Generator Hours - How high have you seen on 002 or 003

[billypop]

Just wondering how many hours any one has gotten or seen on a 'running' 002 or 003???? I have seen that some have said they should be good for about 10000.
Or in other words $36,500.00 of diesel!!!!!!

 

[steelandcanvas]

I've got 200 hours on my 003.

 

[dmistretta]

I've got one with 2292 hours on it that I just got. Everything on it seems orignal except for a splice in the aux fuel float and somewhere near the IP. I may have put on an hour of that during startup, testing and putting loads on and it works well so far.

My other one isn't fully functional yet but has <400 hrs and seems to have had more problems than the higher hour unit. (sticky fuel shutoff solenoid, parasitic drain on batteries, bad CVT1 - causing 160V to output, and the 'scarier' problem - continues to try to start even after me putting it to stop, pulling the DC breaker until I shut the battery disconnect off - they added that part. At least it has the ASK on it .

I'm sure others will have some with tons more hours!

 

[steelypip]

Mine has about 1100 hours on the Hobbs meter now, had about 1000 when I got it. It has good compression and everything important works to specification, although the Hz meter is sometimes flaky. The only actual problem it has is that the aux pump float switch in the tank doesn't work. I haven't taken it apart yet to see why.

If I were buying from GL, I would probably prefer a visually complete unit with some hours to it to the low-mileage creampuff unless I knew that the low runtime sets had been through depot before being surplussed. There do seem to be periodic releases of low time 'hangar queen' sets that never got used because they had some problem and the unit didn't need the set badly enough to get it running properly. A set with runtime on it that got proper maintenance is far preferable.

I think Speddmon mentioned that he has a high-timer genset that runs fine. I don't remember how many hours it has, but I do know that it made me feel really good about mine having only a thousand...

 

[EO2NMCB]

I've got an mep002a with 2500 or so hours that I use at my camp. I'm putting 70-150 hrs on it every time I'm down there. One at the house with 2750 hours that runs like a top.

 

[RichardR]

I've never seen an MEP-002A, 003A in what I would call "worn out" condition unless it has been unmaintained and abused to failure, which is not likely in military service. It's usually difficult to determine how many hours any particular unit has run unless you happen to have complete detailed maintenance records, which don't ordinarily accompany a surplus unit. For all except a very recently rebuilt unit with a reset tag, the Hobbs meter is not a good indication of actual run time. I have an MEP-003A with a Hobbs showing about 4500 hours, but the meter itself has failed and ground to a halt no telling how long ago. And the engine has been replaced with a new engine manufactured in 1996 (determined by engine serial number), long after the set was originally assembled. Not even Sherlock Holmes could tell how many hours are on various parts of this unit, but it still performs flawlessly.

I happen to believe that a reasonably well maintained MEP-002A, 003A will last at least 10,000 hours or more. I know I don't have enough $$ to run one that many hours to find out. Of course the military has different objectives than most of us (and more $$ than most of us), so they set a different standard.

I also happen to agree with the comments above that a very low-hour reset unit may not be as wise a purchase as one with a few hundred or more hours to get past the infant mortality (somebody made a mistake during rebuild) issue. Starting with few hundred or even a few thousand hours, we will never run one to true end-of-life.

 

[Isaac-1]

I just bought a MEP-002a from GL that was a runner (mostly) with 2060 hours showing on the hour meter, the generator end is dated 1976 and has obviously been through the rebuild process at least once. Stenciled on the side was a "serviced" date in 2008. (voltage would spike on it, fixed by replacing a $5 transistor, battery meter was full of water, and there is still something wrong with the votl and amp meter where it goes flaky from time to time, but it runs smooth does not smoke and generates power). In the same GL event there was one MEP-002a showing over 8,000 hours on the meter, take that for what ever you think it may mean. I do know of people getting close to 20,000 hours out of Onan DJB's which is the civilian version of the same engine.

Ike

p.s. I should probably mention my MEP-002a is an ugly duckling, data plate, front panel and top plate so faded as to be mostly unreadable, it has a nice sprayed on somewhat faded coat of green camo CARC, that someone brushed over with some splotches of tan, etc. but from a mechanical point of view it is well maintained and runs good.

 

[Speddmon]

One of my 003a's came with 1600 +/- on the meter and one of them had 3600 +/- on the meter. Both ran and run perfectly.

As far as the 10,000 hours you stated earlier, I believe that is where the military "resets" the units. Maybe sooner. But, if it's taken care of and has regular oil changes, it should go for a LOT longer than that. The electrical equipment doesn't care about hours of use as long as they are not regularly overloaded. And the engine is a diesel, capable or many 10's of thousands of hours if properly maintained. Look at farm equipment and construction equipment for high hour diesels if you don't believe me.

 

[derf]

Diesels in reefer trailers go many, many hours, 10s of thousands. Proper maintenance is the key.