Mep-004

[NEIOWA]

Just picked up nice looking MEP004 on M200 trl from DRMO McCoy. 1260hr. Fires up and runs great. NOTHING on any of the meters indicating any electric output. Convience outlet dead. Multimeter indicates nothing at any terminals on output board. 1st time I've had this (2x MEP002, MEP003, MEP009B).

 

[Harleyd315]

After the unit is running, try and hit the start button again for just a second and see if that works.

 

[GPrez]

I had the exact same unit and the same issue. If you don't ground the unit to the earth you won't get it to produce power. Get a 8-foot copper grounding rod from any local home improvement warehouse and drive it into the ground. Hook a 2-gauge (or similar) bare copper wire to it and to the ground terminal on the generator and all the gauges should come to life and it should produce power. At least mine did.

Then I sold it because it only produced 3-phase power and bought a MEP-002. At least I turned a profit.

 

[flyxpl]

I had the same problem with mine . My problem was I was not following the startup procedure properly , thier was nothing wrong with the generator .

 

[PeterD]

When starting, hold the start/run switch on the start position until the volt meter reads approximately the correct voltage. That should solve your problem. I realize if you are not experienced in starting generator sets, that feels wrong, but it isn't. The engine has a device that cuts off the starter motor as soon as the engine is running, so it won't be damaged. Doing this allows the regulator to 'flash' the field and produce electricity.

BTW, it is probably an M-200 trailer you have.

 

[NEIOWA]

thanks will try that out. Bit different that our Mep009 or Mep003.

Has a ground hammer and wire no rods. Certainly very good/well advise practice to pu ground rod in (of course didn't in rush to see if she works).

 

[PeterD]

There is nothing that not having the ground rod would prevent it from generating power. The ground rod is a safety issue, to prevent the generator/trailer from becoming electrically live and resulting in a shock hazard should you touch it when running and you are grounded (in the event of a fault.) Remember, by default the MEP-004 (and many other generators) are configured with neutral bonded to ground (which is the chassis of the unit and trailer). If the neutral floats, it can get nasty, even small leakage currents can cause major problems--it only takes about 40 ma to kill!

 

[NEIOWA]

When starting, hold the start/run switch on the start position until the volt meter reads approximately the correct voltage. That should solve your problem. I realize if you are not experienced in starting generator sets, that feels wrong, but it isn't. The engine has a device that cuts off the starter motor as soon as the engine is running, so it won't be damaged. Doing this allows the regulator to 'flash' the field and produce electricity.

BTW, it is probably an M-200 trailer you have.

You got it works great. Now have to try under load.

Thanks

ASK makes a significant difference in noise level also.

 

[bimota]

Thank you for the great info. Who knows about MEP-004 accessories and special features? I can see there is interconnect capability and possibly more. My interest is building a mini-grid to power three houses each about 300 feet apart. Might be similar to a small field camp where a genset would power several camp sites spread apart. Anyone know how the MEP-004 or other equipment can be used to distribute and manage power across several sites? Should we start a separate thread for this topic?

 

[PeterD]

Bimota, download the manuals (all of them) and you will find out about things such as parallel operation, and other accessories. There is even a remote panel (never seen one, however) to allow remote operation of the generator set.

As to multi-site power, it is a 15 KW (can probably do 20 KW) setup, so that may be the limiting factor. For multi-sites, you need to know how to hook things up however. That's more complex than one could describe in this reply. So: possible, but not trivial at all.

 

[Isaac-1]

If this is an isolated off grid site it might make sense to wire each house up for 3 phase power that way you can take full advantage of the output. Also if the houses are very far apart it makes sense to generate at a higher voltage and use step down transformers at each house, this allows smaller transmission wire size (the MEP-004 should be easily configured for 480V operation).

Ike

 

[bimota]

Peter, yes I am looking for any information about mil transformers that would do 480 to 240 single phase.
I'll dig thru the manuals.
Anyone get an MEP-004 upgraded with auto start?
Anyone know about the remote control panel?
Now that we have the units working we need to make them as usable as possible. Thanks,

 

[Isaac-1]

480V to 120/240V transformers are common in industrial electrical setting (to power office equipment, lighting, etc.) and often sell for scrap prices on the used market when they are upgraded. You may want to check ebay for 480V transformers, just be aware they can be heavy.


Ike

 

[PeterD]

Yes, look for places that sell industrial surplus electrical/electronic/equipment. We've a place near me (Manchester NH) like this, and they frequently have 3-phase transformers sitting there--they are a dog to sell because shipping is a PITA, so the basic prices are low. Last one I looked at was (almost) new and about 100. IIRC, it was rated about 4 or 5 KW, so it was a bit heavy.