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Acquired Another MEP-802A - A Couple of Questions

Blockwarden

Member
21
36
13
Location
WA, USA
Last weekend I picked up another MEP-802A with only 45 hours on it. Paid a little more than I would have liked, but prices are going up on everything, and the unit was only about a 1.5 hour drive to reach.

The owner that I purchased it from had it for over 10 years, and it spent almost of its life sitting dormant in his shop since the original reason for getting it went up in flames (literally).

When inspecting it I found the interior to be much cleaner (aka clean paint on the motor and almost zero corrosion on the gen head as well as the entire interior was very clean all around except for a small mouse house I found in the middle of the auxiliary fuel hose in the front compartment that still had the original zip ties on it).

The unit does not have the fuse mod, which makes me guess that it spent most of its life in storage and may not have ever made it to the field (low hours). Running, voltage and everything check out via Fluke meter and ear. But, my concern is that the light grey (wispy) smoke in the exhaust when running under no load. I am thinking that this could be a couple of things, but I may be wrong. One, the rings were never properly seated by being run under a full load for break-in. Two, low quality fuel (red diesel) and/or moisture that had been absorbed by the small amount of fuel in the unit over its time sitting basically in mothballs. I checked the oil and it is fairly translucent (for a diesel engine).

I am waiting on a NEMA 30A weather proof enclosure for electrical. But, if I am thinking in the right direction, this may clear up if I put it under a good load for 8 hours or so running my entire house??

I am probably going to get crucified here, but I added a generous amount of Seafoam to the existing fuel, but I am planning on filling it with fresh road diesel prior to running it under load.

Thoughts?

As always, just my $.02 (I'm broke now).
 

Jeepadict

Well-known member
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706
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Location
Round Mountain, NV
low quality fuel (red diesel)
Often misquoted in regards to fuel quality.

Red dyed Diesel (properly named #1 Diesel or DF1) has only 1 physical difference from non-dyed Diesel (#2 or DF2 or Jet-A) and that is the dye itself. The dye is added solely to identify that road taxes are not included in the price per gallon and for use only in off-road applications. Law Enforcement uses the dye indicator to ensure that commercial operators are not trying to cheat the system by running cheaper fuel. The taxes added to non-dyed Diesel at the point of purchase are typically used for highway maintenance and repairs. The Cetane in both #1 and #2 grades are identical. A higher grade fuel (Cetane rating) can be found at the pumps labeled Kerosene, as it is a more highly refined fuel. (JP-4/Jet-B was a Kerosene/Gasoline blend discontinued in '95-ish)

Another known derivative of #2 Diesel was JP-8, which was simply #2 with anti-ice/anti-sludge (anti-gel) additives added for desired performance at sub-zero temps at altitude. The additives that were in JP-8 are essentially the equivalent to the commercial aviation additive Prist that can be added to Jet-A as desired. DOD has phased out JP-8 in favor of Jet-A w/Prist as a cost savings initiative.
 
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Jeepadict

Well-known member
477
706
93
Location
Round Mountain, NV
The unit does not have the fuse mod
@kloppk has a sweet little kit (for a very reasonable price) that will remededy that for you. He also includes a MOV that is an additional safeguard for the machine.

It has been strongly recommended numerous times in various threads to not operate the machine without these safeguards installed.
 
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Jeepadict

Well-known member
477
706
93
Location
Round Mountain, NV
the rings were never properly seated by being run under a full load for break-in.
According to the tags included with my personal machine, the break-in oil isn't due until the 100 hour mark. Some may disagree, but that would leave me to believe your machine technically isn't broke-in yet.

I understand there's break-in criteria/guidance, tho I'm not familiar with where in the TMs to find them.
 

Ray70

Well-known member
2,592
5,907
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Location
West greenwich/RI
Often misquoted in regards to fuel quality.

Red dyed Diesel (properly named #1 Diesel or DF1) has only 1 physical difference from non-dyed Diesel (#2 or DF2 or Jet-A) and that is the dye itself. The dye is added solely to identify that road taxes are not included in the price per gallon and for use only in off-road applications. Law Enforcement uses the dye indicator to ensure that commercial operators are not trying to cheat the system by running cheaper fuel. The taxes added to non-dyed Diesel at the point of purchase are typically used for highway maintenance and repairs. The Cetane in both #1 and #2 grades are identical. A higher grade fuel (Cetane rating) can be found at the pumps labeled Kerosene, as it is a more highly refined fuel. (JP-4/Jet-B was a Kerosene/Gasoline blend discontinued in '95-ish)

