MEP-531 flashing

[rustystud]

Well I went to start-up my generators a few days ago and found my MEP-531 would not produce any power ! After troubleshooting it for awhile I found it had lost it's magnetism and needed to be re-flashed. So I got out my 1/2" electric drill and plugged it in to my running generator. With the drill in forward gear and the switch depressed I spun the drill backwards until the generator started to produce power.
This is an old trick that still works as long as you don't have one of the new solid state drills. By spinning the drill backwards you are producing a small current which is going into the generators windings creating a small amount of magnetism. It's just enough to start the generator up.

 

[bmwsyc]

Pretty often, my 531 will not produce power when I first start it up. I thought it might be a little corrosion in the pins on the big connector on the bottom of the cabinet, but I might have what you describe. In the past I would shut down and restart until I got power out, usually only takes a restart or two.

i'll have to give your trick a try next time...if I can find a non battery drill.

 

[rkxswat]

Used the exact same trick to revive a Homelite generator. Worked perfectly. Turns out that if the generator is stopped under load (runs out of fuel) it can lose it's field. Glad I plucked this one from the scrap heap.

 

[Guyfang]

You can also use two flashlight batteries. Tape them together and a wire to each end. Stick the ends into the 120 volt outlet, (shortly) and that should do the trick. Some of the real old gen sets used to have a Field Flash Switch inside the control panel. It was hooked up parallel to the F-1 and F-2 terminals, and supplied 24 volts DC to the fields. Sometimes a set will lose its magnetism when it sets long term, or when they are dropped! A fall from 6-8 inches can sometimes do the trick.