My two MEP-002A's

[DesertRunner]

I introduced myself in the New members section, but I thought I would let you know where things stand with my units. The two Mep-002A’s I purchased on July 23 and picked up Oct 22, were listed as G-7 (Missing parts). It seems the missing things were small parts, springs in the oil canister, alignment clips in the fuel filters. It has taken most of this month getting all these things worked out. The unit with 2208 Hrs was the one I got completed first. After bringing the fuel pressure up I noticed it was leaking. So I aborted and made a mess checking it out, turns out I didn’t get the new gasket in correctly, second time around it fired right up. I made all the adjustments for voltage and frequency, attached a couple of garage lights and let the system run for about 20 minutes. One down one to go.

The second unit has required the most work. Without the oil filter spring I had to put on a spin on oil filter adapter. I used the K-85 kit from Fram, it required modification before it fit. I had to remove the outside flange and put a light bead of silicone in the grove where the gasket goes, let it setup then install the gasket and tighten the center pipe fitting. I made a couple of centering clips for the fuel filters. There were several loose connections and a nut missing from the L3 terminal on the output board. I cleaned out both fuel tanks, there was a lot of loose debris. I finally tried firing it up. Fuel pressure came up fine, held the glow plugs on for about 30 sec and tried starting. No good, it turns out one of the glow plugs had a broken element. Nobody local had a glow plug so I ordered one from Amazon. It should be here next week and I can try again.

I haven’t had to ask any questions because the search engine here, has provided a wealth of information. Every problem I have run across, I have managed to get answers from past posts. Thanks to all of those who have provided answers, your expertise has been invaluable.
Thanks All
Jay

A complete photo section is here
Generators pictures by DesertRunner9875 - Photobucket

 

[mistaken1]

Nice setup. Those trailers are sweet.

 

[Scarecrow1]

Great job ..Hey it looks like your ready for the power to go out for sure . You can start your own Electric co-op

 

[glcaines]

Very nice work! Now you have back-up for your back-up. There are plenty of posts on SS to help you wire up to your house if that is your goal.

 

[DesertRunner]

Thanks all

Very nice work!
posts on SS to help you wire up to your house if that is your goal.

My brother is an electrician, he came and looked at my setup. His first question was why wasn't I dead. My house is a very old Victorian and some of the wiring is knob and tube, but most is BX. Anyway he is getting the supplies I need, and though he has grumbled a lot he thinks he can at least help protect the poor sap that will be trying to work down the line restoring power from my death trap of a house.

I am also having him put in two transfer switches, the generator will set in the barn/garage, so I want to be able to run the garage independently from the house, when I am welding or painting and running the compressors. then if power goes out I can back feed the whole system. But that won't happen til next year, ....... transfer boxes are expensive..... for a plain 3 pole manual transfer switch they want $500 and I need two.

Thanks again for all the priceless information

Jay

 

[O.D. Fever]

There should be one transfer switcg on the trailer. Use gen 1 for line power and gen 2 for generator. It would be a good idea to relael the switch.

 

[skidunits4you]

Those are single gen trailers I don't think they have a transfer switch built in.

 

[O.D. Fever]

My bad. Thought it was a double.

 

[DesertRunner]

I finally got to fire up the second unit, the new glow plug arrived, so I installed it and put the batteries in place. It’s 30 deg outside so it took a little longer than I expected. But it finally fired and came up to speed. After letting it warm up for about 10 minutes I got out my 2 brand new Tractor Supply electric heaters. They were going to be my load bank. I plugged the first one and it wouldn’t turn on. I checked the outlet with my quartz work light. And it worked fine, so I took the other heater into the garage and plugged it into house power, it didn’t work either. So much for my new load bank. I ran the generator for about 30 minutes and shut everything down.

Now I have to find the receipt............ I’m lousy with receipts.

So I finally have two MEP-002A’s up and running. I still have to load test them, but at least there running.

Jay

 

[DesertRunner]

Now that I have the generators running, I thought I would like to fix up the little things. The trailer covers are in need of replacement, but I have been unable to find replacements. I can find places that will custom make covers but the quote I received for a replacement cover was $4000

So,I will try to repair them the best I can. The web straps have rotted and many are broken. So to replace them I bought some cotton webbing, some 1/2 copper couplings and made my own replacement straps. As soon as the weather breaks I will remove the old straps and sew on my new ones. And repair some seams.

Jay

 

[steelandcanvas]

Jay, Welcome, and thanks for using the search feature. I have found something alot cheaper than transfer switches, and may keep your Brother from grumbling so much. Hope this helps! Here's the link:
Generator InterLock Kit
I'd shop around a little on those trailer covers, 4 Grand is way out of line.

 

[DesertRunner]

I got to load test the 1600hr generator today, Santa brought 4 1500 Watt ceramic heaters. So I made a power cable with 4 twin outlets hooked it up to the generator. The unit fired right up with no problems, after letting it warm up for 15 minutes I started turning on the heaters, to the low setting at first then to high. With all four 1500 watt heater on high the "Percent rated current" meter only registered 25%

I ran the cable into the garage, as I don't have everything wired yet. After an hour, the garage was a little warmer If i'd wanted to work inside it would have been doable. I turned off the main breaker waited a few then turned it back on the meter surged to 50% then settled back to 25%.

Looks like I need to but a few more heaters.

Jay

 

[steelandcanvas]

Your welcome.

 

[Floridianson]

Nice set up. I thought we were not to let the gens idle to long but go to 60cycles as soon as possible to pervent voltage reg from hunting?

 

[Speddmon]

Nice set up. I thought we were not to let the gens idle to long but go to 60cycles as soon as possible to pervent voltage reg from hunting?

I'm hoping he was talking about letting it run at rated speed but UNLOADED for 15 minutes, and not an idle speed to "warm up"

 

[DesertRunner]

UNLOADED for 15 minutes, and not an idle speed to "warm up"

This is correct, I ran the system at rated speed for 15 Min to warm things up, then applied the load.(I read too many threads here about not idling before I got my gens)

I plan on trying to get my hand on an AC current meter to verify the actual current load being applied. Then I will get additional load heaters if necessary.

It just bothers me that 6000 watts are supposedly being applied and the meter only reads 25%

When others are applying a load, do you go by actual current being applied or the meter? .... or do they some what match?

Jay

 

[jbk]

i have used 4 heaters, 1500 watt. each on my 002s also, but my meters have all read 75 to 80% this i know is 6kw res. load. maybe your meter needs to be replaced. i have replaced 3 of these. i think the vibration gets them.

 

[DesertRunner]

maybe your meter needs to be replaced. i have replaced 3 of these.

Thanks, that was my next train of thought, 1st verify the amperage being applied then if the meter is not reading correctly, trouble shoot from there. And if it is simply only a meter that's great.

Now I will do some searching on meter replacement and procurement. (and cost)

Thanks Jay

 

[DesertRunner]

I just noticed the Reference section is back on line, but the TM I need is not there. I am looking for TM 9-6115-584-24P.

Jay

 

[Speddmon]

send me a PM and I'll e-mail it to you. That one is not in the tech manual section for some reason.

Your meter could be reading incorrectly, but keep in mind that these things are not and never were known for their extreme accuracy. The signal going to the meter is a product of the CT/CVT assembly, and it's possible that you could have a section of that assembly that is not within spec. The vibration does bad things to these sets over time, and in my experience the CT/CVT assembly get's the most of it. If you find that your CT/CVT assembly is out of spec, unless you want to keep it OEM, you'll see it is MUCH cheaper to rig up some kind of aftermarket current meter than to replace the CT/CVT. I have a few of them extra and they are a PITA to get into and out of the mounted location.