Valence's M116A3 Mounted MEP-803A (10kw generator)

[Valence]

Yesterday (Feb 04th, 2022) I purchased an MEP-803A 10kw mounted on an M116A3 trailer with the "Power Unit PU-798" body. I believe both were manufactured in 2003 and were rebuilt/reset in September 2010 and delivered in October 2010. The generator had 77.4 hours of runtime. It even still had the front landing jack crank handle in the rear toolbox, and the brakes seem to work just fine (no worn out/failed shock on the surge brakes as is typical).

I bought it from an equipment reseller (consignment sale), and said the reason for the sale was that the owner was going through a divorce.

The only downsides or "issues" I can see are:

• If I had to guess, the 8 jerry can mounts (2 on each corner of the body) were removed at rebuild/reset and were never re-installed. Maybe it never had any to begin with (I don't know, obviously).
• I need to replace one tire and was blessed to make it home on the cracked one, but I only went 55 mph on the interstate (about 18 mile drive)
• The previous owner had included a pintle receiver hitch but that was missing. The consignment seller believes it must have been taken in the week or so before he moved the trailer into the locked, gated (with barbed wire) yard. Bummer, but I'm muuuch happier to have the front jack crank handle still there.
• And worst of all though, is that it is CARC 686 tan instead of 383 green. Hahah

A brief start up and walk around. It was about 30 degrees F outside, and I had started it a few hours earlier when it was about 20F out so, of course, it started much easier this time.

 

[glcaines]

Looks like a very nice and clean generator and trailer. Congratulations!

 

[Valence]

Looks like a very nice and clean generator and trailer. Congratulations!

Thanks glcaines! I'm very pleased with it for sure! Definitely more than I needed on my house, but man, I couldn't say no and it's so much quieter than my 3kw MEP-701A's!



More pics since I'm limited to 10 pictures per post.

Close ups of the tire I want to replace. Judging by the date code the tire is just over 14 years old. It was actually flat when I got there and I had to air up the tire. I believe it was sitting on the internal runflat and that's what caused the larger cracks in the first picture. I think without the runflat the tire would have been completely unusable. The consignment seller said he had had it since the end of November 2021.


The rear mounted tool box contained 3 grounding rods, but none of the interconnects, hammer, or fuel hoses, but as I said previously, it had the jack crank handle! Also battery terminal covers. NICE!


Inside were, what appears to me, as battery hold down parts and the black plastic is listed in TM-9-6115-642-24p as a "cover, battery terminal".




In the left generator panel, in the "Documents" box I found this "SERVICEABLE TAG-MATERIEL" that reads:

NSN, PART NO AND ITEM DESCRIPTION 10kw MEP 803A 6115-01-275-5061		NEXT INSPECTION DUE/OVERAGE DATE N/A	CONDITION CODE A
SERIAL NUMBER/LOT NUMBER FZ33977	UNIT OF ISSUE EA	INSPECTION ACTIVITY AMLD-QCE
CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER NO 180968021	QUANTITY 1	INSPECTORS NAME OR STAMP AND DATE BKO LEAD 173 28 SEP 2010

 

[Light in the Dark]

If you don't need the ride height of the 37s, you can take older Ford 8 lug Dana 60 rims and tires and they should bolt right up from memory.

 

[Valence]

If you don't need the ride height of the 37s, you can take older Ford 8 lug Dana 60 rims and tires and they should bolt right up from memory.

Thanks! I had heard it was a standard lugnut pattern, but I've never looked up to see with what. I plan to move it some times with my M35A2, so the ride height would probably be a good thing. Also, I know most people hate the run flats, but I like the concept of them and it saved me here.

 

[Ray70]

Sounds like you want to keep the 37's but incase you decide to change the bolt pattern is a standard 8 on 6.5" bolt circle.
All 8 lug Ford trucks and vans prior to the Super Duty ( 97' ) series as well as all Dodge trucks and Chevy up to 1999 will fit.

 

[Valence]

Sounds like you want to keep the 37's but incase you decide to change the bolt pattern is a standard 8 on 6.5" bolt circle.
All 8 lug Ford trucks and vans prior to the Super Duty ( 97' ) series as well as all Dodge trucks and Chevy up to 1999 will fit.

Awesome! Thank you so much. Nice to have documented in my thread too. :]

 

[Valence]

Each corner of the body of this A3 has 4 holes that perfectly match adding a pair of the standard military jerry can mounts like so (and I've seen photos of other M116A3 trailers with 4 pairs of cans like this):



I don't quite have enough mounts in my possession for that, but not like they're that hard to find, and I can make the straps for them all day. Obviously

However, what do you think about using these dual LAV-25 jerry can mounts, one in each corner? The down side is that the cans, when on the trailer, would need to lay on their back. I do see a lot of off-road or "over-lander" roof rack jerry can mounts that put the cans on their back. I don't think any of my scepter fuel cans leak, but this would sure let you know if one didn't seal all the way.




I could drill a few more holes and easily fit another regular jerry can mount too, bringing it up to 3 cans on every corner, or 12 total on the trailer.

 

[Coug]

There should be no issues with laying them down like that.
The Scepter cans are approved for use inside the cabins of airplanes, so just laying them down shouldn't be enough to make them leak if the seals are in decent shape.

 

[Guyfang]

Clean looking gen set and trailer. Haven't seen the thread before, but will keep an eye on it. Real fine!

 

[Valence]

I've built my own custom power connection cable for this generator. I'm sure it would have been cheaper to buy a pre-made cable (such as for an RV), but this way I was able to make it the way I wanted, such as I wanted to leave a short section always wired in place so I didn't have look up the wiring each time, but I could keep the big, expensive roll secured elsewhere (aka, less to be stolen).

