MEP831A recoil start, bleed fuel lines

[NATCAD]

Hello,

I have bought a few MEP831A's they were tier 2 resets and stored in late 2013-2014.

I have the original battery which is testing at 14v. My intelligent charger does not want to charge it and throws a code.

Question:

How do I recoil start this with fresh fuel ? I have emptied bowl and put fresh diesel in.

How do I bleed the system? Do I need to?

(unit failed to start using the no battery method recoil start in TM)

 

[NATCAD]

I see from a separate thread diesel addict suggests gravity feeding the fuel prime - where do you suggest I tap in to do this?

 

[DieselAddict]

Take the large hose apart at the tee and fill it with diesel. Put it back together (important, trust me). Have someone hold down the compression release. Pull the cord 10 times. Try to start it. If it doesn't start repeat the 10 pulls. Refill the fuel line if needed. If it doesn't start after about 2 rounds of this take a wrench and loosen the metal fuel line at the injector. Hold down the compression release and spin it over with the cord until you see fuel leak from the fitting. Then tighten and try to start it.

I expect it will start after pulling it the first 10 times.

 

[NATCAD]

I will try this tonight thank you very much

 

[NATCAD]

Got it up and running, It took about 3 fills from fuel filter to injector to get it going.

I had it running very nicely for about 20 minutes, then shut down and connected battery and restarted (again by recoil) and measured voltage on battery while running (24-26) Maybe there is hope for it?

then I connected a load (1500 watt space heater) thru the gfci outlet (inverted on 120/240 setting)

The space heater has a thermostat and 3 settings 900,1100,1500, anyways it turned on the 1500 watt setting and tripped the 10 am gfci outlet (I'm guessing it spiked to 12 or 13 amp.)

Engine started to missfire or stumble or surge, so I shut it down.

Disconnected battery, added some more fresh diesel to tank (filled it up) and then recoil started again. Runs fine on mechanical governor

Switched to intelligent governor and same problem - the throttle armature is oscillating from the stop magnet and back to full throttle and back very quickly.

Did I break the unit? What do I need to do to get it running again?

Nat

 

[DieselAddict]

disconnect your battery and run it again. Check your D.C. Voltage.

 

[NATCAD]

Hi D.A > running on mechanical or electronic governor?

I re-read my post, it was not that clear.

I did disconnect the battery and restart after fresh fuel and full tank, the stumbling was with electronic governor engaged and no connection to battery.

 

[DieselAddict]

I was wanting to see it run with the electronic governor.

With it running can you monitor the 24v going to the governor controller and see if its steady?

 

[NATCAD]

Hi D.A. yes I will do that, do you need a video to diagnose or just the voltage readings?

 

[DieselAddict]

Send a video if its doing something crazy. If the readings are nice and steady the numbers is sufficient.

 

[NATCAD]

Generator starts fine, and runs very well until it warms up and then the issue replicates, I would call it idle surge, here is the video and the data.

The voltage was steady but gradually dropping as engine warmed up, at about 15 minutes in, I started recording the position of rod as well, the numbers showing what the video shows, -3 down to -16 and back very quickly.

Just to confirm, this was done on a recoil start (2nd pull starts very nicely now) and with the battery not hooked up.

(I think there is hope for that factory battery still, resting at 19v now after a 30 minute charge first time)
View attachment IMG_4480.MOV

 

[NATCAD]

I just RTM'd I'll be back with the other voltages needed according to corrected MEP 831 training schedule.

 

[NATCAD]

Hi DA

running with load:

JH	GF	Load input	AB	AC	BC
20.6	27.4	1.05	190	188	184
16.3	27.6	.9	182	178	181
10.3	26	.9
unstable after 10 min

 

[DieselAddict]

My money is on a bad controller.

 

[NATCAD]

Hi DA, I ran it again today, trying with a start on the battery after some trickle charging. No start on the battery and tell tale starter click, no joy.

I then recoil started it , and the idle surge / instability was apparent immediately, so I shut down.

Disconnected battery and recoil started again, engine stable and on the GAC, I hooked of 1500 watt heater to convenience outlet and ran for about 10 minutes at 1.3kw load engine sounded great, no hicupps and ran for about 10 minutes then became unstable, voltages similar as previously under load, so I shut down.

Before I order a new GAC module, is there anything else I should test to confirm it is bad?

I.e. why would it run fine for 10 minutes until warm and then become unstable?

Edit: Also my k15 is 110v fusible link not a 24v is that ok?

 

[DieselAddict]

I have had several that were exactly as you report, start fine then become unstable. Every one of them was a bad controller. Swap in a known good controller and all is well.

 

[NATCAD]

Ok, I will order one.

Also I tried to reset the rod and adjust voltage via speed screw - got it to 176 +- but now generator will not even run cold.

 

[NATCAD]

Ordered from Charlotte at GAC (413) 233-188

Same day shipping $328. Hope this fixes it.

 

[NATCAD]

Hi DA is there anything particular I need to pay attention to while replacing the governor control module?

 

[DieselAddict]

Don't do it running.

Sorry, couldn't resist. The main thing is to make sure all power is off before doing the work. Hopefully all the wires are clearly labeled. One of the tricks I do is to run a strip of tape down both sides of all the wires which helps keep them in order.

Double and triple check to make sure all the wires are in place correctly.

Once you have it up and running go through the TM and verify that the mechanical governor on the engine is adjusted properly THEN adjust the electronic governor.