Newbie MEP-018A questions

I just bought an two MEP-018A 10kw generators (w/trailer) on the GSA site. They seem complete except for the top motor cover sheet metal on one unit and a couple of miner items. The engines turn over by hand OK. One has 40 hours since rebuild in 1998 and the other has 102.

I want to change the oil and filter before I try to start them and am not sure what to use. I'm thinking 30W non-detergent but I'm not sure what they use. I think the filter is from NAPA and should be able to match it.

Any tips before I attemp to start these units and see if they work ? I hope to use one unit for backup power for the house and will probably sell the other one and the trailer.

Thanks in advance for in information/tips you can give me. I'll be out of town for a couple of days so I may not answer this post until the first of the week.

I suspect you can find the TM and the LO that go with this unit in the resources section of this forum.

Nice genset; I've got its little gas-powered brother, the 5kW MEP-017A. Saw a nice 018A close today in Rock Island for ~$540.

Plan on hearing protection and stock in Chevron. They are not quiet and at 2.4 gallons per hour, not efficient. The good news is there are kits to convert them to LP or natural. The genset and engine side manuals are in the resource section.

Look for TM 5-6115-275-14 and TM 9-2805-259-14 for starters.

Oil filter shown in image below. (Right click on image and open link in new window for max res.)

My personal theory on engines that have been sitting with unknown history and may have been sitting up for a long time is start with cheap oil and change oil and filters again after the first hour or so of run time. This way you can clear the rust and other junk out of the system that might be lurking around. Also it gives you a chance for finding coolant leaks, etc. before spending too much on the good oil.

Ike

Don't know how many quarts the 018A takes - but the smaller 017A takes 2-1/2 quarts including the filter. When I got mine, I used the same quality oil for the initial flush as the oil I put in after for service. The cost delta wasn't enough to seek another oil type to flush with.

Let us know when you get it running. If yours was stored like mine, you'll find it won't run until you take the carb off, remove the bowl, and clean out all the crud. Mine was stored with the fuel system dry - so varnish wasn't a problem - but rust was; water had condensed in the dry bowl over the years, causing it to rust. It cleaned right up using a mototool with small Scotchbrite wheel to polish all the internal parts. Be careful of those old gaskets when you work on it - they are brittle when dry.

I got my old carb working - but bought a spare (along with some other parts) from Saturn Surplus. The spare carb was $39.50 for the 2A042 engine - brand new in the box. I think he's also got parts for your engine if you need them.

Recovry4x4 said:

Plan on hearing protection and stock in Chevron. They are not quiet and at 2.4 gallons per hour, not efficient. The good news is there are kits to convert them to LP or natural. The genset and engine side manuals are in the resource section.

Click to expand...

Couldn't find the fuel consumption in the TMs, so I ran my genset for 60 minutes and measured the fuel used. Without a load, the fuel level dropped 3.0 inches in the Jerry can, which works out to almost exactly 1.0 gallon, so the 2.4 quoted by Kenny must be with full load.
I miss having a temperature gauge, so using a thermocouple I got a temp of over 315°F on top of the cylinder head. It runs good, so I assume that's okay for an air cooled engine.

Next time I run the MEP-017A I'll measure a couple head temperatures and calculate Trise. I suspect tje 018a and 017a should be somewhere in the same ballpark temperature wise, even though one is a 5 and the other a 10 KW unit - provided they are unloaded.

You need the top cover, otherwise they will overheat. Cylinder head temps should not get over 400 F.

Yes, they are loud and inefficient as they are air cooled and 2 pole, meaning they need to run at 3600 RPM to get 60 Hz power.

While the 018A will generate far more than 10kW, do not overload it as cooling for the generator section isn't adequate. Watch PF, nothing less than 0.80.

The most common malady is governor adjustment to limit droop. The TM in the -3 level covers this.

Yes, the cover does effect the air flow.
They are loud, but with something between the genset to block the noise, like the truck or a house, it's not too bad.
Walking around it, the source of noise changes from engine noise to generator wine and back to engine noise.
What is the fuel consumption of an efficient generator? This unit must not run at idle, but must maintain 3,600 rpm at all times, btw.

I can't help you too much on fuel consumption for a gasoline set in that size range, but I can tell you our 1800 rpm 33KW Kohler diesel generator is around 2.5 gal/hour at full load.

Ike

p.s. my little (relatively) MEP701a/016b 3600 rpm diesel 3KW is rated at .5 gal per hour per the tech manual (I assume this is full load)

Here's a copy and paste from the TM. I'm afraid I mis-spoke on consumption. It's 2.25 not 2.4 GPH. Memory is just not what it used to be.

"Average fuel consumption is 2.25 gal. (8.55 liters) per hour of continuous operation."

It's the very first chart in Chapter 3 of TM 5-6115-275-14

The filter should be a fram PH-8A or the same filter as a small block ford V-8 from the 302 familiy. That is if it has the spin on filter conversion in place. I would assume so since you said you saw a number on it.

Isaac-1 said:

I can't help you too much on fuel consumption for a gasoline set in that size range, but I can tell you our 1800 rpm 33KW Kohler diesel generator is around 2.5 gal/hour at full load.

Ike

p.s. my little (relatively) MEP701a/016b 3600 rpm diesel 3KW is rated at .5 gal per hour per the tech manual (I assume this is full load)

Click to expand...

Diesel fuel has higher BTU (heating) value, so it will inherently give better fuel efficiency/gallon.

Diesel engines don't like light loads, so they have their own problems, as has been posted before....

Thanks for all of the info

Thanks for all of the information. I'll let you know when I get them started !

I'm bringing this thread back up from the dead. I got a Fermont MEP018A as part of another deal. Going to attempt to get her going.

Hi - I am just at the same point with a 3kw generator 0f my own - the oil you use has to be special oil for a diesel engine - usually a multigrade is what is recommended such as 15w-40 Shell rotella or Chevron delo 400 arre two that come to mind- best of luck with the generators

bigjmcconnell said:

I'm bringing this thread back up from the dead. I got a Fermont MEP018A as part of another deal. Going to attempt to get her going.

Click to expand...

Any progress on this?
There are relatively few mep018 projects posted here, aside from mine, so it's good to see another pop up from time to time...

Recovry4x4 said:

Here's a copy and paste from the TM. I'm afraid I mis-spoke on consumption. It's 2.25 not 2.4 GPH. Memory is just not what it used to be.

"Average fuel consumption is 2.25 gal. (8.55 liters) per hour of continuous operation."

It's the very first chart in Chapter 3 of TM 5-6115-275-14

Click to expand...

When I used the mep018 last year, the average was about half of what the TM listed, but running the house, which does not have AC, doesn't tax the set that much. Here is the table from MIL SPEC 1401 for the engine.

cranetruck said:

Any progress on this?
There are relatively few mep018 projects posted here, aside from mine, so it's good to see another pop up from time to time...

Click to expand...

No progress on mine...still on my to-do list.