I wanted the hookup to be able to handle this generator's 52 A rated output. I looked up wire gauge ratings on my favorite website resource:
https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm
Even PowerStream admits that their ratings are conservative.


From that, I believe that 6 gauge wire was sufficient even if the generator was in 120v at 104A, but my intended use is in the 120/240v operation at a max of ~50A. It's a balancing act of picking the right rating for your use vs availability, cost, and weight to handle/move/store it. You can go super big wire but it makes it overly expensive, harder to work with, and you may have fitment problems due to the wire's physical size. 6 gauge wire turned out to be the proper fitment choice too once I got my connectors and wired them up.

I found 6 gauge 4 conductor wire readily available at Home Depot for a price that beat everywhere else I looked. $4.21/ft at the time of this writing
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwi...e-Portable-Power-SOOW-Cord-55809199/204725137


I bought 50 ft of the above 6/4 wire plus an additional 5ft for the "always" connected" portion.


Then for the wire connectors, after much research (because I initially only knew of the L14-50 connector, aka like an electric range/oven/stove uses) I went with 50A rated Reliance Controls twist lock Connectors and Plug.

LL550C (female, quantity 2) - One for the short "always connected" portion, and one that will plug into the house.
http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?LL550C
https://smile.amazon.com/Reliance-Corporation-LL550C-Generator-Generators/dp/B000HS0HQW


LL550P (male quantity 1) - This will plug into the short "always connected" section.
http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?LL550P
https://smile.amazon.com/Reliance-Corporation-LL550P-Generator-Generators/dp/B000HRWGHQ


**It should be noted that I did intentionally design it so the "live" end of the power cord didn't have bare/exposed hot terminals. So as you carried the cord to plug into the house, even if the circuit breaker on the generator was on, you'd be safe with the female connector end. Just like a regular extension cord.


And then the outdoor panel to mount on the house for my custom cable to plug into:
PB50
http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?PB50
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000HRWGBW/

 

[Valence]

I had hoped I could store the short "always connected" plug inside the acoustic housing but unfortunately these massive twist lock plugs are just a little too big. However, the cord section is long enough I think I can just put the plug under the generator skid and that'll protect it from most weather. Worst case, well, I can always take it off.



I'm really pleased with the quality and flexibility of the wire and the the quality of the plugs. Only some military steel/rubber coated plugs would have been any nicer.


I'll have to get some more wire for the whole trailer grounding lug there.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Undo that silver metal nut on the backside of the opening you are looking to pass through. That piece comes out... you might find it fits right in now (and that fitting was in place for another purpose, which you don't have).

 

[Valence]

Undo that silver metal nut on the backside of the opening you are looking to pass through. That piece comes out... you might find it fits right in now (and that fitting was in place for another purpose, which you don't have).

That's a good point. I don't *have* to have the little vinyl cover with the draw strings there. Thanks!

Edit:
What was the previous purpose other than for the electrical power cord to pass through?

 

[Light in the Dark]

No you are correct, its a wire path. I failed to see the vinyl cover. Some of these sets have threaded fasteners (typically power plant trailer mounted units) that were used for other purposes.

 

[Abrant23]

From that, I believe that 6 gauge wire was sufficient even if the generator was in 120v at 104A, but my intended use is in the 120/240v operation at a max of ~50A.

4 conductor 6awg is sufficient for the 120v load as you will never exceed 52 amps on a single leg. Only way you'd need a larger cable is if you were running it a great distance and needed to account for voltage drop.

 

[nextalcupfan]

From that, I believe that 6 gauge wire was sufficient even if the generator was in 120v at 104A, but my intended use is in the 120/240v operation at a max of ~50A. It's a balancing act of picking the right rating for your use vs availability, cost, and weight to handle/move/store it. You can go super big wire but it makes it overly expensive, harder to work with, and you may have fitment problems due to the wire's physical size. 6 gauge wire turned out to be the proper fitment choice too once I got my connectors and wired them up.

I like using this chart for awg amperage ratings.

Cerrowire Resources - Ampacity Charts

Ampacity is the maximum current that a conductor can carry continuously under the conditions of use without exceeding its temperature rating. Cerrowire's ampacity chart helps calculate the load requirement for a circuit.

www.cerrowire.com

For 104A I wouldn't go under 4awg even for a short run.

However for your use case since you will be in 120/240 I think 6awg is fine for a run 30ft or less.
In fact for my 803a hookup I think I'm using 4awg SOOW for a run of 25ft.

Edit:
Something interesting that most people don't consider (admittedly including myself) is that most of the charts out there are for ONE conductor out in the open. When you have multiple conductors in one jacket you need to de-rate a little.

In our case Condition A applies.
So that chart actually recommends running 4 awg.
I'm trying to find a chart with some distance recommendations too.

 

[nextalcupfan]

Found one, though I would prefer something with some more granularity. This feels more like a rule of thumb kinda thing.


Basically over 50ft go 1 notch bigger AWG.

 

[Abrant23]

For 104A I wouldn't go under 4awg even for a short run.

Respectfully,

You're missing the point that you cannot have over 52 amps on a single leg in the 120v operation. The only way to get the 104 amp output is by utilizing two legs, with 52 on each leg. 6awg wire is fine for the 10kw generators unless you are concerned with voltage drop over long distances.

 

[Ray70]

For my own sanity.... not being very electrically inclined, IF ( as described in post #11 ) Valence had no 240V loads and decided that he wanted full rated output from his 803A and put it into 120V only mode, with all the load on L3, wouldn't he have 104A on L3 and not 52A?
I assume you mean you can not have more than 52A per leg when operating in 240V mode, not 120V mode?