New guy with MEP-002A questions

[rickf]

15 KW and larger military generator are three phase. Unless you are set up for that at home, and most are not, then they would not do you much good. I have seen write ups where the 15KW was converted to single phase and still put out 12 KW but it was a lot of work and not for the non electrician to play with.

 

[Another Ahab]

15 KW and larger military generator are three phase. Unless you are set up for that at home, and most are not, then they would not do you much good. I have seen write ups where the 15KW was converted to single phase and still put out 12 KW but it was a lot of work and not for the non electrician to play with.

Power outages around here are so common, that there's market enough for a dedicated store in the area (+/-: it's in Charlottesville), that does nothing BUT generators:

- I think it's about all the trees, and the overhead lines

- One good ice storm, and -BAM- the lines come down and the power is out

The store link is here http://neverdarkgenerators.com/

 

[R Racing]

I have a 15k unit for home on setup for 3 phase but my house is single phase. I didn't do the conversion as I have 3 power panels . So I do L1-L3 on panel 1. L1-L2 on panel 2. AND L2-L3 on panel 3. Been running them this way for years and works great !!

 

[steelypip]

To amplify Another Ahab's point a little, this is the worst area I've ever lived in for power outages. There's no circumstantial reason for it: we are in the same mountain range with most of the same tree species and the same weather expectations that we had 200 miles north in Pennsylvania (where I never had a power outage in a decade). The difference is that the state PUC does not hold Virginia's power utilities to any kind of an uptime delivery standard.

Result: our house (in a subdivision less than a mile from Charlottesville city limits) has averaged five days without power per year since we moved in five years ago.

Oh well, it makes Never Dark Generators (a thriving local concern - I know of at least three neighbors with their equipment), Dominion Power shareholders, and Helen Dragas (Dom.com board member) more money, so how can it be bad?

And that is why I went from zero military surplus generators in 2009 to two today. I have an MEP-002A and an MEP-007A as backup for the backup. It's an all-electric house but for the wood stove, which we use as supplemental heating for the two heat pumps. The MEP-002A will pull both heat pumps, or one heat pump and all the appliances we care to run. It's a real horse of a generator, and I'm always glad I don't have to feed an MEP-003A in its place.

 

[rickf]

Power outages around here are so common, that there's market enough for a dedicated store in the area (+/-: it's in Charlottesville), that does nothing BUT generators:

- I think it's about all the trees, and the overhead lines

- One good ice storm, and -BAM- the lines come down and the power is out

The store link is here http://neverdarkgenerators.com/

I would be interested to see how ell balanced the load is with that setup. I would not think it would be very balanced at all. Most houses only have one panel so that eliminates them from the three phase arena.

 

[Triple Jim]

Sewerzuk pointed out that you can power a house or shop from two phases of 3ϕ power as long as you don't overload those two. You'll have 120V and 208V, and most 240V loads are OK with 208. Check out his videos about MEP-004As.

 

[rustystud]

Power outages around here are so common, that there's market enough for a dedicated store in the area (+/-: it's in Charlottesville), that does nothing BUT generators:

- I think it's about all the trees, and the overhead lines

- One good ice storm, and -BAM- the lines come down and the power is out

The store link is here http://neverdarkgenerators.com/

It's about the trees around here too. We are at the end of the power line here, so we're the last to get power back on. I lived here for over 7 years before power was brought out here. In that time all we had was generator power and batteries. I learned a lot of lessons using many kinds of generators then. One is that Aluminum heads are not good for long lasting engines ! The longest lasting engine I had was a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard 18HP overhead valve engine. It lasted 1.5 years. Of course I ran my generators 16 to 18 hrs a day. Every day ! I learned synthetic oil was the ONLY way to go. I changed out my oil and filters every 2 weeks .
I also kept a supply of industrial capacitors on hand, as they had a way of blowing after about 500 to 1000 hrs. I also used propane as my fuel. The tank was a 500 gallon unit that got filled every month. The valves in the aluminum heads would collapse in after about a year of service. So I finally went to the military surplus route and got a MEP-003A. That has been the ticket for longevity ! I later bought two MEP-002A units. Now we have power but I still have the MEP units hocked up to the house for when the power goes out. I have used the Generac units. They are nice but they still use engines that have aluminum heads. Kohler made a nice engine that had cast heads, but I haven't seen them used lately. So for me I'll stick with the MEP units.

