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

[Tinstar]

Looking at the percent load gauge for example, there is a little slot, bottom center below the glass. A really small flathead can go in it to "adjust" the gauge. From the factory, they are usually perfectly up & down. They can be adjusted as needed as they will read off for many reasons, one being time & being slammed around for years. So with a known good meter, you can adjust the gauge to what is proper. Just keep in mind, if moisture gets / has gotten in there, this adjustment can fail & make a one time adjustment & fail.... leaving you with a gauge VERY off. But, I have found when this happens, the gauge is on it's last leg anyways. Also, the adjustment isn't a big range. It's just to tweak it a little. Hope this all makes sense!

It does

Thanks for the tip!!

 

[Tinstar]

The ugly fix for the water temp gauge is holding just fine.
Didn’t crank it down hard, but enough that it will hold just tight enough.

I will probably order the gauge that was recommended as a replacement for this machine. Just in case.

 

[Tinstar]

The battery’s arrived yesterday late.
All the small parts have arrived.
Still waiting on the battery hold down hooks.

Cleaned the cables and terminals and trays.
Time to work on the fuel tank now that I have the brass well nut kit and new gaskets for the rest of the tank.

It’s taking lots of time now to get it back in shape, but will be worth it when it’s snowing and -15 WC

 

[CallMeColt]

Always worth it to put the work in up front. It will give you years of service. The past few weekends I put a little over 50hrs on my MEP 802A without an issue.

Did you get your well nut kit from me? If you did, shoot me an e-mail directly.

 

[Tinstar]

Does anyone use those thin plastic battery covers?
I have only one.
Do I need them?

 

[Tinstar]

Always worth it to put the work in up front. It will give you years of service. The past few weekends I put a little over 50hrs on my MEP 802A without an issue.

Did you get your well nut kit from me? If you did, shoot me an e-mail directly.

Yes I did.

Can I replace the gaskets without removing the tank?
I watched your well nut video

 

[2Pbfeet]

Does anyone use those thin plastic battery covers?
I have only one.
Do I need them?

Yes, and no in my opinion. They work, but are a pain to work around.

If you don't use them, I would suggest some other form of terminal insulation. In my opinion, there are a fair number of conductive items close to the battery terminals that I think are a short risk. I used some oversize ("military") terminal covers for the interconnection cable, and normal battery terminal covers for the (+) and (-) terminals that you can get to the other end of. While you are there, I'd put some nylon hose wrap on the battery interconnect cable to protect it from vibration and sharp edges.

Speaking of shorts, there's a modification that turns the NATO slave connector so that the (+) positive terminal is on the far side, where it is less likely to accidentally be shorted. Some units have that done, some don't. Personally, I think that the whole thing could use an insulating cover, but I haven't gone there yet. Nothing is 100% idiot proof, but I try to protect the operator (me) from stupid things. I assume that during critical operations, I will be distracted and go from there.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Guyfang]

Does anyone use those thin plastic battery covers?
I have only one.
Do I need them?

Thats the first thing the soldiers throw away.

 

[Tinstar]

Does anyone use those thin plastic battery covers?
I have only one.
Do I need them?

Thats the first thing the soldiers throw away.

Thought so

Nuf said…….

 

[Tinstar]

Started generator up today and ran it for about 20 minutes to get engine oil nice and hot.

Drained oil and changed oil filter.
Used Wix of course.
Oil was dark but not black.
Best part is that there wasn’t any silver sheen to it. (Meaning Bearing material).
Used Mobil1 Delvac 15w-40

Started generator and ran it for another 20 minutes.

While that was going on, I tapped vigorously on the AUX fuel pump to free it up in case it was lightly hung up.
All I did was make the fuel gauge stop working.
…….figures.

Shut things down and checked oil.
Spot on.

Now to figure out what is wrong with the fuel sensor.
Maybe the gauge crapped out
Will troubleshoot tomorrow

 

[Ray70]

Rather than using that terrible plastic battery cover they also came with individual rubber "flaps" that fit over the battery posts.

On the fuel gage 90% of the time the issue is a dead spot in the sending unit, typically fixed by replacing the sending unit with a better 8 1/2" WEMA marine style sender.... tons of info available here on this site.

 

[Tinstar]

Lots of conflicting information on this in the old threads.

To be clear, the 8.5” is the length needed?

Some posts had 8” for the 803A.
Some said use the 5.5” for 802A and fuel gauge will be off but no clearance issues with new sensor.

I went ahead and ordered the 8.5” since that’s what you recommended.

Will remove gauge today and try to unstick needle.

 

[Tinstar]

The flaps are what I’ll be using.
Use them on my CUCV

Now to find them in my parts stash

 

[Ray70]

8 1/2 " is correct for the 803 and 5.5" is for an 802.
Anyone that said to use 5.5" on an 803 to avoid clearance issues neglected to say that the gage will also read completely inaccurately!

If you can't find rubber battery flaps in your stash, shoot me over a PM.

 

[Tinstar]

Took out gauge and had to smack it pretty hard but needle came back.

Turned on generator without starting and now it’s working again.
Will replace it anyway since there’s clearly an issue.

 

[Tinstar]

Looks like I dented the edge of the gauge getting the needle unstuck.

Perfect


I did use the palm of my hand but that wasn't working.
Had a towel on the generator to soften the blows but looks like that did not work.

 

[Light in the Dark]

That fuel gauge is one of the worst on the machine, they routinely fail. I've got replacements (not Beede) up in the classifieds if you poke around.