Newbie

[WagonMaster]

Hello All,

I am so glad I found this site, I am probably going to need it in the next few weeks. I recently purchased a 1989 MEP-002a manufactured by libby with under 700 hrs. on it. Have not even picked it up yet but from the pics it looks to be in real good shape. As with other Gov. auctions they do not say if it is running or not.

My question is what can I expect? Is there a good chance it is in running condition? What do I need to do other than check fluids before I try to start? Any help and incite would be greatly appreciated.

 

[n1oty]

There are a lot of folks here with a lot more experience than I who can provide guidance. I'll give you the benefit of some of my experiences with my MEP-002A. I think any GL purchase will be a dice roll. That's one reason you do not want to get caught up in a bidding war. You need to preserve funds for the inevitable work you must do.

I managed to acquire my 002 last year. It was depot rebuilt at ASLAC in 2009 and placed into strategic storage until going out to auction. I have the paperwork that proves it. Nevertheless, I still had the expense of batteries and Speddmon's spin-on oil filter. I ran into two problems with my generator. First, I had (still have really) an issue with the 3 position switch that sets the line voltage (120, 120/240, 120/20. It sticks. I tried a lot of tricks, but it never fully resolved. I finally got it into 120/240 and left it there. I just won six distribution boxes out of Oklahoma City the other day, so I'll use one of those to permanently fix that issue. Second, I had an intermittent problem with the generator not flashing the field on startup. That was an easy fix by simply replacing the 1N4722 diode in the flashing circuitry. The original was old, cracked and didn't test OK on my ohmmeter.

Mechanical and electrical skills are an asset with a newly acquired MEP. Some people luck out and have zero issues other than replacing fluids, filters and batteries. Others, well, some have so many problems that they simply part them out to recover their investment.

I suggest you go through the posts here and also go through both TM's thoroughly. Oh, and don't idle your generator if you get it going. You'll find the reason for this during the course of your reading.

John

 

[Isaac-1]

First off hello neighbor (I live in DeRidder, work near Leesville), with all these new people from this part of state getting MEP generators the last few weeks you would think they were giving them out in cracker jack boxes. We have had a guy from DeQuincy and a couple of them from the Lafayette area, plus one of the 3 MEP generators I bought last month is going to a fellow board member from Lake Charles when he gets back from Saudi in a couple of weeks. Now to answer your question, it is a dice roll. Out of the 5 or 6 generators I have bought off GL over the last few years only one started and ran good with all the bells and whistles working with just fuel,filters and fluids, however a few months (maybe a year) later the battery charging regulator went out on it costing $100 for a new 24V regulator, and $100 for a new battery as I did not catch it until after it had cooked the battery. Overall I have been lucky and all the generators I have bought have been repairable, the next best one I had was the little MEP-016d I just bought, after clearing out the sludge from the fuel tank and giving it fresh fuel and filters it fired right up and produced power, however the front panel outlet was wired somewhat wrong, the wiring diagram that should have been riveted to the inside top of the control box was loose and rattling around on to of the wiring and it had a (now dead) 0 hour 10-40VDC hour meter wired into the 110VAC outlet. From there is goes to bad diodes on voltage regulators and dead front panel meters on down to one with a gallon or so of water in the oil pan and a lightly seized engine.

Ike

p.s. was this from the lot at Ft Polk Monday? I thought about bidding on those, but decided while still at reasonable prices they were a bit more than I wanted to spend since I have not worked all the little bugs out of the last pair yet, I did however pick up one of those 65GPM diesel powered pumps, picked it up this morning, turns out to be brand new, never ran, just some shelf wear, still had the paperwork in a heat shrink pouch stapled to it.

 

[gungearz]

Welcome.to steel soldiers, almost all gensets need a little TLC. Its a gamble going thru the GL. Hope its in good shape but you will find out when you pick it up. Good luck...

