MEP-802A and MEP-803A fuel consumption

no, I don't expect to sell my gen set for $13k , lol , it should bring 50 to 40 % of the new price. Delk's Surplus in Asheboro NC buys the ones with mega hrs on them and they rebuild them. They ask a bunch for theirs . Mine isn't going to need a rebuild for quite a long time I'd expect

One thing not mentioned is the fuel lines and any hoses made of rubber. The MEP's do not use poly hoses which will last our lifetime (something else about high quality) . Just setting the rubber will rot away. So your brand new generator will, after fueling will go to crap in a handbasket after it sucks all the rotten rubber into the injection pump. Just one scenario . Don't get me wrong, I love the MEP's. I own 6 of them, and plan on buying more. The problem is the general public will not be able to easily run them. Try explaining the start up sequence to a person who has never been exposed to the MEP's before. Most people want a self contained unit that runs with just the turn of a switch. Of course all this talk is just talk. If you want to sell your generators for a certain price that's your business. Just don't expect to have people knocking down you door to buy them.

My solution to the user unfriendliness was to write a customized 'starting the generator' procedure for my wife to follow. I made her read through it and go through all the steps last month on a cold morning. I have some edits (mostly more graphics) to make to the document for clarity, but it does seem to meet the need.

I modeled the layout on the USAF -1 aircraft manuals I grew up looking at, so it's a little easier reading than the -12 OM and is focused on doing minimal PMCS and getting the set up and running powering our specific house in a power outage situation.

This wouldn't work for everybody, as some people are a lot more technophobic than others. But my wife is smart and good at following written instructions and her daddy worked in power plants for many years. She can do it.

steelypip said:

My solution to the user unfriendliness was to write a customized 'starting the generator' procedure for my wife to follow. I made her read through it and go through all the steps last month on a cold morning. I have some edits (mostly more graphics) to make to the document for clarity, but it does seem to meet the need.

I modeled the layout on the USAF -1 aircraft manuals I grew up looking at, so it's a little easier reading than the -12 OM and is focused on doing minimal PMCS and getting the set up and running powering our specific house in a power outage situation.

This wouldn't work for everybody, as some people are a lot more technophobic than others. But my wife is smart and good at following written instructions and her daddy worked in power plants for many years. She can do it.

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The first time my wife had to start the MEP-003A it was around 8:00pm. I was at work (swingshift) and was called into the office. My wife was on the phone. She was frantic and would not calm down. It was winter, cold and dark and she had forgotten the instructions I had given her. Thankfully my 8 year old son had remembered most of what I said and was able with my instructions over the phone to get the unit started. Since then I have written them down and posted them on the refrigerator door.

steelypip said:

My solution to the user unfriendliness was to write a customized 'starting the generator' procedure for my wife to follow. I made her read through it and go through all the steps last month on a cold morning. I have some edits (mostly more graphics) to make to the document for clarity, but it does seem to meet the need.

I modeled the layout on the USAF -1 aircraft manuals I grew up looking at, so it's a little easier reading than the -12 OM and is focused on doing minimal PMCS and getting the set up and running powering our specific house in a power outage situation.

This wouldn't work for everybody, as some people are a lot more technophobic than others. But my wife is smart and good at following written instructions and her daddy worked in power plants for many years. She can do it.

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Steelypip, if you could post your procedure (especially if you have added graphics) here that would be greatly appreciated. I could copy it and post that on my frig instead.

I'll get that edit done and put it up. It's a word docx just for ease of layout.

steelypip - I'd love a copy of those instructions too. Just got the pad poured for the 802A and I'd have to recreate from my old 002A.

Happy to edit or provide feedback.

Clarke

ClarkeF said:

steelypip - I'd love a copy of those instructions too. Just got the pad poured for the 802A and I'd have to recreate from my old 002A.

Happy to edit or provide feedback.

Clarke

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Yeah ! You never posted those instructions steelypip ! It's been over 2 months ! Of course I totally forgot ! LOL ! Thankfully ClarkeF has come along to jog everyones memory.

I said it once and I'll say it again these prices people are trying to fetch and insane and these generator sets are NOT worth anywhere close to those numbers.
Like someone else said there useless in the commercial world and Average Joe home owner will never buy one. They do not come equipped with auto start and parts are sketchy to get. So where does that leave you it leaves you with a very small market.
That being said this is a hobby a hobby that I really enjoy and it appears that other people enjoy it as well. People buying mep803's for 3k with the intentions of selling for $5000 are fools....

