First MEP-803a

[tarster]

Hi there folks! Just purchased my first 803a from another member here on the forums, looks like it's a '94 and has 1500+hrs in it, gent that I bought it from used it primarily for it's basic 120v circuit on the panel as he was working on a house or something like that.

I have already ordered klobbk's fuse kit and will install that when it shows up, aux fuel pump makes noise so that's good news, otherwise threw some new batteries in it and it purrs like a kitten!

I'll throw all the pictures I took, let me know if you see anything I should change or update, I am planning to use this as my whole home gen setup, I live outside of town and so everything is electric, 3.5 ton heat pump, water heater etc.. I did just install a micro-air 368 easy start on the heat pump and that has made a large difference just in the day to day running.

I do have one question... The bar to the right of the L3 L0, is that's the neutral ground tie bar? If so I will remove it as that's what I have read when powering the house.

 

[cbisson]

Hi there folks! Just purchased my first 803a from another member here on the forums, looks like it's a '94 and has 1500+hrs in it, gent that I bought it from used it primarily for it's basic 120v circuit on the panel as he was working on a house or something like that.

I have already ordered klobbk's fuse kit and will install that when it shows up, aux fuel pump makes noise so that's good news, otherwise threw some new batteries in it and it purrs like a kitten!

I'll throw all the pictures I took, let me know if you see anything I should change or update, I am planning to use this as my whole home gen setup, I live outside of town and so everything is electric, 3.5 ton heat pump, water heater etc.. I did just install a micro-air 368 easy start on the heat pump and that has made a large difference just in the day to day running.

I do have one question... The bar to the right of the L3 L0, is that's the neutral ground tie bar? If so I will remove it as that's what I have read when powering the house.

Make room for another one.

 

[Icesythe7]

Make room for another one.

The appropriate number of military gensets to own is "n + 1" where n = number of military gensets you currently own.

Also if you care the gauges have lights in them, I powered mine from the normal green lights...and also added leds (old video all missing parts like e-stop are replaced)

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

My 2 cents find a new primary fuel pump for a spare as the old square ones quit frequently. E8131 rock auto not a direct replacement but with some hose will work Next make sure the coolant is topped off as i see nothing in the over flow bottle. Might be a good time to flush and change it out. next would be to secure a can of deoxit as i see a lot of corrosion that i am sure will show its head on electrical contacts in the future. Lastly if he ran it mostly for the 120 outlets, put a good load on that thing and work it hard before you hook it to your house as i am sure some wetstacking has occurred.

 

[tarster]

Make room for another one.

Room I have, budget I don't haha

 

[tarster]

My 2 cents find a new primary fuel pump for a spare as the old square ones quit frequently. Next make sure the coolant is topped off as i see nothing in the over flow bottle. Might be a good time to flush and change it out. next would be to secure a can of deoxit as i see a lot of corrosion that i am sure will show its head on electrical contacts in the future. Lastly if he ran it mostly for the 120 outlets, put a good load on that thing and work it hard before you hook it to your house as i am sure some wetstacking has occurred.

Solid suggestions, he said it was getting flaky so they replaced filters on it and that didn't fix it, then they grabbed a fuel pump from another unit and that fixed it, wouldn't hurt to have in the shelf for sure.

My plan is to hook it up to a old house electric element HVAC unit and let it run for awhile that way to make sure I clear anything out.

My plan was to run it with the HVAC fan for a bit, and then add the heat elements, that should put about a 40-42 amp load on it, I measured that off my panel in the shop when we first played around with the HVAC unit.

I'll have to learn how to use the deoxit because I have never used that stuff before.

Coolant, probably be a good idea to flush, I did add about half a quart to the radiator and then filled the tank after I took the photos.

 

[Guyfang]

You are missing the Quad Mod. Kurt Klopp has a upgrade kit to fix that BIG problem.

 

[Icesythe7]

You are missing the Quad Mod. Kurt Klopp has a upgrade kit to fix that BIG problem.

