Advice needed. Which genset for off grid?

[Guyfang]

I was standing in a pitch black field, about 100-200 meters from the tube, when it went off. We had no idea we were close to anything, let alone a 155. Had a real desire to look in my pants, but didn't have enough control over my fingers to get started.

 

[KTMGuy]

I understand completely! I was once on the receiving end - they said they were sorry they fired on our position and that it was an "accident". They also had bad aim. Thats the only reason my squad survived. I will not admit to giving anyone a butt whooping afterward.

Vince

 

[rickf]

I have been on BOTH ends!!! In Vietnam there were a couple of times where they called in "danger close" with 155's. This is something I was not ready for and never, ever want to go through again!!!! Usually it was smaller stuff that they brought in that close. We were already pretty well dug in but we dug deeper very quickly and it was all mud. Each round liquifies the mud instantly and just as quickly it got hard again just about trapping you in your hole. On top of that it knocked you senseless, knocked the air out of you. This was roughly 75-100 yards out. And thankfully they walked them out and not in! Those Arty guys got a lot of free beer on us I can assure you of that! I have no idea how they can place a round like that with so much precision from a mile plus away.

 

[KTMGuy]

Jeez! You win rickf!

Vince

 

[Karl kostman]

I found a very reliable Caterpillar Genset it has a 200 gallon heated fuel tank its capable of a sustained 200 K power output it will supply both a 22000 sq ft office building and my house and the fuel burn is about 4.3 gallons per hour at a 70% load. The CAT dealer comes by twice a year to service it and I have NO worries. It was worth every penny spent on it!

 

[rickf]

I have been on BOTH ends!!! In Vietnam there were a couple of times where they called in "danger close" with 155's. This is something I was not ready for and never, ever want to go through again!!!! Usually it was smaller stuff that they brought in that close. We were already pretty well dug in but we dug deeper very quickly and it was all mud. Each round liquifies the mud instantly and just as quickly it got hard again just about trapping you in your hole. On top of that it knocked you senseless, knocked the air out of you. This was roughly 75-100 yards out. And thankfully they walked them out and not in! Those Arty guys got a lot of free beer on us I can assure you of that! I have no idea how they can place a round like that with so much precision from a mile plus away.

No, I didn't win, I suffer from constant headaches and I lost most of my hearing. The only win was I didn't die.

 

[KTMGuy]

No, I didn't win, I suffer from constant headaches and I lost most of my hearing. The only win was I didn't die.

Sorry, Buddy. Didnt mean to make lite of your injuries. No one comes away whole from war.

Vince

 

[KTMGuy]

Ok - Ive gone though this thread https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/mep803a-and-mep003a-difference.99115/
803a vs 003a
What do those in the know say? Air cooled or water cooled? I am not concerned about the noise level differences.

Not trying to be difficult, but its down to these 2 right now and need a better answer than "because" please. I see the 003a has a cold weather intake diverter and can be had with the cold weather kit. 3 redundant fuel pumps be good too, with 1 mechanical injector pump.

Getting to the end - I promise!

Vince

 

[Light in the Dark]

Both are excellent machines. The newest 003 you can buy is now 27 years old. Parts are available, but less so over the years. 003 is louder, 803 is more refined. Both will do the job.

003s are built like tanks. 803s are excellent machines too. 003s are typically less expensive, because of the noise. Both sets have their quirks and items that regularly fail. Find a good machine either way, learn what it needs, and keep fresh fuel and lube in them and you are good.

803s will start easier in the cold compared to the 003s. The 803s have (4) metering fuel pumps sending fuel up to the injectors, versus the one injection pump on the Onan.

 

[KTMGuy]

Thank you, LITD! MEP-803A it is then. What a great thread its been!

Vince

 

[KTMGuy]

I found a very reliable Caterpillar Genset it has a 200 gallon heated fuel tank its capable of a sustained 200 K power output it will supply both a 22000 sq ft office building and my house and the fuel burn is about 4.3 gallons per hour at a 70% load. The CAT dealer comes by twice a year to service it and I have NO worries. It was worth every penny spent on it!

200KW? What model is that? I bet its way out of my budget - like way out of the country way out. Cummins owns Caterpillar right? I want to see how big it is and what it weighs!

Vince

 

[Guyfang]

Overall Width 50 in. (1.27 m)
Overall Height 75 in. (1.9 m)
Net Weight (empty) 10,500 lb. (4767 kg)
Net Weight (filled 12,600 lb. (5720 kg)
Shipping Weight 11,300 lb. (5130 kg)
Cubage 247.4 cubic feet (7.00 cubic meters)

Hows that?

