• 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 report post Hurricane Michael

Demoh

Member
217
26
18
Location
St Pete, FL
Its almost been 2 weeks and I am curious as to who is running MEPs up there in the Panhandle. I have family up there and after it hit and hearing from family I loaded up 3 gens (831, 802, 803 one of each) and made my way up there along with many other supplies. I have family in Chipley who got power back last week, and family in 2 houses (same property in the woods) around Bayou George who as of yesterday when I left there are still many power lines still just laying in the road with no (very few) power crews working the main road there. I estimate they will be without power another week. Since the hurricane Ive only spent 3-4 days back home in St Pete, all other time I was up there on a chainsaw or tractor or hauling supplies around.

For the generators I always knew the 802a was the unsung hero of these situations. Rarely need more than 5kw unless you have a monster air conditioner to run, but even under disaster situations I know that fuel conservation is key. I always ignored the 831 generators as I rarely thought of them as anything more than a portable unit, but now I am contemplating working an 831 into my own disaster plan. During nighttime hours when large loads arent needed the 831 is perfect.

Report on each generator:
802a, started at 18 hours, now 130+, now on standby and only used when laundry needs to be done. Was connected to 1400sq foot house and due to age would not fire up 4 ton AC (expected). The house has a 12kw gasoline gen which was drinking fuel like you wouldnt believe. The 802 ran consistently at around 30% load and consumption was around 4-5 gallons per 20 hours.
Failures: Fuel level float connection vibrated loose which caused aux fuel not to work.
oil pressure switch wires broke off no less than 4 times during 100 hours. Extended the wires by 12 inches and routed so that vibration wouldnt affect the wires, but it still scares me to not have oil pressure shutoff if a wire breaks again (piss poor design, the oil pressure switch should be CLOSED when operating so that if the wire breaks the gen should shut down instead of how it currently is). I will relocate the oil pressure sender and switch at a later date.
started getting low fuel shutdown after 80 hours, the connector for the float module vibrated itself loose so I corrected that one too.

Overall pleased as this 802 is my primary unit for my own house.

803a: running time so far around 120 hours. This started as a unit that I havent rebuilt yet but I brought all of my rebuilding supplies to repair this generator onsite. Roughly 10 hours worth of work went into this gen to repair. Only notable was the AC reconnection switch having desert sand in it. almost had to manually connect the gen head to bypass the switch but was able to flush it enough to get solid connections eventually. Had to adjust the injection pumps and currently running without a 'weatherproof' fuel tank so it is currently shrouded to prevent water getting in the fuel.
This unit has no problem with running 3 air conditioners in a new 4000 sq ft house (3.5 ton, 2.5 ton, and 2 ton, all multistage compressors) AND one of the water heaters all at once. During the day this unit is run and the only items kept off is one water heater and no washing of clothes unless other breakers are turned off.
The drawbacks are fuel consumption and starting to see evidence of wet stacking. Exhaust flap is soaked and have now gone to a small gasoline 4kw to run the fridge, freezer, and well pump (serves both houses on property) at night and 803 only when AC / showers are needed.

831: running around 200 hours now under constant operation. 1 oil change so far.
This unit was also brought up as an incomplete unit with a bad inverter but I brought an extra 2 from other units I had. Of course the SLC100 was out of adjustment or bad, so the unit ran full open one night (I was going on 40 hours no sleep constant work) then a metal plate taped to the magnet which worked great until a replacement governor controller arrived (thanks Kurt) which was field installed while kneeling in a fire ant mound.
After installing and adjusting the linkage unit runs absolutely great. This unit is running an RV in 120v mode and with the ac is around 60%. Most consumption is about 110% constant if the refrigerator is in electric mode and unit has no complaints.
Consumption seems to be lower than the 802, overall is a great workhorse. The 802 was moved to this location to run the clothes dryer as the uniform companies are a bit slow to make their rounds for my brother's uniforms.

The whole family lucked out in terms of damage. 36 acres of pine (not for harvest, just land to live on) got pretty beat up and you can now see the neighbors, but the houses all survived with minimal damage (a window, gutter, some vehicle damage) but a lot better than neighbors where right next door people are missing sections of roof.

The time I spent up there I havent seen ANY other MEPs which was very surprising to me. Im curious to see how everybody else did and how their MEPs have been treating them (any field repairs, etc)

IMG_2537.jpg
 

Guyfang

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
15,681
21,617
113
Location
Burgkunstadt, Germany
You done good, Brother!

Hint. To stop the plugs coming apart, we used tiny, thin wire ties. You can pass them between the wires, and snug the plugs up. I can't believe I never mentioned this before. Works like a charm, and you just cut them off, if you need to open one.

Great heads up from you. This should be done after every use of the sets, other then training or general battery charging/exercising of the set. We kept a "failure book". In it, we wrote up the failure, symptoms, and corrective action. It helped the newbe's lots at night, when they were on site alone. Kinda like this forum. You just need to read.
 

Demoh

Member
217
26
18
Location
St Pete, FL
You done good, Brother!

Hint. To stop the plugs coming apart, we used tiny, thin wire ties. You can pass them between the wires, and snug the plugs up. I can't believe I never mentioned this before. Works like a charm, and you just cut them off, if you need to open one.
And thats exactly what I did. When my brother was reporting the low fuel failure I had him run battle short while babysitting the gen in case something actually happened to it so he could dry his clothes. My return trip I brought an entire 802a fuel tank and fuel level module just in case, but luckily it was the other connector (I wish I saw it when I did the first repair because having that panel off twice in a week was un-necessary)

Yep, thats why I wrote this post was to list the failures during an actual emergency event, list the corrective actions, and add to the list of what should be done for a PM.

