Connected my MEP-803A the proper way as my home standby generator... Install pics...

[jimbo913]

Blower and auger. It is wood pellet fuel or rather 50% pellet and 50% corn, as is the case currently. And my hot water heater is a Geospring heatpump model which uses 600w to run. That leaves plenty of reserve for my 803A.

 

[Another Ahab]

Blower and auger. It is wood pellet fuel or rather 50% pellet and 50% corn, as is the case currently. And my hot water heater is a Geospring heatpump model which uses 600w to run. That leaves plenty of reserve for my 803A.

That's a good system:

- And the corn can serve as back-up for a mash to distill in emergencies to get you through a long winter.

 

[Glockfan]

My home is total electric with a heat pump. The mep-803a runs everything I need to run with only minimal load management. In the summer months, I've ran the central AC, clothes dryer, stove, and all residual loads normally present in the home all at once. If my strip heat were to cycle and the water heater were to run together, that may present a challenge but sensible load management makes this the ideal back generator for my home.

I'm chomping at the bit to actually use it. I run it about 15 minutes every two weeks or so and about twice a year I switch the house to gen power just to insure everything functions as it should.

 

[AOR]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll need to research the heat pump mod. Jimbo I see that you are located in Maryland may I ask what part? Once my Mep-803a arrives I plan to setup something up to be able to connect it into my house., Mine is on a trailer which I wanted it to be portable. We do not lose power here that often

 

[jimbo913]

Mine is on the trailer as well. I started a thread recently which shows it backed beside the back of the house for Winter. I am a little north of Frederick, so about an hour west of you.

 

[AOR]

I would like to see the thread if you are able to post a link.

 

[jimbo913]

PM sent

 

[Jericho]

Load banks were common inthe AF, but to be honest Ive run my off grid house on Gen Sets , Wind mill and solar panels for 22 years. If your just useing your gen set occasionally a load bank wont do anything for your rotor or AVM , Load bank ( max output and hence increased exaust temperture) is ment to burn built up carbon build up off the head and "warm" the windings to top temp. Solid state AVMs dont need to be load banked for purpose of warming them up to "blow out the cob webs" I can see it for brush heads and mechanical voltage controlers just to "exercise them , but Ive put more than 40 thousand hours on a diesel 22 kw Mitsubishi with Newage rotor ( now needs rotor change) and Iam now 8000 hrs into a John Deere tier 4 Diesel 33 KW genset. I use less than 5 percent of the rated output on the deere, Both were "brushless and had digital AVMs Prior to needing the rotor change at plus 40 k hours all i did to the Mitsubishi was oil changes and one water pump rebuild. I use a "perimiter grounding system , with three grounding rods, and lightening arrestors. and being stand alone my nuetrual is tied to my ground side hard and fast.

 

[AOR]

My home is total electric with a heat pump. The mep-803a runs everything I need to run with only minimal load management. In the summer months, I've ran the central AC, clothes dryer, stove, and all residual loads normally present in the home all at once. If my strip heat were to cycle and the water heater were to run together, that may present a challenge but sensible load management makes this the ideal back generator for my home.

I'm chomping at the bit to actually use it. I run it about 15 minutes every two weeks or so and about twice a year I switch the house to gen power just to insure everything functions as it should.

Do you know how often the military technical manuals suggest that these are run when not being used and for how long? I would assume that the Diesel fuel is good for about a year or so. I also would think it would be a good idea to get them to operating temperature to remove condensation from the oil etc.
The unit I am getting was refurbished in 2010 and it still has the break in oil in it with only 16 hours on the meter. They did show a video of it running on the auction site. I have downloaded the TM I need to find time to read through it.

 

[Guyfang]

There are no suggested running times for units not being used often. Just procedures on how to prepare the equipment for long term storage, and how to prepare it for operation after long term storage. There were only two reasons that I ran generators under load. One, was EVERY generator that was repaired in my shop, had to run 6-8 hours under at least 95-100% load before I gave it back to a customer. If it's good for that duration of a run, I felt good giving it to someone who might have to "bet his life" on the generator. The second reason, was when I received a set and it was an obvious case of wet stacking, I ran that baby until it was clean as a whistle. But to just run a set to "burn out he moisture", or to make sure it is in good shape, no, I rarely did that. Waste of good fuel. Well, one other reason to load test. When its -10 degrees and you are in a G.P. Medium tent, in the middle of a windswept, snowy field, a load bank was a fine thing to have!

 

[AOR]

Thanks I was reading the manuals and I was not able to find any recommended service intervals for changing the engine oil. I did find that is calls for 15/40 engine oil with Milspec numbers which I am not familiar with. Will something like Shell Rotella 15/40 oil from the local parts store be ok to run in these engines?

 

[Guyfang]

AOR, Have you read the TM 9.6115-642-12 LO? That's the Lubrication Order. There is all the info needed to service the set, with suggested durations between services.

