stugpanzer
Member
So I bought my MEP-803A in November but have not yet put a real load on it...until today! Up until today I was exercising the unit weekly while checking fluids, etc to make sure it didn't have any issues while running.
I have seen many Load banks out there and I wanted to get myself something that I could safely use, would be somewhat economical and would be easy to store.
I tried bidding on a 'proper' load bank but couldn't make that happen. I don't have room for storing a couple stoves so I came up with my own.
I bought a small Square-D Homeline Panel along with 4 15amp tandem breakers and 12 gauge romex wire.
I mounted the panel and 8 boxes on a piece of 3/4 plywood and wired it up.
I took Zed's advice and got myself some 3-phase Hubbell plug/sockets from the big auction place and wired them for single phase (X=Black, Y=Red, Z=N, G=G) with some 6/4 soow cord. I also put 8 15-amp simplex outlets on the board.
I bought 8 1500 watt space heaters. That will give me 12kw with all 8 running. Also at 1500 watts each, that's 12.5 amps each (at 120 volts) so I figured I am below the level where a 15 amp breaker might trip.
I set it all up on the fender of the trailer and started 4 of the heaters (alternating the breakers so I would keep the two loads fairly balanced). After about 30 minutes I fired up the remaining space heaters. I let the generator run for just over an hour. The exhaust never turned black and there was a bit more smoke at full load, but after about 20 minutes it was fairly clear. I did get some of those carbon bits on the driveway and here and there and I could smell a difference in the stuff burning out. Once the exhaust was pretty clear and I couldn't smell the burn-off smell I started removing the load. Once I was done shutting the heaters off, I then opened the load circuit and let the genny run for about 10 minutes before shutting it down.
The load never quite reached 100% on the load meter....more like 90%.
Overall, I'm happy with how this worked out. I am able to store the space heaters in a plastic tote and store them in the basement and the panel can be used for other duties as well as load banking. I think the only improvement I might make is to add a 20 amp circuit in the panel and mount a box on the side of the panel. Also, this is not at all water-proof so my own common sense on when and where I might use it will have to be considered.
Total cost was just under $300.
I have seen many Load banks out there and I wanted to get myself something that I could safely use, would be somewhat economical and would be easy to store.
I tried bidding on a 'proper' load bank but couldn't make that happen. I don't have room for storing a couple stoves so I came up with my own.
I bought a small Square-D Homeline Panel along with 4 15amp tandem breakers and 12 gauge romex wire.
I mounted the panel and 8 boxes on a piece of 3/4 plywood and wired it up.
I took Zed's advice and got myself some 3-phase Hubbell plug/sockets from the big auction place and wired them for single phase (X=Black, Y=Red, Z=N, G=G) with some 6/4 soow cord. I also put 8 15-amp simplex outlets on the board.
I bought 8 1500 watt space heaters. That will give me 12kw with all 8 running. Also at 1500 watts each, that's 12.5 amps each (at 120 volts) so I figured I am below the level where a 15 amp breaker might trip.
I set it all up on the fender of the trailer and started 4 of the heaters (alternating the breakers so I would keep the two loads fairly balanced). After about 30 minutes I fired up the remaining space heaters. I let the generator run for just over an hour. The exhaust never turned black and there was a bit more smoke at full load, but after about 20 minutes it was fairly clear. I did get some of those carbon bits on the driveway and here and there and I could smell a difference in the stuff burning out. Once the exhaust was pretty clear and I couldn't smell the burn-off smell I started removing the load. Once I was done shutting the heaters off, I then opened the load circuit and let the genny run for about 10 minutes before shutting it down.
The load never quite reached 100% on the load meter....more like 90%.
Overall, I'm happy with how this worked out. I am able to store the space heaters in a plastic tote and store them in the basement and the panel can be used for other duties as well as load banking. I think the only improvement I might make is to add a 20 amp circuit in the panel and mount a box on the side of the panel. Also, this is not at all water-proof so my own common sense on when and where I might use it will have to be considered.
Total cost was just under $300.