Another known derivative of #2 Diesel was JP-8, which was simply #2 with anti-ice/anti-sludge (anti-gel) additives added for desired performance at sub-zero temps at altitude. The additives that were in JP-8 are essentially the equivalent to the commercial aviation additive Prist that can be added to Jet-A as desired. DOD has phased out JP-8 in favor of Jet-A w/Prist as a cost savings initiative.
I have to wonder if this is true across the board, or do things differ across the US? Here in New England there is a difference between #1 and #2 Diesel, The viscosity. #1 is blended with Kerosene to lower it's viscosity for winter use, which also gives it a higher Cetane rating.
For the tax Vs. no tax, anything Red is non-taxed ( HHO, off-road diesel and at one point in the past, Kerosene )
One difference here in RI is that there are no pumps where you can purchase off-road diesel with dye in it. You can only buy it in 55gl drums or have it delivered directly to your site and pumped into a storage tank or construction equipment. I have seen off-road diesel available at the pump down south more in VA, TN and KY I believe.
 

Jeepadict

Well-known member
477
706
93
Location
Round Mountain, NV
I have to wonder if this is true across the board, or do things differ across the US? Here in New England there is a difference between #1 and #2 Diesel, The viscosity. #1 is blended with Kerosene to lower it's viscosity for winter use, which also gives it a higher Cetane rating.
For the tax Vs. no tax, anything Red is non-taxed ( HHO, off-road diesel and at one point in the past, Kerosene )
One difference here in RI is that there are no pumps where you can purchase off-road diesel with dye in it. You can only buy it in 55gl drums or have it delivered directly to your site and pumped into a storage tank or construction equipment. I have seen off-road diesel available at the pump down south more in VA, TN and KY I believe.
I stand corrected! Please stand by while I go throw really big rocks at my POL buddies who gave me bad info. My bad, sorry Coach...hopefully the rest of the junk I typed isn't bad also.
 

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2Pbfeet

Well-known member
432
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93
Location
Mt. Hamilton, CA
It could also just be old fuel. Two thumbs up on keeping some SeaFoam in as the unit has been sitting around for awhile, and who knows what is stuck where. If it were me, I would have siphoned out the old fuel, changed the fuel filters, and tried it with fresh fuel as you load it up to break it in more. I would also suggest adding a lubricity additive to fuel.

But definitely do the fuse / MOV mod first.

All the best,

2Pbfeet
 

fb40dash5

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
MD
For whatever it's worth, I picked up my 1st about a month ago, it's an '11 production unit with 270 hours on it... don't think it was actually issued, and I'm thinking it's probably got PMCS time on it & about nothing else.

I haven't even run out what was in the tank when I got it from GP (which was dyed diesel, I think... it's red anyway, not neon-ish yellow) but did dump in some additives. It had some smoke when I first fired it up, but it cleaned up with no load within 10 minutes or so, and under load within another 10-15 minutes.

It also had amazingly clear oil in it... as well as reading 50+ psi. I dumped some Marvel in the oil since it was about a pint low anyway, put an hour or two on it with that, and then changed the oil & filter the other day. Didn't drop the oil pressure any, but I guess I have a decent inkling that if that's caused by something sticking mechanically, that I'm not fixing it with solvent in the oil.
 

FarmingSmallKubota

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Wapakoneta, Ohio
It could also just be old fuel. Two thumbs up on keeping some SeaFoam in as the unit has been sitting around for awhile, and who knows what is stuck where. If it were me, I would have siphoned out the old fuel, changed the fuel filters, and tried it with fresh fuel as you load it up to break it in more. I would also suggest adding a lubricity additive to fuel.

But definitely do the fuse / MOV mod first.

All the best,

2Pbfeet
no need to siphon, unit comes equipped with a fuel drain
 

Blockwarden

Member
21
36
13
Location
WA, USA
@kloppk has a sweet little kit (for a very reasonable price) that will remededy that for you. He also includes a MOV that is an additional safeguard for the machine.

It has been strongly recommended numerous times in various threads to not operate the machine without these safeguards installed.
I am most definitely going to obtain and install the mod prior to running it under load.
 

Blockwarden

Member
21
36
13
Location
WA, USA
Fuse/MOV Mod installed. Time to move it closer to the house, fill the tank, and run it under a good load.

Gennie_1.jpg

I also replaced the big red button while I was at it. On the two that we already use for backup power it has been the first thing that goes south when the temps drop (you have to pull so hard that the button comes off without closing the circuit).

Gennie_2.jpg

Thanks for all the feedback and shared knowledge!!
 
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Blockwarden

Member
21
36
13
Location
WA, USA
Update.. Finished the wiring for the electrical connection. Moved the unit closer to the house, dumped in the rest of the Seafoam in and filled the tank with fresh road diesel.

The house is currently running off the gennie with no issues. Pic of the monitoring panel in the house for load readings. Yes, I am stressing it on purpose ;-) If my math is right, this is a 7.8KW load.

Load_Test.jpg
 
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