MEP 802a/803a reliability in the field

[Guyfang]

Its better to have and not need, then need and not have. If I were Chainbreaker, I would have at least 2 back up gen sets. When I was in HAWK, and had 12 gen sets on site, and had to scramble to get 6 to run, (and cheating relays, jumping CB's, hard wiring) I began to see things much more different.

 

[cbisson]

I don't have a MEP802 or MEP803 but I do have some thoughts and experience on a "spares strategy"

Your on the right track stocking the "obvious spares". No harm is doing that. But...how far you go in stocking spares is dependent on how badly your immediate needs are for maintaining power and you local Power Company's outage frequency. My local power provider is hit & miss due to so many tall trees next to power lines. Couple that with those of a "Prepper Mentality" of conceivable long term partial or total grid failure (increased potential for massive fires, earthquakes, storms or anything else in the realm of a potential area grid failure) and your talking about having back up redundancy. The "two is one, one is none" mantra is wisely stated when it comes to "mission critical" equipment.

If your situation is mission critical like mine is with wells, pumped septic, freezers, etc. you might also consider taking a "long term view" and start scouting for a spare genset before your model genset becomes harder to find with eventual scarcity of parts and ever increasing prices. If you can take your time now to locate a reasonably priced non-runner that you can repair it will prove to be money well spent. Craigslist worked for me when I started my "spare unit search". The guy I bought my 2nd unit from gave up on repairs and it only took me a day to get it running with no parts required!

I had a genset fail halfway into a week long outage and troubleshooting and repairing late at night in the dark icy cold just wasn't practical. It was really nice to be able to roll in backup genset #2 during a cold stormy night when needed. Even if I had found the problem soon after my genset failed, I wouldn't have had the part I needed to effect repairs even though I had stocked the obvious spares, as a control transformer had failed.

When you are able to roll in a "functioning spare unit" it gives you the time to thoroughly troubleshoot your primary genset. Also I might add, without the added pressure of family incessantly asking how much longer till power is restored. Possibly facing having to go to bed in a cold dark, or hot, house and waking up to an unknown situation & facing a parts sourcing dilemma. Having a backup unit at-the-ready gives you the the time to thoroughly troubleshoot the problem and then locate the exact part you need & order it to effect the right repair(s) as time permits. Once parts are on order you can then go in and watch TV & drink a beer, or whatever your fancy is, and leisurely wait for parts to arrive with no downtime!

I know it sounds like a luxury and too expensive to consider a back-up unit in addition to having a primary unit, however when you need it YOU REALLY NEED IT, and its worth every $ you paid and then some!

However, everyone's situation is different and each of us have to make a call on our best spares strategy.

Great advice Chainbreaker, and as a matter of fact I came to that very same conclusion myself last week. Adding up the cost of the spares I wanted to have on hand quickly got me into the $$ range of a 2nd running set to be used as backup. Light in the Dark hooked me up with a 600 hour unit that's in very good shape for a more than fair price. Thank you LITD, you're a stand-up and trustworthy guy. I'm still hoarding spare parts and maint. items though. I won't cannibalize the 2nd set unless its an emergency or if 20 years down the road certain parts are just unobtainable.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Adding up the cost of the spares I wanted to have on hand quickly got me into the $$ range of a 2nd running set to be used as backup. I'm still hoarding spare parts and maint. items though. I won't cannibalize the 2nd set unless its an emergency or if 20 years down the road certain parts are just unobtainable.

You came to the exact same conclusions I did a few years ago. Congratulations and welcome to the "best be prepared" club.

 

[Chainbreaker]

...If I were Chainbreaker, I would have at least 2 back up gen sets...

Yep, due to having 2 separate electrical service entrances on my property along with horses requiring lots of well #2 water & care, two running gensets during an outage are required. That coupled with the potential of not being able to shuffle a single spare genset between the 800' distance of those 2 locations up/down potentially icy/snowed-in inclines, I recently bought my 4th genset as spare #2.

Though, I'm still looking for a MEP-002a wiring harness and genset stator or complete head to bring unit #4 back to life... That's this summers project, among others, even if I have to build my own wiring harness.

Anyway, back to the 802/803 good to have on hand spares list.

 

[Guyfang]

Here is a thought. When searching in the big web auction site, instead of typing MEP-002A, today I just typed MEP and started the search. LOTS more parts came up for the 002 and 003A, (and other gen sets). Stuff I had never seen. LOTS of other junk came up, and about the time I got tired of looking at windshields for a bike, something would pop up that was gen set related. The first 6-9 pages has lots, after that it gets slim, but they DO come up. I looked at the first 28 pages and no wire harness, but there is at least 40-50 pages. Never hurts if you need to kill some time.

 

[Farmitall]

I don't have a MEP802 or MEP803 but I do have some thoughts and experience on a "spares strategy"

Your on the right track stocking the "obvious spares". No harm is doing that. But...how far you go in stocking spares is dependent on how badly your immediate needs are for maintaining power and you local Power Company's outage frequency. My local power provider is hit & miss due to so many tall trees next to power lines. Couple that with those of a "Prepper Mentality" of conceivable long term partial or total grid failure (increased potential for massive fires, earthquakes, storms or anything else in the realm of a potential area grid failure) and your talking about having back up redundancy. The "two is one, one is none" mantra is wisely stated when it comes to "mission critical" equipment.

