Opinions on MEP-831A

[ETN550]

Hi,

Just wondering what everyone thinks of the 831A with the small Yanmar engine, Permanant Magnet generator, inverter.

I like the concept but is it reliable?

Can it be serviced and repaired by the hobbist?

Parts available?

How quiet is it?

I have seen over 10,000 have been built. Are many in the hands of civilians?

What does everyone think of them? Worth owning?

Compare to 701A and 016B.

Thanks.
Doug

 

[Artisan]

Doug did you end up w/ this unit?
If so can you give me a report please?

TIA!

 

[ETN550]

Doug did you end up w/ this unit?
If so can you give me a report please?

TIA!

Yes, I got it in a sale that a municipal fire department had. I'm finding that quite a few law enforcement agencies, fire departments, departments of public safety and so on get a lot of military items before the military releases them to the public. It seems to be mostly the smaller towns that get this equipment. Maybe because their budgets are smaller. Then after they have it for a while they sell if off. Some of the stuff is in pretty good condition because they cherry picked it on the front end before consumers even have a crack at it. Other stuff gets neglected and sits outside for years. Just got to look everything over.

I buy, repair, upgrade and sell units as a hobby when I have the time. Right now I have run this 831A and everything seems to be working okay. I had to replace a bulb in the panel and I need to get a few misc parts but nothing major. Fermont does sell the parts. I am planning on doing more testing with it and it needs a good clean up then I'll have it for sale eventually.

 

[Triple Jim]

Interesting that you mention small towns. A local volunteer fire department got an MEP-004A earlier this year. I pass by the place daily, and have been looking for any evidence of use. So far, the only thing I can see that they've done to it is move it to the other end of the parking lot, paint it red, and move it back. There are no cables or connections to the firehouse, and I've never seen anyone paying any attention to it. If I see a "for sale" sign on it, I'll move in.

 

[Artisan]

Thanx so much for the reply.

They look pretty cool, a 6 man carry will certainly put a hamper on
it's use residential unless you hfind a place to park it for long periods
of time or bred a small army.

I do see one for sale right now that appears to have blown at I think
it was a lil over 400 hours...

 

[ETN550]

Thanx so much for the reply.

They look pretty cool, a 6 man carry will certainly put a hamper on
it's use residential unless you hfind a place to park it for long periods
of time or bred a small army.

I do see one for sale right now that appears to have blown at I think
it was a lil over 400 hours...

The military must have a 50lb per person lift limit. It weighs under 300lbs total. 3 of us loaded it on to the back of a pickup truck with no issues. The 6 flip up handles are nice though. Its a little big in size considering how small the engine and generator are inside. But that makes it pretty easy to work on too. Compared to the older ASK housings with all their screw on panels this one allows access to prety much everything through the main hatch. The low profile design is kind of intersting to look at. And the unit is reasonably quiet. The electronics are US made. And it retains the pull start. It does take a special high end Concorde 24volt cube shaped sealed aircraft battery which is around $200 new. I bought one new on E-bay for about half that and I was lucky to find it.

 

[Artisan]

GREAT INFO ! Thank U!

 

[NEIOWA]

The military must have a 50lb per person lift limit. ...

Welcome to the new Army of equality of DiFi. Hordes of girl "soldiers" that MIGHT be able to life 50lb.

 

[NEIOWA]

Interesting that you mention small towns. A local volunteer fire department got an MEP-004A earlier this year. I pass by the place daily, and have been looking for any evidence of use. So far, the only thing I can see that they've done to it is move it to the other end of the parking lot, paint it red, and move it back. There are no cables or connections to the firehouse, and I've never seen anyone paying any attention to it. If I see a "for sale" sign on it, I'll move in.

Stop in and ask them if they need help with getting it in service. Vol FD operate on VOLUNTEER time and you have at least as much of that as they do. They may have not realized a 004 is 3ph. They may not have 3ph in the station.

You help then out and might find you're at the front of the line at disposal time. That includes finding stuff they can use they may not know even existed.

 

[Triple Jim]

That's a great idea. I had planned on stopping by if I ever saw anyone working on it, or even paying attention to it, but stopping by and offering help getting it going sounds much better. I guess I saw myself as an outsider to the fire department organization, but of course you're right when it comes to a volunteer FD.

