MEP-016D new owner question

[boltbucket]

I'm new to the MEP owners club as I just got a MEP-016D. Generator tag says made 10-77. Re engine tag reads 01-03. Have not had time to do much with it but using a volt meter it shows around 320 volts on the plugins no matter if the inside switch set on 120 or 240 with out the unit being grounded. The machine's volt meter is showing nothing while the hertz meter is reading 60. Guessing voltage regulator but don't know much about these generators other than what I have goggled. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[CARNAC]

Find the TM. You have to use the 016A and then there is a 016D supplement but it's harder to find on the web. I have the manuals but they're on my computer that crashed.

The 016D is a re-engined 016A. They changed the engine from a gas to a diesel. Ensure the machine is properly grounded.

I gotta say with all of these floating around out there, for a safety standpoint, we should do a proper operation and maintenance video for youtube.

 

[Isaac-1]

Control box issues seem to be common these, lots of 40 year old wiring, that seems to have been mostly ignored when they had the Yanmar diesels retrofitted. So it may just be a loose wire, or bad gauge, if turn out to be a bad voltage regulator you can drop in a modern SX-460 clone for about $75, I did it on mine, there is a thread around here somewhere that includes photos.

Ike

 

[boltbucket]

Thanks for the Info. I found the TM for the MEP-016A online. I'll ground the unit and see what it shows and post some pictures. An operation and maintenance video for them would be a great help. Youtube has lots of how to videos for the larger MEP generators but the few vids I have found for the MEP-016D is just someone with a video camera walking around it while it is running. Best info I have found is is in this forum.

 

[Isaac-1]

One thing about the MEP-016D's is there is a good bit of variation in the conversions, some have metal fuel tanks, other plastic, some have Walbro electric fuel pumps, some have Purolator, hoses and wiring may be prefabbed professional looking, or may be random bits of hookup wire, even the engines may be painted red or green.

Ike

 

[boltbucket]

This one is tan. wiring looks well done just dirty. It's about to start raining here so could not do any testing, just took pictures.

 

[jonster]

Nice unit. Speaking of safety, you should try and track down a out-put lug cover. That's a disaster waiting to happen. I just use compressed air to blow the box clean. I also place a shop vac on one side so the blown dust just get sucked up. Good luck.

 

[boltbucket]

I have never seen an out-put lug cover for one of these so I will look for one, thanks. Last night I read the 002-003 wiki page where it says the tan generator's engines and alternators can have premature wear from desert dust. The hour meter on this one reads 3.5 hours, hope that is not the case here.

Yesterday I was playing with my super-cheap multimeter around the house and realized the readings it was giving me were messed up, so I purchased a nicer replacement for testing the generator. Got the generator out and got it grounded. Set the inside switch to 120v single. Turned the voltage adjusting rheostat all the way to the left. Engine fired right up then let it run a minute before throwing the breaker. Volt meter on machine read halfway between 0 and 50. Hertz meter read 57 but a few minutes later it read 64.5. Checked the plugins with new multimeter and got 27.7 volts / 63.2 hertz. adjusting the voltage rheostat to the right did not change anything.

Waited an hour and started generator again. Just watching the panel gauges the volts were around 25 and the hertz at 58 then the engine kicked down and the volts jumped over 120 and the hertz started moving up. Turning the voltage rheostat to the right made the volt meter move up to 150 and started jumping around it. This was for several seconds then the hertz meter went over 64 the volts dropped back to 25 and the engine eased up. Anyone know what is going on here?

 

[Isaac-1]

The first thing I would do is check all the power connections, if that does not help I would look at the voltage regulator

 

[truck1]

I have the same unit. After warm up the gauges even out. Always run the unit at full throttle till warm then adjust until hertz reaches 60. If you warm them up below full throttle you can damage the unit. My frequency meter jumps around a bit also and the volt meter is all over the place , but when testing with a multi- meter it is spot on in each phase. Mine had dust also in the control panel. I believe these gauges do not like being bounced all over the place. My volt meter had corrosion in it and I am looking for a NOS replacement.They are hard to find. Mine also started on the first pull when I got it from GL. There are good threads regarding this unit from Isaac, and other members here. As Isaac said the conversions run from outstanding to horrible.Mine was the latter. The wiring was totally fouled up but after a thorough going over it is a great runner.You will like this machine. Oh also do not change the phase selector while the unit is running- you will fry the switch.

 

[boltbucket]

Isaac1, have not had time to work on the generator yet but I will clean the connections as soon as I get a chance.

Truck1 thanks, the guy I bought it from told me you don't have to run it wide open. After reading your post and watching this youtube video it is starting to makes sense how to get these MEP's set right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpcI3JOYLmM