red area indicates extreme charge condition, or extreme discharge condition." It also said somewhere (can't find it now) that the gauge will operate in the yellow and move towards the green as the batteries become charged.
In testing my generator I had two not very good batteries in it and the gauge would show in the yellow range. When I tried two fully charged batteries, it went right to full green zone.
So, point being that if your gauge shows in the yellow, it does not necessarily mean the system is not charging. So, you can go through the test procedure to check it out, or you can let the generator run long enough to charge the batteries and see if it goes to the green zone.
The same gauge in the Deuce indicates output voltage from the alternator irregardless of the state of charge of the batteries.
Does this make sense, I hope so. It had me confused for a while until I thoroughly read the TM's.
BC