He said he already purchased the fuse kit from kloppk (which comes with the quad) in the first post)

 

[Ray70]

To your original question, YES the tie bar is the L0 / Ground bonding strip. Remove it and run a 4 wire feed to your main panel / disconnect switch in order to maintain a single point ground connection at your main panel.

 

[tarster]

To your original question, YES the tie bar is the L0 / Ground bonding strip. Remove it and run a 4 wire feed to your main panel / disconnect switch in order to maintain a single point ground connection at your main panel.

Perfect thank you! current plan right now is to get a generlink at my power meter, I have run some other generators in the past, this is the first military and first about 8k for me so I am excited about running everything in the house. I already have a couple of 6/3 indoor and outdoor wires for wiring up the house, I have rewired my shop/barns (3ph 240), so working with electrical isnt a big deal to me.

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

Perfect thank you! current plan right now is to get a generlink at my power meter, I have run some other generators in the past, this is the first military and first about 8k for me so I am excited about running everything in the house. I already have a couple of 6/3 indoor and outdoor wires for wiring up the house, I have rewired my shop/barns (3ph 240), so working with electrical isnt a big deal to me.

I do not think a Generlink is going to work with this Generator as this is can pull more than 10000 watts. Although the Generlink is rated at 40 amps might want to do more research. I use a Breaker interlock. Cheaper and Generlinks are not allowed by my utility

 

[tarster]

I do not think a Generlink is going to work with this Generator as this is can pull more than 10000 watts. Although the Generlink is rated at 40 amps might want to do more research. I use a Breaker interlock. Cheaper and Generlinks are not allowed by my utility

I did call the power company and they said its allowed but they dont do the installs, so I may bein the same boat, its possible I may have to put in a sub panel since my main is full and then transfer a few loads over there and add in the breaker interlock, Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[tarster]

Ok got it loaded up and ran a little over an hour on the electric HVAC unit so it was a solid 46amp resistance load, I was surprised that the load meter said it was only 75%, I did add a table saw and chop saw but obviously they were not a constant load, puffing a bit of smoke for sure, but not rolling coal. Otherwise it didn't seem to mind the load.

 

[DieselAddict]

Ok got it loaded up and ran a little over an hour on the electric HVAC unit so it was a solid 46amp resistance load, I was surprised that the load meter said it was only 75%, I did add a table saw and chop saw but obviously they were not a constant load, puffing a bit of smoke for sure, but not rolling coal. Otherwise it didn't seem to mind the load.

The load meter is calibrated for a power factor of 0.8. The generator is at 100% rated load when the load meter reads 80% (assuming a pure resistive load).

These things will do over their rating. Most healthy 803s can handle up to about a 12.5 kw load. That doesn't mean you should run them at that level for long periods. Consider that overhead for starting hard loads or for short term needs.

 

[tarster]

Picked up a 275gal Home Oil tank, need to drain it out and then get some fitting for a pickup in it, would rather use a pickup instead off the bottom 1/2" npt lines just to keep any excess water out of the system or junk as well.

Do you guys have any suggestions for those tanks? it does have a dual port 2" bung with some old brass lines in them, may have to figure out how to go from the flare fittings to some barb fittings or something.


Did some cleaning on the unit, pulled some paper wasp nests out of the control box area.. really glad it was down near 30 degrees when i did it!

For cleaning the terminals with the DeoxIT, just leave the terminals as they are and hit it? or unscrew every terminal and then hit them with it?

 

[Chainbreaker]

For cleaning the terminals with the DeoxIT, just leave the terminals as they are and hit it? or unscrew every terminal and then hit them with it?

I really like the DeoxIT D100L (100% Concentrate) that comes in the small 25ml bottle with needle type ~2" metal tip for pinpoint application. A little goes a long way as its viscosity is so thin it seems to work its way into threads/crevices pretty easy.

So, unless you have some really corroded connections, I wouldn't unscrew every terminal. Perhaps just partially unscrew the worst & retighten to work it more into the threads as required.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Picked up a 275gal Home Oil tank, need to drain it out and then get some fitting for a pickup in it, would rather use a pickup instead off the bottom 1/2" npt lines just to keep any excess water out of the system or junk as well.

