Why are military generators so big?

[3dAngus]

There is one simple word to put all this to rest...

reliability

 

[Isaac-1]

74M35A2, Sure the Honda inverter units are nice, and handy and have their place, I have a little EU-1000 myself, it is great for camping, needing portable power, etc. But you are comparing apples to oranges otherwise, and you are talking about a single 3 day outage, this may be fine for you, but how about those people that measure their typical outage in weeks per year, ....

 

[DieselAddict]

74M35A2, Sure the Honda inverter units are nice, and handy and have their place, I have a little EU-1000 myself, it is great for camping, needing portable power, etc. But you are comparing apples to oranges otherwise, and you are talking about a single 3 day outage, this may be fine for you, but how about those people that measure their typical outage in weeks per year, ....

I have a EU1000 with more than 2000hrs on it. It ran at least 8hrs every day for more than a year and a half. I changed the oil every few weeks. It still starts on the first pull.

I'd call that pretty robust.

 

[rustystud]

I have a EU1000 with more than 2000hrs on it. It ran at least 8hrs every day for more than a year and a half. I changed the oil every few weeks. It still starts on the first pull.

I'd call that pretty robust.

I lived off the grid for 7 years. The typical civilian generator would last me one year. That's including the Honda's. I had to run the generator at least 10 hours a day for the refrigerator and freezer to work properly. What usually happened was it got run 16 hours a day as my wife did not like using the oil lamps for light. I used synthetic oil and replaced oil and filters every 100 hours. After one year of continous duty they all failed, some quite spectularly ! A few years ago now I started using the MEP's and have never gone back to "civilian" generators and never will. DieselAddict after you have run your Honda for a solid year of real use, get back to us and let us know how it's running, if it still is running that is.

 

[74M35A2]

That is a ridiculous amount of gasoline/oil to handle and pay for, unless you were not funding it.

DieselAddict doesn't need to run his generator any longer to prove anything to you. He's happy with what he has. I see plenty of broken MEP's littering the classifieds though...

 

[jimbo913]

The broken MEP's might have 5000-20000 hours on them and lived a tough life by generator standards. Just moving a generator around can cause issues. I say tell those guys they are right and move on with life. Less fools we have to bid against!

 

[74M35A2]

I do have to say that I am envious of the generator head size on these though. Likely a power density concern, being the larger the area to make X power, the less the load per area, and it will be able to maintain that rating in high temps as mentioned (more margin). A Honda is a better fit for me, but I can see why people that don't need the portability would gravitate toward these.

 

[Wildchild467]

My MEP-002A is portable! it has fork pockets and a lifting hook! HAHA! (joking)

 

[74M35A2]

Open to opinions on this formal data: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?137698-Generator-set-durability-testing

 

[jimbo913]

Main reason I have an MEP is I dont use it evey day and need it to start when the time comes. I also need long-term fuel storage so all that says diesel to me. I also need 240v and big surge capability and I want it to be quite too. All for under $4k.

Eventually I may get a 2000w inverter genny for running the block heater in my Dmax for an hour or so before I leave work when it gets in the single digits, but I am in no rush.

 

[jimbo913]

Regarding the formal data, I would offer the following comments.

1- Good luck getting similar data for a non military generator and without that it is hard to really compare failure rates.
2- I would not expect much more out of the single cylinder Yanmar engines. Those things shake so bad its rediculous and they are used in homeowner generators. Very good fuel consumption numbers compared to gas units with similar kw ratings though. I have a civi generator that uses one of these Yanmar engines and thats why I upgraded.
3- Test data makes me feel good about my MEP-803.
4- If I had an 804B I would buy a spare A9 module. They probably had the supplier make a design change at some point..

 

[Ratch]

If comparing to residential units, a diesel mep is always going to win.









It would be more appropriate to compare a mep to an industrial generator.




Compared to a commercial standby or industrial generator, and money being no object, a commercial civvy unit will be superior in build quality. I've never seen a mep with built in remote monitoring, readiness alarms, etc.








But a used mep is $2000, while an Onan industrial is $8000. Mep wins for the homeowner.



Or, speaking as new purchases, a 30kw mep is a bazillion government dollars, and a 30kw civilian industrial is $40,000.

Dollar for dollar, the civilian industrial/commercial is superior build quality. Mep is built by the lowest bidder that knows it will be supported by a motor pool and dropped from a helicopter...



Btw, I think meps are great for homeowner standby. But I would probably not buy one for my business if I had the budget for a purpose built standby.

 

[rustystud]

That is a ridiculous amount of gasoline/oil to handle and pay for, unless you were not funding it.

DieselAddict doesn't need to run his generator any longer to prove anything to you. He's happy with what he has. I see plenty of broken MEP's littering the classifieds though...

The nearest power was over a mile away and the power company wanted over $20,000.00 to bring in the power lines. As far as DieselAdict proving anything, if he brings up a subject then he should support it, as should you.

