MEPs and Hurricane Irma

[TrailLifeBill]

Power is back on, Genny is now shut down and ready for PM checkup after running flawlessly during and after the storm. Although I see myself in several of Guyfang's points - I concur completely with his self-described "rant". These aren't consumer generators - they're designed to be operated and maintained by trained personnel - under very adverse conditions. This site is a gold mine of information to help those of us desiring to become trained operators and maintainers of said equipment. I am guilty of not spending as much time as I should between the pages of the manuals - however, I do truly try to search out any issue I run across if it's something that is of a technical nature. Even things that aren't going to be in the manuals have probably been discussed here before if you search the threads (and just spend casual time reading through them for entertainment). Thanks to all of you for sharing in your knowledge and experience - at whatever level. Great idea about the post-hurricane debrief - I know of several things that are on my to-do list. I had a great deal of satisfaction in operating my genset during our power outage - got plenty of "honey-points" from my wife, who was able to go to the toilet, take a hot shower, make coffee, surf the internet, and sit in an air-conditioned home while reading about all the woes of her Facebook friends without power. I think she loves Genny as much as I do now. Good nite all - cut up 4 downed trees today, got much more to do tomorrow. Will be dreaming about what upgrades I want to do to my rig, maintenance that needs to be done, and most significantly whether to paint the OD trailer tan to match the genset, or whether to paint the genset OD green to match the trailer..... decisions.

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,

It's called readiness and preparedness.

Simply having a generator does not work. You need to ensure you can rely on it when you need it. Having the essential to run a long time with a supply of diesel and oil and filters. Having the right connection to you house etc...

Not try to make it work when the SHTF, it should be ready to go.

 

[TrailLifeBill]

Howdy,

It's called readiness and preparedness.

Simply having a generator does not work. You need to ensure you can rely on it when you need it. Having the essential to run a long time with a supply of diesel and oil and filters. Having the right connection to you house etc...

Not try to make it work when the SHTF, it should be ready to go.

Yep - was a maintenance electrician for several years and one of my jobs was generator PM's - if you have aptitude, a desire to learn, and the willingness to spend time taking advantage of the reference materials available, these are fantastic machines.

 

[155mm]

Power is back on, Genny is now shut down and ready for PM checkup after running flawlessly during and after the storm. Although I see myself in several of Guyfang's points - I concur completely with his self-described "rant". These aren't consumer generators - they're designed to be operated and maintained by trained personnel - under very adverse conditions. This site is a gold mine of information to help those of us desiring to become trained operators and maintainers of said equipment. I am guilty of not spending as much time as I should between the pages of the manuals - however, I do truly try to search out any issue I run across if it's something that is of a technical nature. Even things that aren't going to be in the manuals have probably been discussed here before if you search the threads (and just spend casual time reading through them for entertainment). Thanks to all of you for sharing in your knowledge and experience - at whatever level. Great idea about the post-hurricane debrief - I know of several things that are on my to-do list. I had a great deal of satisfaction in operating my genset during our power outage - got plenty of "honey-points" from my wife, who was able to go to the toilet, take a hot shower, make coffee, surf the internet, and sit in an air-conditioned home while reading about all the woes of her Facebook friends without power. I think she loves Genny as much as I do now. Good nite all - cut up 4 downed trees today, got much more to do tomorrow. Will be dreaming about what upgrades I want to do to my rig, maintenance that needs to be done, and most significantly whether to paint the OD trailer tan to match the genset, or whether to paint the genset OD green to match the trailer..... decisions.

Its amazing how many of those 'honey points' get earned when the lights go out, the the miss's is wanting a cup of coffee, and here comes a clunky ol piece of green iron to make her day that turns into a week.

 

[TrailLifeBill]

Its amazing how many of those 'honey points' get earned when the lights go out, the the miss's is wanting a cup of coffee, and here comes a clunky ol piece of green iron to make her day that turns into a week.

EXACTLY!! She has been telling all her friends asking how we were faring during the storm about it, and just mentioned how much she loves it. Now to parlay that sentiment into my first MV....

 

[Guyfang]

Yeah, probably don't want him diagnosing any genset problems right now while he is grooving to the music or enjoying anything else

A good time was had by all last night. I did figure out how to use my smart phone to keep a eye on you young pups, but indeed, it would have been not a good idea to attempt to troubleshoot anything more complicated then my shoe strings.

 

[Dock Rocker]

Guyfang as a partial newbie to the MEP gang I would like to take the time to thank you for all the help you provide. As a guy who isn't very well versed at how to read the manuals it's been an uphill battle at times to figure out. You have done a great job filling in the blanks when I was looking at the wrong manual or even the wrong place in the right manual.

This forum has been an invaluable resource getting things up and going. I am not quite there yet but thanks to Guyfang and all the reference material buried in this forum I am close and should be good to go for the next round of storms. Thankful we have a gas genset that will allow us to limp along until the 003 is ready to take over for good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[csmitty]

It should take the dryer fine with lights, tv, etc. on at the same time. On my 802a, the dryer takes it to 100% load so you should be able to run the dryer without a problem. You may have to look at adjusting the governor a little so it will hold the load. Now for the overload trip on the water heater. It should have not tripped the overload, you will more than likely need to take the top panel off and clean the reconnection switch. There are several threads on this topic because this is one of the biggest issues with the 802a and 803a models when referencing loads.

My dryer tag says 26A at 240, so should be well within the range. I'll have to take a look at the reconnection switch, I hadn't read about that issue before. I have a few items that need addressing as well and will add that, after I research it some.

If I can run the water heater, dryer, oven, and AC (fingers crossed) then the 802 will be perfect. Of course not all at once, and I agree burning half the diesel is nice.

 

[Bill W]

Had my 003A running for almost 30hrs here just So. of Atlanta. I adjusted the governor (droop) since the last time I used it and this time she held steady under any load I put on it.

 

[strycnine]

We used one of our MEP-016D's for 12 hours during Irma. It ran like a champ the whole time.

During Matthew we ran it 3 days.

 

[ODFever]

Take a look at CUCV's. Tell her that they are:
easy to get help repairing it or diagnosing issues with it (thank you, Steel Soldiers )
easy to drive
relatively easy to maintain
easy to park in crowded parking lots
relatively easy to find parts for
relatively inexpensive
easy to buy tires for
a great vehicle to use for relocating the generator

I've owned my M1009 for 11 years. It's a GREAT truck. I use it as a spare vehicle when one of my daily drivers is down for maintenance.

EXACTLY!! She has been telling all her friends asking how we were faring during the storm about it, and just mentioned how much she loves it. Now to parlay that sentiment into my first MV....

 

[m32825]

Okay, our power is back and I have 110 more hours on the 803. Glad I was able to swap out that fuel pump the day before the storm... guess it's safe to say it works! Now I need to give it a good load test run to atone for all the light loading.

-- Carl

 

[csheath]

My wife has been bragging how we never missed a hot shower, tv show, or internet while the power lines were dead. She goes a step too far when she tells people I would be a good generator consultant.

We weren't out that long but managed to keep it loaded and baked 5 dozen cookies after we ran out of dirty laundry.

 

[robson1015]

Send me a couple dozen chocolate chip...

 

[CT-Mike]

So lesson learned for some of the newer MEP-80X owners.

I went out to exercise my generator a short while back one night, as Hurricane Irma's track was uncertain at the time. She started up and ran for a minute or two then died. Checked the fuel tank and found it empty. Thought that was strange as I thought it should have at least 5 gallons in it.

Grabbed my can out out of the garage, filled it, and started her back up. Again ran for a few minutes and then died again. Checked the fuel tank and found it empty.

Checked the side of the skid and found the well nut sitting on the concrete pad. Turns out the one I bought from Fleabay wasn't nitrile rubber and was thoroughly deteriorated, not to mention the 10 gallons or so of fuel that had spilled out onto the ground.

I ordered 3 from GMG and properly installed one of them today, and did a maintenance run since Hurricane Jose might be headed this way.

If I had done a little more reading on this site I would've purchased the proper well nut in the first place.

To one one of Guy's points on preparation, I made the wife a procedure for starting the generator, swapping the transfer panel over, and reversing everything when the power comes back. It is laminated and includes a grease pencil on a lanyard so that she can check off steps as she goes. I included photos of every switch, knob, meter, breaker, etc to make it virtually foolproof for her. I work rotating shifts and it gives us both peace of mind knowing that she can properly operate the genset when needed.

 

[boatman69]

Don't waste your time. https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?171091-Ultimate-well-nut-repair&highlight=

 

[CT-Mike]

Don't waste your time. https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?171091-Ultimate-well-nut-repair&highlight=

I'm thinking I will order one of these and do the replacement once Hurricane Jose has passed on.

 

[boatman69]

Order 2 and do the return lines. I can't believe that well nut past anyone's muster in engineering.

 

[Guyfang]

The problem with the well nut is:
1. You need the right one, the right material.
2. Don't over tighten it. It has a proper torque and if you exceed it, it's going to leak. That's not the well nuts fault.
3. If the set has not been reset, and is straight from down range, it more then probably has/had JP-8 in it. JP-8 is aggressive. It can eat things up. The well nuts often became soft and leaked. I also think that some of the well nuts supplied to the gov may have been made of material that didn't do well with JP-8.

 

[boatman69]

I don't like the mechanical connection of it. Has a hose hanging off it on a machine that vibrates a fare deal. All hinged on a piece of perfectly compressed rubber. Heaven forbid any biofuel ever hits it. For 3 extra bucks, it is forgotten forever.