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MEP 803a battery question

willysjeeps

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Catskills, NY
Hey guys - i bought a 803a at auction that had a video of it running. Upon getting it home, I see only one set of battery cables on starter side of the engine. I'm reading that this requires two 12 volt in series, so I'm wondering how they started it. Anyway, I guess I need to run a set of cables under the engine to the opposite side, where I will install a new battery. Just to confirm, I run pos to neg and neg to pos to the first battery (near the starter), then hook the first battery up to the starter normally?

Thanks for any input.
 

kloppk

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They would have started it by applying 24V to the slave port on the 803A.
803A's are made to be jump started via the slave port and can run and make power without batteries once it's started.
 

DieselAddict

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Efland, NC
They could have started it via the DC power port on the side. Its a round port on the side of the generator. Its a 24v setup so the batteries will be in series.

Normally you will have a long cable to the ground that goes to the side opposite from the starter on the engine and to the negative terminal on that battery. The short cable is positive and connects to the battery on the starter side of the engine. There should be an additional cross-over cable that connects the negative terminal of the battery on the starter side of the engine to the positive terminal on the opposite side.

If you don't have the cross-over cable you can make one using some 2 gauge welding cable. If you find yourself in a junk yard look for a BMW or Jag. They have their batteries in the trunk. You can nip out enough battery cable to fix you up for a couple bucks.
 
Last edited:

jamawieb

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Location
Ripley/TN
Hey guys - i bought a 803a at auction that had a video of it running. Upon getting it home, I see only one set of battery cables on starter side of the engine. I'm reading that this requires two 12 volt in series, so I'm wondering how they started it. Anyway, I guess I need to run a set of cables under the engine to the opposite side, where I will install a new battery. Just to confirm, I run pos to neg and neg to pos to the first battery (near the starter), then hook the first battery up to the starter normally?

Thanks for any input.
Start with the Positive on the starter solenoid, then take the neg of that battery to the positive of the other battery. Finally the negative will go to the ground on the bell housing.
 

Guyfang

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If you look in the TM 9-6115-672-24, in the back of the manual, there is a passage informing you about how long the crossover cable should be. And how to make it.
 

Bmxenbrett

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Location
NY
Its always best to start with the positive like someone said. This way when your attaching the last cable you have little chance of arcing the positive to the chassis ground.
 

Light in the Dark

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I've got an 802 that I am parting out. Feel free to private message me about this particular cable.
 

Guyfang

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ALWAYS start from positive and work towards negative when hooking up DC batteries or systems. ALWAYS start at negative and work towards positive when removing DC batteries or systems. If you always do it right, you won't get bit.
 
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