Goldneagle's M116A1 Generator Trailer restore and modification thread

[goldneagle]

I would paint the plywood to match. Looks like a good place to mount a farm jack and shovel, lights, etc.... nice job..

Funny you should say that! Just finished priming and painting the plywood yesterday. I used Glidden Exterior Primer and Behr Exterior Flat Paint. Here are the pictures:

 

[robson1015]

Very nice....

 

[goldneagle]

Thanks to my friend Dug (Trailboss) I got a nice MEP-002A 5KW generator to install on the trailer. It has 2440 hours on it and was reset at Ft. Hood in 2007. Here are some pictures of the generator:



So far all I had to do on it was replace all the Ty-wraps that were dry-rotted with new black ones. These are UV resistant Ty-wraps. I suggest when installing them, not to cut the access off until you get most of them on the harness. Otherwise you will get little cuts on the back of your hand.

I also installed the battery hold-downs that were provided with the generator.

After measuring up the generator and trailer I determined that the holes drilled into the trailer bed do not line up with those on the generator skids. The original generators that were installed on the trailer were 5KW gasoline units.

Since the original holes were reinforced and unusable for direct mounting I had to come up with another plan. My first thought was to use the HAT TRACK as used on some trailers. Unfortunately I was not able to locate any similar tracks locally. So I decided to use 3/8" x 3" flat stock as a transition for mounting the generator.

I will use 6 foot strips bolted to the trailer (using the reinforced holes). I will also drill additional holes through the flat stock and the trailer bed that will line up with the holes on the generator skids. The flat stock will help spread the weight and load on the bolts supporting the generator.

The next part of the support setup is rubber vibration dampeners. I have some 4" diameter rubber hockey pucks that were a result of drilling 4 " holes in tire sidewalls. I got a bunch for free -so I might as well use them. I will use 3 on each side of the generator between the flat stock and the generator skids. Here are some pictures of the materials mentioned:

 

[Guyfang]

Goldneagle,

There is a special type side cutter, made just to cut wire ties. It blunts the wire tie cut edge. You will never cut yourself again after using them. Nice.

Your plan sounds good, but keep in mind when you use the rubber baby bumpers between the flat stock and skids, that you reduce the grounding surface area. CECOM, (Communication and Electronics Command), would never let us do something like that. Grounding problem.

I always maintained that the bolts holding the set to the trailer would be sufficient for grounding purposes. As a lowly Warrant, I could never win this fight. I even suggested that we could run ANOTHER, (so we now had two, instead of just one ground path) ground wire from the generator to the trailer. The engineers would never buy off on it. The party line was that if the tie down bolts were loose, you had no real ground between the gen set, trailer and ground rod. When the set is at least in contact with the trailer it is "somewhat" grounded. I did not agree then, and still don't agree now. But I would run another ground wire from LO to a central ground point on the trailer.

 

[goldneagle]

Goldneagle,

There is a special type side cutter, made just to cut wire ties. It blunts the wire tie cut edge. You will never cut yourself again after using them. Nice.

Your plan sounds good, but keep in mind when you use the rubber baby bumpers between the flat stock and skids, that you reduce the grounding surface area. CECOM, (Communication and Electronics Command), would never let us do something like that. Grounding problem.

I always maintained that the bolts holding the set to the trailer would be sufficient for grounding purposes. As a lowly Warrant, I could never win this fight. I even suggested that we could run ANOTHER, (so we now had two, instead of just one ground path) ground wire from the generator to the trailer. The engineers would never buy off on it. The party line was that if the tie down bolts were loose, you had no real ground between the gen set, trailer and ground rod. When the set is at least in contact with the trailer it is "somewhat" grounded. I did not agree then, and still don't agree now. But I would run another ground wire from LO to a central ground point on the trailer.

