MEP-802a - Intermittent NO FUEL fault

[uniquify]

My folks have been running on a Mep-802a since yesterday morning.

Edit: Power has been restored.


Storms rolled through and knocked down over 100 poles in the area. Heavy straight line winds and several inches of rain made quite a mess.

Things have been running fairly decent. My teenage son is currently staying with them to help around the farm for the summer. Between him and my father, they were able to get the trailer in place and the gen hooked up. The transfer switch they got last Fall made that a little easier.

Son sounded kind of proud when he called yesterday to say the power had been out, but don't worry, he got the generator going.

In the beginning, they had a minor problem with the genset shutting itself off roughly every hour. The NO FUEL light was lit on the fault panel, but the tank was over 3/4 full. They topped it off and it would run for a while, then give the same fault.

It is currently running with the Battle Short on to bypass that fault.

I will be heading out there next week and will take a closer look then. Thoughts on what's causing the fault:
1) problem with the floats in the tank
2) debris in the tank
3) loose connection somewhere in the float circuit
4) fuel cap too tight
5) gremlins

We've had this genset for several years and it's never shown this fault before. It was recently mounted on a small trailer last Fall. That's the only change I can think of.

Other than this occasional fault, it is running fine. Just looking for ideas of what to check next week.

 

[z2003k]

My folks have been running on a Mep-802a since yesterday morning.

Storms rolled through and knocked down over 100 poles in the area. Heavy straight line winds and several inches of rain made quite a mess.

Things have been running fairly decent. My teenage son is currently staying with them to help around the farm for the summer. Between him and my father, they were able to get the trailer in place and the gen hooked up. The transfer switch they got last Fall made that a little easier.

Son sounded kind of proud when he called yesterday to say the power had been out, but don't worry, he got the generator going.

In the beginning, they had a minor problem with the genset shutting itself off roughly every hour. The NO FUEL light was lit on the fault panel, but the tank was over 3/4 full. They topped it off and it would run for a while, then give the same fault.

It is currently running with the Battle Short on to bypass that fault.

I will be heading out there next week and will take a closer look then. Thoughts on what's causing the fault:
1) problem with the floats in the tank
2) debris in the tank
3) loose connection somewhere in the float circuit
4) fuel cap too tight
5) gremlins

We've had this genset for several years and it's never shown this fault before. It was recently mounted on a small trailer last Fall. That's the only change I can think of.

Other than this occasional fault, it is running fine. Just looking for ideas of what to check next week.

 

[z2003k]

Callmecolt has a video on youtube about this problem.

 

[uniquify]

Callmecolt has a video on youtube about this problem.

Is this the video you're thinking of?

 

[uniquify]

Their electricity came back online just in time for supper.

 

[z2003k]

Is this the video you're thinking of?

The title of his video is "Double float switch replacement".

 

[Guyfang]

Before I replaced anything, I would troubleshoot, and find the problem. On your list,

1) problem with the floats in the tank
2) debris in the tank
3) loose connection somewhere in the float circuit
4) fuel cap too tight
5) gremlins

I would scrub #'s 4 & 5.

I would add:
4. Check adjustment of the FL1 and FL2 switch. Make sure its not hitting anything, and that its not on the bottom of the tank.

Personally, #1-3 sounds like the place to start.

 

[uniquify]

1) FL1 & FL2 were moving freely. The bottom float was deteriorating, so we replaced it. Old one was foam. New one appeared to be plastic.
2) Didn't see any debris in the tank.
3) Didn't find any loose electrical connections.
4) Fuel cap was in the full tight "fording" position, so we backed it off to allow the tank to vent. Talked though that with the folks. Good for traveling, but not necessary for running.
5) Found a long dead skunk near the electrical inlet box. No fun removing that critter, but the situation improved greatly once it was gone.

Ran the unit for a couple hours to test it out and so far so good.

 

[Guyfang]

Thanks for closing the loop. Way too many folks dont do that, and much can be learned from what "The rest of the story" is.