 

[Another Ahab]

It's about the trees around here too. We are at the end of the power line here, so we're the last to get power back on. I lived here for over 7 years before power was brought out here. In that time all we had was generator power and batteries. I learned a lot of lessons using many kinds of generators then. One is that Aluminum heads are not good for long lasting engines ! The longest lasting engine I had was a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard 18HP overhead valve engine. It lasted 1.5 years. Of course I ran my generators 16 to 18 hrs a day. Every day ! I learned synthetic oil was the ONLY way to go. I changed out my oil and filters every 2 weeks .

Love Briggs & Stratton:

- As a kid, had a minibike (old school, anybody remember those) with a Briggs & Stratton.

- Couldn't wear it out.

Tore myself up plenty; but couldn't wear out that bike and its Briggs & Stratton.

 

[R Racing]

Love Briggs & Stratton:

- As a kid, had a minibike (old school, anybody remember those) with a Briggs & Stratton.

- Couldn't wear it out.

Tore myself up plenty; but couldn't wear out that bike and its Briggs & Stratton.


View attachment 535992

Yes neighbor had the same 1. We use to drive all over the coal mines of PA on it !! Boy does that bring back memories! !!

We also have frequent power outages here. Between have a place about 3 football fields off of the bay. Trees 300 years old + all over. Hurricanes. And snow and ice storms we loose power about every 6 to 8 weeks for some reason or another? ? When the big storms hit we can go a week or more without power. We we're lucky this past year and didn't have any major hurricanes.

 

[Another Ahab]

Yes neighbor had the same 1. We use to drive all over the coal mines of PA on it !! Boy does that bring back memories! !!

 

[Another Ahab]

Just Here a Second Ago

The OP:

- Where'd it GO!?

 

[Badfish740]

The OP:
Where'd it GO!?

LOL...no worries-I'm learning a lot. What I'm really learning is that I REALLY want one of these. It sounds like it will be matched perfectly for what I need. The only thing I won't be able to do is run the rest of the house when heating the DHW tank, but it's an 80 gallon and well insulated. Usually one can get a decently warm shower 24-36 hours after the power has gone out, so I should be able to heat it up, then switch it off for a while. As for the poster who mentioned gas, it's not an option for me even if I wanted it, and from what I've read, since diesels operate slower they'll live longer and run quieter than gas, propane, or natural gas engines, correct?

 

[rustystud]

LOL...no worries-I'm learning a lot. What I'm really learning is that I REALLY want one of these. It sounds like it will be matched perfectly for what I need. The only thing I won't be able to do is run the rest of the house when heating the DHW tank, but it's an 80 gallon and well insulated. Usually one can get a decently warm shower 24-36 hours after the power has gone out, so I should be able to heat it up, then switch it off for a while. As for the poster who mentioned gas, it's not an option for me even if I wanted it, and from what I've read, since diesels operate slower they'll live longer and run quieter than gas, propane, or natural gas engines, correct?

They may not run quieter, but they will definitely last longer !

 

[Badfish740]

They may not run quieter, but they will definitely last longer !

Quieter is less of a factor than longevity for me. I plan to house it in a small shed with adequate air circulation-come to think of it, I wonder if it would be a good idea to hardwire in a fan like this one:

 

[Another Ahab]

Quieter is less of a factor than longevity for me. I plan to house it in a small shed with adequate air circulation-come to think of it, I wonder if it would be a good idea to hardwire in a fan like this one:

I believe this was addressed in at lest one other thread I've run cross before. Might be worth a search, if you're looking for ideas.

 

[steelypip]

I've thought some about shed designs for my MEP-002A. The concern is that I want to make it a weatherly home for the generator and reduce noise at ground level some, but have to avoid making a pleasant home for rodents. The plan is to put on a roof and some semi-closed sides with sound absorptive properties, but have a big gap all around and under and put the generator up on footings so that it's not pleasantly close to grass and soft earth.

