Continuous Run Time for MEP-804A

[MattDarnell]

Aloha,

Looking at a generator and can not find if it is a standby or primary generator.

Is it on Craigslist for $5,700 - It only has 60 hours but it seems like a lot.

Can it run continuously for a month? I have read that some need maintenance every week.

Appreciate any feed back would be appreciated, this would to power my house, garage, farm area, etc in the event of a power outage or Hurricane.

Continuous power would be needed to keep the humans & animals happy.

Aloha,
Matt

 

[DieselAddict]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the site.

Per the manual it is 300 hours or longer with oil analysis. The initial break-in change is 100 hours.

Manuals here - https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?148936-All-the-TM-s-you-need-to-work-on-the-MEP-804A

These machines are PRIME rated. They will produce full nameplate continuously. That being said the 804 is a 3 phase ONLY machine. It can not be easily converted to single phase. You can use 2 phases to power conventional home panels BUT it becomes a 10kw generator since you can only use 2/3rds of the windings in the alternator. Under this scenario I wouldn't run more than about 8kw out of it continuously. You'll need to get a little creative to get full output from the generator in a residential setting. We were just discussing this in a recent thread.

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?181499-DRASH-(GETT)-Modification-Discussion

 

[Guyfang]

I have seen these sets run for months on end, when we had no ability to parallel two like sets, so we could shut one down for maintenance. It's not recommend, but possible if you keep the fuel clean. Perhaps if you explain just what you want it for, what you expect out of it, and are you capable of doing maintence.

 

[155mm]

To keep humans and animals happy does not require 24 hr/7days of generator operations unless someone has some kind of medical condition that requires some piece of equipment that doesnt have a battery backup.

There is always some time during personal use that a genny can be shut down for an hour for maint.

Are you trying to go off grid? or is this a follow up to HI having a big storm in the recent past?

 

[Light in the Dark]

My bigger concern when looking at these scenarios... you have enough fuel to even run a month? Per the books, if you really did run this 24x7 for 30 days, thats just over 1k gallons of fuel.

Do you need 3ph, as thats what this machine produces? Yes you can tap partial legs, but unless its a screaming deal... why not buy whats right for your application? Do you eve know how much power you actually need to 'maintain life' under such scenario? An important detail to know before even looking at these kind of sets.

 

[doghead]

Link removed, please read, understand and follow the site rules.

 

[kavesman1]

It could be possible to run a machine 24/7. There's 5 things that would be needed though...off the top of my head.


1: Fuel...and lots of it.

2: Oil...no matter how efficient an engine is, the rings/valve guides will let a bit of oil past them and be burned in the combustion chamber.

3: A twin primary/bypass oil filter system. This system could be setup to have one be in use while the secondary is able to be changed out while the engine is running.

4: A sub-micron filtering system. The combustion cycle will deposit carbon into the oil. As more carbon builds up in the oil, it'll clump together. If the carbon size exceeds the bearing gap tolerances, that carbon will gradually score the bearings.

5: A running oil level/changing system. If the oil does go bad, you'd need a system that could replace a specific volume of oil while it was running.

 

[DieselAddict]

I recommend reading the LO located in the link provided. Follow it. Oil analysis is not expensive. Analysis will tell you if you need to enhance the oil system to get the desired change interval.

An additional bit of info is a 804 running in the 8-10kw output range is going to burn around gallon an hour. Plan accordingly.

 

[Guyfang]

It could be possible to run a machine 24/7. There's 5 things that would be needed though...off the top of my head.


1: Fuel...and lots of it.

2: Oil...no matter how efficient an engine is, the rings/valve guides will let a bit of oil past them and be burned in the combustion chamber.

3: A twin primary/bypass oil filter system. This system could be setup to have one be in use while the secondary is able to be changed out while the engine is running.

4: A sub-micron filtering system. The combustion cycle will deposit carbon into the oil. As more carbon builds up in the oil, it'll clump together. If the carbon size exceeds the bearing gap tolerances, that carbon will gradually score the bearings.

5: A running oil level/changing system. If the oil does go bad, you'd need a system that could replace a specific volume of oil while it was running.

Wellllllllllllll, yeah. In a perfict world. The Army only has number 1&2, and do quite well. The big difference is that they also have deep pockets.