• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

MEP-804A Diode Ring Destroyed

Evvy Fesler

Well-known member
366
772
93
Location
Roxboro, North Carolina USA
Evvy,

I am pretty certain I found the cause:

View attachment 879159


the Bracket # 43 is mounted to Fiberglass Disk # 44 with rivets

One rivet broke out on the disk side from centrifugal forces and vibration
this send the assembly off balance and it self destructed

the DoD design uses here hex head bolts with lock washer which screw into a thread in the bracket

View attachment 879160

also,
the disk is mounted to the assembly by means of
MS90725-5
Military Standard Hexagon Head Cap Screw
Description:
Fastener Length: 19/32", Thread: 1/4-20, Thread Length: 15/32", MS90725 series screw #26 with split lock washer # 27
View attachment 879162

You got this here (with remains of the fiberglass disk)

View attachment 879163
View attachment 879165

I am pretty sure that one of the rivet connections failed first.

This is completely different from the original Marathon and DoD design in the TM’s

This qualifies and gets the PPD award

Peter
I'll bite... does PPD stand for Process and Product Design?
 

peapvp

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,098
1,193
113
Location
Basehor, KS
Good morning, Peter!

The rivet attachment method bothered me, too, but I didn’t pick up on the difference like you did. The evidence certainly supports the theory. That’s a really nice find!
Evvy,
On your assortments of leftovers, is there any evidence that one of those rivets broke out?
Three brackets, six rivets. If I am wrong then every bracket should have the fiberglass disk underneath held by two rivets like the one in the picture I used
 

Evvy Fesler

Well-known member
366
772
93
Location
Roxboro, North Carolina USA
Evvy,
On your assortments of leftovers, is there any evidence that one of those rivets broke out?
Three brackets, six rivets. If I am wrong then every bracket should have the fiberglass disk underneath held by two rivets like the one in the picture I used
I'll look again, but I don't recall two disks. Just brackets riveted to one wafer board. I suspect that's why Marathon pointed out that they didn't make this one... among other observations from my (growing) picture library.
 

Evvy Fesler

Well-known member
366
772
93
Location
Roxboro, North Carolina USA
And you know, over the years Marathon has made some absolute bomb proof Main gen. Why reinvent the wheel? Something that works, works well, works for ever, should not be discarded!
I agree that they are top notch... my gutt is telling me to abandon this design and substitute one of their commercial products. I suspect that will lower my TCO, because repairing a commercial one will likely be cheaper than repairing a DOD spec design. Then there's that little voice that says... "don't give up... you've been here before!"
 

Guyfang

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
16,627
23,753
113
Location
Burgkunstadt, Germany
Got to do what you got to do. If you could score a main gen with the updated ring, life would be good. I bumped my buddy. Will see if he is awake. Or the Corona got him?

Now, I am supposed to be removing wall paper. If I don't get this done, my son will be disappointed. The only thing worse then taking paper down, is putting it up. And I aint doing that!
 

Evvy Fesler

Well-known member
366
772
93
Location
Roxboro, North Carolina USA
Got to do what you got to do. If you could score a main gen with the updated ring, life would be good. I bumped my buddy. Will see if he is awake. Or the Corona got him?

Now, I am supposed to be removing wall paper. If I don't get this done, my son will be disappointed. The only thing worse then taking paper down, is putting it up. And I aint doing that!
Think steam!
 

Evvy Fesler

Well-known member
366
772
93
Location
Roxboro, North Carolina USA
Phase II

I still haven't decided about replace vs rewind, but no matter what, I've got to get the generator out of the cabinet. My generator set is mounted on a military trailer. I've got a couple of options. Tow it to one of you who live in NC, or take it out myself with Bob's help. I'm wondering if an engine hoist will reach in there with the trailer A-Frame in the way. I'll have to buy the hoist ao I can't just try it and see.

What do y'all think? Does anyone have experience with removing and reinstalling the generator? Would you please share your expertise with me?

Evvy-
 

Ray70

Well-known member
2,552
5,759
113
Location
West greenwich/RI
Enzyme wallpaper stripper all the way! Much faster than water.... Keeps the room cooler than steam too! ;)
From the old days helping friends remodel their first homes back in our younger years!

To remove the gen, If you don't have a neighbor with a tractor available, some rental places will rent a cherry picker for cheap!
Just make sure you have room for both the boom and the legs. If vertical space is an issue, skip the hook hanging from the boom and use a short chain and shackle over the boom and through the lift eye and wrap the chain behind the original hook so it can't slip off. will gain you and extra 3-4"
 

Guyfang

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
16,627
23,753
113
Location
Burgkunstadt, Germany
Why no! Never did it before in my life.

Take the control panel off. Take the rest of the box off. Take anything off that gets in your way first. Then get someone to use a forklift or tractor, like LITD wrote.

1663184655957.png
This kind of a lift might work. Its supposed to be 2 tons lift. After all, you just need to lift it high enough to pull the trailer out.

1663184930701.png
This is what we would use at work. Low tech, and in comparison to an electric crane or lift, cheap. For someone like you, perfect, but pricey. And you may only need it once in a blue moon. So buying one is maybe not in the cards for you. Perhaps you can find someone who has one and will bring it over. They can be easy taken apart. If I had had the room someplace, I would have stolen one from the Army! You need to find someone with a fork lift or tractor.
 

Evvy Fesler

Well-known member
366
772
93
Location
Roxboro, North Carolina USA
Why no! Never did it before in my life.

Take the control panel off. Take the rest of the box off. Take anything off that gets in your way first. Then get someone to use a forklift or tractor, like LITD wrote.

View attachment 879239
This kind of a lift might work. Its supposed to be 2 tons lift. After all, you just need to lift it high enough to pull the trailer out.

View attachment 879240
This is what we would use at work. Low tech, and in comparison to an electric crane or lift, cheap. For someone like you, perfect, but pricey. And you may only need it once in a blue moon. So buying one is maybe not in the cards for you. Perhaps you can find someone who has one and will bring it over. They can be easy taken apart. If I had had the room someplace, I would have stolen one from the Army! You need to find someone with a fork lift or tractor.
Food for thought! If I remove the cabinet I have the structural support above that I could put a come along on it and pull the trailer out. That’s doable and easy to get the pickup under it. Yeah, yeah… I’ll say it before anyone else does. Back the pickup in with the tailgate down! 🥱
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks