MEP-803A —— Did I Score? Maybe So.......

[Guyfang]

Did you doubt it would run? Not me!!

 

[Guyfang]

Yeah, you are going to tear your hand up on them.

 

[Tinstar]

Did you doubt it would run? Not me!!

Run?
I figured it would.

I was much more concerned about it making power since it didn’t have the fuse mod done and is a high time unit.
All the horror stories of trashed stators, etc.

 

[Tinstar]

Yeah, you are going to tear your hand up on them.

Correct length ordered.
Will swap them out when they arrive.

 

[Tinstar]

Not my best work.
I opted not to cut anything and simply put existing terminal behind the screw.

 

[CallMeColt]

I found some surprising documentation from when this unit was brand new.

A laminated Lube Order Manual

Info about warranty and how that process works.

Depreservation Guide that shows the exact date when this unit was ready to ship. Still sealed from the factory.

Shocked that this paperwork was still with unit.

This is probably normal and came with everyone else’s generator.

No other records. That’s it.
Would’ve been nice to see some maintenance records.

View attachment 949452View attachment 949453View attachment 949454

A lot of the stuff I have gotten via GSA programs still has these kinds of documents in it. Have though about e-mailing POC's with my official e-mail to get details if needed, but haven't had to for anything yet.

 

[CallMeColt]

Run?
I figured it would.

I was much more concerned about it making power since it didn’t have the fuse mod done and is a high time unit.
All the horror stories of trashed stators, etc.

With all the wetstacking that thing has in the pictures, I don't think it was run hard. The fuse mod is for when the unit was run at lower RPM than it should be and the voltage regulator is making up for that to keep voltage proper & it burns things up. The fuse mod should be done but unless you have a big issue that would gernade the the generator anyways, starting it & seeing if it is okay & making power without the modification is okay. Just don't run a load.

Nice unit! I think units with hours & not reset are better overall myself.

 

[Tinstar]

I read in one of the PM issues that whatever happens to cause damage, can also happen during start.
Doesn’t matter now since it’s protected.

When I had the muffler off, the exhaust manifold outlet was fine and nothing caked up.
Felt inside the ports and while there was some carbon, it wasn’t caking the sides.
Muffler was much heavier than anticipated so there must be quite a bit in there. Just guessing though.

Will be taking it back outside and doing an oil/filter change and changing the fuel filters.
The air filter is brand new so I’ll leave it alone.
I also need to let it run and then replace the engine coolant.

New fuel cap arrived so I’ll get that installed.
Still waiting on j-hooks for batteries and parts for fuel tank.
Looking forward to getting tank cleaned up and sealed.
Will be adding seafoam and two-stroke oil.
Went ahead and ordered the cork tank sensor gaskets.
They will work for now.

The high Hobbs time didn’t scare me at all.
My other military generators have thousands of hours on them and they all perform great.

Now to rig up a proper load bank and see how she’ll do.

Not too bad considering I paid less than $1000 for this machine.

 

[CallMeColt]

I read in one of the PM issues that whatever happens to cause damage, can also happen during start.
Doesn’t matter now since it’s protected.

When I had the muffler off, the exhaust manifold outlet was fine and nothing caked up.
Felt inside the ports and while there was some carbon, it wasn’t caking the sides.
Muffler was much heavier than anticipated so there must be quite a bit in there. Just guessing though.

Will be taking it back outside and doing an oil/filter change and changing the fuel filters.
The air filter is brand new so I’ll leave it alone.
I also need to let it run and then replace the engine coolant.

New fuel cap arrived so I’ll get that installed.
Still waiting on j-hooks for batteries and parts for fuel tank.
Looking forward to getting tank cleaned up and sealed.
Will be adding seafoam and two-stroke oil.
Went ahead and ordered the cork tank sensor gaskets.
They will work for now.

The high Hobbs time didn’t scare me at all.
My other military generators have thousands of hours on them and they all perform great.

Now to rig up a proper load bank and see how she’ll do.

Not too bad considering I paid less than $1000 for this machine.

I will need to refresh myself on that then, I always though it was for what I said above.

Yes, you did good here friend! Once it's fully serviced, load her up good & let it eat!!

Get a few of the spade butt connectors. They all seem to let go at the senders in the engine bay but it's super easy to to strip some wire back & replace.

I just finished up an MEP 802A yesterday & it burped out crud for almost 4 hours... the last 2 is was clear as day.

 

[Tinstar]

Found it again

 

[Ray70]

At some point you should check the battery charging alternator.
In one of the pictures the ammeter seems to be sitting in the negative.
That is fairly odd, typically it will be up in the positive range immediately after starting and slowly settle back to zero to ~+2 while running.
It's also possible that the wires are on backwards.
Next time you start it, see if it goes to around +10 immediately after starting and slowly comes down.

 

[CallMeColt]

Found it again




View attachment 949948

Thank you for this. I didn't know about this part of it! Always humbled by coming here to learn.

 

[CallMeColt]

At some point you should check the battery charging alternator.
In one of the pictures the ammeter seems to be sitting in the negative.
That is fairly odd, typically it will be up in the positive range immediately after starting and slowly settle back to zero to ~+2 while running.
It's also possible that the wires are on backwards.
Next time you start it, see if it goes to around +10 immediately after starting and slowly comes down.

I noticed on all the gauges that are able, they have been adjusted. Possible, they have just been adjusted improperly, the DC ammeter included?

 

[cstumpf750]

Now to rig up a proper load bank and see how she’ll do.

I just posted a new thread on what I did for a load bank with pictures.

 

[Tinstar]

At some point you should check the battery charging alternator.
In one of the pictures the ammeter seems to be sitting in the negative.
That is fairly odd, typically it will be up in the positive range immediately after starting and slowly settle back to zero to ~+2 while running.
It's also possible that the wires are on backwards.
Next time you start it, see if it goes to around +10 immediately after starting and slowly comes down.

I looked at all the pictures and none of them show it in the red unless I’m missing something.

I did check alternator and it was charging just fine.
It acted just like you described it should act.

Will keep an eye on it.

 

[Tinstar]

I noticed on all the gauges that are able, they have been adjusted. Possible, they have just been adjusted improperly, the DC ammeter included?

I’m assuming you mean their not reading what my Fluke meter reads?

No they are not, but I didn’t mess with the gauges since I’m not familiar yet with how to do that or if I even should.
I’m game.

 

[Tinstar]

I removed the cracked water temp gauge.
Took some DOWSIL-3145 and sealed it back up, making sure to get some inside the crack itself.
It’s an RTV, not epoxy, but sets up like concrete.

This stuff is very expensive but works extremely well.
It’s ugly but should work fine if I don’t crank too much on the hold down bracket.

The gauge works just fine.
Maybe this will keep it that way.
Time will tell.

 

[Ray70]

I looked at all the pictures and none of them show it in the red unless I’m missing something.

I did check alternator and it was charging just fine.
It acted just like you described it should act.

Will keep an eye on it.

Feel free to go ahead and ignore everything I said!
I think I replied before drinking my first coffee and didn't look close enough at the gage.
I thought I remembered straight up being Zero and simply saw the gage left of 12:00 and assumed it was on the discharge side.....
Not at all, your gage is actually perfectly positioned just above zero, slightly in the charge zone, where it should be!
From now on I'll put on my reading glasses first thing in the morning.