Do you guys have any suggestions for those tanks? it does have a dual port 2" bung with some old brass lines in them, may have to figure out how to go from the flare fittings to some barb fittings or something.


Did some cleaning on the unit, pulled some paper wasp nests out of the control box area.. really glad it was down near 30 degrees when i did it!

For cleaning the terminals with the DeoxIT, just leave the terminals as they are and hit it? or unscrew every terminal and then hit them with it?

Just go with something made to work with the MEPs (and will readily fit into a 2" NPT fitting): https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/generator-aux-fuel-adapters-and-new-scepter-fuel-cans.217904/

The brass tube won't be long enough to get to the bottom of a 275g tank, but a length of oil proof hose and a radiator hose clamp will get you the rest of the way. Has the fittings to hook up to the back of your MEP via aux fuel cord.

 

[tarster]

Just go with something made to work with the MEPs (and will readily fit into a 2" NPT fitting): https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/generator-aux-fuel-adapters-and-new-scepter-fuel-cans.217904/

The brass tube won't be long enough to get to the bottom of a 275g tank, but a length of oil proof hose and a radiator hose clamp will get you the rest of the way. Has the fittings to hook up to the back of your MEP via aux fuel cord.

Might even be cheaper in the end, by the time i was looking at all the other adapters etc etc, I just bought a 25ft spool of 5/16's fuel line and callmecolt's aux fuel line fitting package from ebay, along with the brass t's and new fuel pre-cut fuel line. Seeing as how this is a 94 some new fuel line would probably be a good choice.

I have not noticed any leak around the well nut so I will add that to my down the road plan, maybe next summer or something.

 

[tarster]

I have just about finished wiring in the house boxes, needed a couple of large wire nuts and apparently didnt pick them up when I was in town last, But for those looking here is what I used.

Connecticut Electric 50 Foot Generator Power Extension Cord, 50 Amp, 4 Prong, NEMA 14-50P to SS2-50R (CS6364)

Amazon.com

Box at the house side, I ran 6/3 Romex inside the mechanical room to the breaker panel, I like that this box is a vertical plug in, I am in Oregon and it rains a lot so i would rather have it vertical, plus I never thought twist locks were any good when they were horizontal, to much pressure on the prongs and plug.
Connecticut Electric EGSPI50 50A Rainproof Generator Power Inlet Box with Cover, CS6375, SS2-50P, Receptacle

Amazon.com

Mounted this to the side of the 803, ended up just drilling some holes and using 1/4-20's with lock nuts through the side panel near the air intake (not blocking it) I am actually impressed with how well this box is constructed and looking forward to it.

RVMATE 50 Amp 125/250V RV/EV Power Outlet Box, Waterproof Lockable Enclosed Power Panel, NEMA 14-50R Receptacle

Amazon.com

 

[Icesythe7]

I have just about finished wiring in the house boxes, needed a couple of large wire nuts and apparently didnt pick them up when I was in town last, But for those looking here is what I used.

Connecticut Electric 50 Foot Generator Power Extension Cord, 50 Amp, 4 Prong, NEMA 14-50P to SS2-50R (CS6364)

Amazon.com

Box at the house side, I ran 6/3 Romex inside the mechanical room to the breaker panel, I like that this box is a vertical plug in, I am in Oregon and it rains a lot so i would rather have it vertical, plus I never thought twist locks were any good when they were horizontal, to much pressure on the prongs and plug.
Connecticut Electric EGSPI50 50A Rainproof Generator Power Inlet Box with Cover, CS6375, SS2-50P, Receptacle

Amazon.com

Mounted this to the side of the 803, ended up just drilling some holes and using 1/4-20's with lock nuts through the side panel near the air intake (not blocking it) I am actually impressed with how well this box is constructed and looking forward to it.

RVMATE 50 Amp 125/250V RV/EV Power Outlet Box, Waterproof Lockable Enclosed Power Panel, NEMA 14-50R Receptacle

Amazon.com

I basically used that exact same setup only difference I did was I mounted a twist lock on the genset


I think you will be happy this setup is pretty quick and I haven't had any issues yet.