MEP-802A Coolant Bottle and Intermittent Surging Issues

So with the last surging at around 1230 this afternoon, until now, it's been running trouble free for five hours.

Power just came back on so the generator has been running 11 hours today. I'll do the oil change this weekend.

I'm still leaning towards water in the fuel, even if the water separator wasn't showing any. The big tank is vented by a hose that hangs down from the top, with a fuel filter on the end of it to keep crawlers out, but maybe it lets in too much moisture. I'll probably cap it when the generator isn't running.

Thanks all for the supportive ears! It's extremely valuable to be able to stop by here and get advice from the experts as I'm very new to diesel generators.

I'm going to politely disagree with the water in fuel diagnosis, tho anything is possible. I say this because you had no observable water when you sampled the separator and the behavior improved as time went on without mechanical intervention.

It's very common for these machines to find themselves bound up in the internal mechanisms from lack of use. @Ray70 said it best, have to excise the demons...and usually that comes from "exercising" the set, running them progressively harder until it can sustain a 125% load. Diesels don't like to idle, and as much as these sets dont like to sit they definitely don't like to be run with a light load...search the forum for load testing or load bank and wetstacking. You're likely to find with some patience and TLC the machine will work itself back into a frenzy in short order.

You may find an old electric range to be a very convenient means to put a good load on your machine...AKA, redneck load bank.

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Also, don't overlook Comfort Zone type Garage Heaters as a portable load bank. Sometimes they go on sale around this time of year, Black Friday etc. and are relatively cheap. For an 802a you would only need a 5,000 Watt unit.

When not using for load testing, they can be used for other purposes... Garage Heater, Green House, back up indoor Room Heater, etc.

Chainbreaker said:

Also, don't overlook Comfort Zone type Garage Heaters as a portable load bank. Sometimes they go on sale around this time of year, Black Friday etc. and are relatively cheap. For an 802a you would only need a 5,000 Watt unit.

When not using for load testing, they can be used for other purposes... Garage Heater, Green House, back up indoor Room Heater, etc.

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Great point. I picked up a 10kW Comfort Zone scratch and dent for $60, including shipping. It took me maybe ten minutes to pop the dents out and bend a louver back into shape. I then probably spent another $40 adding some switches and a relay, to rewire it to make a series of loads 1650W, 3300W, 4950W, 6600, and 10kW. I use the three smaller loads for loading up a 5kW genset.

If the unit I bought is anything to go by, I think it might be worth a peek inside to make sure that there aren't wires resting on sharp sheet metal edges. I used some high temperature fiberglass spark plug sleeves from an auto parts store.

All the best,

2Pbfeet