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Mep802 small fire repair help !!!

O

oliveone

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Mep802 Mice nest small fire repair help !!!

Hello been a member for many years and have learned a lot in my time reading here. Live in Kingston NY area and on March 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] 2018 have and bad snow with lots of high winds. Lost power at about 845 am and went down switch the pellet stove to the inverter and the deep cycle battery. No need to fire up the generator as wife has already left for work and should only be out of power for a few hours ( I Hope). I bring a Generator over to my mom’shouse and then come home around 430 pm to fire up the 802. Note all my generators get PMCS started every 30-45 days. Last run was on Mar 1 for about 20 with no load. On March 2 the 802 in question is runs with a god load as it is running the well, oil boiler, septic pump, stovetop, microwave and few lights in the house. Not all is run at the same time. No issue at all.
At about 9 pm we get power back and generator is turned off and switch back over to utility power. At about 10 my brother returns generator from my moms house and is asking how my generator ran yesterday. I go to start the generator and it is acting like it is out offuel. I turn it off and try a second time. The % of total power gauge is goingall the way up. I turn generator off and there is smoke coming from the inside. It is not diesel smoke and panic sets in. Fire is coming from the output boxarea. As fast as I can I take the top cover off( yes running to get tools ). So many little 5/16 bolts to remove. Once I get it open I find a big mouse nest inside that is glowing red but no flames at this point. I reach inside and pull all the burning part out of the area. Then grab the shop vac and clean rest of the mess it as much as I can. Then remove the bag from the shop vac as I don’t need to get the shop vac on fire also. Went inside for some water to drink.

Removed the side cover to get a better look. On Terminal Block 3 wire at the end close to the outside are burned up. Number 12 is burned so bad that it is not connected anymore. Number 11 is still connecter but is meltspretty bad.
The question I have is this. Could the mouse nest with all the wetness caused this issue are should I be looking for something else.
Best way to clean this up from here?
few pics
thanks Olive One

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Last edited:
gimpyrobb

gimpyrobb

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Dang that sucks!

Doesnt look too bad though. Id replace the barrier strip and put new ends on the cables and try it out.
 
J

jamawieb

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Mice urine will eat through the metal and plastic making a loose connection. As you know, when you have a loose connection with electricity it causes heat. The heat caused the nest to catch fire. Probably came loose when you were transferring from one house to another. Time to seal up all the holes so they can't get inside again.
 
Guyfang

Guyfang

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This is repairable. There are several people parting out gen sets right now in the forum. I would get at least the TB's, then clean it all out. Hook them up, and if you have no other damage, you should be good. But you need to look in every corner, every wire bundle and check out some components. Start with K1. Take it out and bench test it. It's simple. After you check everything out, then do it again. Be a shame if you missed a few wires shorted together, and burn it up again.

Use your camera and take pictures of the canon plugs and wire bundles under the control panel. See if the wires there are not melted.

When you rehook everything, you need to pay max attention to the wire diagrams. Take your time, check each wire befor, during and after you hook them up. Or you will have way more problems then you can ever know. This is not rocket science. But you just need to pay attention.

Good luck. Keep us in the loop.
 
CapePrep

CapePrep

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Had a mouse issue in exact spot on my 802. No fire, but was one loose connection away from it!! Follow advice you have already received here. The wires need to come off and either the crimped forks cleaned up really well or even replaced. Find another terminal strip on A-----n and either just do one wire at a time or I do know that the wires from the gen head are numbered, be it very small. 1-12. As guy said, this is easily fixable, just take your time and double check everything else. Those little b$#% really mess with a perfectly running generator.
 
robson1015

robson1015

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After you get the unit repaired, spend some time screening all the openings to keep out the mice, wasps, daubers, etc. Mice can ruin your day. I have no problem killing every mouse I can. I've had then fill my vehicle blower fan with dog food !! Good luck with the fix...
 
Guyfang

Guyfang

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Farmitall

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Field mice are everywhere and will get into everything, EVERY THING!, especially anything that presents a cozy, or insulated, solar heated space. Why the military didn't spec out rodent proof enclosures is beyond any realm of rational thinking. Two worthless mice can/will ruin a million dollars worth of equipment in a month's time.

Mice can see well into the IR spectrum and can pick out a warm place to nest and a generator encased with a dark colored box around it and a warm engine block is prime pickings for a new home.

Mouse proofing is my next project for my 803a. Anyone who has a generator needs to mouse proof it right away lest they incur an expensive repair bill from the damage.
 
Guyfang

Guyfang

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In 1982 we had a HI-Power radar, (Hawk missle System) start to smoke, and before anyone could climb the berm, catch on fire. 1.5 million dollars. Up in smoke. Cause, field mice. They got up in one of the cabinets, next to a step up transformer, in the kilo volt arena, and that's all it took. That was a real hard winter on us, atop the mountain. I had two MEP-016's smoke test, and a MEP-116A burn up also. So our stupid Duck Hunter Chief got a cat. That stopped the mouse problem. But, then we had CATS. The fool brought a female to the site. We were overrun with cats. To make matters worse, the dam* cats didn't eat the mice. No, no. They left the caldavers outside the maintence building, in the snow. When spring, sprung, the oder of hundreds of dead mice was not to be underestimated.
 
B

Bmxenbrett

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Oliveone we are neighbors i live just across the river about 30min away.
I would connect the burnt up wires and do a test run before you even replace the terminal block. If it all checks out repair correctly.
Then put hardware cloth over the lower openings and below the engine..theres a hole down there too. Covering the rad opening isnt needed as its not open to anything but the front of the rad.

If this set is mobile and you would like to get it fixed PM me. Its possible to have a quick turn around. They say power may be off until late this week and snow again on wed.
 
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