Mep-002A

[Slate]

I bought an mep 002a recently. I was wondering, should it fluctuate in output? Not wildly. I will get it warmed up and then set it. My htz will jump up or way down when left alone. Not all the time, but randomly. Also the other day I cranked it up and engine sounded awesome ran great, but no electricity, turned it off and back on and then it made power, ran a couple ac units. but % rated output was way below 0. I'm new to generators so any thoughts? Also batt is always in the yellow despite hours of use.

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[Coug]

No voltage at startup can be not having the "start" switch held long enough. From what I've heard you have to hold it until all the gauges have stabilized, which can be 5-10 seconds after it's fired and running.
As for the other issues, someone with more experience will hopefully be along soon to chime in.

 

[robertsears1]

In addition to always holding the start switch on for ~10” min, get a can of DeoxIT contact Cleaner D5S6 from ebay (~$17), open up behind the control panel (unit shut down) wiggle every connection. Spray into the rotary switches and cycle around 50 times and spray again and cycle again. You unit is several years old at the point and things can get small patches of corrosion that may affect operation. I find that my 002 shakes much more than my other gensets.

Robert

 

[Guyfang]

I bought an mep 002a recently. I was wondering, should it fluctuate in output? Not wildly. I will get it warmed up and then set it. My htz will jump up or way down when left alone. Not all the time, but randomly. Also the other day I cranked it up and engine sounded awesome ran great, but no electricity, turned it off and back on and then it made power, ran a couple ac units. but % rated output was way below 0. I'm new to generators so any thoughts? Also batt is always in the yellow despite hours of use.
Measure battery voltage. What do you get. Then have someone start the set for you, while you keep the Meter hooked to the battery's. What do you get? The voltage should go up on starting, and come down as the battery's get loaded. Can go as high as 27-28 volts, but should drop to 24 volts, when properly charged. Also, get a load test done on your battery's. They may be not in great shape.

All this info can be found under the troubleshooting guide.
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[Chainbreaker]

Since your living in TX and its summer you probably don't need to use the preheat for the glow plugs and manifold heaters much, however regardless of summer temp I like to always hit the preheat for a minimum of ~15 seconds in summer (full 60 seconds in winter) as it seems to fire off easier and exercises the circuit. Also, you need to hold it in start position and not let go until the oil pressure comes up above ~30 psi. Don't worry there is a lockout that prevents the starter from remaining engaged after a certain RPM is reached.

The hZ fluctuations you describe is often caused by a bad transducer, the transducer that was spec'd is notorious for going bad over time. Many have retrofitted Hz and Voltage gauges to all digital gauges and never looked back...that, or get yourself a cheap Kill-A-Watt meter and plug into the convenience outlet and you can read hertz and volts. Using a known good meter like a Kill-A-Watt is a good way to set it at 61.5 hZ (to allow for droop) and then leave throttle set at that and you shouldn't have to ever touch it again if your governor is properly adjusted.

In addition to what Guyfang mentions above, I would put each battery on a battery charger overnight to top up and take a voltage reading on their condition after they sit for a couple of days. If they drop below 13~12V your looking at a set of batteries unless they are sulfated and you have a charger that can run a desulfation pass in them, sometimes that works...for a while anyway. I like to use the Interstate MT-51's @ ~$110.

 

[Slate]

Thank you. Anyone got a link to some digital guages or someone who makes them for these on here?

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[Chainbreaker]

SS member "JimC" used to kit up a very nice set of drop in digital gauges but he appears to have quit selling them a couple years ago. I think all JimC was doing was taking some off the shelf digital gauges and adapting them to the round panel mounting holes by 3D Printing custom meter bezels that accommodated the gauges and fit the original panel mounting holes. If a SS member has a 3D printer perhaps they would be willing to run off a few digital meter adapters for SS members that wanted a set. Someone would need to research & find a good reliable set of digital Hz & Volt/Amp gauges with dimensioned dwgs to work off of.

An alternative to a digital hertz gauge would be something like this drop in analog gauge (See post #55 bottom picture)