 

[dikwks]

Congratulations and Welcome to the site. Hoping to join the "Genset Club" soon myself. Gensets sound like an adventure all to thenselves. Beware though, once is never enough. I just dragged home my seventh piece of GL stock today. The upside is "What a Blast!!"

Rick

 

[wreckerman893]

Welcome to the Green Iron Laughing Accademy.

Lots of good folks down there in Cajun county.

Ref the auction.....unless you previewed ya pay your money and ya take your chances.

 

[Isaac-1]

If it was from mondays lot at polk the only obvious issue one I saw was the one with the fuel pumps disconnected.

 

[WagonMaster]

First off hello neighbor (I live in DeRidder, work near Leesville), with all these new people from this part of state getting MEP generators the last few weeks you would think they were giving them out in cracker jack boxes. We have had a guy from DeQuincy and a couple of them from the Lafayette area, plus one of the 3 MEP generators I bought last month is going to a fellow board member from Lake Charles when he gets back from Saudi in a couple of weeks. Now to answer your question, it is a dice roll. Out of the 5 or 6 generators I have bought off GL over the last few years only one started and ran good with all the bells and whistles working with just fuel,filters and fluids, however a few months (maybe a year) later the battery charging regulator went out on it costing $100 for a new 24V regulator, and $100 for a new battery as I did not catch it until after it had cooked the battery. Overall I have been lucky and all the generators I have bought have been repairable, the next best one I had was the little MEP-016d I just bought, after clearing out the sludge from the fuel tank and giving it fresh fuel and filters it fired right up and produced power, however the front panel outlet was wired somewhat wrong, the wiring diagram that should have been riveted to the inside top of the control box was loose and rattling around on to of the wiring and it had a (now dead) 0 hour 10-40VDC hour meter wired into the 110VAC outlet. From there is goes to bad diodes on voltage regulators and dead front panel meters on down to one with a gallon or so of water in the oil pan and a lightly seized engine.

Ike

p.s. was this from the lot at Ft Polk Monday? I thought about bidding on those, but decided while still at reasonable prices they were a bit more than I wanted to spend since I have not worked all the little bugs out of the last pair yet, I did however pick up one of those 65GPM diesel powered pumps, picked it up this morning, turns out to be brand new, never ran, just some shelf wear, still had the paperwork in a heat shrink pouch stapled to it.

Yes it was from the Ft Polk auction Monday. I hope I did not over pay but if so....to late. will hope for the best. I was hoping these units had been "shelved" but I will see.

 

[WagonMaster]

If it was from mondays lot at polk the only obvious issue one I saw was the one with the fuel pumps disconnected.

Do you remember what one it was? I bid from pics. Probably not smart but kind of only option at time and like I said NEWBIE. LOL

 

[Isaac-1]

It was lot 7623, it looks like one of the three fuel pumps may be missing and the others are either loose or the mounting bracket is loose/bent. Even if nothing else is wrong with it these fuel pumps tend to sell in the $50-$ 75 range for working used, and new are well over $100. This one had over 2,000 hours on the meter, and sold for about $700 once you add in fees/tax. Which was in line with the rest of the ones from this lot (those on my watch list sold for $420-$870 not including fees. Most that went for over $600 had low hours showing on the meters, which of course means little if you see my rely about my 0 hour MEP-016d above. It seems like I also spotted one other one with a visible issue, but it looked likely minor, and I don't remember off hand what it was I saw. As to bidding from photos, most of my GL stuff has been based on photos and I doubt I would have avoided any of my paperweights by inspecting in person, and may have missed out on a diamond in the rough or two that sold cheap if I had. Now with the higher resolution photos and sometimes video walk around there is not as much guesswork as there was with the older low resolution photos.

Ike



p.s. I paid $380 + fees for my 2,000 hour MEP-002a last month

 

[derf]

Yeah, its gettin crowded down here. Now I got a bunch a cajuns to bid against.

 

[n1oty]

Yeah, its gettin crowded down here. Now I got a bunch a cajuns to bid against.

There goes the neighborhood!!

John