Generators at GL ?

[Jboulay]

I've got 4 for sale right now on craigslist for $2900-$3200. The key to selling them, is you really have to wait till there is a need (i.e. winter storm, tornado's, storms, etc). I usually sale a bunch right before winter, October-November. I'll get a few during the summer so I can be ready for winter.

Hi Please send Craigslist link.

 

[Zed254]

Search Memphis, TN Craigs list. Search MEP-803A. 4 hot looking generators pop up.

 

[jamawieb]

Hi Please send Craigslist link.

Just sent you a PM with the links. Zed is correct, those are mine in the Memphis craigslist.

 

[Guyfang]

Perhaps, as a small training exercise, Jboulay, you might try also looking for things in the Internet.

 

[Light in the Dark]

I am not entirely sure this is the avenue you should be pursuing jboulay. In seeing all of your responses, and lack of overall effort shown in this endeavor... you might be better suited to finding a generator with not only local parts availability, but also local service available. I am not sure you are going to be up to the task of the continual maintenance and oversight required for using a power solution like this. But what do I know...

 

[Chainbreaker]

I am not entirely sure this is the avenue you should be pursuing jboulay. In seeing all of your responses, and lack of overall effort shown in this endeavor... you might be better suited to finding a generator with not only local parts availability, but also local service available. I am not sure you are going to be up to the task of the continual maintenance and oversight required for using a power solution like this. But what do I know...

LitD raises a good point! There are some very good civilian genset options available and they should not be ruled out. Since you have already narrowed your search to the 10 kW range of gensets your next qualifier would be what kind of fuel do you want it to run on...Diesel, Gas or Propane? There are pro's and con's to each...here are some examples of just a few off the top of my head:

Propane - never goes bad and isn't messy; although rare, propane leaks can be extremely dangerous.
Gasoline - plentiful until it isn't (local disaster strikes) yet it can be difficult to store a lot of it safely and it goes bad over time. Gasoline is not as efficient as diesel per gallon (BTU factor).
Diesel - pure 100% diesel can last a long time if treated. However X% of BioDiesel has been mandated to pump diesel in several states and it does not store as well over time. Diesel engines by nature are rugged. Diesel is more economical considering the BTU factor vs Gas & Propane.

Another qualifier is do you want to do ALL the repairs & parts procurement yourself (military genset) or do you just want to just do routine maintenance (civilian genset) and have a local service shop handle any major parts & repairs? What kind of generator sales and service do you have in your area? Onan is now part of Cummins so if you have a Cummins/Onan dealership nearby you could look for used Onan civilian sets on CraigsList nearby to you knowing you have a source of OEM parts slose by. Other mainstream civilian units that seem to have a good reputation are Kohler, Kubota, Perkins based based engine genset, Lister Petter based engine genset and I am sure there are others that would be more than suitable. If you take a look over at SmokeStak.com I'm sure you will get a lot of info on the pro's-n-con's of mainstream civilian gensets.

So the advice here is consider all factors before you make the leap to a military genset.

 

[Jboulay]

LitD raises a good point! There are some very good civilian genset options available and they should not be ruled out. Since you have already narrowed your search to the 10 kW range of gensets your next qualifier would be what kind of fuel do you want it to run on...Diesel, Gas or Propane? There are pro's and con's to each...here are some examples of just a few off the top of my head:

Propane - never goes bad and isn't messy; although rare, propane leaks can be extremely dangerous.
Gasoline - plentiful until it isn't (local disaster strikes) yet it can be difficult to store a lot of it safely and it goes bad over time. Gasoline is not as efficient as diesel per gallon (BTU factor).
Diesel - pure 100% diesel can last a long time if treated. However X% of BioDiesel has been mandated to pump diesel in several states and it does not store as well over time. Diesel engines by nature are rugged. Diesel is more economical considering the BTU factor vs Gas & Propane.

Another qualifier is do you want to do ALL the repairs & parts procurement yourself (military genset) or do you just want to just do routine maintenance (civilian genset) and have a local service shop handle any major parts & repairs? What kind of generator sales and service do you have in your area? Onan is now part of Cummins so if you have a Cummins/Onan dealership nearby you could look for used Onan civilian sets on CraigsList nearby to you knowing you have a source of OEM parts slose by. Other mainstream civilian units that seem to have a good reputation are Kohler, Kubota, Perkins based based engine genset, Lister Petter based engine genset and I am sure there are others that would be more than suitable. If you take a look over at SmokeStak.com I'm sure you will get a lot of info on the pro's-n-con's of mainstream civilian gensets.

So the advice here is consider all factors before you make the leap to a military genset.

Thanks. I definitely want diesel only, but civilian diesel units are very expensive at between $5 -$15k for a 10kw.

 

[DieselAddict]

Thanks. I definitely want diesel only, but civilian diesel units are very expensive at between $5 -$15k for a 10kw.

Just as a FYI, I have a never deployed 10kw machine with virtually zero time on it. I wouldn't take less than $6k for it.

You can save some $$ on a retired military generator versus buying a new generator (purchase price). If you don't have a reasonable aptitude for mechanical and electrical things these generators can lead to a lot of frustration. You won't likely find a local company that will work on one for you.

Please consider carefully before spending thousands of dollars and still not reaching your power goals.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Thanks. I definitely want diesel only, but civilian diesel units are very expensive at between $5 -$15k for a 10kw.

I'm sure this time of year they are and now with 3 hurricanes in Atlantic (Irma, Jose & Katia) that will drive prices even further upwards in potential hurricane prone areas!

