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MEP-831a Troubleshooting
- Thread starter DieselAddict
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- 2,544
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- Efland, NC
Based on my playing around with them, that is a bad sign.
- 2,544
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- 113
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- Efland, NC
I'm going to see if a local electrical motor rebuilder is willing to rebuild the alternator coils. I have a bad one myself.
R Racing
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- St. Leonard, MD
Check to make sure both connectors going from gen head are plugged in good to the inverter. If that isn't it Id say you could have a burned up gen.
I found out today on my second gen the governor linkage lock nut had backed off and I adjusted it to match my other 1. That's the good news. The bad news is its burning oil bad. So I thinking broken ring. So that 1 will have to sit till I can afford to dig into it. Its ashame because everything electrical works perfect on that 1.
- 2,544
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- Efland, NC
Thats not the worst news since the engine is one of the lower cost items to deal with. If the block isn't damaged these engines are pretty simple and inexpensive to rebuild.
R Racing
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Your right. Money is tight at the moment. But it could always be worse. I'll add it to the project list LOL
- 2,544
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- 113
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- Efland, NC
I have one with a bad alternator. Finding that at an affordable price isn't going to happen. I can only hope that I can find a company to rewind it.
- 2,544
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- 113
- Location
- Efland, NC
I've not tried one so I can't offer any first hand experience.
Here is the requested video: http://youtu.be/TCeTP-gOmz0
I tried locking the lever up and hitting it with my fist and it felt very solid.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OE Yanmar parts are so cheap that it's a waste of good money to look elsewhere.
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- Efland, NC
I think your magnet isn't strong enough. That will require and adjustment.
Dewie38
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- Milford Ct
It's not how solid it feels when you hit it, does it shut down after you hit it.
Hit it start it up and see if it shuts down.
You may need a magnet adjustment though.
Hit it start it up and see if it shuts down.
You may need a magnet adjustment though.
I'm wondering if maybe the speed controls are way out of wack? If adjusted even slightly wrong youl'll get a surge and it's not much further before I could see a nasty surge like that happening. There are a couple of sections detailing how to adjuust the speed control unit. I'd tell you where t look, but there are to different m
ls out there and the section numbers are different between them. The numbers that I had posted previously are the readings after I tried adjusting mine.Dewie38
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If you have two sets, one has output one doesn't, what I would do is remove the actuator from one with no output and install in the one that is running bad.
See if that helps get at least one up and running good, then mess with the other issues on the other set.
One connector and two bolts and the actuator is removed.
If that works then you at least will know the actuator may be out of adjustment or bad.
What I don't like what I see is the actuator slams all the way open when the set is started, shouldn't do that.
Also when the set is started, the rod shouldn't come out of the seat either. The black spherical nut on the rod should always be in the seat.
The one that has no output because the PMA isn't putting out enough voltage, may be because the speed is to low.
See if that helps get at least one up and running good, then mess with the other issues on the other set.
One connector and two bolts and the actuator is removed.
If that works then you at least will know the actuator may be out of adjustment or bad.
What I don't like what I see is the actuator slams all the way open when the set is started, shouldn't do that.
Also when the set is started, the rod shouldn't come out of the seat either. The black spherical nut on the rod should always be in the seat.
The one that has no output because the PMA isn't putting out enough voltage, may be because the speed is to low.
Dewie, any suggestions on how to address my shut down issue? Please notice that even after adjustment, my readings are still out of spec. Not sure if I should be concerned with this or not because I have no operations complaints other than the shut down issue. I'm still not certain the gain is adjusted correctly, but I don't think that will affect the shut down.
Prior findings:
Ok, finally got back out there and did some more testing. This time we used two heaters, but of which were rated for 1,500 watts. Not a true load bank, but the best I have. We also took great care to follow the instructions in each step. The only exception that I found was adjusting the Gain. The instructions said to turn the Gain clockwise so the target wouldn't hit the magnet when the load is shed. I believe this was a typo and the adjustment was counterclockwise. Turning the Gain clockwise only resulted in the engine being unstable. I had to turn it quite a ways back to get the target to not hit.