 

[Karl kostman]

Guyfang that is about the unit! My exhaust comes out the top instead of the front but would say the measurements and weight are dead on, I know they put a hell of a pile of concrete in the hole for the base that its anchored to.
I believe 15 years ago I paid just under 200K$ for the unit including 2 years service, the mounting pad and all the wiring going into the buildings!

 

[Jeepadict]

Guyfang jogged my memory (actually disappointed I didn't mention it before) from the post about the M1101 trailer discussion. KTMguy, this is the best of both worlds for everything that been discussed in this thread...

A PU (power unit) is a single generator running all by its lonesome, a PP (power plant) is 2 of the same generators mounted together with a parallel unit. Based on your plan, on some days you can get by with an 802 but on some days you need an 803. Here's a link for a sold 802 PP unit from GP. No worries about wetstacking...no worries about management...no worries about fuel consumption. You can even tie both units' aux fuel intake to your pickup's transfer tank. I can't think of a better option based on what we've discussed here.

2001 Fermont MEP-802A Trailer Mounted Power Plant

(2) MEP-802A 5kW Generators, 120/240 Volts Single Phase, 120/208 Volts 3 Phase, 120V Receptacles, Onan Diesel Engines, Fuel Tanks, Surge Brakes, Single Axle Trailer Chassis, 37x12.50R16 Tires, Pintle Ring.***Please see DLA supplied Tire Safety Warning document below.***

www.govplanet.com

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[Light in the Dark]

These sets above cannot be paralleled together. The box on the fender synchronizes the two machines, so you can 'hand off' a load to the other machine on the trailer without going down. It is not for parallel operation.

 

[Jeepadict]

These sets above cannot be paralleled together. The box on the fender synchronizes the two machines, so you can 'hand off' a load to the other machine on the trailer without going down. It is not for parallel operation.

Well crap. Now I'm gonna have to go kill the MF who taught me wrong. My bad, sorry coach. Atleast the idea was sound.

In this thread a fella talks about the smaller 3rd generation units came with the smarts to parallel where the 802/803 were lacking.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...&share_fid=20191&share_type=t&link_source=app

[/URL]

Thanks Light for calling that out...would have sucked otherwise.


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[KTMGuy]

Jeep and Light - its interesting anyway and thanks for the great try jeep! Thanks Light for getting us all the straight skinny!

I chasing down several leads from some nice forum members as well as calling in some favors from some buddies up in Alaska. If I can get the right unit and trailer there, it would make traveling up a one truck instead of a 2 truck affair.

Thanks again guys!

Vince

 

[KTMGuy]

Karl and Guyfang - let me look to see if theres any change between the couch cushions. I may also have to quit feeding my two 24lb cats catnip addiction also..

Vince

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

That is fine, but if you have a source for where this comes from I would actually like to see/read it, as it is contrary to everything I have ever heard.
All an engine does it turns heat energy into movement energy. In a diesel engine it turns it into rotating mass. I'm just not understanding how so much additional energy is used to power a nearly identical amount of rotating load simply by doubling the number of cylinders.

After reading through this... I'm going to agree with what you are saying.

A 4 cylinder compared to a 2 cylinder with the same load applied to both will get roughly the same fuel economy.

Lets think it through a bit. The specs claim the 4 cylinder version uses twice the fuel. That is because it is rated at full load. Both units are.

If the 2 cylinder unit is at full load, than the 4 cylinder unit is only at half load to provide the same amount of power output. Keep in mind both have the same injectors.. same pumps.. etc. 2 injectors firing at full flow... is the same as 4 injectors firing at half their rated flow. A 2 cylinder engine at full load... is making the same power as a 4 cylinder engine at half load (all other things being the same). Now you do have added rotational mass losses from the added cylinders... but its negligible. The 4 cylinder engine isn't working as hard as the 2 cylinder to do the same amount of work... it's working half as hard... meaning it only needs half the fuel it would need compared to running at full load.

For instance... an injector flows 100cc at full load (bs numbers). 2 injectors... full load... 200cc of fuel into the cylinders.

Same 100cc injectors... 4 injectors.. half load... half the flow. 50cc x 4... 200 cc of fuel into the cylinders.

Yeah there are more variables... but mechanical diesels tend to not care too much about variables. Load = fuel usage.

From all the reading I've done... my MEP-003 will consume ~ 1/2g per hour at 50% load. These are real world usage numbers. That happens to nearly match the specs for full load fuel consumption of the MEP-002.

But anyways.. good thread! I've always liked the idea of moving to Alaska.. just can't bring myself to do it. I'm an IN native too.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

I love the simplicity of the 003a... but I'd probably look to an 803a or something newer just for ease of finding parts.