I have routinely seen really nice used 10-12kw Diesel Onan's going for under $5k at various times of year, at least on West Coast. Also, have you looked here in the SS classifieds? Not sure what part of Fl your in but there was a nice MEP-003a set up in Ga a while back.

 

[jamawieb]

I would also like to mention, that you have to find a generator dealer, that services the machine. I bought a Kubota 11000 a few years ago because I have a Kubota tractor dealership nearby and thought they could help with parts and other things. Nope, absolutely no help but they did try to sell me the CD manual for a $450.

 

[boatman69]

Perhaps, as a small training exercise, Jboulay, you might try also looking for things in the Internet.

A little hint for searching the internet w.w.w. Searchtempest.com.
It will search ALL of Craigslist and fleaBay in one shot.

 

[steelypip]

My take on Mil Surp generators right now:

If you're planning on using a set regularly (at least once a month) the MEP-80x series have a lot of creature features (and safety items) that the older sets lack. They're being currently sold off. Many are rough. They don't sit unused well, and the water-in-the-stack problem seems to be a real design flaw.

There's no difference in power quality between any of the four pole synchronous generators (MEPs put out very clean power) so that's of no concern.

People like me who get around to running the set four times a year prefer an older, simpler set with less to go wrong/be maintained: MEP-002a or MEP-003a, MEP-016/701a, etc. Particularly, the lack of liquid coolant, belts, required alternator, etc are a big feature in this use case. I can run the gen set on battery for many hours with no working charging system because holding the cutoff solenoid open and the fuel pumps are the only real draw in the system. My wall-wart battery tender plugged into the convenience outlet will keep batteries topped up while running if the internal 12v PM generator or its regulator dies.

My MEP-002a is rated at 5KW (continuous, 8000 feet elevation, 100+ F degree day), but will reliably put out 7KW continuous, and even more intermittently. It will start very big motors for a generator of its rated size. It will, for instance, run both heat pumps in AC mode, and can cope with one in heat mode, even though it's technically not rated for peak output that high. I like that it has half the fuel consumption of its 10KW big brother as I have had to hump fuel up in 5 gallon totes when the road was too bad for a wheeled vehicle ('snowpocalypse' of 2009).

Mil Surp standby power above 10KW gets complicated - the MEP-004/005 sets are even more complex/bigger than the MEP-80x sets are (lots of expensive things to break) and have a high idle fuel burn. I would not use one unless I really needed more than 10KW continuous output and there was no way to subdivide the load onto smaller sets.

 

[155mm]

Here are some set and forget systems, that are near your budget, even come with a connect box on some of them, none were diesels though.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...s+generac_0_0_P-Price||P-SalesRank|1?seeAll=1

 

[dav5]

In my area many electricians now refuse to install Generac generators due to excessive breakdowns. I would advise googling Generac reviews before I thought of buying one.

 

[boatman69]

Generac = junk

 

[Light in the Dark]

The Generac brand name used to be one of quality... a number of years ago they made some strategic decisions to becomes the 'every man power generation company' and of course the rest is history. My father has one, says its great... but he hasn't had to use it for any extended time since installation. It cycles on monthly. Hes had to have it serviced about 3 times in 3 years... I'll stick with my diesel pigs.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Most all of these "home stand by generators" are just lawn mower engines with a fancy controls and a nice cover. If it makes you feel good if the thing starts by its self every week then buy a stand by gen. If you want it to be there when you need it buy something else. This is all despite the fact that the home stand by gens absolutely destroy fuel like its free.

 

[Zed254]

I had an early 2000s version of this 6.5kW Generac when I lived in SE Ohio (and it cost about 2X as much as this one). It kept me going pretty well during an 8 day outage but it was LOUD!!!
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200369634_200369634
3 or 4 days into the outage I decided to look at maintenance requirements: 'Change oil every 50 hours'!!! Every other day it needed oil and a filter. It was a good one but I left it when I sold the house. 3 power outages in SE Virginia convinced me to start shopping for another generator. I bought an MEP-803A and have been quite happy with it......happy enough to pick up an MEP-802A. I much prefer the military units and they are WAY more quiet than my old Generac. And I like the 250 hour oil change interval.

 

[csheath]

People have gone fool ass crazy on these 803 auctions. Was watching a couple on GP and 1 sold for 5 grand the the other went north of 6. I'm sorry but that is just lunacy IMO to spend that much on a used generator that hasn't been run under load and guaranteed to work. These were single units with no trailer which I didn't know GP ever handled. The 6+ grand unit was very clean looking with 6 hours on the clock but still, I can buy a brand new unit with modern controls for a few hundred more.

I'm to a point I don't think I can recommend people waste their time looking. I can't believe I got mine for what I paid and it was only the 3rd unit I tried to bid on.

 

[155mm]

People have gone fool ass crazy on these 803 auctions. Was watching a couple on GP and 1 sold for 5 grand the the other went north of 6. I'm sorry but that is just lunacy IMO to spend that much on a used generator that hasn't been run under load and guaranteed to work. These were single units with no trailer which I didn't know GP ever handled. The 6+ grand unit was very clean looking with 6 hours on the clock but still, I can buy a brand new unit with modern controls for a few hundred more.

I'm to a point I don't think I can recommend people waste their time looking. I can't believe I got mine for what I paid and it was only the 3rd unit I tried to bid on.

Did you see what the 60kw's and 100kw brought? $16, 20, 30, for 60KW's and $55K for a 100kw..... wow... guess I need to get my jenny's up for sale.