Mep002a keeping us sane thanks to this forum

[Hectorsosa]

Just wanted to throw out a quick THANK YOU to all the contributors here. Picked up my MEP 002a a couple years ago with 221 hours on the clock. Did a couple fixes, added some windings in the box so the 10k load meter (003a box) read correct for a 002a, and put probably 20 hours on it in testing and minor outages.

Well, about 6pm yesterday we got 80+mph winds. Unconfirmed reports say we had two EF0 tornados touch down within about 5 miles of our location. I went out after the rain moved thru to start up the generator and..... when I let the switch spring back to run it died. I test ran not a week ago. Hrm.... back to this forum - within about ten minutes i had instructions on how to bypass low oil and overheat switches. Didn't need 'em. Upon inspection (now that i know what I'm looking at) i discovered one of the leads on the low oil switch was loose. Tightened it up and off we went!

Just rolled 266 hours. Not sure that would have happened without this forum. Thanks everybody!

 

[Chainbreaker]

Glad you came through the weather unscathed and were able to go out and test your genset afterwards. Good you found a problem when you did and were able to troubleshoot & fix the problem yourself with just a lil "reference help" from SS!

 

[Tinstar]

Generators are machines and things happen.
The key here is you troubleshooted, identified the problem and corrected the issue.
SS is an excellent resource and you utilized said resource.
As a result, you had power when it was needed most.

You would be amazed on how many people simply cannot do that.

Well Done!

 

[ageregunner]

Those MEP-002A generators are awesome machines and are adequately sized for most homes. I love the simplicity and straight forward design that allows easy troubleshooting. And yes, Steel Soldiers is an awesome and valuable resource for all of us.

 

[Hectorsosa]

Took a pic last night while the genset was running. I haven't run it in the dark since the panel upgrades so I figured I'd post a quick pic. 24v LED lights that screw in to original sockets and a digital frequency display that also happens to have voltage display as well. If I could figure out how to convert the percentage load display to digital I wouldn't really even need the panel lights.

 

[Chainbreaker]

... 24v LED lights that screw in to original sockets and a digital frequency display that also happens to have voltage display as well. If I could figure out how to convert the percentage load display to digital I wouldn't really even need the panel lights.

Where did you get the LED screw in lights? I might have to give those a try as they look quite bright & I'm not in a war zone...lol...and don't need to run stealth mode.

On one of my generators I retrofitted all digital gauges (Frequency), L1 (Volts / Amps) L3 (Volts / Amps). The nice thing about showing the Amps consumed on each leg is you know how well the load is balanced between legs & can potentially make some load adjustments to better balance the distribution.

 

[Guyfang]

Together, we are strong.

Glad its going well now. Take care and hope your outage ends soon.

 

[Hectorsosa]

Chainbreaker - LED lights came from the same place I get everything if I can't source it locally - ebay. Here's a link to the listing.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/E12-Candel...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I got the smallest ones (1.8watt) in white. I wanted something that would fit under the original bulb shields, and these do with just a bit of room to spare. Warm white will be the more traditional color we expect from an incandescant bulb. The whites are pretty bright. I usually don't turn the lights on in the barn unless I'm refueling, and even then I'm doing it via the auxiliary so I don't bother unless I've gotta switch cans.

My turn for a question - where did you get the digital volts/amps gauges, and how/where did you wire them in? I'm interested in doing the same.

 

[Chainbreaker]

...My turn for a question - where did you get the digital volts/amps gauges, and how/where did you wire them in? I'm interested in doing the same.

I bought them from a SS member "JimC" who was making a 3 set gauge kit < See Post #60 in the referenced thread for how they look installed and running) with custom 3D Printed meter bezels. At the time he marketed them under "Xtreme Kreations Gauge Company". He initially designed them for his generator and had a limited run he made up to sell at the time. However, I think I may have bought his last set off eBay as I didn't see any more after that. You can contact him and ask him if he has any extras stashed away, or whether he might be willing to fabricate another run of gauges. If not, he might be able to steer you to the mfg of the gauges he used and whether he might be willing to 3D print just the meter bezels. I would probably buy another set if he had any.

I have the installation instructions on my PC and will be happy to share how they were hooked up. Should be fairly easy to replicate with other similar gauges if he doesn't have any.