Step #13, wide open against the governor was reading 310Hz which means the governed speed is a bit low. I don't see this as being a major problem. Other speed readings were set dead nuts on and were cross checked after each adjustment.
F-G no load: 26 (24 spec) load: 26 (24 spec)
J-H no load: 8.0 (5.3 spec) load: 13.5 (11 spec)
D-E no load: 0 (0 spec) load:: 5 (0 spec)
A-B no load: 175 (178 +/- 2 spec) load: 188 (193 +/- 2 spec)
B-C no load: 175 (178 +/- 2 spec) load: 186 (193 +/- 2 spec)
C-A no load: 175 (178 +/- 2 spec) load: 187 (193 +/- 2 spec)
After adjustment, the unit still does not shut down, although the idle speed is noticeably lower. Although I previously had a 5/16" gap, this time I had to adjust the rod to achieve a 5/16" gap. I forgot to go back after making the other adjustments and recheck the gap.
Thought you guys might be interested in how I mounted the generator. I built a trailer to pull behind our atvs. Found a 30 gallon fuel tank and mounted that to the trailer and then a 400 watt metal halide light so I can have a cheap light tower/generator set. My local powder coater charged me $300 cash to shoot everything with a phosphate wash and then a real CARC paint job.
Prior findings:
Ok, finally got back out there and did some more testing. This time we used two heaters, but of which were rated for 1,500 watts. Not a true load bank, but the best I have. We also took great care to follow the instructions in each step. The only exception that I found was adjusting the Gain. The instructions said to turn the Gain clockwise so the target wouldn't hit the magnet when the load is shed. I believe this was a typo and the adjustment was counterclockwise. Turning the Gain clockwise only resulted in the engine being unstable. I had to turn it quite a ways back to get the target to not hit.
Step #13, wide open against the governor was reading 310Hz which means the governed speed is a bit low. I don't see this as being a major problem. Other speed readings were set dead nuts on and were cross checked after each adjustment.
F-G no load: 26 (24 spec) load: 26 (24 spec)
J-H no load: 8.0 (5.3 spec) load: 13.5 (11 spec)
D-E no load: 0 (0 spec) load:: 5 (0 spec)
A-B no load: 175 (178 +/- 2 spec) load: 188 (193 +/- 2 spec)
B-C no load: 175 (178 +/- 2 spec) load: 186 (193 +/- 2 spec)
C-A no load: 175 (178 +/- 2 spec) load: 187 (193 +/- 2 spec)
After adjustment, the unit still does not shut down, although the idle speed is noticeably lower. Although I previously had a 5/16" gap, this time I had to adjust the rod to achieve a 5/16" gap. I forgot to go back after making the other adjustments and recheck the gap.
Thought you guys might be interested in how I mounted the generator. I built a trailer to pull behind our atvs. Found a 30 gallon fuel tank and mounted that to the trailer and then a 400 watt metal halide light so I can have a cheap light tower/generator set. My local powder coater charged me $300 cash to shoot everything with a phosphate wash and then a real CARC paint job.
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Dewie38
Active member
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- Location
- Milford Ct
I don't think your shut down issue is related to the governor adjustments.
I think it's all mechanical, If you're shut down and the governor and actuator are not powered how could it be a gain or stability adjustment.
It's either in the actuator magnet or in the engine governor. There is a vertical spring (regulator spring) on the engine governor that will pull up on the fuel lever (black lever) if the magnet is not strong enough.
The governor spring and magnet strength are all related to the 5/16 gap, so if you have a correct gap and a mal adjusted magnet or linkage rod length then you have issues.
Is the spherical nut on the bottom of the rod all the way down on the last thread?
I think it's all mechanical, If you're shut down and the governor and actuator are not powered how could it be a gain or stability adjustment.
It's either in the actuator magnet or in the engine governor. There is a vertical spring (regulator spring) on the engine governor that will pull up on the fuel lever (black lever) if the magnet is not strong enough.
The governor spring and magnet strength are all related to the 5/16 gap, so if you have a correct gap and a mal adjusted magnet or linkage rod length then you have issues.
Is the spherical nut on the bottom of the rod all the way down on the last thread?