 

[novaman]

Am I allowed to post YouTube videos on here if its something for sale by owner not an auction? I took a video of an mep-802a on the oscilloscope vs a generic 5kw gas generator. It's a lot bigger of a difference then I thought. If you don't watch the last 10 seconds of it you wouldn't even know its for sale .

 

[DieselAddict]

The nearest power was over a mile away and the power company wanted over $20,000.00 to bring in the power lines. As far as DieselAdict proving anything, if he brings up a subject then he should support it, as should you.

I'm not looking to prove anything. I just added my experience with personal equipment to the mix. I lived for one and a half years off grid not by choice but due to a stupid law here that prevents people from residing in RVs so I couldn't get power to my home site under construction because my RV was there. The eu1000 ran every day except on the hot days and continues to run today when called upon. No, it wasn't run terribly hard since it was charging batteries and powering a TV and stuff on an RV. It burned less than a gallon per day which on most days was 8hrs of run time. I would fill it with fuel when I came home from work and it would run till the fuel ran out sometime during the night. It uses a little oil now but still runs pulls a load. Its on my list to tear it down and freshen up the engine. On those hot days in summer I ran a EU3000 to power the AC in the RV.

I wouldn't put the Honda generators in the same class as a MEP just like I wouldn't put a MEP in the same class as a commercial CAT generator. Different machines for different purposes. The EU Hondas are solid machines that are excellent for home and general use. They won't have the engine lifespan of a diesel generator. As such they may not be the best choice for prime power. In my case I used what I had.

What I can say for certain is both my EU generators have earned my respect as quality and reliable equipment. They fit my needs at the time just as my MEP003a fits my home backup needs now.

 

[DieselAddict]

Am I allowed to post YouTube videos on here if its something for sale by owner not an auction?

For sale stuff has its own classified section. Posting in that section requires a user to be a supporting member of the forum.

 

[rustystud]

I'm not looking to prove anything. I just added my experience with personal equipment to the mix. I lived for one and a half years off grid not by choice but due to a stupid law here that prevents people from residing in RVs so I couldn't get power to my home site under construction because my RV was there. The eu1000 ran every day except on the hot days and continues to run today when called upon. No, it wasn't run terribly hard since it was charging batteries and powering a TV and stuff on an RV. It burned less than a gallon per day which on most days was 8hrs of run time. I would fill it with fuel when I came home from work and it would run till the fuel ran out sometime during the night. It uses a little oil now but still runs pulls a load. Its on my list to tear it down and freshen up the engine. On those hot days in summer I ran a EU3000 to power the AC in the RV.

I wouldn't put the Honda generators in the same class as a MEP just like I wouldn't put a MEP in the same class as a commercial CAT generator. Different machines for different purposes. The EU Hondas are solid machines that are excellent for home and general use. They won't have the engine lifespan of a diesel generator. As such they may not be the best choice for prime power. In my case I used what I had.

What I can say for certain is both my EU generators have earned my respect as quality and reliable equipment. They fit my needs at the time just as my MEP003a fits my home backup needs now.

Your point was well said. What I was referring too was 74M35A2's comment about not needing to back up a statement someone has made. If anyone makes a "statement" around here they better be able to back it up. This is not a site for BS comments but actual, tangible facts or real life experiences (like yours) . If I came out with the statement that "Kohler" makes the very best engine's for generators then I had better be able to back that up with facts or it's just BS.
I actually don't believe Kohler makes the very best engines by the way. They make a good engine, just not the very best. OK rant is off now.

 

[novaman]

I hooked up my mep-802a and my Coleman 5kw to my oscilloscope. this is a good representation of the difference between quality and big box store cheep power

And the clean wave is while powering my whole house including 3.5 ton ac. I snagged these photos off my YouTube video I put on CL to help sell this unit.

 

[74M35A2]

I make a decent amount of $ rebuilding about 30 Kohler engines a year due to their weak design area(s). I'm not out to get anybody, I just didn't think telling somebody to run their generator virtually non-stop for a year is a reasonable thing to advise. Any MEP genset in civilian hands is tired anyway, by run time or age, which is why the military sold it for 10% of its initial value, just like our trucks. If they fit the buyers needs, than more "power" (get it) to them. A lot of people have a lot of good experience here, including RS, that is actually worth reading. No, I do not own an MEP. A buddy does own a -002A I have experienced. I own a 3600rpm air cooled Honda 2800W and an 1800rpm liquid cooled Kubota 5000W gensets (construction site light tower). Favorite is a Whisper Watt, but will never buy one due to cost.

 

[Isaac-1]

74M35A2, what makes you think the MEP generators in civilian hands are tired? Sure some are high hours, but LOTS of people buy low hour rebuilds, particularly on smaller 3-10KW units where older designs like the MEP-002a, MEP-003a and the various MEP-016 models are being retired in favor of quieter newer designs.