New owner of MEP 802A

[Guyfang]

This was the most interesting place I ever worked. And the picture shows only the halls where the pre-stressed, prefabbed concrete "things", forms are put together. The concrete mixing plant, curing section, and mixing tower are huge. "Situational awareness" from the second you walked in, till you got out to your car. Everything could bite you. The #5 Hall boss, only had his left hand. The right one got between an 20 ton bridge casting and an unmovable thing, that was moved after being struck.

 

[heimlich]

450 CCA, or close enough?

This one: https://www.costco.com/interstate-u1-lawn-%26-garden-battery.product.100476412.html

 

[Mullaney]

This was the most interesting place I ever worked. And the picture shows only the halls where the pre-stressed, prefabbed concrete "things", forms are put together. The concrete mixing plant, curing section, and mixing tower are huge. "Situational awareness" from the second you walked in, till you got out to your car. Everything could bite you. The #5 Hall boss, only had his left hand. The right one got between an 20 ton bridge casting and an unmovable thing, that was moved after being struck.

.
We had a pre-stressed concrete factory across the road from our printshop. They were there for more than 30 years. They moved about two years ago to Greenville, South Carolina. Spent 8.8 Million Dollars in the upfit in Greenville. They left most of the equipment when they shutdown back in March 2018. There was a demolition crew that worked on that set of pouring facilities, the paint shop and the gravel pit. It took them over a year to dig up the concrete base for the pouring room. Used to see big longer than normal Tractors hauling out beams...

Opened up 18 acres of dirt.
Gonna end up with apartments and "live work" spaces.

 

[heimlich]

Why not use equipment that physically won't allow generator and grid connection at the same time?

You are absolutely correct in everything you said. I don't disagree. I bought this thing to put on the back of a bus but now I might not. A generator for the house isn't something that I need.

No one else is going to plug it in or turn it on. If it's 3AM I won't both with it. I never planned on a generator for the house. We don't lose power here very often. If it does happen it's once every couple years that it does.

I don't want to spend the money on the box that does it for me. The government will raise my property taxes because they say I did an improvement. They were just out here because they said I put a dumpster next to my yard. That meant I was doing improvements. It was a miscategorized shipping container to them.

 

[heimlich]

I have twice been entertained by 3 phase power, when some ******** turned on a CB that I had turned off. Hung a sign on it too. I once took a 60 meter ride on a conveyor belt, because some ******** turned on a CB that I had turned off. It too had a sign. And lastly I once got chased by an over head crane, down one side of its tracks. about 15 inchs wide, and 25 meters in the air, by a ******** that turned on, the emergency off switch, that clearly stated, DO NOT TURN BACK ON. From that point on, we installed every emergency off switch with a lockable function. And only three of us had keys. If you can't lock it, I don't trust it.

There's only one person in the world you can trust. Go look in the mirror.

 

[Guyfang]

No. Not true. But people I trust are few and far between.

 

[98G]

View attachment 918892
and it all happened right here!

I'd pay to watch that

 

[98G]

This one: https://www.costco.com/interstate-u1-lawn-%26-garden-battery.product.100476412.html

Thanks! You're in Houston. I lived there for a while. You'll probably get away with the 230 CCA, even on your coldest winter day.

We've seen -32* F here in the last couple of years. My HMMWV was the only thing that started that day.

 

[heimlich]

Has anyone seen a thread/etc where someone has taken these out of their metal case, removed them off the sled, and mounted them somewhere else? I'm trying to get an idea of how viable that would be.

 

[Digger556]

Has anyone seen a thread/etc where someone has taken these out of their metal case, removed them off the sled, and mounted them somewhere else? I'm trying to get an idea of how viable that would be.

Never seen a thread, but that is totally possible. You really need to understand the controls system, but the engine and genhead are very simple at their core. If I was going that far, I would replace all the switches and relays with simplier digital controls, hardwire the genhead for permanent 120/240 split phase operation, and have a simple 1-tank/1-pump fuel feed system.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Has anyone seen a thread/etc where someone has taken these out of their metal case, removed them off the sled, and mounted them somewhere else? I'm trying to get an idea of how viable that would be.

The case is for sound attenuation. If you mock up a radiator support and want to retain all electronics... just a matter of fabricating up an area to house these items. Is your enclosure in that bad of shape?

