TM for Mep701a

[Armada]

Maybe I missed it in the resource section, but do we have a TM for the 3kw diesel genset Mep-701a? (Mep-016b w/o ASK). Thanks

 

[Isaac-1]

try OtherGenerators ==> MEP 016B

Ike

 

[brianrbull]

GEn Mans

Hey Armada.....You got one of those also? I have complete Gen Tm's I will hook you up when meet with you in Aug....I also got a MEP-002 on a trailer and a M105.... Was trying for a couple of the fuel pods but someone wanted them real bad......

 

[Armada]

Thanks Ike!
Yeah Brian, impulse buy. I've got a thing for diesel gensets.. If I ever lose power I've got the whole street covered, lol. On the 701a diesel gensets, I was surprised to read 3600 rpms. I thought the diesels ran at half the speed of the gassers? My -002 and 3kw Wisconsin/Robin diesels turn 1800. Does the 701 use a converted gas engine or something?
Congrats on your wins and thanks for the TM!

 

[Isaac-1]

From what I have been able to uncover the MEP 701A is a MEP-016B in the ASK housing, the 016B is the same generator end as the gasoline powered 016A and 016C just with a diesel instead of a gas engine, therefore the 3600 rpms. They also were originaly powered by a 1 cylinder Onan that is no longer produced, some have been retrofitted with a near idential sized 1 cylinder Yanmar .

Ike

 

[glcaines]

Is the MEP-701A / MEP-016B a good GenSet? I am quite happy with my MEP-003A, but have been looking for a smaller unit. Thanks for the info on the TM, I was having the same problem.

 

[Isaac-1]

I guess it depends on what you mean by good. I have only put about 25-30 hours on mine since buying it last summer with about 950 hours showing on the meter, I use it to for power at my shed in the back yard about 150 feet from the house. These units are not exactly small and portable with the ASK the 701a weighs in a bit over 500 pounds dry which is a lot for a generator rated at only 3000 watts, of course that is military rating at 8000 ft and with a .8 PF, somewhere in the tech manuals it states it will support up to 400% for starting loads, etc. These units also will output 120V 1 phase, 240V 1 phase, 120/208 3 phase, and a special 120V only 3 phase mode, they however do not output household 120/240 split single phase unless you make a small modification.

As I see it the pros and cons are:

Pro: heavy enough not to grow legs too easy (after loosing a push mower, power washer, wheel barrow, propane tank, etc. from my back yard over the years this is important to me)

Pro: Not too heavy to move if it NEEDS to move, I have scooted mine by hand a few feet.

Pro: Good solid construciton

Pro: easy cold start, I have yet to need to use the glow plugs before starting, have tried down to 28 degrees, below 30 it sputters just a little

Con: its 3600 rpm, and fuel economy could be better, it gets around .5 gph full load

Con: utility grade frequency regulation, on mine on a cold day it takes about 10 seconds to start registering on the meter, goes to about 57 hz then takes 2-3 minutes to stabilize around 60-61 hz, once warm full load variation is around 3-4 hz. Still much better than the deptatment store units, also it takes going from zero to full load in one step without a hiccup.

Con: even with the ASK this thing is relatively loud, using a sound meter it measures identical to my 4.5 HP Sears push mower, the difference is this is a muffled sound, I have mine set on concrete pavers and can feel the vibration through my shoes 25-30 feet away, I certainly would not want to sleep with it outside my window, but at 50 feet it would be tolerable, at 150 feet from my house I have to listen for it to see if its running, but I do have a lot of highway noise here.

Con: parts availability for all practical purposes this engine was only used in this series of generators and its DC, and 400 hz cousins.

Ike

 

[glcaines]

Ike,
Thanks for the information. I'm not really concerned about the noise. I live on 32 mountaineous acres and I have a small shooting range set up at the top of my property. I'm putting in a small shed to store targets, etc. and thought this generator would be nice to provide power for lights and heat. It sounds like the MEP-701A might fill the bill.
Gary

 

[Isaac-1]

I now know that it does not want to start without using the glow plugs when the low has made it down to 24 degrees. About 10 seconds on the glow plugs and it fires right up though, with just a few puffs of smoke.

Ike

 

[jas67]

.....These units also will output 120V 1 phase, 240V 1 phase, 120/208 3 phase, and a special 120V only 3 phase mode, they however do not output household 120/240 split single phase unless you make a small modification....

Ike,

Does your 701a have a rotary reconnect selection switch inside the control panel? My 016E has one, and it does have a 240V/120V single phase setting (which, I assume is 240120 split single phase).

 

[Rich Johnson]

Ive got the 701A, its a 16 with the audio kit.
I was wondering, does anybody know how to get the injector out? Mine clogged up on me and I cant get the injector loose. Ive got the fork clamp off but the injector wont come loose. the manual doesnt say how to get it out.

 

[Isaac-1]

Mine does have the reconnection switch, options are 120V only, 240V only, 120/208 3 phase, and a 120V only 3 phase mode there is no 120/240 split phase option on these, however it is possible to get 120/240 split phase out of them by adding a single jumper wire while set in 240V single phase mode, of course bad things would happen if you changed the switch without removing this jumper. I have thought about doing the modification myself, but don't want to have to worry about load balancing a pair of 1.5 kw 120V legs.


Ike

 

[top_prop]

Mine does have the reconnection switch, options are 120V only, 240V only, 120/208 3 phase, and a 120V only 3 phase mode there is no 120/240 split phase option on these, however it is possible to get 120/240 split phase out of them by adding a single jumper wire while set in 240V single phase mode, of course bad things would happen if you changed the switch without removing this jumper. I have thought about doing the modification myself, but don't want to have to worry about load balancing a pair of 1.5 kw 120V legs.


Ike

I'm confused I thought 120/208 three phase was similar to what I learned as 240D:

phase A to ground 120V
phase B to ground 208V
phase C to ground 120V

A to B 240V
A to C 240V
B to C 240 V

If so you just connect Phase A and C to your home panel and you have standard 120V phase to ground, and 240V phase to phase... leave Phase B off and you are set for standard house power (I've wired a few commecial jobs when I was contractor that had three phase 240D service)

Can anyone illuminate this more for me? I'm not an electrician, but I was a licensed commercial building contractor.

Tom

 

[Isaac-1]

You need to start a new topic on this question, as to the differences I am not even sure where to start now, but will try to post a message later. Right now I have to go to the dentist to see about having a tooth removed.

Ike

 

[MitchG]

Tom the 120/208 is a three phase "WYE" supply. You should have 120 volts on all three phases to ground and 208 volts between any of the phases.
120/240 volt three phase is a "DELTA" supply. It's usually phase A or B to grnd 120v, Phase C to grnd around 220-230 volts and 240 volts between any of the three phases.

 

[derf]

3600 vs. 1800 RPM fuel economy doesn't work well on gens under 12HP or so, because of the power to weight ratio. You can get Lister types that are more fuel economical but they weigh 2X or 3X as much. To get the power at 1800 you'd have to have a huge flywheel.
What is wrong with 0.5 gal/hr? 0.33 gal/hr is great but not available in anything single man portable that I'm aware of.


One drawback to the 016/701 types is you can't 240 and a neutral out of them. You can get 120V or 240V but not 240V and a neutral at the same time. Or, maybe you can and I just can't figure it out. 240 and a neutral is what you want if you want to feed a panel that serves both 120 and 220 outlets.