MEP-002A Saved the Day

[Tinstar]

The MEP-002A was called into duty during and after a Historic wind and wildfire breakout in Oklahoma a few days ago.
Towns evacuated, Hundreds of homes burned, tens of thousands of acres burned and thousands without power.
Over 150 wildfires.
(Edit: 4 killed ---I found out this morning watching news)

We lucked out and three separate fires went right by our ranch.
The Oklahoma Governor, who is our neighbor about 1-1/4 mile away lost his ranch house.

We lost power early in the day of the storm due to the extreme winds.

Fired up the MEP-002A and plugged it into the 50A transfer box.
It powered everything we needed and more.
Shut it down this morning and the final tally is 40.6 hours of runtime.
I did shut it down 24 hours in and checked the oil.

Generator used a total of 3/4 qt of oil
About 15 gallons of diesel
Zero issues.

She may be old and loud but definitely did the job.

Will change the oil and filters now and keep it ready for the next event.

Tornado season is just around the corner.

Perfect

 

[Tinstar]

Oil and filter changed.
Fuel filters changed
Fuel screens and strainers checked. They looked great.
Air filter checked.
Entire generator given a hard visual inspection.
(1 panel bulb gave out)
Fuel tank topped off with 2cycle oil and seafoam added.
Two scepter fuel cans topped off with same additive’s and back on generator trailer.

Generator cover in place.
50A Gen cord wound back up on trailer.

It’s now ready when needed.

 

[massey]

Congrats on being prepared, I'm always grateful when I'm able to provide power with these MEP's.

 

[Digger556]

Congrats on being prepared, I'm always grateful when I'm able to provide power with these MEP's.

2x

Good job being prepared!

 

[Dog Breath]

Great job keeping your equipment maintained! Many times generators are neglected for months or years and are expected to run when needed.
I see so many for sale that haven’t been started in years and the sellers expect big money. They don’t realize what is involved to get the fuel system cleaned out and everything back in working condition.

 

[Tinstar]

Well it might be needed again sooner than than later.
Fires are still ongoing and another fire missed us by 1/2 mile yesterday, Monday, 17th
Only the Super Scooper Fire Attack Aircraft, two were used, snuffed down the eastern line advance.
They were banking hard right directly over my ranch entrance, just after dropping water to go refill tanks at Lake Arcadia.
It was close.

Today is another extreme fire threat and Wednesday is even worse wind and low humidity wise.

Oklahoma always has wildfires, but rarely this many and not in this area.
I have a very good buffer around everything, but once the monster fire gets going and pushed by the winds, most buffers aren't enough.

I was under a mandatory evacuation order yesterday.
Yea right,...........
Worse case I grab my wife and dog and we all head to the pond.
Not leaving while I can still fight burning embers before they turn into fires.

Gonna be a long 36 hours.....

 

[2Pbfeet]

@Tinstar Good luck! The news photos out of your area looked to me like desolate images of devastation.

In my book, 70mph+ wind driven flames are not exactly in the "easy to fight" category, as the recent fires out here have also shown. Over the years, we have been steadily enlarging and expanding our fire resistance efforts, but at the end of the day, I think that even a grass fed fire is basically a blow torch with an 80mph wind behind it. The last fire we had here had 50-70' high flames coming off a grass fire flaring up hill. I think that the speed and size can be hard to comprehend without seeing it first hand.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Tinstar]

Discretion is the better part of valor

I will fight fires to a point because I’ve personally seen raging forest and grass fires both in New Mexico and Oklahoma.

When and hopefully IF the fire wall hits here with 50+ mph winds, we will be be somewhere else.

Not worth dying or getting scarred for life over stuff.

 

[Tinstar]

I did rig up a spray trailer using a IBC tote and pressure washer.

Will use this for the embers since it wouldn’t work for heavy flames.

I was going to use my M149A2 but I haven’t gotten around to mounting the pump.
I did move my all my other generators out of harms way.

 

[Tinstar]

I will admit that the MEP-002A is VERY loud.
But when trailer is strategically placed behind shed, makes the world of difference.



Forgot to mention I also removed, cleaned and sealed the engine oil drain valve.
It had been slightly leaking ever since I’ve owned it.

 

[Guyfang]

The last two time I was in the States, in South Dakota, we were under mandatory evacuation orders. Huge fires. We sent our kids and the older folks to Wyoming and the rest of us stayed behind. My 80 year old Aunt was a pro at this. Everything of value, was piled up in the middle of the beds and if we had to bail out, you just grab the corners of the blankets and drug them out to the trucks. Both times it was close. The Jasper fire, we could see flames moving at a speed that defies the imagination, from the house. Then God stepped in and the winds changed directions. The same with the Battle Creek fire. My Aunt laughingly told me to not come back again.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Yep, I'm already fretting about our upcoming fire season.

We were just under a flood warning this weekend with a LOT of rain that flooded riverbanks & topped area roads. The grass & underbrush is going to take off this spring & when it dries out, we are going to have a lot of dry fuel to deal with this summer.

Last summer we received a local Firewise Grant to remove a lot of underbrush & trim up tree limbs within 100' of house and we got a lot removed. That all helps but nothing is totally fireproof unless you live in a concrete bunker in these kinds of summer conditions with dry winds & so much tinder-dry fuel in nearby trees/forests, underbrush etc. all around. Wind driven embers can travel a long-distance starting spot fires when you least expect it.

Hopefully we get through another hot dry summer unscathed.

 

[2Pbfeet]

The last two time I was in the States, in South Dakota, we were under mandatory evacuation orders. Huge fires. We sent our kids and the older folks to Wyoming and the rest of us stayed behind. My 80 year old Aunt was a pro at this. Everything of value, was piled up in the middle of the beds and if we had to bail out, you just grab the corners of the blankets and drug them out to the trucks. Both times it was close. The Jasper fire, we could see flames moving at a speed that defies the imagination, from the house. Then God stepped in and the winds changed directions. The same with the Battle Creek fire. My Aunt laughingly told me to not come back again.

Your aunt does seem like a a pro, and the blanket method seems amusingly practical.

I have a vivid memory of the first time I saw a grass fire on a slope across the valley. It went up 200' or so of slope in less than ten seconds, and in that time completely cured me of any ideas that I had had about fighting a grass fire single handedly. And that was a controlled burn on a windless day. None of the subsequent fires around here have altered that opinion. My view is that here, one needs to be ready for fire at all times. I will say that with the various fires in the last decade or so, there seems to be a lot more good advice based on data from what actually worked in those fires. Locally, a 5' non-flammable perimeter around the home is now becoming required in most places, with reduced vegetation out to 30' and 100', but in a suburb, what your neighbor does can have a huge impact on your home. There were some amazing news reports out of LA with homes that caught fire acting like huge (3x5') blowtorches as the flames poured out of the burning house on to the neighbor's home. Most homes in the US, as @Chainbreaker pointed out above, are not built to that level of "fireproof".

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Tinstar]

I watched a few stories on the LA fires where the preparation of a few home owners saved their homes.

They all had pools, water pumps rigged with fire hose and generators.
They pumped from the pools and ran them dry but saved their homes.
Generators saved the food and kept the lights on.

Once this threat is over, I will be headed to the pump supply place for fittings and hose for the diesel water pump.

Will be wiring my NF-2D light tower/generator with a 50A outlet to use as a backup generator.
I have several gas powered generators for various uses but the diesel generators are for home backup only.


Thank you to all the men and women firefighters who do a tough, dangerous job.

 

[Guyfang]

Anyone who lives in the Black Hills, for any length of time has probably been ordered to leave the house more that once. Now that I think about it, I was a third time there during a fire. I was about 10-11 years old, 1964-65. It was not a large fire, but you can still see the differance between where it burned and not burned, to this day. We were almost to Crazy Horse, when we saw ahead of us, the fire jump the road. The Local VFD was stopping cars and pulling able bodied men of of them to help try and control the fire line. The only reason they let us turn around and go back to Custer was because there was no one to drive my brother and I to someplace safe, like Custer.

 

[2Pbfeet]

I watched a few stories on the LA fires where the preparation of a few home owners saved their homes.

They all had pools, water pumps rigged with fire hose and generators.
They pumped from the pools and ran them dry but saved their homes.
Generators saved the food and kept the lights on.

Once this threat is over, I will be headed to the pump supply place for fittings and hose for the diesel water pump.

Will be wiring my NF-2D light tower/generator with a 50A outlet to use as a backup generator.
I have several gas powered generators for various uses but the diesel generators are for home backup only.


Thank you to all the men and women firefighters who do a tough, dangerous job.

If you find a nice diesel pump that you like, I would be interested in learning about what you find.

And a deep thank you to all who serve.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Tinstar]

This is what I have.
Bought it on govplanet three years ago.
It was brand new and never used.
Military paid $2979 for it.
I got it for $150

It’s Diesel and I have ran it for about 30 minutes, using water so as not to ruin pump, then put it in storage.
I keep meaning to get fittings and hoses but never got around to it.
Now it’s on the front burner.

 

[2Pbfeet]

That looks like a great score! Good luck on the fittings.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Tinstar]

Well generator is back in position.

This Friday and Saturday are again two days of extreme fire threat with winds again in the 50-60 range and low humidity.

When this threat is over then I have tornado season to deal with.

Perfect

 

[Digger556]

Every time I think about moving back to the midwest, I start thinking I need to build an underground bunker/house.

Fires, tornados, ice storms, trees falling? No problem.