 

[fb40dash5]

I've also never seen it done, but it doesn't seem very difficult, aside from the radiator I believe the entire 'power pack' is mounted on one plate. Unbolt, lift, drop, bolt, fab a few brackets.

As said, the controls are there too, but much of the controls are unnecessary for the rest of us that aren't the government. You don't need a big rotary switch to switch from 120 to 240 to 3ph, you can just wire the head to 120 or 240... and then eliminate the switch for the gauges as well. Eliminate the auxiliary fuel system, and you can drop one fuel pump, the high/low fuel float switch, and use a simple off-on-(on) toggle switch to replace the rotary starter switch.

At that point I'd sorta ask "why this, then?" but "because I already have it" isn't the worst answer I've ever heard. I have a Kubota D-series on a furniture dolly for exactly that reason.

 

[2Pbfeet]

I've also never seen it done, but it doesn't seem very difficult, aside from the radiator I believe the entire 'power pack' is mounted on one plate. Unbolt, lift, drop, bolt, fab a few brackets.

As said, the controls are there too, but much of the controls are unnecessary for the rest of us that aren't the government. You don't need a big rotary switch to switch from 120 to 240 to 3ph, you can just wire the head to 120 or 240... and then eliminate the switch for the gauges as well. Eliminate the auxiliary fuel system, and you can drop one fuel pump, the high/low fuel float switch, and use a simple off-on-(on) toggle switch to replace the rotary starter switch.

At that point I'd sorta ask "why this, then?" but "because I already have it" isn't the worst answer I've ever heard. I have a Kubota D-series on a furniture dolly for exactly that reason.

I am of the same view.

@heimlich I have a similar kW rated diesel generator without an enclosure, and I would happily trade you for one with an enclosure.

That said, if you really think that you want to strip it down, I would suggest that selling your 802A , and buying an 1800 or 3600rpm consumer/commercial generator as that would have the advantages that if and when the generator breaks in your bus, getting parts is going to be a lot easier, and worst case, you could probably drop another commercial unit into the enclosure space on your bus fairly easily.

I am aware that there exist rules around generator specifications (e.g. noise, muffler/spark arrestor) and use in some areas for RVs, but I'm not up on the details. Just something to consider. A friend recently rented a conversion RV that was 100% electric, with solar panels and a few lithium batteries, mini induction burner, etc. Not always practical for all uses, I am sure, but it worked for their trip.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Guyfang]

Do not forget, the the enclosure also helps cool the main gen and engine. Thats why you have several warnings in the TM's, about running the set with ALL doors closed. So If you do remove the enclosure, keep that in mind.

 

[heimlich]

Lots of good replies. I think I had some grand ideas when I thought I was going to toss this on the back of a bus. My initial idea was to get a cheap China diesel generator but you never know what you are going to get when you order direct from China. It could last a short bit or a long while. Would be nice if you could go out and buy a small diesel generator for $1000 like you can do with the gas ones. I always thought of diesel as the best fuel for a generator. The diesel engine loves that type of work.

 

[FarmingSmallKubota]

Lots of good replies. I think I had some grand ideas when I thought I was going to toss this on the back of a bus. My initial idea was to get a cheap China diesel generator but you never know what you are going to get when you order direct from China. It could last a short bit or a long while. Would be nice if you could go out and buy a small diesel generator for $1000 like you can do with the gas ones. I always thought of diesel as the best fuel for a generator. The diesel engine loves that type of work.

MEP 531a are great diesel 2kw generators for under $1000 loud as any aircooled generator is but good units

 

[heimlich]

I'm trying to test the unit before I hook it up to anything. The plug receptacles show 120V. I checked the lugs for voltage and I do not get any voltages there.

Is there a testing procedure I can follow to check the different components? I've read those relay looking things can cause this issue. I know some of them are not relays though. I appreciate any guidance.

 

[Light in the Dark]

Dumb question, but have you told the machine to send voltage down to the lugs?

 

[heimlich]

Dumb question, but have you told the machine to send voltage down to the lugs?

Is that with the AC Interrupter switch? I tried that.

I think the next step is to test that relay bank. I've seen a number of people that have found a bad one there. Does that sound about right? Is there a recommended way to test these?

 

[Light in the Dark]

Yes. Does the green light above it come on when you close the circuit, or does it stay off?