Another MEP-016A Carb issue

[max1008]

Generator was running good last week.
I was having issues with it not wanting to run with no choke, seemed like half choke was perfect. So I pulled the carb and did the standard clean on it. Put it to the 3/4 main and 1/2 turn idle. Started right up but over-revs until the bowl cannot supply fuel fast enough. No matter how much I turn the main or the idle it revs out of control. Can anyone give me some input? Also, it wants me to set the idle speed, but i thought that i burn out the regulator if it run it at idle speed?
Thanks

 

[Jimc]

Sounds like a clogged port or jet. Usually lots of fine little holes in carbs that can get clogged easily. Compressed air, lacquer thinner and small guitar strings work well.

 

[max1008]

i just cleaned again. can't get any cleaner. still takes off wide open throttle unless i choke it down. what's with the rubber washer around the main jet? it looks like it's seen better days. would that cause my problems?

 

[max1008]

Installed a new carb and it runs like a champ. Now i have another question on carb tuning.

Manual says to turn the idle adjustment to 1/2 turn. The gen will race like crazy if I do that. I adjusted the idle until i achieved 60hz. Put a load on it and adjusted the governor to 60 hz. Then remove load and im at 68 hz. I did this a few times before i ran out of light.

The tm wants me to adjust idle at 200-900 rpm. According to steel soldiers I should never run it at this speeds.

Anyone know the correct procedure for adjusting the idle adjustment needle?

 

[jbk]

tm says with engine stopped turm both the main and idle adj. needles clockwise until fully seated.
then turn main adj. needle counterclockwise three quarters of a turn off its seat.
then turn the idle adj. needle counterclockwise off its seat one half turn.
start eng. and operate 5 min. then engage load.
turn main adj. needle clockwise or counterclockwise until eng. runs smoothly.
alternately disengage and engage load. if engine stalls or operates unevenly repeat the previous steps.
to adjust idle speed hold the gov. control rod towaed rear of engineand turn idle adj. needle in or out until the engine idles smoothly.
set your no load hertz(speed) to 61.8 with a warm eng.
i load test mine with some potable elec. heaters.

 

[max1008]

That's what I did but with the idle adjustment screw turned 1/2 out the motor will blow up. I think the part I was missing was holding the governor rod back. I was using my girl friends hair dryer for a load test. It amazing how much power they use.
I will give it another try tonight. Thank You

 

[jbk]

your aware the engine runs at 3600 rpm on this gen.? the idle is really not important as you wont be operating at this speed. these eng. were also used for other applications allowing the idle to come into play.you can only idle for a min, or you will blow output trans. in the ac reg.

 

[max1008]

Yea I am aware, the tm kept saying to set the idle at 200-900 rmp which was really throwing me off. I was setting it for the 60hz range, but was double guessing myself because of the tm 200-900 rpm thing.

 

[jbk]

dont worry about the idle. right now.at 3600 rpm the carb. is useing the main jet only. also you can set the no load(61.8 with that stop screw on the gov.

 

[steelypip]

Small engines have small carbs and small carb jets. Tiny carburetor jets clog easier. If you don't have a good fine gauge fuel filter in line to the carburetor, now is the time. Air cleaners also need to do their job - I have seen a number of carbs with plugged jets caused by debris going in the bowl vent tube.

The only way you can properly adjust the idle mixture jet is to slow the engine down enough that it's running entirely on the low speed jet (a true idle) and then adjust the low speed mixture and idle stop screws as desired. You probably want to isolate the AC voltage regulator before you do that, to avoid hurting it with low RPM operation. You can then just disconnect the governor spring from the linkage and operate the throttle manually to get whatever speed you want - the governor weights will always try to push the throttle toward idle when the engine is running, so you'll just be pushing against the resistance to open the throttle - just like a throttle return spring. Adjust for a smooth, fairly high idle - I don't like to set it at no-load synchronous (3600 RPM for these) because the internal friction and pumping efficiency varies, so you want an idle speed that would be something like 2500 RPM. Set the mixture at about 1500 RPM (hot engine), then adjust the idle stop screw to get 2500 or so. Then shut it off and hook the governor spring back up, then do the speed and droop adjustment as specified in the manual.