I don't think that Shell Rotella 15/40 will be a bad choice. The military have some wild ideas with all the strange MILSPEC's. I would not worry about it. You should use oil you know and feel good about.

 

[jimbo913]

I think most people run the 15/40 diesel once they are broken in. I would change oil yearly at a minimum regardless of number of hours put on it.

In other words if you only put 2 hours on it, you should still change it.

 

[Guyfang]

In the 80's, we, (the Army) went crazy on AOAP. The Army Oil Analysis Program. One of the things we found out was that oil doesn't "go bad" by just sitting there, over short times periods. And a year is not considered a long time. Not unless there is high humidity, dust or other pollutants that can somehow enter the lubricating system. That should not happen under normal circumstances. Something else we discovered was the need to NOT change oil as often, when using synthetic oils. It made a believer out of me. Yes, oil filters should be changed on time, but the synthetic oils simply do not break down at anywhere near the pace of normal POL products. The power generation sets used by your good old power company have an oil system that feeds a very small amount of engine oil into the combustion chamber, to burn a small amount off. Why? Well, the operator, if he/she is doing the PM, (preventive maintenance) correctly, will notice the oil level dropping over time, and add new oil. The oil is constantly "refreshed" with the addition of small amounts of new oil being added, so they never need an oil change. Just oil filter change. And of course they submit oil samples to a lab to see what is going on in the engine. This AOAP program saves millions for big companies who no loner just perform a service on a time interval. They only perform maintenance when the oil lab says they have a problem. The normal person never needs something like this.

 

[Korgoth1]

Reminds me of something I heard about the (very)large stationary engines, they pump the oil out of the engine(hundreds of gallons) they filter, test, and restore it with additives, then pump it back into the engine.

 

[Guyfang]

Yeah, the Metropolitan Water District, in Southern California does that. They have monster diesel driven water pumps.

 

[Another Ahab]

Yeah, the Metropolitan Water District, in Southern California does that. They have monster diesel driven water pumps.

The biggest pumps I ever saw were those along the levies in New Orleans. I wonder how they compare to Southern California?

Likely similar I'm guessing. I might post a pic here if I can find one.

 

[Glockfan]

Thanks I was reading the manuals and I was not able to find any recommended service intervals for changing the engine oil. I did find that is calls for 15/40 engine oil with Milspec numbers which I am not familiar with. Will something like Shell Rotella 15/40 oil from the local parts store be ok to run in these engines?

I run Rotella 15/40 in mine and it hasn't let me down. I too think it is a great choice.

 

[rustystud]

In the 80's, we, (the Army) went crazy on AOAP. The Army Oil Analysis Program. One of the things we found out was that oil doesn't "go bad" by just sitting there, over short times periods. And a year is not considered a long time. Not unless there is high humidity, dust or other pollutants that can somehow enter the lubricating system. That should not happen under normal circumstances. Something else we discovered was the need to NOT change oil as often, when using synthetic oils. It made a believer out of me. Yes, oil filters should be changed on time, but the synthetic oils simply do not break down at anywhere near the pace of normal POL products. The power generation sets used by your good old power company have an oil system that feeds a very small amount of engine oil into the combustion chamber, to burn a small amount off. Why? Well, the operator, if he/she is doing the PM, (preventive maintenance) correctly, will notice the oil level dropping over time, and add new oil. The oil is constantly "refreshed" with the addition of small amounts of new oil being added, so they never need an oil change. Just oil filter change. And of course they submit oil samples to a lab to see what is going on in the engine. This AOAP program saves millions for big companies who no loner just perform a service on a time interval. They only perform maintenance when the oil lab says they have a problem. The normal person never needs something like this.

Totally agree with you about the engine oils, especially the synthetics. I was still in the Marines in the early 1980's and they also went crazy with testing the oil. We also would replace the engine oil even if the truck had not moved for a year ! I remember arguing with this Gunnery Sargeant about that. He told me that "until he heard otherwise we would do what we were told ! " That of course ended the argument ! At the transit agency we test every oil change. The synthetic oils always come up being in top shape ! That is why I use synthetic in ALL my engines ! Including my lawnmower ! In fact air cooled engines really need that extra insurance . In my last gasoline engine genset (before I went diesel) I used only synthetic oils and when it finally died (the valves sunk into the aluminum head ! ) I took it apart and found the cylinders still had the cross-hatch pattern on them ! That engine (Briggs&Stratton Vanguard 16 HP ) was run for 16 hours every day for 2 years straight !

 

[Guyfang]

That's why I use ONLY synthetic. In all my engines. Its wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more expensive here in Germany, but I can still buy it on post for normal prices. Even "normal" oil is super expensive. A QT. oil cost 10-15 euro. Crazy. And if I thought I might need to run a gen set long hours, and to me 5-10K hours is long, only synthetic would go in it. At the end of the day, the higher price, (I have NO idea what it cost in the states) is more then justified by the results.