tell me about the MEP-501A

[wsucougarx]

I was surprised how cheap they went for. While I was there I noticed the gov't fuel draining method. They cut all the fuel lines on these gennies!! Oh well, probably a good idea to replace the lines anyways. Was looking forward to firing them off when I got home. Looks like I'll have to do a little bit of work before I get to play with these things.

 

[Artisan]

What were they, a couple of Hundred each?

Shipping killed it for me.

Cut lines? No a big deal, look real hard for other abuse and fire them off!

Jealous!

 

[wsucougarx]

Whew! Finally got one generator to fire off today. Took some time to bleed the fuel lines. Boy when she finally fired off, I thought there was an issue. There was nothing but a blinding white fog of diesel smoke that filled my area. It took her about 1 minute to go to a smooth idle. Once she was purged of air she just purred. What a great little generator. I'm awaiting a fuel filter before I can tackle my second generator. Hopefully she'll be as smooth as the first

 

[Gunwriter]

I really like those lil L40 Yanmar engines.
I have a few on small air compressors and they
are great. Very easy to pull start and the electric
start is a nice touch........

I need to add one of these gen sets to the pile......

 

[BrutusM37]

Sorry to revive an old thread...

I have a MEP-501a with only 2.4hrs and it runs like a champ. I was going to use it for battery charging but plans changed. Was trying to sell it but no one in my area wants a bizarre 28V DC gen. Does anyone know if I can directly connect a 24VDC to 120VAC inverter to the terminals and get conventional power out of it? I'm wondering if there needs to be a battery bank in the mix?

 

[DieselAddict]

You need to run it through a battery bank to make the inverter happy.

 

[kloppk]

You need to run it through a battery bank to make the inverter happy.

Agreed.
A couple of 12v batteries in series would do the trick.
Generally 24 volt inverters will work with a 28 volt input. They usually are happy with ~20-32 volts depending on the make/model.
Be sure to check the inverters spec sheet to be sure!

 

[BrutusM37]

I figured the batteries would be necessary. I already have a MEP-531a so I'm not going to bother investing in the parts to make this 501a a not so portable 120VAC unit. I really appreciate the replies, saved me a lot of time and money.

 

[rustystud]

Whew! Finally got one generator to fire off today. Took some time to bleed the fuel lines. Boy when she finally fired off, I thought there was an issue. There was nothing but a blinding white fog of diesel smoke that filled my area. It took her about 1 minute to go to a smooth idle. Once she was purged of air she just purred. What a great little generator. I'm awaiting a fuel filter before I can tackle my second generator. Hopefully she'll be as smooth as the first

Did you ever try and start your truck with this generator ? I also bought 2 of them at the same auction. They run great, but would love to have a MEP-531 instead. I want it for my Alaska Adventure. If I could figure out a cheap way of converting one to 120volts I would do it in a heart beat ! I haven't seen any more for sell lately. The only ones I've seen are from Green Mountain Generators and they want $1600.00 for it !

 

[Johny5]

Bump, Did anyone test starting a truck with one of these yet? I just bought one, then saw it's only 28v.