I appreciate your concern and bringing it to my attention. I was an electrical contractor in the past so I am aware of the necessity for proper grounding. I will be adding several grounding points from the generator chassis to the trailer and to copper ground rods. I am also thinking of adding a 3 phase 3R electrical panel on the trailer to distribute the power from the generator. That will give me circuit breaker protection to any outlets installed on the trailer. I think I will mount the breaker panel on the side of the tool box I am adding to the trailer on the driver side fender.(see picture of tool box)

 

[goldneagle]

I measured and drilled the flat stock I painted yesterday. i got a chance to use the reconditioned magnetic drill press I bought a few months back. Wow! That drill press drilled through the 3/8" stock like butter! I wish I had bought one years ago! The annular cutters are very aggressive in cutting the holes.

These are the shavings from the hole cutting.


Once the holes were drilled I fitted the flat stock on the trailer. All the holes lined up perfectly. I put the rubber pucks where the corresponding holes are on the generator skids. I may add 3" x 3" x 3/8" steel plated on top of the rubber before putting the generator on top. That will cap the rubber and keep the skids from digging into the rubber.

 

[juanprado]

Coming together nicely! Sure looks 100% better than when I picked it up at Ft. Polk................

 

[goldneagle]

I didn't get much done lately due to rainy weather. Today I decided to tackle the fuel filter spin on upgrade on the generator set. I used: (2) Wix 24770 & Napa 4770 Filter Base, Wix 33352 & Napa 3352 Fuel Filter, Wix 33405 & Napa 3405 Fuel Filter. I also needed (4) 1/2" to 1/4" reducers.

Here is what I did:

After removing the 3 filter module from the generator, I unbolted the filter bases from the aluminum angle they were attached to.

I emptied the fuel out of the canisters. After removing the fuel hoses I took off 4 of the 90 degree hose fitting adapters.

I installed 2 of the reducers on each new filter base.

I then reinstalled the hose fittings to the reducers.

Since the new filter bases were back mounts instead of top mount I had to use an aluminum angle to adapt from the original aluminum angle (original filter base support angle)

Since my scrap angle was not long enough to install as one long piece I cut in in half.

I then marked the 3 mounting holes on both brackets and drilled out the holes using a 11/32" bit.

I also drilled 4 holes near the back of the original angle that the new angle adapters will attach to.

I lined up and marked the holes on the new brackets and drilled them out.

Now that I had all the holes drilled out I started to attach the new filter bases to the new adapter angles using 5/16" nuts and bolts.

Once I had all 6 bolts tightened I bolted the adapter angles to the original angle I save from the filter assembly.

I then installed one of the fuel hoses I had saved from the original setup between the 2 new filter bases.

Now the assembly was complete, I took it to the generator and fit it into place.

I attached the fuel hose going to the IP on the output of the filter base.

I then secured the filter base assembly to the generator.

I attached the fuel line from the fuel pumps to the input of the filter base.

I then installed the fuel/water separator filter and final fuel filter to the base.

I let the pumps prime the fuel system and then started up the generator.

The generator purges the air out of the system and picked up speed.

I restarted the generator and it was running perfectly. 60Hz.

Tomorrow I will do the oil change and spin on oil filter adapter I purchased from Wesfolk.

 

[Guyfang]

Very, very nice!

 

[robson1015]

Nice job Eagle

 

[goldneagle]

Today I did the oil change and oil filter upgrade. I tried to drain the oil but was getting a slow trickle. I even had the dip stick removed! It was in the upper 70's today so the oil was not cold. I used a farm jack to lift the other side of the generator and inserted a 4" block under that side skid. Even with the generator tilted and the oil filter removed it was slow draining.

Finally got the oil out. Made sure I removed the old o-ring and cleaned the old filter base. I oiled the new o-ring and installed it securely. I oiled the edge of the filter adapter and installed the center stem. I tightened the center stem to 30ftlb using my torque wrench. I oil the gasket on the oil filter and installed it hand tight as specified in the installation video.

I added 15W40 diesel engine oil until the dipstick showed full. I ran the engine for a few minutes and rechecked the oil level. Added the rest of the 1 gallon of oil and rechecked the dipstick. Right on the full line! See pictures attached.