This weekend I am going to bring my load bank up there (my situation fuel is plentiful, I cant say the same for everybody running those gasoline gens) and do a little inspection work / oil changes / maintenance so the units continue to run.

BTW if anybody from my neck of the woods (St Pete or along the way) needs anything hauled up to Panama City I am leaving friday night or saturday morning.
 

Chainbreaker

Well-known member
1,740
1,810
113
Location
Oregon
Your experience sounds a lot like the experience we had during our epic ice storm event winter of 2016. I was running 2 generators for both service entrances to our property and had a couple of unexpected "lil-gremlin like failures" arise despite all my previous genset preparation. Thankfully I had some spare parts on hand that were needed and received some great troubleshooting advice from this forum's members that got me through the week long outage. I am now much better prepared and fueled for whenever the next outage hits.

Good to hear your experience and thoughts on the MEP-831. I've been on the fence about adding one of those to my stable of generators.
 

DieselAddict

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,481
1,878
113
Location
Efland, NC
Thanks for the report. I made the decision to have a 831 in the mix for the same reasons. When the load in the house is low the 831 is the perfect little machine to have online. Its a little louder than my 803 but it's a fuel sipper for sure.
 

USAMilRet

Member
392
15
18
Location
Tampa, Florida
I use my Onan 4kw from the Motor Home. It is enough for lights, fans, and necessary appliances. For the pool pump even as I can control the speed thus limit the amperage draw. The salt based chlorine generator for the pool requires too much as does the spa and h2o heater and the AC and rest so that is why I got the 803A.

I could have used another gas screamer but fuel by then becomes an excessive cost. So an 802a may have been sufficient for a normal house but I have too many auxiallary power needs than the 802A could provide.
 

Light in the Dark

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,522
4,964
113
Location
MA
I too have considered an 831... but only in passing. They sound like tempermental little things... and thats the last thing I want. But I have (and continue to) consider them...
 

hcso2332

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
151
24
28
Location
Franklin, TN
Great report Demoh. I recently picked up a 831 with only 2 hours on it. Unfortunately the inverter was removed and I am still on the hunt for the part. I am planning on doing the same thing, run my MEP-1040 during the day and an 831 at night.
 

Chainbreaker

Well-known member
1,740
1,810
113
Location
Oregon
I too have considered an 831... but only in passing. They sound like tempermental little things... and thats the last thing I want. But I have (and continue to) consider them...
Yep that's why I have been "on the fence" deciding if I want one. However, thanks to a SS member there are some upgrades that would make them somewhat less temperamental. However, it still seems that parts are still somewhat hard to source or fairly expensive...battery, inverter, etc. But still, I could really use one here on the compound in addition to it being a night runner during a power outage. I have one of those electric chainsaw bar type of Harbor Freight extendable tree trimmers that I would love to use on several trees that are way out of reach of extension cords. I could put a 831 in the back of my JD Gator and then reach any tree on my property. So its still on my list of wants.
 

Demoh

Member
217
26
18
Location
St Pete, FL
Great report Demoh. I recently picked up a 831 with only 2 hours on it. Unfortunately the inverter was removed and I am still on the hunt for the part. I am planning on doing the same thing, run my MEP-1040 during the day and an 831 at night.
A little jealous of the 1040 being of technical background so I would love to have one, but the other side of me wants to grab some of the 00x series. I am in the market for a 005 or 006 though. (more to park at my company than my house)

As for being on the fence with the 831, even if it is temperamental, if it fails just fall back on the bigger unit at the expense of fuel. Well at least thats my take on it. I myself may have a problem as I have an 802 primary backup for my house, with a 803 behind that as a backup or for more heavy lifting, and now ill have to work in the 831... I have no wife/gf to tell me I cant have 3 generators for the house or to alert me to my "problem" rofl


Im hoping as power / internet get restored we will hear from others, but from what I have seen down (up) there there are a lot of people way worse off than my family did.
 

csheath

Active member
713
196
43
Location
FL
My 803 ran 53 hours with nary a fault and consumed right at 1/2 GPH.

We were on the front end of power restoration this time. :) There are still people in our county without power.
 

Digger556

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
230
528
93
Location
Denver CO
Thanks for the great report, especially fuel consumption numbers.


I have an 802 now, but still shopping for an 803 to run the central A/C if necessary. (I have window unit for emergencies right now) The 831 is interesting and I would still like to play with one. We don't have many power outages here, but one good snow storm would do a lot of people in.
 

DieselAddict

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,481
1,878
113
Location
Efland, NC
Depending on the size of your AC unit the low cost option may be to put a soft start on it. You can see where others have done it and have been able to start decent sized AC with a 802.
 

Demoh

Member
217
26
18
Location
St Pete, FL
Yeah thats a cute little buggy... I'd love more info on the trailer too.
Stole the word cute right out of my mouth.

I do think its pretty cool, also curious on what it is. I know now I really want a small trailer for my 831 now. Stop it with the ideas for projects!

One of these days im going to do a full fuel report on varying loads of all 3 generators. I already have my "metering tank" which is really just a 10 gallon graduated cylinder, just not the time for this project also.
 
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