If your situation is mission critical like mine is with wells, pumped septic, freezers, etc. you might also consider taking a "long term view" and start scouting for a spare genset before your model genset becomes harder to find with eventual scarcity of parts and ever increasing prices. If you can take your time now to locate a reasonably priced non-runner that you can repair it will prove to be money well spent. Craigslist worked for me when I started my "spare unit search". The guy I bought my 2nd unit from gave up on repairs and it only took me a day to get it running with no parts required!

I had a genset fail halfway into a week long outage and troubleshooting and repairing late at night in the dark icy cold just wasn't practical. It was really nice to be able to roll in backup genset #2 during a cold stormy night when needed. Even if I had found the problem soon after my genset failed, I wouldn't have had the part I needed to effect repairs even though I had stocked the obvious spares, as a control transformer had failed.

When you are able to roll in a "functioning spare unit" it gives you the time to thoroughly troubleshoot your primary genset. Also I might add, without the added pressure of family incessantly asking how much longer till power is restored. Possibly facing having to go to bed in a cold dark, or hot, house and waking up to an unknown situation & facing a parts sourcing dilemma. Having a backup unit at-the-ready gives you the the time to thoroughly troubleshoot the problem and then locate the exact part you need & order it to effect the right repair(s) as time permits. Once parts are on order you can then go in and watch TV & drink a beer, or whatever your fancy is, and leisurely wait for parts to arrive with no downtime!

I know it sounds like a luxury and too expensive to consider a back-up unit in addition to having a primary unit, however when you need it YOU REALLY NEED IT, and its worth every $ you paid and then some!

However, everyone's situation is different and each of us have to make a call on our best spares strategy.

Agree totally, that is why I bought two MEP803a sets and have a few smaller gasoline sets to fill in if required.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Great advice Chainbreaker, and as a matter of fact I came to that very same conclusion myself last week. Adding up the cost of the spares I wanted to have on hand quickly got me into the $$ range of a 2nd running set to be used as backup. Light in the Dark hooked me up with a 600 hour unit that's in very good shape for a more than fair price. Thank you LITD, you're a stand-up and trustworthy guy. I'm still hoarding spare parts and maint. items though. I won't cannibalize the 2nd set unless its an emergency or if 20 years down the road certain parts are just unobtainable.

Glad to help... can't drive a Kubota worth a damn, but thank you for the kind words. Glad both sets are up to your standards.

 

[cbisson]

Glad to help... can't drive a Kubota worth a damn, but thank you for the kind words. Glad both sets are up to your standards.

Couldn't be happier with both of them. As for standards, my problem is that I always want my equipment to be as new.....functionally at least. Which is why that even though I have a fully serviceable volt meter I want to replace it with one that would have come in the machine, along with other gauges and anything really......well except maybe the well nuts.

 

[cbisson]

Agree totally, that is why I bought two MEP803a sets and have a few smaller gasoline sets to fill in if required.

Same here Farmitall. 3 diesels and 2 gas jobs. I keep the gas ones around for heat and light if needed to get a diesel online.

 

[quartermeter]

Here is a thought. When searching in the big web auction site, instead of typing MEP-002A, today I just typed MEP and started the search. LOTS more parts came up for the 002 and 003A, (and other gen sets). Stuff I had never seen. LOTS of other junk came up, and about the time I got tired of looking at windshields for a bike, something would pop up that was gen set related. The first 6-9 pages has lots, after that it gets slim, but they DO come up. I looked at the first 28 pages and no wire harness, but there is at least 40-50 pages. Never hurts if you need to kill some time.

What auction site would that be? I’m new & looking for parts. I’ve talked to LITD as well. He’s very helpful.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Guy is referencing eBay. Its commonly called the big auction site, since the rules of the site can be... problematic, for some things. We are not forbidden to say the word, but life is often easier when the moderators don't come around looking for rules infractions.

 

[Guyfang]

 

[America]

These sets are not new anymore...... That said they are no we’re near as reliable as a new generator set in my opinion. These used mep’s are really only good if you have high level mechanical abilities. Point is these sets are a poor start to a truly reliable set up. Anyway I love my mep generators but the age shows. Ive run mep generators 24/7, keeping them going takes lots of troubleshooting, pretty routinely.

 

[Guyfang]

Yes and no. Down Range, units ran the 30 and 60 KW gen sets in excess of 40-50 thousand hours, with no catastrophic failures. Minor failures? Yes.

Part of that problem is Army mechanics are no longer trained troubleshoot. Change parts, yes. I know the Gentleman who runs the Power Generation School, in FLW. He told me the course is so short on time and content, that its a wonder any gen set gets fixed.

 

[Farmitall]

Yes and no. Down Range, units ran the 30 and 60 KW gen sets in excess of 40-50 thousand hours, with no catastrophic failures. Minor failures? Yes.

