Need Advice on MEP Units, Parts, User Experience, etc

[joesco]

I am thinking it maybe time to replace my my 8 year old 3600rpm Chinese knock- off 6K diesel generator. Other than a bad starter, it has been a pretty good unit. In Southern NH, we loose power several times per year and over the last two years have had multi-day outages. I am looking at a Slow-Turn Generator Setup from a company up in Maine that has an air-cooled Yamnar Diesel with 5k brush-less gen head, but now because of the cost, I am thinking of going Military Surplus!

There are several MEP-002a's for sale locally (in New England) and through my 25 years of military vehicle ownership, I know the military over engineer's and build their equipment to last.

A bit pricey but being there are several MEP's advertised as low hour units, tested, fluid / filter changed, yada, yada, yada.

My 6k diesel generator does everything I needed to run in my home fine, so the 002a will suit me fine. My questions.....

1. Are parts a big issue for these units? I have read some posts that this is a big problem with these units?

2. Is it the engine components or electrical parts that are scarce?

3. What has been your experience in using these units, i.e., fuel consumption, add-on fuel tanks, clean 60 hz, single-phase power, starting in cold climates, etc?

4. Last but not least, what is a fair price to pay (retail) on a unit that has low hours, tested, fluid change, etc.?

Thanks very much folks!

 

[AceHigh]

Don't go by the hourmeter. It is like the trucks, may be right, may be way off.

Delk's Surplus has about everything you need, Speddmon on here and a few other folks have both parts and knowledge. Speddmon also has a great spin on oil filter kit.

If the engine is OK and the batteries are fine it will start in the cold.

 

[coyote62ny]

i have a mep-003 i got the parts i needed from delks surplus good people to deal with the most important thing with these sets is NEVER NEVER idle the engine you will blow the voltage regulator set the throttle to get 60 hz and leave it there when you are done using the set just shut it down my oo3 holds 60 hz running a buzz box welder with no problem as far as add on fuel tanks go the mep-002 and 003 sets have auxillary fuel pumps on them you can hook them up to a 55 gallon drum or if you heat with fuel oil your home oil tank there might be a drum adaptor on the gen set right above the fuel filters the auxillary fuel pump will pump fuel from another tank and refill the on board fuel tank when the master switch is set to auxillary/prime/run i see you live in nh i live in ny and it was cold here last week and i started my 003 only had to give it some extra preheat temp was around 20 and it started better than my friends kobota tractor did as for what a fair price is im not sure i paid 2000 for my mep-003 filters changed and running hope this helps

 

[Carl_in_NH]

Here’s my tip; don’t replace the generator you’ve already got – augment it with a surplus genset. If you only have one genset – regardless of whether it’s a military surplus or civilian unit it _will_ fail during one of our New England multi-day Winter outages. Never allow yourself to have that single point of failure that leaves you in the dark. I’ve got too many of the darn things around here, but I can say that I’ll be able to survive OK even with mechanical failures during an outage by swapping out the genset if need be.

Rule of thumb for fuel consumption is 1 gallon per hour for each 10 KW of diesel genset; these numbers are good for calculating costs and fuel to have on hand. Numbers go up and down a little based on loading – but not all that much, since you’re expending a fair amount of energy just keeping the engine components and the generator head rotating regardless of the electrical load.

MEP gensets, like the 002A and 003A, are great for external tank operation; they have an AUX pump that works well even with a reasonable amount of lift – like 10 feet, and this AUX pump automatically keeps the ‘day tank’ on board the generator full by pumping fuel into the tank when directed by a floating limit switch. I’ve used mine to sip fuel from the home oil tank as well as Diesel from the M35’s tank. It’s slick.

Parts are no better or worse than surplus vehicles; there are sources that you locate once you own one of the beasts, and they are overdesigned and fairly rugged.