Mep003a :r standard muffler question

[Kahles56]

Has anyone opened up a MeP003 muffler ? Is it just a can with 2 pipes going in and one pipe coming out or does it have baffles inside the can .
I am trying to decide if I am going to make a new muffler for mine or just keep what I have.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Triple Jim]

I'd be interested in the answer myself. My guess is there are baffles inside. The majority of noise coming from my 003A isn't from the exhaust though.

 

[Kahles56]

You are correct in that the majority of the noise comes from the engine itself, the cylinders , heads and the fan produce a majority of the noise , also the thickness of the sheet metal has a lot to do with reflective noise.
The fan system produces an unbelievable amount of noise as well as the shroud surrounding the motor fan.
I have placed insulation on the exterior sheet metal to source noise reducing areas.
I am in the process of installing a ASK Kit and will be adding extra sound deadening material to areas that reflect noise but do not interfere with the movement of air required to cool the cylinders and heads .
I want to make a exhaust manifold that has an exterior muffler that can be rotated to the horizontal position when not in use and vertical position when in use. coupler clamp will be the same type of clamp used on turbo systems. Basically the same coupler as the air filter has on the metal end section.
I have stainless steel pipe as well as a tig welder so fabrication will not be a issue just time consuming. But I need to know how much baffling the existing mufflers have --seems like they have none at all. I just have not had time to remove and look into the muffler to see what type of muffler to build.
This unit is a work in progress and is always ready to produce power if necessary, so one step at a time.
Tis a cruel hobby turning a noisy wild boar of a machine into a quite killing Lion.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Make sure you post up where you added sound reduction material. I'd love to quiet mine down a bit.

 

[jamawieb]

I've bought several 003a's from the military that had different mufflers installed and nothing really helped. It's mostly mechanical noise.

 

[dependable]

Have an 002a with ASK and additional muffler. It is about as quiet as an MEP-802a. The one on pictured on these two generators is is a OEM surplus 6.2 muffler I had around, but lots of others would work. An 002 or 3 without an ASK and with additional muffler will be quieter, especially from a distance. But it is true the motor and fan noise is pretty loud, especially when close to the unit. It is still worth it to add additional muffler on these even if the do not have an ASK if you want to reduce sound heard from a distance.

I did test this, first picture is 002 without ASK, the second has ASK. The muffler is still on the one with ASK, with additional bracket. I have an 003 with ASK that I'll plumb up this way too, at some point. The threads on original output pipe are 1.25 inch National Pipe Thread (NPT) on OO2, 3s and 802, 3s, if that helps.

 

[Guyfang]

The noise "problem" was not a problem when these sets were designed and built. The muffler systems for the MEP-002 all the way to MEP-007 all left something to be desired. The TQG series were the first attempt to fix the noise problem. They were much better, but still not the best solution. The new AMMPS gen sets will definitely impress you.

Something along the lines of Dependable's solution makes a big difference. But as previously stated, The mechanical noise is considerable.

The germans forced us to spend mega bucks in the early 70's to reduce the noise from our missile site. It was money that should have simply been burned for all the difference it made. We did achieve a noise reduction. But I think our mistake was to install secondary muffler systems IN ADDITION to the primary muffler. Even at, or near full load, we had wet stacking problems. I don't know how much it would affect you with a MEP-002 or 003. We were running 45 and 60 KW gen sets, 24/7 all year long. Would be interesting to follow it up. Please someone keep us posted.

The old gen sets were so loud, that back in the day, we located our missile site in the field at night, by simply parking and listening. You could always tell the difference in the different sounding gen sets, as to whether it was a HAWK site, or a COMMO site, or a Maintenance site. And I mean from 2 miles away.

 

[Kahles56]

Thanks for the pictures and the pipe size info.
I will keep the forum informed of my findings and progress.
Plan to do some minor modifications to sheet metal as well as piping to attenuate vibrations which exasperate noise. while these mods may only give a 1-2 db reduction it will be 1 02 db reduction that the ASK kit will be able to draw on for a total reduction.

I had the chance to hear a marine engine in the same family of engines in December down in Savannah that was water cooled, The military should have utilized the water cooled spec for this family of generators as that would have probably negated the noise problem since the water cooled motor is much more quite, a little heaver but much more quite.

This is going to take some time as I can only put an hour here and an hour there on this thing as like every one else I have to prioritize self imposed honey do projects around the house.

I would like to thank everyone that has posted in the past on MEP 002 and 003's as I have learned a lot about this generator and feel as though no matter what happens to the machine, I can get it repaired and kept functional for many years.

 

[Triple Jim]

The advantage of air cooling is simplicity, and therefore reliability.

 

[Guyfang]

The advantage of air cooling is simplicity, and therefore reliability.

When a set drops off line, and a radar goes down, well, that's how the Scud rocket hit a warehouse and killed a bunch of N.G. guys in Saudi. Its all about reliability.

 

[Triple Jim]

Wow!

 

[Kahles56]

Point taken.

End of subject on water cooled MEP003a.