And back to topic fuel consumption depends on load I think my MEP002 will empty a 5 gallon tank in 5 hours at 100%

CDR said:

And back to topic fuel consumption depends on load I think my MEP002 will empty a 5 gallon tank in 5 hours at 100%

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Naturally. Otherwise you could turn a 100 kW generator with a 2 Hp engine.

2 Hp is equivalent to about 1.5 kW of electrical power. Heat is work is energy. Power is the rate of change of energy.

1 Hp is 550 foot-pounds per second. Or 746.xx Watts. And a Watt is 1 Newton-meter per second.

An MEP803 10 kW uses .9447 gallons of diesel fuel an hour at full load, 10 kW, .8 power factor.
An MEP831 3 kW uses .33 gallons of diesel fuel an hour at full load, 3 kW, .8 power factor.

rustystud said:

Yeah ! You never posted those instructions steelypip ! It's been over 2 months ! Of course I totally forgot ! LOL ! Thankfully ClarkeF has come along to jog everyones memory.

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I did actually get the second draft finished and printed (it's in the manuals box in the kitchen, where the wife expects to find it). I forgot to post it here, of course. It's sitting on my work laptop and I'll see if I can get it posted here shortly.

Any luck finalizing that start-up list, steelypip? I'd like to see your format!

I have the MEP-003, on mine the control panel has lost some of the clarity of the white lettering on the black background. For my wife I took a label maker and printed new ones that I have put on. That way the control knob points at the label. Its also much larger font. That way she can see it (both in the dark with the panel lights, or with out her glasses should that emergency arise). I also am not sure if it was on another thread or online some place else, but I went online to one of the big home improvement stores and purchased a emergency battery egress light. Like the type you see in commercial buildings. I have this mounted on the ceiling above my breaker box. The other end is simply plugged into a nearby outlet. That way should the power go out the light comes on automatically and illuminates the interlock. I also have it properly labeled on it for the wife.

Landbarger said:

Any luck finalizing that start-up list, steelypip? I'd like to see your format!

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Here you go. Note (again) that this is very customized to my environment, warts and all. My generator lives outside on the parking pad, hence the batteries in the garage on the charger, the jumper cables, etc. There's also some personal preference here - I don't like my batteries sitting on a paint shaker for hours, so we sit them on the pad beside the genset and run a longer cable.

Likewise, we use an interlock kit and a four-prong plug in the laundry room (which is also where the panel is), so the cable runs into the basement through the laundry room window. I still mean to install a whole house disconnect switch and exterior twist-lock, but it's pretty low on the list of things to do and will probably not happen until the generator moves to its permanent home and the output cable gets buried in conduit.

The last customization has to do with the intended user - my wife is a finance person. She likes written procedures and has a visual memory, especially of figures. This makes her very unlike most people on the planet, who are kinetic learners. She is not well schooled in basic science or engineering. So there's a lot of 'really obvious' stuff to some of us in here along with more numbers than most people like.

She has been through this checklist end to end twice, which is why you're looking at v3. I suspect it will continue to evolve as she practices it and am certain that it'll change as I make systems changes (moving circuit breakers around in the panel, for instance).

All of that said, your criticism is welcome. Understand, though, that I'm familiar with the NEC requirements for my non-permanent generator installation and I know that there are varying opinions on best practice, code requirements, etc. I know that what I am doing is legal where I live. I make no guarantees on the legality of this layout elsewhere.

Lastly, the copyright claim on page one is specifically to protect me from being sued by somebody's widow. I have a completely and verifiably true horror story involving the US legal system and assumed suitability for use that I will share over adult beverages if you're interested. The attached is an example of a document that I made for internal use in my home environment. I am sharing it as requested as an example - nothing more, and make no claim that it represents any expertise in any field. Your environment does vary and you are responsible for ensuring that your systems are operated safely and legally.

All I can say is bless your wife because mine would have driven to her moms or a hotel at "D".

jimbo913 said:

All I can say is bless your wife because mine would have driven to her moms or a hotel at "D".

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Ha! The first time we had a big power outage was in the 'snowpocalypse' of 2009 Nothing without tracks or feet moved on our road for three days after that and we had a five-day outage. It was figure it out or freeze. She's motivated. She's also smarter than the average bear, which helps a lot, and has real technical expertise - just not as an electrician or mechanic. She's actually better at arithmetic than I am, but not as good at symbolic math. It only took me a decade of marriage to figure out how she conceptualized technical information...

since I've just acquired these, and am learning about them, i'll contribute as I can to threads where applicable.

The military ran a test of various fuel types and part of that was consumption rate. For the 803a @50% rated capacity, they observed ~.66 gal/hour. I think that is a more real world figure to go from than the oft states 1 gal/hour @ 100%.

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482914

Once I have mine up and running, I'll post my own results.