Something to check on your MEP803

[Chainbreaker]

...The plan is to use a strip of aluminum stock on the back to bridge the cracks and give it some strength.

Nothing wrong with a lil overkill. Just make sure you catch a screw hole or two with the added aluminum strip. You don't want anything metallic inside a generator that can vibrate loose and come off. I tend to get a bit paranoid about any loose foreign metal objects near my generators. I had to drill out some aluminum pop-rivets on my generator's enclosure and lost one rivet half after driving it out with a punch and spent nearly an hour till I found it. I probably wouldn't have slept until I did...lol.

 

[DieselAddict]

I took a break from working on the damage to the MEP803 to do some rust remediation on my generator trailer. Years and years of repaint made it really challenging to get the paint off the deck. It took a couple of days and a gallon of paint stripper but I finally got down to base metal in most places. A couple coats of primer and a couple coats of enamel and it should not rust so quickly. I plan to brush on another coat or two if the weather allows.

I also had to relocate the accessory locker to the front since its location on the fender prevented one of the doors of the MEP803 from opening.

Lastly I moved the mounting location of the generator forward a good bit from where the holes in the generator skids would have placed it. In that location the tongue weight was much too light. Where it is now the tongue is between 80 and 100lbs.

Now that the generator is out of the truck and in its new home I'll complete the repairs on the enclosure. It will be a lot easier to work on there than it was in the back of the truck.

 

[CT-Mike]

Trailer is in much better shape now than what you started with. Nice job. I had thought about getting a trailer to make mine portable, but here in New England I just figure that would make it easier to get stolen. I am planning on driving some Hilti's into the concrete pad and bolting that sucker down, just for a little peace of mind.

 

[DieselAddict]

Theft here is a real concern as well. I keep the easy to take stuff blocked off with cars and other less easy to move stuff. I figured if I make it too inconvenient to take they wont bother.

Putting up cctv cameras has done wonders to reduce the problems I was having before from almost routine to zero. Everyone around here knows you show up on camera long before you reach anything of value on my property. Day or night these things will see you and any vehicle you bring with you. If you walk through my yard, before you reach my utility building I'll already have your photo in my email inbox.

So theiving does concern me but I've done all I can practically do to mitigate it.

We are going to have a few days of less than optimum weather for working outside with pant and epoxy. When it clears and warms back up I'll continue the project.

 

[CT-Mike]

I hear you about the camera's. I have been talking to my system integrator about adding cam's and a DVR to my Control4 system. Gotta wait until after the holidays to spend that kind of coin though.

 

[robson1015]

Looks good Diesel...Keep the pics coming as you progress....

 

[Chainbreaker]

Regarding trailer theft...in addition to security cameras here are a few added suggestions to help secure a generator trailer to deter theft:

1. Attach a lunette lock
2. Attach a simple tilt alarm on it that emits an ear piercing blast if trailer is jostled at all
3. Attach a BIG chain around axle, or through lunette, secured with BIG lock to un-moveable object
4. Set up a motion triggered light (battery operated LED) to cover it
5. Temporarily remove wheels and place on blocks/jackstands
6. Place a big decal/sign on it that says: "Protected by AR 15 1 day a week, you pick which day!"
7. Place a large dog house next to it with the name "Chopper" painted above door and have a big chain attached to trailer and leading into dog house. Scatter a few very large chewed bones around and have a water bowl out, put a few notches in wood on front of dog house (score count) for effect. If you don't have one borrow a pit bull, or other intimidating dog, for a few days to give it that lived in look and establish the territory!

 

[m16ty]

I had thought about using a loom to wrap them. The issue you can cause there is with heat dissipation. I'll need to check the wire size and make sure wrapping it up won't cause any heat problems.

If you're worried about wrapping the wires, just wrap the metal edge where the wire rubs with some rubber or loom.

 

[Guyfang]

Morning gents,
There was a one time check, Safety of Use message that came out around 2004(?) or there abouts requiring that all 802 and 803 sets be checked for this problem. Good idea, but not good enough. When someone replaces the main A.C. or the set goes into a repair program, often it is put back together wrong and the load wires get chafed, leading to short circuits. Anyone owning a 802 0r 803 should check to see if they have this problem. Normally, the first clue to this being a problem is trying to put the set on line and getting the CB-2 kicking off and a short circuit light. We used a piece of tire inner tube, cut long enough to cover the wire harness and wire tied it in place. Inner tubing is tough stuff, and we never saw another problem again. The Tier 2 repair shop in Germersheim Germany submitted it as a "semi-permanent" repair the TACOM in 2007.

guyfang

 

[DieselAddict]

Since i have the covers off I was going to see if I could resolve the issue by rerouting the wires so they wouldnt chafe.

 

[ZackMan]

guyfang,

Thanks for these details. Again, this information is very informative.