Part of that problem is Army mechanics are no longer trained troubleshoot. Change parts, yes. I know the Gentleman who runs the Power Generation School, in FLW. He told me the course is so short on time and content, that its a wonder any gen set gets fixed.

And being a good troubleshooter is a requirement to being a good mechanic. Understanding the mechanism that one is working on is imperative to being able to trouble shoot it and make a correct diagnosis and only then can an effective, efficient and correct repair be done.
Anyone can pull a wrench......anyone. If you don't know why you are pulling that wrench in a particular place then you're just shooting in the dark.
You don't work on a front end when there is an engine problem, nor check out brakes when there is a cooling problem. Understanding each system and then how that system applies to the whole machine is what is needed.
I'm very disappointed that this type of knowledge isn't being taught in the military anymore.

 

[America]

Yes and no. Down Range, units ran the 30 and 60 KW gen sets in excess of 40-50 thousand hours, with no catastrophic failures. Minor failures? Yes.

Part of that problem is Army mechanics are no longer trained troubleshoot. Change parts, yes. I know the Gentleman who runs the Power Generation School, in FLW. He told me the course is so short on time and content, that its a wonder any gen set gets fixed.

Yes, minor failures is what I was thinking of. These sets are still bullet proof with a good mechanic around to sort out minor failures.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Yes, minor failures is what I was thinking of. These sets are still bullet proof with a good mechanic around to sort out minor failures.

Sounds like your not really into troubleshooting and repairing minor issues/failures. That's certainly OK and is why some people only buy new cars and sell them off after the warranty expires or they always lease vehicles where maintenance is included. They don't want the hassle or have the time to deal with added problems in their daily life. Those types are probably best suited in dealing with a local generator outfit that does sales and service of Commercial Off The Shelf generators & parts. Understandably, most of those businesses don't want to deal with anything Military or will charge a premium to work on them with no guarantees.

Me personally, I usually enjoy the challenges that come along with Mil Spec generator ownership and maintenance. I find there is satisfaction and knowledge gained in troubleshooting and repairing and then looking back and being able to say to myself...Good job, I won that battle of man vs machine!

Its all in how you look at it and whether you have the time, energy and motivation to devote to it. Fortunately we have the SS membership collective knowledge base to peruse as well as being able to ask for help and assistance when we get stuck and are to the point of beating our head against the wall.

 

[America]

Sounds like your not really into troubleshooting and repairing minor issues/failures. That's certainly OK and is why some people only buy new cars and sell them off after the warranty expires or they always lease vehicles where maintenance is included. They don't want the hassle or have the time to deal with added problems in their daily life. Those types are probably best suited in dealing with a local generator outfit that does sales and service of Commercial Off The Shelf generators & parts. Understandably, most of those businesses don't want to deal with anything Military or will charge a premium to work on them with no guarantees.

Me personally, I usually enjoy the challenges that come along with Mil Spec generator ownership and maintenance. I find there is satisfaction and knowledge gained in troubleshooting and repairing and then looking back and being able to say to myself...Good job, I won that battle of man vs machine!

Its all in how you look at it and whether you have the time, energy and motivation to devote to it. Fortunately we have the SS membership collective knowledge base to peruse as well as being able to ask for help and assistance when we get stuck and are to the point of beating our head against the wall.

I personally enjoy working on my auction items as well. Thats pretty much why I buy them. I tinker in the workshop like a mad scientist.

 

[Chainbreaker]

I personally enjoy working on my auction items as well. Thats pretty much why I buy them. I tinker in the workshop like a mad scientist.

Ah OK, I think I read more into your earlier statement than was there... ".These sets are still bullet proof with a good mechanic around to sort out minor failures." I interpreted that as you were saying that you needed having a mechanic come out to troubleshoot and repair your set. Sounds like you are fulfilling that role yourself! And yes, "tinkering in the workshop like a mad scientist" is good for the soul!!!

 

[cbisson]

One time I was to be inspected, by the Brigade IG. Inspector General. One of the big no, no's is "Excess". It took two trips with an M35 truck to haul off all my "Nice to have" stuff.

1 ea. A1 Volt reg
1 ea. Plastic relay
1 ea. 24 volt alternator
1 ea. K4
1 ea. K1
1 ea. K2
1 ea. K8
1 ea. S14
1 ea. A9
Diodes for the main gen
1 ea. LOP
1 ea. Engine over temp switch
1 ea. MPU
1 ea. Water pump and gaskets
1 ea. set of injector pumps and injectors
1 ea. Starter
1 ea. E1 and E2 fuel pump
1 ea. package of both fuses needed.
And what you already have. If I looked long enough at this screen, the list would grow. Some things I did not add, as anyone who is a competent mechanic, should be able to hay seed fix. Like the throttle cable, or defective S17. Things like that.

Dusting off an old thread here and I've made good progress on this list of spares.

My question is for Guyfang. What part are you referencing with item 2 of your list "plastic relay"? Is this the relay socket that the wires connect to and the relays plug in to?

Thanks,

-Craig