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MEP-005A Over Voltage Problem

PeterD

New member
622
6
0
Location
Jaffrey, NH
If only I can duplicate the overvoltage problem so I will know that it is fixed.
Don't forget my experience... I had an over-voltage problem (one time) which IMHO was solely due to high moisture levels in the generator. In my case it shut down, and left the over-voltage light on to tell me why. I reset the lamps/safety and restarted. I then monitored it for five minutes and it was rock solid. Left it for another half hour and no problems.

I have a power line condition recorder and if I ever have problems again I'll connect it and record the output and see if there are any glitches or transient issues.
 

flydude92

Member
117
8
18
Location
Waterville, Ohio
I remember your experience and suspect I have the same problem. I have a lot of corrosion on
my regulator board and my problem occurred a couple days after noticing moisture. At this
point I plan to clean up the board, replace the obvious corroded diodes and a few other
components as needed and see what happens.

Brian
 

Harleyd315

Member
195
5
18
Location
Denville,New Jersey
I just picked up an 005 that also has an overvoltage problem. I opened up the v/r box and there is no corrosion everything is tight and everything looks brand new including the outside of the box. Yesterday when is was looking at the gen the fault lights worked and when you brought the engine past 53 htz it would shut down and the overvoltage lamp would come on. Today none of the lamps work but the machine still shuts down above 53 htz. I took the fault light box and tried it on another 005 and all the lamps work as they should. I looked for loose wires and bad connections, found the ground lug, broken off at the frame, below the main lugs. I repaired that still the same. I know nothing about electronics and testing. Any help would be much appreciated.
 

Isaac-1

Well-known member
1,970
48
48
Location
SW, Louisiana
I am not familiar with the voltage regulator on the MEP-005, but a common issue with these units is people frying the voltage regulator (often it is the output transistors) by running them for more than a few seconds at under their rated 60 hz speed. You should never idle one of these generators, we all know it goes against everything everyone has ever been told about engine care, but they are designed to start up and go immediately to operating speed (1800 rpms / 60 hz) and shut down from there after running unloaded to cool off for a few minutes.

Ike
 

flydude92

Member
117
8
18
Location
Waterville, Ohio
Harleyd315
What I know so far about my generator is what I learned working on the over voltage problem.
But I will try to help. The original frequency meters on the 004/005 can be inaccurate and fail
often. The first thing I would do is verify the frequency with a meter or gauge or verify it is
turning at 1800 rpm to make sure you are not over revving it. You can bench test the voltage
regulator using the TM’s or swap it from another generator. This may help until you get more
detailed advice from someone with more experience.

Isaac-1
The mep-005A are rated at 50/60 Hz. I have read the 002 & 003 have this problem with the
voltage regulator burning out but I haven’t heard about it happening with the 005. Of course that
doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened but I always start mine above 50 Hz just in case.

Brian
 

Harleyd315

Member
195
5
18
Location
Denville,New Jersey
I did check the freq, 53htz on my tester, anymore throttle and it kills the motor. The faster you run the engine the higher the voltage goes up until it shuts down in overvoltage. Thanks
 

Harleyd315

Member
195
5
18
Location
Denville,New Jersey
I gave the VR box to a friend of mine who works on electronics. He was able to trouble shoot the VR and found R17 to be bad. He replaced it and now the gen runs great. Been outside running on the load bank for 2 hours. Not really sure what R17 does but it worked.
 
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