I joined the 803A club as well!

[rogpike]

Just joined today. Excited to learn and tinker with these amazing power systems. A little background. At my previous home I purchased and installed a generic 20kw (with lawnmower engine and all) generator with auto transfer switch piped in to my natural gas. Very slick considering the fuel source for me as well as auto pilot. Anyway, when I moved across town we did not have access to natural gas and I did NOT want to fool with a propane tank. The cost of a diesel genset that would run the house was just out of the question.....so I thought....until I found out about these military units. I spent several days here reading posts and watching videos and decided this was the route I wanted to go. I have a diesel truck, 3 diesel tractors, diesel lawn mower, 100 gallon diesel fuel transfer tank. I am totally setup for diesel...plus I just love the smell of diesel. So today I picked up a 2007 803a that is supposed to have 29 hours on it. The meter says that but I have no idea to tell if that is true or not. It has brand new batteries, runs and puts out power like it is supposed to. Alll new fluids and filters. I did however notice the dc charging system indicator did not look right. After some searching on here I looked at the FU1 fuse and it is absent....completely missing. The cap is there but the fuse is not. Any idea on the size of fuse I need to get?

Oh, and people usually want to know and I do not mind sharing. I paid $4,100 for it. I did not get it through an auction. The aux fuel line, ground bar, and a few other things were in the storage containers. Anyway, looking forward to working with you guys.....

 

[Light in the Dark]

Welcome! Have you downloaded the manuals for this set yet? I think the info you want, to lead you to the eventual answer, is in the -24P manual. For most components it will give you part number information to further seek out a NSN... to find out details. I don't have time to look at the moment, but do make sure you get all of the manuals for the set you own. Have fun.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Welcome aboard. Im not sure on the fuse as im at work but i believe its a AGC30a. Any napa should have that.
For what has happened lately down in your part of the country and what a new 10kw diesel goes for what you paid isnt half bad considering its a running/powering generator.
Next step is to load that puppy down and see what she will do.

The only thing i own thats diesel is my generator. I just dont trust lawnmower engines that much.

 

[rogpike]

Thanks.....I will read and download them. Looked at a couple manuals and didn't find the size real quick so I thought I would just ask. After I learn about this one I am seriously considering purchasing some of the 30-60KW units for my clinics. I run a non profit primary care clinic in rural western Kentucky. At any time we have upward of over $100,000 in vaccine for children in our fridges that is at risk to spoil if the power goes out. We have very detailed procedures and multiple clinics that we can move the vaccine to safely without spoiling them when and if the power fails. However this is a very painful process with a lot of documentation involved. We have a window we have to meet and we can do it with our procedures, however it would be nice to have some real backup power that is not just standby where we can continue to see and treat patients, avoid spoilage and transfer procedures for our vaccines. Things used to be much simpler with paper medical records but now they are all computerized and require power. My medical director is an old retired colonel in the air force. He's seen and done it all. Delivered babies in the dark in the Philippines back in the day. Anyway, long story short, being a non profit it is difficult for us to spend our limited resources on backup power when it rarely happens. Commercial units I was quoted in the past were around $60,000 for one unit. I believe I can safely back up 3 of my 5 clinics for that kind of money with these MEP gensets. Hopefully we don't get off track here and someone can tell me what size fuse I need for the 803 so I can run grab one this evening to get this thing right...

 

[Light in the Dark]

What are your power needs, and are the items in these clinics running at? Are you sure nothing is 480 being a commerical install?

 

[Light in the Dark]

I can pull my fuse in the morning to check for markings. Meant to say that before.

 

[rogpike]

What are your power needs, and are the items in these clinics running at? Are you sure nothing is 480 being a commerical install?

No x-rays or any 3 phase power. 600 amp service I believe. the largest faculty is 12,000 sq ft and has 8 hvac units but every single light in there is led both indoor and outsoor. All 18 deer dual fuel units etc.

 

[Zed254]

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...10KW-Generator


I needed to replace one of mine: my notes say..... Battery Charger Fuse (FU1): F03A125V30A


[url]http://www.talonix.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=11670
[/URL]

 

[jamawieb]

You'll need to get the fuse from a home hardware store (ie lowes). ZED is correct, it is a 30a, 125 voltage fuse.