I also cut the 3/8" flat stock into 3" x 3" squares for use with mounting the generator to the trailer. I used my carbide toothed chop saw to cut the pieces that were already drilled previously. The right tool makes the job go easy!

I primed and painted the pieces ready to install tomorrow. Here are the pictures:

 

[goldneagle]

Made some real progress today. With the help of my neighbor i was able to mount the generator on the trailer and secure it. The generator is sitting on (6) 4" rubber discs to dampen vibration.

We started by bolting the 3/8" x 3" flat bars to the trailer with (6) 1/2" bolts. (3) on each side.

I then drilled 6 holes through the trailer floor using the holes in the flat bar for location.

Once the holes were drilled through we drove the 1/2" bolts from under the trailer through the flat stock into the rubber discs. The discs held the bolt in place by friction.

I placed the 3" x 3" plates on top of the rubber discs.

Once we had all (6) 1/2" bolts protruding through the 3" x 3" plates it was time to lift the generator into place with my forklift.

We got 2 of the bolts on one side through the hole in the generator skids. The other side was a bit off!

We drilled from underneath the trailer floor on a slight angle in order to line up the bolts with the skid holes on the other side of the generator.

We spun the bolts up through the holes in the generator skids and secured all 6 with nylon lock-nuts.

I tried to start the generator but the fuel pumps were not functioning. Some thing must have moved when we were lifting and placing the generator on the trailer.

I finally found the problem. The ground going from the starter to the generator frame was loose. I knew it was loose but was waiting to tighten it when I ran the trailer ground to the generator set.

Once I tightened the ground the fuel pumps functioned properly and I got the generator running. NICE!

I attached 2 separate grounding lugs on the trailer bed to use in grounding the trailer and generator properly.


I had the stabilizing leg down in the back of the trailer since I was not sure how the generator would balance on the trailer. There seems to be some tongue weight -so the trailer will not pop a wheelie. I was able to lift the tongue and move the trailer back into it's parking space.

I think the trailer setup is a little tongue light right now. However I plan to add a 50 gallon stainless steel fuel tank in front of the generator. I think the empty tank will add about 140# to the front of the trailer. Once filled with diesel it will add 380# additional weigh to the front.

Any opinions on the proposed setup?

 

[Ford Mechanic]

Looks great, glad to hear you'll be adding a tank in the front to add tongue weight.

 

[Guyfang]

Looks super to me! And yeah, a bit more weight up front is not a bad idea.

 

[goldneagle]

I know its been a while since I added to this project. I worked on the fuel tank mount brackets. I am using Unistrut for the brackets. I added some 1" angle to the top for attaching the hold down strap.



I cut some strips from rubber horse stall mats to insert into channel and cut one T shaped for top of channel.



Mounted the brackets to the trailer today. Installed the rubber strips and glued into place using polyurethane calking.

 

[Guyfang]

Your getting there!

 

[Tinwoodsman]

Great work Zev.

 

[goldneagle]

Finally had a chance to do some more work on the fuel tank installation. Got the fuel tank strapped into place today. Also installed the fuel pickup fitting i scavenged from the 3rd fuel filter housing the I removed. Had to tap a 1/4" pipe thread into the existing fitting on the fuel pickup port. Now i will be able to use the hose that comes with the Jerry Can fuel pickup adapter to tie in the fuel tank to the auxiliary fuel port on the generator set. Here are some pictures of the project.

 

[Guyfang]

Simply wonderful!

Trailer has good balance?

 

[goldneagle]

Simply wonderful!

Trailer has good balance?

Lets just say it has more weight in front of the axle than behind it. I still have to mount the spare in front of the bulkhead wall. Also install 3 Jerry Can mounts on top of the fender. Long tool box on top of the other fender. Maybe a reel for heavy power cord in the back behind the fender. Stay tuned for more mods to come.