Article seems to suggest the MEP 802/803 line leaves a lot to be desired.

[Humpy]

http://greenmountaingenerators.com/army-deliver-fuel-efficient-generators-afghanistan/

Was getting ready to bid on a MEP 802 or 803 and spotted this article.

Guess what I need to know is which is the most reliable from you guys that have used them the 002/003 or the 802/803s?

Has anyone done a thread on the differences.

What I can't figure out is they are tested at Aberdeen and having been a Test Director (Small Arms and Ammo) therefore I am familiar with the test business and if something is gonna drop dead they generally find it as our unofficial motto was "you make'em we break'em"

 

[sigo]

I don't know about the tests, but I have used many MEP-803/PU-798 generators for thousands of hours in the field over the last 15 years or so and my opinion is they're hard to beat. They are extremely reliable as long as they are maintained. With proper maintenance I might say they're unstoppable. Even if they're not maintained they'll keep putting out clean power until they run themselves to death, but you'll know it when death is near.

I've heard negative opinions before, but like most military equipment they do exactly what they're designed to do, and they do it very well. When you ask generators to run more or less than they were designed to run, or you don't take care of them, you'll probably be disappointed.

 

[dependable]

Hear are a couple of the previous discussions:

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?131571-Strongly-considering-selling-002a-to-put-towards-802a-at-auction-opinions

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?132418-Mep-002A-and-mep-802A-comparison

For some reason, only one link works, but there are a few threads like this.

 

[Humpy]

Thanks for replys guys and I read the threads and it seems the 002s and 003s are likely to be fuel pump issues.

SIGO sent you a PM

Understand about taking care of them for sure. The one I get will be stored in a shop that never gets below 40F and only time it would see rain would be if it were doing duty outside hooked to house. I have a copy of a test where synthetic oil was run in generator tests in early 80s for 5000 continious hours so I was thinking about Mobil 1 10w40 synthetic oil or the Mobil 1 5W40 Diesel oil. I have been running Mobil 1 about 800,000 in my cars/truck.

I was wondering what kind of oil are you guys running?

It would seem another part could be fabricated that breaks on the fuel pumps on the 002/003s.

For instance I got a Devilblis Powerback 5250 and worked on it for a week before I figured out what the problem might be. I made a replacement part on my lathe, put it in and it has run like a champ ever since. When I got it running well I figured out one of the push button breakers was tripping about 5 amps too light so I found breakers on flea bay and got some. I also found the fuel tank was cracked in two places but fixed both with Marinetex which is great for fuel tanks etc. I had already purchased a spare carb for it but as it turns out won't be needed as it will never see ethenol gas again if I can help it.

 

[Glockfan]

I don't know about the tests, but I have used many MEP-803/PU-798 generators for thousands of hours in the field over the last 15 years or so and my opinion is they're hard to beat. They are extremely reliable as long as they are maintained. With proper maintenance I might say they're unstoppable. Even if they're not maintained they'll keep putting out clean power until they run themselves to death, but you'll know it when death is near.

I've heard negative opinions before, but like most military equipment they do exactly what they're designed to do, and they do it very well. When you ask generators to run more or less than they were designed to run, or you don't take care of them, you'll probably be disappointed.

^^^ This!

I personally witnessed an MEP-803a run for six straight months in Kuwait through the summer (140+ degree heat) powering our hooch and it was shut down once a month to change the oil and filter. I run Rotella in my MEP-803a and put a little better oil filter on it...

 

[Ratch]

I'm a big fan of Mobil 1.
Might sound weird, but I flush my generators with dino-oil, then switch to Mobil 1 or Rotella synthetic when they're ready for running. It's going to turn black and acidic quick anyway, so using synthetic at least helps it a little with the time spent sitting.

 

[Ratch]

Did I read the right article? The one I saw was about the new generation of fuel efficient meps, didn't even mention the 80x series.
I just bought an 803. I'm very interested in seeing how it runs my house compared to my 002.
I will say that the 002 series is loud as heck, and the 80x series is just a little quieter. I used to think it was a lot quieter, until I rented a 25kw diesel from Hertz 2 weeks ago, and barely knew it was running. It made me wonder why I bothered with mep's, til I started pricing the commercial silent units...

 

[Glockfan]

I added dynamat to the inside of the housing walls and put 1 1/4" foam board on the inside of each service door. In addition, I removed the keeper hardware from every door that acts as a door stop. All of these items rattle. It has been suggested to glue the lifting rings in place with silicon. Mine don't rattle so I didn't worry about that. I may even add an extra piece of exhaust to my 803 and install a traditional rain cap on it because the current one is poorly designed. Once my final piece of privacy fence is in place, I think mine will be super quiet.

 

[DieselAddict]

On the flip side it will be nice to see some of the larger variable speed units come onto the secondary market in a few years.

The Honda inverter based generators I have do a great job and I've put several thousand hours on one of them and its still kicking. All on the original spark plug. I was skeptical on the reliablity of the inverters but I've been totally convinced based on my Honda units. For the reliability and the fuel savings.

On the subject of reliability for the 80x series machines is there any breakdown as to the nature of the issues? Is it power plant problems or electrical problems that dominate the forced downtime?

 

[Glockfan]

I've seen a few of the 803's still chugging along at 7000 hours. From what I understand, there's the occasional alternator or starter that needs to be replaced. When I bought mine, it had a stuck thermostat. From what the folks who work on them for a living tell me, if you maintain them and use them in a residential standby environment like we do, expect them to outlast you...