I've done exactly this operation on my little portable gasser generator and it does indeed run much better for it - if the idle jet is way rich or way lean you can have excessive fuel consumption, poor response to load changes...all kinds of un-fun stuff. It's definitely better after a proper tune-up.

 

[max1008]

Im looking at the TM on how to disconnect the voltage regulator. Seems pretty extensive. Is there a single wire or maybe 2 that i can disconnect instead of all the wires?

 

[jbk]

i have adjusted the idle jet on my 016. after you adjust the main and have it running good, manually pull the throttle back and hold it with one hand(or tighten the detent screw that you pull back on) and adjust the idle jet with the other untill it runs the smoothest. try to get it done as soon as possable 30 seconds or less so you dont damage the regulator. but you will never need to idle this set down or the reg. will be damaged.

 

[steelypip]

I've always gone by what has been said around here about the badness of 'idling' a generator with respect to regulator lifespan. That said, if you've got the output breaker turned off, so you know positively that the set isn't trying to put power into a load, and you have been running at normal RPM for a while (to get the engine warm, if nothing else) then pulling the throttle down to the idle stop for a few seconds at a time shouldn't hurt anything - the field current might go up briefly, but it would go right back down when the engine spun back up. As I said before, I'd adjust for best mixture at about 1000 RPM, then crank the idle stop up to 2500 or so.

JBK's procedure is exactly what I've done on my little civilian gasser generator numerous times and it has worked just fine - actually I have abused the heck out of that little beast and it keeps on delivering the watts, but not kilowatts: rated power is 450W...

 

[max1008]

thanks. i got it all tuned and adjusted. 1 more quick question. I'm wiring a 220 3 prong and a 220 4 prong twist lock together into a box. i have both hots attached but not sure about the neutral and ground since the 3 prong only has 2hots and a ground

 

[jbk]

ones 120 volt only (3 prong). the other being 120/240 plug(4 prong)
i use my 16a set on 120/208 3 phase setting to connect to the house as these sets didnt offer a 120/240 setting. the 240 setting has no nuetral available.
get yourself another L30 plug.

 

[max1008]

Here is a photo, The 3 prong is definatly a 240 plug. The the outlet my welder/dryer plugs into. I hooked both outlets to my l1,l2 and it did get my 220v but I wasnt sure what to do with the ground.

Ive been making boxes and running the ground wires to the box and then screwing the boxes to the generator frame.

Photo-
the left outlet is an interlok (+,-, ground neutral) , I think its an l30 (whatever is on civilian generators).
The right outlet is a 240 3 prong (+,-, ground), same outlet used on dryers.

 

[steelypip]

What I would do: swap out any 3 prong 220 plugs on appliances/devices with 4-prong 220 non-twist-lock plugs. Why? Because lots of these things have metal cabinets (dryers, welders) which can (and should) be connected to the green (fourth) wire for a true ground bond- it's just safer that way. And it simplifies your wiring because you only need one kind of plug and one kind of socket. It's also easy. Do respect the minimum amperage rating - there are a couple of variants of the three-prong ones with different shape ground pins. I think the four-pin ones come in fewer varieties.

As you probably know, green is always ground on these. So two pins is hot+ and hot-, three pins is hot+, hot-, neutral. A green lug is always ground. You can find plenty of pictures of NEMA socket and plug standards on line and they're invaluable help if you're trying to figure out what goes where and why.


If you're going to be using a portable generator to power the whole panel through whatever sort of transfer switch, twist-lock is the way to go.

 

[max1008]

I definitely do not want to change my welder plug. I have a 50' extension cord for it and it can take it to any of my houses and plug it into my dryer.

I'm still confused as so where to attach the 3rd wire for the 3 prong outlet

 

[max1008]

and if i did wire a neutral, where do you attach the neutral on the generator.

 

[max1008]

After some searching it looks like neutral goes to L-0.