How NOT to unload your MEP-002a!

[Keith_J]

Nah, just keep the tank full and you'll be fine. Diesel is an oil and will keep the rust at bay.

Water sinks in diesel, then it corrodes underneath the diesel. Yes, keeping tanks full helps but you should be swapping fuel every six months and swabbing out the bottom of the tank.

These tanks do not have positive draining sumps, a small bit of water can remain. When I overhauled mine, I pushed the drain boss down, preventing trapping of water. Then I sealed it with the POR product. If I cannot see the bottom with a bright flashlight, it is time to swap fuel. The old fuel goes in my 1031 SECM since I put 100 miles a week on it. New fuel is bright and clear, old fuel is murky and yellow.

 

[FloridaAKM]

If he lost acid out of the battery, he would want to increase the level of acid/water above the plates before charging. He would not want to add straight acid to the battery since it is too concentrated for a discharged battery. Correct me if I am wrong...

But he needs to check the acid level. If it's below the tops of the plates, he definitely should not charge it before adding water. If a lot of liquid was lost, he needs to add acid, not water.

 

[Keith_J]

If he lost acid out of the battery, he would want to increase the level of acid/water above the plates before charging. He would not want to add straight acid to the battery since it is too concentrated for a discharged battery. Correct me if I am wrong...

Yes, far better to add distilled water to bring the level up to the proper height, then fully charge the battery on trickle charge. If electrolyte specific gravity is still too low, then swap out electrolyte with higher concentration sulfuric acid. But most caps are pretty good at keeping liquid electrolyte inside, especially military batteries.

 

[Keith_J]

I see how this happened. The center of gravity is offset laterally. The big lifting eye is right over the CG. Should have turned it 90 degrees and slid it off that way.

 

[jacobsk]

I see how this happened. The center of gravity is offset laterally. The big lifting eye is right over the CG. Should have turned it 90 degrees and slid it off that way.

I wish you were in my garage on Wednesday night. You're exactly right!

 

[jacobsk]

Well it looks like I may be in luck with the 2HN Batteries, there were no leaks from when they were horizontal. Manufacture date on the batteries is April of 2013 and Shipped date is May of 2013. Whoever maintained the generator labeled the batteries with a paint marker "NEW 11/6/13".

I brought them inside to warm up Wednesday evening before a slow charge over the past two days.

This morning I checked with the multi-meter and got 12.75 volts on one battery and 12.99 volts on the other. Not perfect, as they likely self-discharged once installed, then sat in a discharged state for most of the last year, but it looks like they're still serviceable. Time to buy another Solargizer to keep them alive as long as possible!



rustystud - I didn't use petroleum jelly on my other machine when I cleaned the fuel pump screens and gaskets, I could easily see how that would make it way easier to tighten the caps back on, thanks for the tip! When it comes to cleaning the pumps themselves, do you think after reassembly I should disconnect the fuel line at the IP and cycle some diesel kleen through the pumps with some fresh diesel?

The reason I ask because on my first MEP-002a I never cleaned the pumps themselves and have had some sticking issues after about 500 hours of use. I don't know for sure whether or not the sticking was because I failed to add a lubricant to the diesel fuel that particular time or if it was due to varnishing that I never removed from the fuel system when I purchased the first generator. I bought the first MEP with 47 hours on the clock and the two inline pumps began to stick around 550 hours of use. A quick tap with a wrench or other hard object would get them pumping again.

Needless to say I'm a bit concerned with fuel system maintenance with this one I origionally bought it to serve as a parts donor for the first unit, but after seeing it's condition I'm thinking of setting it up as a backup for the house. I think this is how a hobby progresses into an addiction

 

[Keith_J]

Back when I was in, batteries were dry charged, putting them into service meant filling the cells with electrolyte. That is why the new date is written on the batteries.

I had the glorious task of filling many batteries since DOL didn't like to do it. Army issue tee shirts change colors dramatically when exposed to battery acid.

 

[jacobsk]

Well I flushed the fuel system yesterday, then nice warmup.

I flushed the fuel system by removing the fuel line at the joint behind the check valve down stream of the filters but before the injector pump. The check valve is the little fitting located below the oil pressure gauge typically with an elbow installed to allow the lines to fit without kinking. I had previously wiped the fuel tank clean and rinsed it with mineral spirits, as well as cleaning the screens located on the bottom of each fuel pump. If you havent added petrolium jelly to the caps like rustystud recommended it works great, effortless to reinstall. Since diesel fuel is cheaper than mineral spirits and I had some seafoam left over from a different project I decided to use them to flush the system. Plus I'd have the added benefit of not having to drain the fuel system afterwards, just bleed the air and reconnect the fuel line.

Since the generator seems to be well maintained I opted to simply flush the fuel system and cross my fingers that there is no real varnishing, and if there is any varnishing I hope that enough use and exposure to seafoam/fresh diesel will dissolve it. I took an empty bucket and held the disconnected fuel hose towards the bucket while running the pumps. After the filters and strainer filled, fuel began squirting out the hose and after about two gallons it became a pulsing but steady stream indicating the air has been flushed out of the system.

I reconnected the fuel line and let the fuel pumps build pressure. The ticking of the oscillating pumps slowed as expected as the pressure increased and everything sounded healthy, no leaks in any of the lines, on the injector pump, nor on any of the gaskets on the fresh filters I had installed.

The weather here in Wisconsin was a nice 37 degrees so I opened the garage to let the generator exhaust outside. The one good thing that came from dumping the genny on its side was that it up righted with the exhaust oriented out the garage door

I set the throttle about half way out, and turned the dial to preheat for around 60 seconds. Turned the knob to the start position and she cranked to a healthy run! I adjusted the throttle to hone in on 60hz and let her purr!

Good oil pressure, no oil or fuel leaks, she runs like a champ!

I let her run for about 25 minutes before my wife grew sick of the noise coming from the garage, now I need to conjure up a way to load test, probably when the wife unit is too busy to notice

 

[Keith_J]

Very nice! Now keep that tank full and clean. Rusty tanks make the baby Jesus cry.

 

[Isaac-1]

Sounds great, I am glad there were no major issues, I would suggest keeping an eye on output voltage both AC and DC as voltage regulation issues tend to pop up once things get warm.

 

[rustystud]

Sounds like you have everything under control Jacobsk. The only time I completely take the pumps apart is when there is rust present. Then I will take everything apart and clean it thoroughly using scotch-brite pads to remove the rust.