MEP 802 or 803

[Buickrat]

I would chose the 803. I have a similar size house, but have gas hot water/heat, so not as much demand as you, but when I need it, it's there.

You can have an electrician wire in a manual transfer switch and a 50 amp cord/plug to plug into the genny. I installed a weather tight 50 amp outlet to the side of the 803. I plug the cord to into it when the power goes out, and power the whole house. The cable will be at least half the cost of the install. Good outdoor rated 4 wire #6 gauge cable is 10 bucks a foot, and you want the genny as far from the house as possible.
Technically, they call for #2 wire and a 60-70 amp breaker, as the 803's can put out 62 amps, and if a couple things decide to kick on at the same time, it will do that. That wire will cost more.

 

[dav5]

I would go with the 803 also. The 802 vibrates way more and if the 803 is being used for sporadic outages fuel economy isn't really much of an issue. You may have the odd long term outage but over a 10 year period I suspect the usage will be minimal and not a factor. I would rather have excess capacity than not enough capacity. Load bank it occasionally and wet stacking isn't an issue.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Oh yeah, the 803s are smooooooth operators! Tough to explain to someone how a 4 cylinder engine can be smoother and quieter than a twin half its size... but its true.

 

[justicelee26]

The 803 seems like quite a machine. Just the right amount of power to keep everything going without burning though too much fuel. I’m having a hard time finding any in my area but I will keep looking. I just measured my inrush current on my 2-ton AC compressor. It is drawing 69 inrush amps! It seems like I might need to get a hard start kit just to get this thing turned on with the 803.

 

[98G]

I would chose the 803. I have a similar size house, but have gas hot water/heat, so not as much demand as you, but when I need it, it's there.

You can have an electrician wire in a manual transfer switch and a 50 amp cord/plug to plug into the genny. I installed a weather tight 50 amp outlet to the side of the 803. I plug the cord to into it when the power goes out, and power the whole house. The cable will be at least half the cost of the install. Good outdoor rated 4 wire #6 gauge cable is 10 bucks a foot, and you want the genny as far from the house as possible.
Technically, they call for #2 wire and a 60-70 amp breaker, as the 803's can put out 62 amps, and if a couple things decide to kick on at the same time, it will do that. That wire will cost more.

Not to derail, but good top of the line 6/4 cable is under $3/ft...


An MEP803 seems like the choice....

 

[csheath]

The 803 seems like quite a machine. Just the right amount of power to keep everything going without burning though too much fuel. I’m having a hard time finding any in my area but I will keep looking. I just measured my inrush current on my 2-ton AC compressor. It is drawing 69 inrush amps! It seems like I might need to get a hard start kit just to get this thing turned on with the 803.

Can't remember what my 3.5 ton package unit was but it was north of 70 amps. You can hear the 803 engine labor for a few milliseconds when it starts but it starts and runs fine without a hard start kit

Good luck finding one at a reasonable price. Anything over a couple of grand is nuts for a used machine you will have to sort IMO. Prices have gone bonkers since last year. I would buy a new Perkins single phase unit and fabricate my own enclosure and exhaust before paying the prices they are bringing now.

 

[Light in the Dark]

The pricing is nuts. Ive got a 10k for sale locally, that with what I am asking, I cannot even replace it for! Auction prices a few days ago were over 5k for units that used to be about a grand....

 

[gatorbob]

The 803 seems like quite a machine. Just the right amount of power to keep everything going without burning though too much fuel. I’m having a hard time finding any in my area but I will keep looking. I just measured my inrush current on my 2-ton AC compressor. It is drawing 69 inrush amps! It seems like I might need to get a hard start kit just to get this thing turned on with the 803.

I would get a soft start kit not hard start kit. I'm out $100 on a hard start kit that barely made a difference except reduce the inrush time. Does your meter have an inrush function or are you getting that reading via a "max" button? As others have said, you may be fine doing nothing but a soft start kit should give you quite a bit of safety margin.

 

[justicelee26]

I measured it using the inrush feature of my multimeter. I’ll have to look into the soft start kit.

 

[gatorbob]

I read about Micro-air EasyStart here and it also worked for me. Although, I could never get accurate measurements before or after. Before the install, my meter captured low inrush readings but an electrician measured the actual inrush to be 2-3X higher. He had a meter that cost several hundred dollars more.

 

[smokem joe]

Type W is around $4 per foot and good for 87 amps in 6ga

 

[gatorbob]

Type W is around $4 per foot and good for 87 amps in 6ga

This is what I went with. Glad I did because I was pushing 66 amps today on a load test. Although my pin/sleeve connectors are only rated for 60 A. The next step is 100 A and those prices are just way too high even with the Elecdirect knock off type. I wasn't expecting to get more than 62 A out of MEP-803A and was surprised.

 

[csheath]

This is an impressive demonstration of a soft start. The units are pretty pricey though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2K0ptvYb6Q

 

[gatorbob]

I haven't had mine installed long enough to know how it holds up given the cost but you can definitely hear the difference. It doesn't sound like an AC system starting anymore. It ramps up so slowly for those ~5 seconds. It's quieter than the video given that the compressor is inside the condenser unit. I don't have a good enough meter to be sure of the highest inrush. The first second of inrush knocked ~100 amps off my stock startup inrush. I think the 2nd second might go a bit higher but have no way to measure.

I got it in case my MEP fails I can still use a smaller portable unit. Plus, I am thinking not having that inrush might be a good thing if some other motor starts at the same time when using the MEP-803A. I might even have enough headroom to run hot water at the same time.

 

[smokem joe]

This is what I went with. Glad I did because I was pushing 66 amps today on a load test. Although my pin/sleeve connectors are only rated for 60 A. The next step is 100 A and those prices are just way too high even with the Elecdirect knock off type. I wasn't expecting to get more than 62 A out of MEP-803A and was surprised.

I wouldn't worry about the 60A plugs. They are tested much higher than that to certify them at 60A. I have run 75A on mine for a load test through 50A plugs

 

[gatorbob]

Yeah, I think this is one of the areas you can go reasonably cheap on. I'd rather have spent a bit more on bigger conductors and the Type W protection.

 

[justicelee26]

The soft start looks really cool. I think it would only be worth the money if it allowed me to run my water heater or my clothes dryer at the same time as the AC. My only problem now is finding a generator. I have a good lead on an 802a but everyone has me convinced the 803a is better.

 

[Guyfang]

Please define "better".

 

[justicelee26]

Better for my needs I guess I should say. I still think I could make the 802 work as long as I didn’t run my water heater at the same time as the AC.

 

[Guyfang]

Considering how long you will maybe need it, load management should take care of that problem. You don't plan to run for years on end. But for extended time periods, for instance, several weeks, it may become a problem if you have to add maybe extra loads to the equation. Unforeseen things. If it's right on the limit of the 802, then the 803 sounds maybe better. But then I grew up in a power generatin environment where more is better.