MEP-003A Aux Fuel Hose Adapter

[amolaver]

SUCCESS! my local tractor dealer (Gateway Tractor) has come through once again - they make up their own hydraulic hoses took the cap off the aux fuel port on the gen and showed it to the parts guy - no problem. 4000psi pressure rated hose is so **** stiff, no way it collapses under the minor vacuum of a fuel pump and the fitting mates perfectly. i assume it is JIC, but it does seal, so i'm happy. @ $3.xx/ft, best know exactly how much you need though!

ahm

 

[aczlan]

SUCCESS! my local tractor dealer (Gateway Tractor) has come through once again - they make up their own hydraulic hoses took the cap off the aux fuel port on the gen and showed it to the parts guy - no problem. 4000psi pressure rated hose is so **** stiff, no way it collapses under the minor vacuum of a fuel pump and the fitting mates perfectly. i assume it is JIC, but it does seal, so i'm happy. @ $3.xx/ft, best know exactly how much you need though!
ahm

A 1' piece with a NPT fitting on the other end, a matching NPT to barbed connector and some diesel rated fuel line might be cheaper if someone else is doing this down the road...

Aaron Z

 

[amolaver]

i thought about doing something like that, but will 'normal' fuel line collapse when used in vacuum? having already stopped at 3 auto parts places, tractor supply, and a mom and pop hardware store, i was done running around. just glad to have something that i knew would work getting the 1' adapter (JIC or whatever on gen side, NPT on the other) seems like a good idea, period, since NPT is all you're going to find at the big box stores.. would give you a lot of flexibility. good idea!

ahm

 

[Speddmon]

I was without internet until just today at work and finally got it back here at the house just now, or I would have chimed in earlier and saved you some hassle. The fittings you need are 5/16" JIC fittings. They are almost exactly the same thing as the AN5 fittings. The OEM hose was just a piece of the fiberglass braided hydraulic (fuel) hose used on the generator. I was lucky enough to shag a few long stainless steel braided hoses from work with 5/16"JIC's on both ends, perfect for the aux fuel connections.

 

[rickf]

i thought about doing something like that, but will 'normal' fuel line collapse when used in vacuum? having already stopped at 3 auto parts places, tractor supply, and a mom and pop hardware store, i was done running around. just glad to have something that i knew would work getting the 1' adapter (JIC or whatever on gen side, NPT on the other) seems like a good idea, period, since NPT is all you're going to find at the big box stores.. would give you a lot of flexibility. good idea!

ahm

Normal fuel line would be fine, you are not really pulling a vacuum per se. Regular fuel line in a car is good for at least 15 inches of vacuum and that is the old stuff, not the new expensive fuel injection hose. Pulling from a drum on the ground you may get one or two inches of vacuum. The pump will give out before the hose. By give out I mean it just will not lift any higher when you get to the lowest point it can go. It will not hurt the pump, just no fuel. I really can't tell you what that low point is but it is lower than a drum sitting on the ground next to the set.

 

[Triple Jim]

As another option, I found this fitting at Amazon. It's listed as "Anderson Metals Brass Push-On Swivel Hose Fitting, Connector, 1/4" Barb x 5/16" Dual Seat Flare, $7.45. Shipping was free, but that may be because of some deal my wife worked. The seat angle is "dual" because it's cut at both 37 and 45 degrees, as you can see in the 2nd photo. It works well for the auxiliary fuel inlet fitting. It says 1/4" barb, but a 5/16" ID fuel line is snug on it. With a clamp or crimp ring, it would work well. The Anderson part number is ANEIZ057 and the Amazon UPC number is 719852118732. Checking today, the price appears to have gone up to $12.77 in the last three days, so I'm not sure what's going on there.

 

[Triple Jim]

Here is my MEP-003 with/without sound proofing on youtube:

Best,
hogi

Proof that the recommendations to avoid tan generators is without merit. With all the filtering, I can't see how sand would really hurt one.

 

[Isaac-1]

I don't know if I would go that far, I recently bought 3 MEP generators 2, 3KW Yanmar powered MEP-016D's (one of the 16D's went to a fellow board member) and a MEP-002a that had served time in a place where they had very fine red sand. The stuff was almost as fine as flour, the two little MEP-016D's had their fuel tanks coated and fuel filters clogged with the stuff. I suspect the MEP-002a had been the same, but was serviced by the army before being sent to DRMO with a flaky voltage regulator, I received it with a brand new fuel tank, including inlet strainer and all new filters (including the ones in the electric fuel pumps), unfortunately whoever installed the filters in the pumps failed to clean the sand out of the caps and around the rubber gaskets so they all leaked, that was an easy fix on my part though with just a bit of cleaning. The control box was also filled with about a quarter of an inch of this sand, and upon first start up a enough sand blew out of the exhaust and shutters to cover my brand new batteries. With that level of sand coverage I would imagine any gap or hole in the air filter system or even changing the air filter in the field could allow enough sand into the engine to do a lot of damage to the cylinders. Having said all that I got lucky and all the important stuff works great, just has some meter problems.

Ike

 

[Triple Jim]

Very interesting and appreciated. I guess I was forgetting just how well military personnel can test something.

 

[steelypip]

I would imagine any gap or hole in the air filter system or even changing the air filter in the field could allow enough sand into the engine to do a lot of damage to the cylinders. Having said all that I got lucky and all the important stuff works great, just has some meter problems.

Ike

I think you got a unit that had been stored (apparently quite a while) somewhere with lots of red floury sand. It wouldn't have blown all that out of it when started if it had been running in that environment before being shipped. Whether or not it ran in the sand is pretty irrelevant as long as the intake system was sealed up properly.

If a unit has been run long enough in an area with airborne sand, you should see evidence of sandblasting in the cooling system. The cooling blowers move a lot of air, and sand should do a fine job of scouring the paint off of blower blades, shrouding, etc.

 

[Isaac-1]

I agree that the MEP-002a was most likely inactive for the majority of time in that environment (at least after it was serviced and received the new fuel tank, etc.) , however the pair of MEP-016D's appear to have run in it until the small in tank fuel filters were completely clogged, how long that took is anyone's guess.

Ike

 

[steelandcanvas]

Subscribed

 

[Triple Jim]

That brass fitting from Amazon I posted about on page 3 is down to $6.75 today. Maybe the price of copper is fluctuating.

I used a piece of 1/4" ID x 1/2" OD fuel hose I got from McMaster-Carr and it went on the fitting very tightly so no clamp is needed. This looks like a good way to go if you don't have an original hose. I think I'll put a piece of straight metal tube on the other end so it's easier to keep at the bottom of the can.

 

[coyotegray]

Correct fitting.. These are also used on the internal fuel lines on 002's and 003's.

E-bay link removed

 

[fredri]

I haven't done it with my MEP-003A yet, but I have with my large fuel tank I use for my snowmobile fuel tank. It works great for regular petroleum, so my guess is that it would be even better with the diesel. I'm using 3/4 inch couplers for that application to match the hose & demand for fueling. Hope that helps; let me know if you have success, as I would do it for mine as well if it works...