Mep03A vs. Mouse nest = No Power

[Mep Fan]

Unfortunately my gen set has become a victim to a mouse nest in the bottom of the control box. At first it tripped a fuse and shut down but I then reset it and noticed smoke from the control box. I then shut it down to find a nest at the bottom of the control box. I removed the nest and found one damaged connection, a few wires charred on the outside but not all the way through. I repaired the damaged connection and started the gen set only to find that it creates power (at the convenience outlet) only during the flash of the gen-set. Once the start position is released the power drops off. I have read quite a bit on here about the same issues, I am mechanically inclined but not super familiar with this type of troubleshooting problem. I was thinking that the voltage regulator was bad and had replaced it with the help of Kurt from this forum to no avail. I did notice that there is a loose terminal on top of the control box that will not tighten all the way? Not sure where to get one of those either or even if replacing that is worth it? I really don't want to give up on this set just yet, it has worked flawlessly for over ten years and it still runs great! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Perry

 

[rickf]

Mice pee and crap where they live (Think massive corrosion) so all of those connections will need to be taken apart, cleaned and reinstalled. Every one of them. And you need to check that one front and center in the middle pic and probably replace the terminal on the end.

 

[rickf]

Looking closer at that center pic it looks like there are wires and terminals down behind the one I mentioned and the screw I can barely see is rusted from heat, I will bet that was where the fire came from. You really need to go over all that wiring with a fine tooth comb. Now I am going to have to go out and check all of mine for nests!!!!

 

[rickf]

Looking at his last sentence he says "any help would be greatly appreciated". Help offered and no reply at all. I see he was on two days later. Guess he took the advice and ran. I don't know about you guys but I tend to remember usernames that do that. They will need more help down the road. I run into this on several auto forums I advise on. A simple thank you is nice and a follow up is fantastic.

 

[Guyfang]

Sad, but true.

 

[Mep Fan]

Sorry my apologies. I have been really busy with work, family and pretty much everything else. My lawnmower also broke so that has made it to the top of the repair list! I currenty have my generator in an enclosure that really restricts me from digging into it. I have to get it out of its cover before I can even get my hands in there to do anything with it. I hope that I can hook a chain to it and pull it out with a backhoe without damaging the shed. Once I acomplish that I will definitely take your advise and go over it with a fine tooth comb. This forum has been very helpful not only with what has been offered up by you folks but also by searching the previous posts and I do appreciate that! Thank you!

 

[Ray70]

OMG, that seems like a bad idea, being in an enclosure that small. You should see if you can modify that enclosure with fully removable or hinged sides for service access!
Working on sets with the AASK is bad enough, let alone stuffed into a tiny house!

 

[rickf]

I also think there is nowhere near enough fresh air flow for the engine, Just the open top sides are not going to keep the hot air from the louvres, which blows down, from being sucked right back into the cooling shroud.

 

[Mep Fan]

I have a ridge vent at the top and venting at the entire length of the overhang with removable panels on all sides but the area that I need to get into is just too tight for me to get my hands into, thus the reason to just take it out of there.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Nice looking enclosure.

Not familiar with your area's temp swings/ranges but just some thoughts to share...

If heat buildup were to become an issue you could always install muffin type fan(s) to boost airflow. You could place near the air inlet areas down low plugged into convenience outlet to boost with positive pressure to assist in evacuating any heat collecting up top and/or use to evacuate hot air up top or both... push/pull configuration. You could even rig up a temperature switch to automatically trigger at a specific cut-in temperature as insurance during any unexpected heatwaves occurring during an outage.

Might be overkill... but after all... these are air/oil cooled units highly dependent on maintaining adequate airflow to regulate operating temp parameters. Of course, there is always the overtemp triggered temperature shut down switch up by the air shutters/oil cooler, but you really don't want that tripping during a power outage if preventable... see my experience below:

We had a high-wind low humidity high-fire condition during a pre-emptive Utility Company shutdown. I was then forced to run backup power to keep our house & water well running while also watering down outside grass/trees near house.

To make this more exciting (nerve wracking) there was a raging wildfire in the area a few miles away dropping lots of ash our way. I had been running several hours on genset #1 when it suddenly shut down. I was outside wetting everything down near house working genset hard when it suddenly shut down. I thought it was due to overtemp condition due to running so hard in hot low humidity ash laden weather.

Fortunately, I have a 2nd genset adjacent to house to switch to . I switched house over to genset #2 & began troubleshooting #1 genset. Turns out it was a faulty oil pressure switch, not an overheating issue nor a bad over temp switch. Fortunately, I had both Oil Pressure Switch & Overtemp sensor spares on hand! Just locating my schematics + tools & troubleshooting took longer than the actual 5-minute repair.

 

[rickf]

I live about 75 miles south of the OP and I can tell you that NJ is a strange place for weather. Changes every 5 minutes. I have seen temps change 60 degrees in the coarse of 12 hours. It can go down to zero or a bit below in the winter and over a hundred with very high humidity in the summer. It is those summer temps that would worry me with that enclosure.

 

[Mep Fan]

Ok so I finally had a chance to take a good look inside the control box and this is what I found. The one terminal melted right out of the box. Does anyone have a complete control box they would be willing to sell?

 

[Guyfang]

Fixable.

 

[Mep Fan]

Fixable.

May I ask how? Is there a link to another thread that has dealt with this before? Thanks

 

[Ray70]

In reality you only need to replace the CT/CVT assy, but to do so requires you to disconnect the power wires that are looped through it, not an easy task, but not impossible either. I have a complete AC box off an 003A, but they are not cheap. I may also have a spare CVT assembly, but need to check.

 

[Mep Fan]

In reality you only need to replace the CT/CVT assy, but to do so requires you to disconnect the power wires that are looped through it, not an easy task, but not impossible either. I have a complete AC box off an 003A, but they are not cheap. I may also have a spare CVT assembly, but need to check.

I would probably be better off getting a complete AC box even thought it may be pricey. I hate to give up on it just yet. it starts right up and runs like a champ every time! How much are you asking for your AC box?

 

[Mep Fan]

Just curious if an AC box off of a 002A is the same as an 003A?

 

[Guyfang]

Its 99.9% the same.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Just curious if an AC box off of a 002A is the same as an 003A?

I believe the contents are the same, but the wrap count around the CT is different.

 

[Guyfang]

Also you need to readjust R1, (I think its R1) in the box. And there may be one other thing. Need to check.