MEP803A Picked It Up Today

[USAMilRet]

As above, I went and picked up my MEP803A from the transport service. This was not a GL or auction type sale, but an aftermarket sale from a vendor who repairs these units for sale to the open market. Anyways, here she is being unwrapped and some of the nice goodies I got with it.










Looks to be born in 09 but no indications on any additional work.




Other general looks.....






Control panel. This unit fired right up.




The history on this genset is about 9 months old now. I originally purchased this genset after Irma last year, in Sep IIRC. Had been looking at generators for some years and never got around to actually getting one, mainly we have had our 4KW Onan Motor Home generator but that is still a screamer. So during the power outage, we did not have enough to do what we needed to be done so I decided on an MEP803ATQG. Was going to win one at auction but at that time, gensets were selling for $7K plus if they ran - a little....

So after many auctions of these gensets and no way was I going to POTA for a maybe I got lucky unit (I usually do not), I decided to get this unit from a reseller in NH and paid a less than auction price and was guaranteed a working unit.

The unit above is the unit shown here when I asked for pictures of what I had bought.

 

[USAMilRet]

A new hour meter installed. The serial numbers match on the plates and so does the paint so according to the paperwork taped to the set, this set has had a CECOM reset.

Anyways, prior to having the generator shipped to me, during the final testing he noticed a knock (very minor) from the engine so he would not sell it to me unless he could rebuild the engine. At this time he offered me my monies back, having this one rebuilt, or having to wait for a new one coming in. I knew options 3 was out so I chose option 2 and agreed to a delay in delivery until the engine could be rebuilt.

[FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]1. Issue complete refund.
[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]2. Replace questionable engine with a fresh rebuild (new sleeves, pistons rings, bearings, gaskets, seals, etc), free of charge. This will give you a zero hour motor with absolutely no mechanical questionability and peace of mind. When we do this, we also replace the shaft bearing on the generator head, which is the only moving part in it. Essentially, all moving engine and generator parts as well as wear parts (rings, valve seals, etc) are replaced as new. This option will take us another week or so to get started, a week for parts to arrive then reassembly. In total, about 30 days before shipment.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]3. I have a few more generators coming in early next week. One of them is a MEP-803A 10-10KW and has 31 hours. It was a TIER-II reset in 2012 with a Melton rebuilt engine put in it. I would have to go through it as well but you would be welcome to have this machine as a replacement if it checked out.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]I chose option 2. So here are some pics of the motor tear down the unboxing of the new parts.....







So the engine got rebuilt but when something was not right and they though the timing was off so that was checked. No solution there. So now they replaced the injectors. So they replaced all 4 injectors and tried again and it still had issues.

 

[USAMilRet]

So the generator as it sits now is supposed to start to get funky at 85% load (I asked in another thread about this) and we decided that for a partial refund I would take this genset and try to figure out what is going on with it. BTW, without that initial knock heard, the motor and generator were operating at 100%.

So now I have the genset finally and have some trouble shooting to do. Starts right up, idles very nicely and runs veruy smooth at 60hz no load. Will have to put a load on it once it is set. I did notice some bubbles coming from around the pump seats

 

[USAMilRet]

Reserved Again

 

[Ray70]

So at this point its running ok, but starts to act up at 85% load, is that correct? Assuming that the load you're applying is really 85% ( about 10KW )?
Once you test it, let us know exactly what its doing. Bogging, smoking black, smoking at startup, etc. Then we can take it from there.
For starters looks like your injector washers are leaking. You might want to pull the injectors and make sure there is only 1 copper washer under them. if they accidentialy left an extra washer in there, that causes part of the injector tip to be blocked by the surface of the head and disrupts proper fuel spray. This often results in good running under low load, but increasing black smoke as the load increases.
Also, if they didn't let the motor sit a little while after tightening the rocker arms, before starting they may have bent some push rods.
Let us know how its acting and we can diagnose from there...

 

[USAMilRet]

I see I am missing the Slave Recepticle cover P/O15. Need to find one. Also, I did notice that it was bubbling around the fuel injector pumps.

The pictures above about the injectors is before and after, so these were cleaned while the injectors were replaced.

I need to get help building a load bank. I have furnace elements I need to wire up.

 

[Farmitall]

Check behind the operation panel for the fuse mod.

 

[USAMilRet]

Check behind the operation panel for the fuse mod.

Yes the fuse mode is there.

 

[USAMilRet]

So what mode/resets/tier work was done on post 03/09 sets?
https://www.steelsoldiers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=733280&d=1530652166

The paperwork taped here on the set says CECOM Reset Team. I see the fuse mod by the voltage regulator. What else should I look for? There are no markings of any work done on/in the genset. So how do I tell if the reset was done?

 

[69birdman]

Sometimes there's a tag riveted to the front of gen near your serial number tags

 

[Zed254]

Attached will show what SHOULD have been done on Tier I and Tier II resets, but difficult to know what was ACTUALLY done.

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?169771-Military-MEP-generator-reset-information

 

[USAMilRet]

Attached will show what SHOULD have been done on Tier I and Tier II resets, but difficult to know what was ACTUALLY done.

https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?169771-Military-MEP-generator-reset-information

Yeah, I read the docs. I have all the TBs, TMs, LOs, -24, -24P and other stuff DL and read. What I been brushing up on the last 9 months. I doubt this has see a Tier 2 work or even Tier 1 work. Just some upgrades like the fuse mod, S1 S6 replacement. Do not see much more than that.

Oh well......I also noticed that it takes about 90 secs for the genset to shut down. Same with the emer off switch. Looks like some selonoid adjustment needed on the fuel cut off.

No Tier reset tags are on or in the genset. Did not know if Tier 1 and 2 were too old for a 09 build with 218 hours on it. Based on dirt and dust, I doubt this genset was used for anything except PMCS runs or maybe a 2 week field exercise. Wish I had all the paperwork on it that came with it when it was purchased.

 

[Zed254]

Mine came with a document showing Tier II Reset testing values of volts, amps, Hz and such. Only problem was the sheet I got was for a different generator!!

 

[Guyfang]

Does it take 90 seconds for the fuel solinoid to retract? Or the solinoid retracts, and 90 seconds later it cuts off?

 

[Light in the Dark]

Mine came with a document showing Tier II Reset testing values of volts, amps, Hz and such. Only problem was the sheet I got was for a different generator!!

And some folks want our government employees to handle our health care... I always wanted to be an elderly diabetic black woman by mistake!

 

[USAMilRet]

Does it take 90 seconds for the fuel solinoid to retract? Or the solinoid retracts, and 90 seconds later it cuts off?

Will have to check. Right now the unit is still on the back of my PU so I can't truly access the inside of the set.

 

[USAMilRet]

Well I checked on it and even though the solenoid is working, the linkage is all loose and it does not appear to be doing anything. So the generator will not shut down until the fuel under pressure is exhausted and this is taking about 90 seconds to happen.

 

[Guyfang]

Perhaps you need to download the procedure to adjust the linkage that is in the TM forum here in SS.

 

[USAMilRet]

I have the downloads. I read the procedure last night while thinking this over. So no issue there. I just need to be able to get to it and as long as it is on the back of the PU, no work will get done.

 

[justacitizen]

sounds like you got a good set. don't worry about the reset and just get it baselined yourself and you will have a better understanding of your new machine,so when you really need it in an extended outage you will have confidence in solving any little things that come up. you couldn't be in a better place than this forum for advice and experience so please keep us posted on the outcome and your discoveries as you go along so others can gain from your experience. pics are great