Probably the easiest way to get ventilation into a closed shed for an air cooled MEP is to let the (oversized) cooling fan help you with that. Flex duct to the cooling fan intake and use a cupola, rafter, or roof turbine hot air exhaust with some additional screened air inlets near the floor. Warm air rises, so the heated (but not really that hot) cooling air from the generator goes out the roof vents and pulls more air through the sill vents along with it. Doubles as a shed heating system in cold weather (when we most often need the generator), and a pair of barn doors to allow the hot air to dissipate more easily when run in summer.

Water cooled MEPs are more of a challenge, as they don't tolerate such a wide range of temperatures, and it's harder to neatly duct outside air into the radiator. Probably the smart thing to do would be to remote mount the radiator outside the shed.

 

[Floridianson]

By no means did I try to put down our Military units as they are great. The Question is how long am I trying to maintain my life with power. My parents lived in town and only had one outage in 2 years and that was only for a day. Mom wanted a back up and since we were on NG and the whole house was gas, water heater, heat and stove I chose NG for short term. I knew this was not going to be a doomsdays power supply. As said the question is realy how much power can I realy live on in what case. Do we talk one day without power,one week or months or are you talking doomsday. Doomsday to me is out of the question because as soon as my fuel runs out there will be a hard time finding any left and if your brave enough to go outside you home / compound good luck. As said Deisel will store for a long time but are thinking you will allway be able to get the fuel when you get low? If you are thinking you will need power for a good while I would think about aleast a thousand gal. tank with off road diesel. I could live in my military trailer and servive on my 3k military. I could live in one of my homes and be comfortable on my 5k. Then I could live in my second home and have all the power I need with my 10k military unit and not do anything different. I did call yeaterday and I can get offroad for $2.22 and fill my 600 gal tank just don't know what I am realy planning for. We have become too attched to power most could not do without. Some once told me if you can't ruck it %uck it leave it behind and stay on the move.

 

[ageregunner]

You will be happy with the MEP-002. I have one wired up to my house through a transfer switch and it powers all the items mentioned with no problem. This generator is very easy to maintain, and in my opinion is a solid, no nonsense generator. Another plus for me is that I have oil heat as one of my heat sources, and with almost six hundred gallons of fuel oil storage I have a ready source of fuel for the generator.

 

[rustystud]

By no means did I try to put down our Military units as they are great. The Question is how long am I trying to maintain my life with power. My parents lived in town and only had one outage in 2 years and that was only for a day. Mom wanted a back up and since we were on NG and the whole house was gas, water heater, heat and stove I chose NG for short term. I knew this was not going to be a doomsdays power supply. As said the question is realy how much power can I realy live on in what case. Do we talk one day without power,one week or months or are you talking doomsday. Doomsday to me is out of the question because as soon as my fuel runs out there will be a hard time finding any left and if your brave enough to go outside you home / compound good luck. As said Deisel will store for a long time but are thinking you will allway be able to get the fuel when you get low? If you are thinking you will need power for a good while I would think about aleast a thousand gal. tank with off road diesel. I could live in my military trailer and servive on my 3k military. I could live in one of my homes and be comfortable on my 5k. Then I could live in my second home and have all the power I need with my 10k military unit and not do anything different. I did call yeaterday and I can get offroad for $2.22 and fill my 600 gal tank just don't know what I am realy planning for. We have become too attched to power most could not do without. Some once told me if you can't ruck it %uck it leave it behind and stay on the move.

Floridianson, out where I live we loose power for days to weeks ! I don't want my food in the refrigerator going bad, and usually this occurs in winter time and I don't plan on freezing to death ! I have a family to protect and that includes keeping them fed and warm. The worst was 2 weeks without power. Usually it only lasts for about 24hrs, but that happens around 5 times a year. So for me the military generator makes a whole lot of sense. If you never loose power then don't get a generator, unless your just collecting them.

 

[Floridianson]

Like I said Rusty the Military Gen's. are some great units that will last. I have a 3k,5k and 10k military plus a nice 5k Honda. As you said you still have family and they are the most important thing to worrie about. I'm single and not much food in the Frig. LOL