• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

 

Cheaper fuel pump for MEP-003 found!

amolaver

Member
64
6
8
Location
maryland
Preliminary - I have no connection to Pegasus Racing. I'm not making money from them nor have any relationship with them other than as a regular paying customer. They have a fair amount of data on Facet's pumps which I relied on (among other sources). I'm using their links for convenient access to the information - choose your own vendors :)

My 003 is used as backup power for my all-electric house in single phase 120/240v mode (heat pump, hot water, stove, dryer, etc all electric). When I got my 003, one of the three pumps was DOA. The 'external' pump (to draw from a drum) failed during a 10 day event (the 'derecho' of the mid-atlantic in 2012). The last one finally bit the dust a few weeks ago. I've had the gen for ~8 years and put about 550 hours on it. Researching the situation, I was reminded why I didn't replace the failed ones - $220+ each (FAC-480517 https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=8850)! These are 24v, flow through (without positive shut off valves, allowing fuel to flow through them even if powered off or failed). max 6-8psi, 15 gph @ 2 psi typical flow rate with 1/4" npt male fittings and an internal 74 micron filter and they have an integral EMI filter.

Looking for cheaper alternatives, I found Pegasus lists the Facet pumps wo positive shut off valves (https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=FACETSIPHON) and in that list, found the FAC-40151 https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=8051 - a 24v cube, flow through, with max pressure 4.5 to 9 psi and nearly identical 15gph@3psi typical flow rate. max flow rate is 32gph vs the 33gph of the OEM. They are 3/8 NPT female ported.

Spec || OEM ($220) || Cube FAC-40151 ($55)
Voltage || 24v || 24v
max psi || 6-8 || 4.5-9
max flow || 33gph || 32gph
emi filter || yes || no
flow through || yes || yes
typical flow || 15gph@2psi || 15gph@3psi


For 1/4 the price, I decided to give it a try. I bought two of the pumps and ordered a 4-pack of 3/8 to 1/4 NPT male to male adapters from amazon ($10). I removed the two inner pumps from the generator, and removed their 1/4 female to JIC 90 adapters. I installed the 3/8 to 1/4 male to male adapters in the cubes, then the originally fitted 1/4 to JIC 90 adapters. Original hoses mate to the JIC side of the 90. They are plumbed in series as the originals. I converted the barrel and bullets to Metripack connectors, and had a succesfull no load test run after priming. After some minimal neatening up, I did a 90 minute test run with the house loads; intentionally ran the stove and heat pump to have decent duration of capacity in use and am happy to say absolutely no issues so far. I did unplug each of the pumps for 15 minutes to confirm flow-through was working as hoped and can confirm they operate just like the OEM (in the flow-through respect).

Obviously, this is not a comprehensive success story - we'll see if the pumps will last 8-10 years :) While the cubes do not have the integral EMI filters..they are a notorious problem on the originals and many people cut them out ( i had already done that years ago). The cubes do NOT have an integral fuel filter. I will likely install an inline filter before the first pump for piece of mind. But I'm $120 all-in for two pumps vs ~$450 for the OEM replacements. A filter will add another $20 to my cost.

Curious if anyone else has done similar or had bad or good luck with the cube pumps. For 1/4 the price, the experiment is worthwhile to me.

ahm

edit: forgot to include electrical draw comparison:


Cube FAC-40151 || 1.4 Amps
Cylindrical FAC-480517 OEM || 1.6 Amps
 

Attachments

Last edited:

amolaver

Member
64
6
8
Location
maryland
476088 is similar in spec although it's pressure range is oddly small (4-5psi) vs 6-8 for oem and 4.5-9 for the 40151 cube. Also..it's $80 vs $55. $25x3...

Given the cost of the originals, it looks like there are some cheaper but still US-made, quality options.. The 476088 - if someone can test it - will certainly look more original than the cubes if you care about that.

I'll try to remember to circle back in a year or so to report on the pumps survival although I'm not expecting any issues.

I found summit and jegs have 6AN male/female filters for around $20. Will order a couple (one for 'normal' supply and one for external drum pump for when I swap that pump over).

Now to convert to spin on fuel/water and engine oil filters :)

ahm
 

WillWagner

The Person You Were Warned About As A Child
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
8,370
2,326
113
Location
Monrovia, Ca.
We use the Facet 6-12 and 24vdc pumps at the Museum, the only thing that kills 'em is water......and hooking 24vdc supply to a 6 volt pump!
 

cuad4u

Active member
268
88
28
Location
St Matthews, SC
If you do not want or need the two pumps in series, there are several other options than the OE ($260) Facet pump. Looks like you found some that can be hooked in series. Good idea.
 

oboyjohn

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
340
120
43
Location
Quebec , Canada
Those pumps look a lot like the electrical fuel pump we had in our Iltis Jeeps in the `80`s , `90`s and early 2000`s.
 

crimptool

New member
2
2
3
Location
83801
If these pumps are susceptible to water, why not put a screen water separator in front of the pump ? The Racor PS120-01 seems to be sized correctly to fit just above the pump in an MEP-803a.
Also, has anyone ever ordered parts from General Jim's Surplus?
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks