Max amp draw on MEP-802A @ 240V

[pclausen]

Going to go look at 4 MEP-802A gensets tomorrow morning and hopefully leave with 2 or 3 of them.

I plan to use 1 or 2 as backup generators for my house. I have 400A service into 2 200A panels. I just went and put a current meter on each of the 2 hot legs in each panel and got the following readings:

Panel A L1 20.8A
Panel A L2 13.6A

Panel B L1 7.9A
Panel B L2 5.0A

I have a very efficient 4 ton 2 stage heat pump (Trane XL20i) which was running in the 2nd stage. It was drawing 11.3A.

I had everything on that I normally would, computers, TV, lights, so I could probably be a little more frugal if needed. My water heater is gas, as it my stove, but I do have a well pump which was not running when taking the above readings.

So my plan is to connect a 802A to each panel and have all the critical circuits, including A/C in Panel A and have that be the primary and only fire up the 2nd 802A when I need to use other stuff in panel B and probably rotate the generators each year so they accumulate hours at a similar rate.

What is the max real-life actual amp draw the 802A will handle? From reading other threads here, I understand that the 802A maxes out around 5500W where the 002A would get closer to 7 or 8KW before running out of steam.

My original plan was to run them in parallel after watching that YouTube video of the guy doing it with a pair of 002's, but then I read the thread here about it not being recommend. Who knows, if I feel brave enough, maybe I'll attempt it one day!

Thanks. I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions when I start working on the units, assuming I pick them up! They are all 2007-2009 models with between 1200 and 3500 hours on them. Price per unit range from $450 to $1000. All are supposedly complete except 2 of them are missing a cover or two.

 

[pclausen]

I was looking at the specs in the TM 9-6115-641-10 manual, and see the following regarding current ratings:

120/240 volt connection - 26 amps

So 240V * 26A = 6,240 Watts right? So does that mean these are underrated at 5000 watts?

 

[Keith_J]

I was looking at the specs in the TM 9-6115-641-10 manual, and see the following regarding current ratings:

120/240 volt connection - 26 amps

So 240V * 26A = 6,240 Watts right? So does that mean these are underrated at 5000 watts?

6240 watts real plus reactive, this means power factor of 0.80 so if you multiply 6240 by 0.80 you get about 5000 watts. Ok, more like 4992 but significant figures yada yada ymmv eieio

 

[pclausen]

Thanks Keith! So does that mean that I when I read my amps across L1 and L2 with my digital current clamp, I need to stay below 26 amps, or 26 x 0.80 which is 20.8 amps?

Maybe there is no way to find out until I actually try feeding the panel with the generator? I definitely want to avoid the frequency dropping down into the 30-40 Hz range on the edge as I read in another post. Would probably be really bad for my electronics around the house!

 

[Ratch]

I think I just talked to that guy today, he said someone was coming down tomorrow to look at the 4 he had left.

He said he bought them and didn't do a thing, just selling them as-is the way he picked them up.

That being the case, check the crankcase for water. Also lift the exhaust flapper and check for water sitting in the pipe. If there's water in the pipe, read the threads on here for some info on recovering the engine and avoiding damage.


And open all panels to check the Gen head for evidence of fire. I saw a few on the lot I previewed that had some pretty obvious signs of flameouts, and some not so obvious signs.

Good luck, those prices are pretty good.

 

[pclausen]

Yup, that's me. Yeah, he hasn't touched any of them, just rounding up his cost to the next $100 to cover his fuel cost to pick them up. I hope 3 of them will fit sideways in the back of my truck. I got 50.25" between my wheel arches and they are supposedly 50.60" wide. So I'm technically 0.35" short, but we'll see. Maybe only 1 or 2 are in good enough shape to be worth picking up. He also has a MEP-003A that he's asking $1200 for. I know that one would run my whole house for sure, but I prefer the newer design of the 80x series what everything I have read.

Thanks for the tips on what to look for. I have made a check list.

 

[Keith_J]

Thanks Keith! So does that mean that I when I read my amps across L1 and L2 with my digital current clamp, I need to stay below 26 amps, or 26 x 0.80 which is 20.8 amps?

Maybe there is no way to find out until I actually try feeding the panel with the generator? I definitely want to avoid the frequency dropping down into the 30-40 Hz range on the edge as I read in another post. Would probably be really bad for my electronics around the house!

The meter will read the real plus reactive current. Which means if there is a load of 6250 W that is pure resistive, the generator will be fine. But if you have a motor rated at 4000 W with a 0.60 power factor, it would exceed rated limits of the generator (6666 W) as there would be 2666 W of reactive power in the wires between the motor and generator.

 

[pclausen]

Thanks Keith, that makes sense. Now I understand.

So I did pick up 3 of the 4 802As he had available. I'll start another thread with my initial impression of them after giving them a once over.

Here they are on the truck after getting back home. It was a tight fit!



Unloading the first genset:



Did I mention it was a very tight fit?



Is there a way to link directly to and display the full size images instead of hosting them here? I'm used to encapsulating images like this:

Here are links to the above images hosted elsewhere in full rez:

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/MEP-802A-ALL-01.JPG

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/MEP-802A-ALL-02.JPG

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/MEP-802A-ALL-03.JPG

 

[rustystud]

Thanks Keith, that makes sense. Now I understand.

So I did pick up 3 of the 4 802As he had available. I'll start another thread with my initial impression of them after giving them a once over.

Here they are on the truck after getting back home. It was a tight fit!

View attachment 499988

Unloading the first genset:

View attachment 499989

Did I mention it was a very tight fit?

View attachment 499990

Is there a way to link directly to and display the full size images instead of hosting them here? I'm used to encapsulating images like this:

Here are links to the above images hosted elsewhere in full rez:

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/MEP-802A-ALL-01.JPG

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/MEP-802A-ALL-02.JPG

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/MEP-802A-ALL-03.JPG

If you don't post them here, then years later people will not be able to see what your talking about. Read some of the older posts and you will know what I mean.

 

[pclausen]

I know exactly what you mean Rusty. I see that all the time. In my case however, that's my own webserver and I have been uploading images to it for 15 years and linked to them from a dozen different forums over the years. I don't have to worry about bandwidth use or image size.

What I'll do is to post them here and then also provide a link to the full rez picture. Some of the detail is hard to see at 800x533 resolution each image is reduced to here. I searched the web a lot before picking up these generators for high rez interior pics and never did find any, so I figured I'd share mine with everyone.

 

[ctfjr]

Going to go look at 4 MEP-802A gensets tomorrow morning and hopefully leave with 2 or 3 of them.

I plan to use 1 or 2 as backup generators for my house. I have 400A service into 2 200A panels. I just went and put a current meter on each of the 2 hot legs in each panel and got the following readings:

Panel A L1 20.8A
Panel A L2 13.6A

Panel B L1 7.9A
Panel B L2 5.0A

I have a very efficient 4 ton 2 stage heat pump (Trane XL20i) which was running in the 2nd stage. It was drawing 11.3A.

The 'start current' of that AC unit is going to be substantial. With other loads connected you might have a problem starting it.

 

[pclausen]

Yeah, I'm definitely concerned about that when I'm already over 20A on L1 after it has already started. That said, I read somewhere that modern scroll compressors don't require the high star-up current like older units. Something about there not being any residual pressure they have to overcome when starting? If I have issues, I'm thinking about getting one of those A/C hard start kits, but again, they may only be applicable to older compressors, not sure.

I'll find out soon enough I suppose. I also plan to move my loads around to even out the draw on each leg.

 

[rustystud]

I know exactly what you mean Rusty. I see that all the time. In my case however, that's my own webserver and I have been uploading images to it for 15 years and linked to them from a dozen different forums over the years. I don't have to worry about bandwidth use or image size.

What I'll do is to post them here and then also provide a link to the full rez picture. Some of the detail is hard to see at 800x533 resolution each image is reduced to here. I searched the web a lot before picking up these generators for high rez interior pics and never did find any, so I figured I'd share mine with everyone.

High resolution pictures would be nice !

 

[rustystud]

Is that your "John Deere" tractor ? Nice unit.

 

[pclausen]

Ok, I'll provide links to the high rez versions then as I go.

Yep, that's my John Deere tractor. I love it. I'm primarily using it for logging right now believe it or not. I have a grapple for the front as well as the back. Here's a shot of it when I first picked it up from the dealer:

http://www.cstone.net/~dk/5085h260-1.jpg

 

[CrashWrench001]

Hi to all ,
Some Folks are Using a High Current /Capacitor Starting Helper kits Avalable From your local HAVC Contractor /dealer.
Will Try To find The Forum .
OH!!! MAKE SURE YOU EARTH GROUND THIS UNIT BEFORE STARTING !!!!!!!!
( Ask Me How I Know !!! )

Later,
Mark K.