 

[TNriverjet]

Welcome aboard rogpike. I had to replace that fuse on my first unit (802a) to get it to charge. It's a simple and cheap fix. Just remember the units above the 803a in size are 3 phase only.

 

[Kenny0]

Welcome aboard. Im not sure on the fuse as im at work but i believe its a AGC30a. Any napa should have that.
For what has happened lately down in your part of the country and what a new 10kw diesel goes for what you paid isnt half bad considering its a running/powering generator.
Next step is to load that puppy down and see what she will do.

The only thing i own thats diesel is my generator. I just dont trust lawnmower engines that much.

One more thing to keep in mind whether it is a fast blow or a slow blow fuse, it can make a big difference. A fast blow fuse will blow with any overload, a slow blow fuse will allow for a brief overload.

 

[Guyfang]

TM 9-6115-641-24P, Figure 8, Item 22, Page, (PDF reader) 34, Part number FO3A125V30A, (there are approx 20 other part numbers for this fuse. The gov. ordered them from everyone and his dog), NSN: See below, Fuse, Cartridge, 30 AMP. Type, see below.

CIRCUIT OVER-CURRENT INTERRUPTION TYPE

NORMAL INSTANTANEOUS

That means a stink normal fuse.
NSN':
5920-00-539-6920
CANCELLED NIIN'S: 000183720 000715474 005048045 005528731 006872025 010879257 011111214 011273545 011373757 012264267 012356248 012779507

As you can see, a popular item. If you go to a reputable parts store and give them the fuse part number, and take the cap with you, you should be able to get one without a problem.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

Just checked the schematics FU1 is in the 24v circuit so just a regular agc 30a fuse will be fine. No slow blow nessary.
Two of my units have a 30v agc30a and one older set has a 125v 30a fuse thats not glass.

 

[rogpike]

I went to Rural King today and they had the fuses $1.99 for 4 or 5 of them. Popped it in and seems to be working now! Thanks! I am ready to load this sucker up on the house and get it going. I have two hot water heaters in the house....4,500 each I believe. Can I not just let the hot water run and use the elements inside them to load the genset periodically to give it a workout? My intent is to leave this thing outside on the concrete pad hooked up to the house all the time. We have had 2 outages that lasted all day from car wrecks recently. I want it ready for even the minor inconvenience of a short term power outage. Makes the wife happy when she can still curl her hair if the power goes out!

 

[robson1015]

I would not test it hooked to the house. Can you load test it without hooking up to your house panel??

 

[Zed254]

Best to use an electric stove or some other kind of independent load bank to test your generator on. That way you can observe how steady the Hz and Volts are with a multi-meter. I believe if you have a problem with the output of the generator it can damage some of your home electronics and you don't want to fry that hair dryer/curler!!!

 

[rogpike]

Thanks…the generator is running properly and putting out power the way it is supposed to….I guess I am referring to just exercising the unit about once per month.

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
It sounds good, but, from a member's here bad experience, things did not go well.

For the first initial loading, you want to ensure all is working good before you let it loose on your house. A member did that and ended up blowing out a bunch of stuff (garage doors, wall-warts for stuff, microwave etc...)

Have a multi-meter and make sure you have a good clean 60Hz 120/240 volts. The gauges are good, but you want to verify the gauge says 60Hz, your meter should say 60Hz etc..

After you have loaded it and are ready, hook up your house. Proper hook-up that is... interlock, transfer switch, generator break-out box. I would also suggest the first time you hook it up to the house, double check all your settings. Have all breakers off, turn one on which is like a few plugs, poke your meter and ensure it is again 60Hz 120volts.

 

[rogpike]

Good point. Would hate to fry my computers, home theater et. al. for something that could be tested easy enough first. Will report back. Also will post pictures.

 

[Daybreak]

Howdy,
It seems like you have everything handled. You have come to the right forum.

A thread which you might have already read, but is good to know the parts

MEP-802/803 Filters and Parts

The 2nd post has a bunch of quick links to other important things.