 

[jbk]

thats a 3 kw variable speed diesel motor very cool. id like one. it is a tqg very quiet 70 db or below. comparison to the 701 or 16b apples and oranges. just lost power here this morning for 6 hrs. started off with a 003 thought i might need heat dont need it, or any a/c. so i shut the 003 down and put on the 802 5 kw. and hardly any load. could have got by with a 3 kw.

 

[paraclete comes]

wish there was more info and reviews of these gensets. I won one a little while ago and haven't had it delivered yet. looking forward to running through it and checking it out, has 170 hours or so on it.

 

[Isaac-1]

I plan to pick one up some day, but feel for the most part the MEP-016D or MEP-016E is likely the better choice for most people for emergency standby, that is if fixed up right. The MEP-016D's that I have seen seem to have totally neglected the 40+ year old wiring in the control box during the Yanmar upgrade process.

 

[paraclete comes]

so I got my MEP-831A delivered awhile ago and just dug into it. WHAT A SWEET little generator! It's very clean and super low hours on it, im going to replace all the regular stuff and attempt to fire it up asap. Having an electrician come up to set up a transfer switch hopefully this next week.

 

[Cord]

I just purchased one from auction as well. Generator is from Georgia and I'm having it shipped up here to Wisconsin. Shipping is costing me $167. I paid $550 for the generator which appears to be too much. There was two dozen of them on the auction block and with that many units there was enough for everybody that wanted one so they never got bid up. The cheapest one sold for $190 and the most expensive went for $551. Sadly after I had bid I noticed the fuel line had been disconnected from the injector. It also appears the muffler had been removed and the bolts threaded back in but not tightened. Low res photos suck! With only 49 hours I can't see the engine being bad, but something has to be wrong or they wouldn't have taken it apart. That said, this is a common, durable engine so if there was something wrong with the unit, I'd rather it be the engine.

 

[R Racing]

I just purchased one from auction as well. Generator is from Georgia and I'm having it shipped up here to Wisconsin. Shipping is costing me $167. I paid $550 for the generator which appears to be too much. There was two dozen of them on the auction block and with that many units there was enough for everybody that wanted one so they never got bid up. The cheapest one sold for $190 and the most expensive went for $551. Sadly after I had bid I noticed the fuel line had been disconnected from the injector. It also appears the muffler had been removed and the bolts threaded back in but not tightened. Low res photos suck! With only 49 hours I can't see the engine being bad, but something has to be wrong or they wouldn't have taken it apart. That said, this is a common, durable engine so if there was something wrong with the unit, I'd rather it be the engine.

Hi Cord, I saw that 1 . I didn't bid on it for that reason .Hopefully it will be a easy fix for you ! It was a feeding frenzy towards the end . I got 2 out of that auction ( all I could swing) most were in very nice condition! I saw 2 or 3 that were missing parts. 1 of the 1s I got the front control panel is damaged and coming off. I believe that was the cheapest I have seen them. Hopefully we will see more of them over time.

 

[DieselAddict]

I hope to find one of these for sale near me. It would be perfect for running the house during times of light demand.

 

[Cord]

Yea I picked what I thought was a good one and threw a number at it without autobid. My hope was to chase other buyers to cheaper units and this one would go unnoticed. The plan worked, but the bids just never came on the other units. I know $550 was a steal, but I could have paid $200 less. Especially if I had seen the engine issues. Don't know what I'm complaining about. The MEP-016d that was local to me went for $450! For $100, there is no debate which unit is the better buy.

I saw that one with the damaged panel. Throw some parts at it and it might be a good unit. I thought about bidding on a second one, but I already had enough tied up in a unit that I was regretting.

 

[Cord]

I hope to find one of these for sale near me. It would be perfect for running the house during times of light demand.

Look into freight shipping. I like to use Freightquote for my freight. Input the data on their website for a quick number and then after the auction talk to a rep for all the potential discounts. I bought a pump that was in state and spent 3 hours each way to pick it up. This became a day trip and a tank of gas. Freight for this unit coming from Georgia is only $167 so it's not that bad.

 

[R Racing]

Yes even at $550.00 Id say you did well. I saw 1 that sold last year for $2066.00 on GL so I think for the most part we did fine. Let me know when you get yours. I have to drive south for mine and will wait til the snow Threat is low . Seems like any time I leave here it gets pounded with snow, and I miss a opportunity to plow and make a pay check.