Pad mount MEP-003

[panic_button]

Has anyone pad mounted their MEP? I'm getting ready to pour a 3'6"x6' pad and have 16" x 5/8" "footer bolts" add in to keep it on the pad. The pad will be ~5" thick with mesh in it. Do you think it will work?

Thanks-

 

[Boatcarpenter]

I think it will work. If I were doing it I would think about some sort of thick rubber donut washers
between the skids and the pad to help minimize vabration. Maybe sandwich the skid between a couple of rubber
"washers" on your bolts. Might help with noise resonance also.
My

BC

 

[PaulbusMax]

I'll be doing the same with my 003, and will use the rubber isolator idea. I have some heavy duty horse stall mats that'll work well. Made from ground up car tires.

 

[rat4spd]

Find a place that sells air compressors, big ones, and get 6 donuts. Bolt them to the skid and put it on the pad. It won't go anywhere.

 

[Bill W]

Just for the sake of corrosion/wear between the skids and the pad I would go to home depot and buy some of the asphalt fiber spacers strips that they put in cement expansion joints and put them between the pad and skids ( or even use some PT wood strips )

 

[gimpyrobb]

Use some old tire flaps. I'm sure we all have a bunch laying around and they work great for everything. I even cut a piece for my radiator to sit on at the bottom bolts.

 

[Isaac-1]

I wanted to second the bit about vibration isolators, but I also see your in Florida, it seems over the last few years that your state has been getting very strick on generator installation, where they can be located (minimum number of feet from house, no opening windows or doors within X feet, not within X feet of property lines, etc.) They are also requiring pads be signed off by engineers, and I think part of that spec is minimum of 6 inch thick concrete unless using special high PSI concrete. Some generator installers in FL have even started using pre-built engineered synthetic pads to get around the engineer sign off on individual projects. As I understand it some people in FL are opting to mount their home standby generators on trailers parked next to their houses just to get around all this.

Ike

 

[porkysplace]

Just for the sake of corrosion/wear between the skids and the pad I would go to home depot and buy some of the asphalt fiber spacers strips that they put in cement expansion joints and put them between the pad and skids ( or even use some PT wood strips )

If you go this route go to your local redi-mix company get rubber expansion joint . The crap from home depot will rot out in a couple months in good weather its basicly ground cardboard and tar . Take posthole digger and dig at least 12 inch below the bottom of the slab for each anchor. Been doing concrete 30 + years 3rd generation family business .

 

[lindyp38]

will i need a pad....

or will just setting on ground be enough?

 

[DieselBob]

will i need a pad....

or will just setting on ground be enough?

You don't need a pad. A pad just makes for a nicer install and keeps the skids clean. Both my 003 and 018 have been sitting on the ground and neither one has sunk yet and the ground around them gets pretty soggy at times.

 

[3dAngus]

The horse stall rubber floor pad mentioned earlier, is premo, but they are expensive.

It's the way I would do it, but I would use a well used one the horse owner was ready to discard, and cut it to appropriate size. If it will protect a 1200 pound live horses feet, it will protect a 1200 pound generator, and distribute the weight more evenly then single shocks in the six locations available for mounting. I've worked around horse stalls and have seen some real fine quality mats that would be ideal for this sort of thing.

 

[panic_button]

I found 4x4x1 rubber mounts with 5/8" holes already in them for $3.50. They are 60psi pads, 960# per pad should be good for the MEP.

 

[rosco]

A common horse /cow pad is 4'x6'x 1". An unsightly, but very serviceable, anti vibration trick is to set the skid mounted on an old used truck tire, ie. a 10.00x20. No wheel or tube, etc. Bolt the skids through the side walls. Will last for years! Pretty cheap too.

 

[Nonotagain]

I remember one member here installed his generator on top of a mounting base made of 6X6" lumber to get it off the ground.

Being in Florida, I would be concerned with creepy crawlers and other things getting under the genset and possibly eating the wiring, so I'm liking the idea of getting it off the ground.

A side benefit is that oil changes would be easier since everything would be at a nicer to work on height.

 

[dirtyfingernails]

At my AO, the city has imposed an ordnance on decibel level for fixed-mounted gensets. Good thing is, mobile genset units are not part of the law. I keep mine on a trailer to avoid the noise level limitation. You may want to check your local laws before mounting it.

 

[3dAngus]

On my laundry unit, there are some sound baffles that go above and off to the side of the generator. They do not go to the muffler side though, where the greatest noise is. Even so, it helps collect the noise and makes it directional, more or less. These are not cheap sound baffles.

I'll probably sell them seperately if I sell the generator. There are three per side, for a total of 6 and they perfectly fit the width of the MEP003. I'll keep them if the generator doesn't sell and use them myself.

 

[JimH]

There are probably many ways to build a pad. A check with your local building inspector may settle what needs to be done. But sometimes it is better to beg forgiveness than get permission.

I mounted my MEP-003A on 2'x2' patio blocks, and cut up an old dump truck tire flap into 4" squares and stacked them under the generator. It is too heavy to move from vibration alone, if you are reasonably level.

 

[Nonotagain]

On my laundry unit, there are some sound baffles that go above and off to the side of the generator. They do not go to the muffler side though, where the greatest noise is. Even so, it helps collect the noise and makes it directional, more or less. These are not cheap sound baffles.

I'll probably sell them seperately if I sell the generator. There are three per side, for a total of 6 and they perfectly fit the width of the MEP003. I'll keep them if the generator doesn't sell and use them myself.

The acoustic sound panels installed on the laundry trailer are there to protect the hearing of the soldiers operating the laundry unit, not anyone else.

The generator when issued on the laundry trailer came with exhaust extensions (12-15 foot long stainless steel flex pipes) which do a fair job of moving the exhaust fumes and sound away from the unit.

Check the filler material inside of the panel as most of the panels are decayed to the point of not being functional. The perforated skin will still work to absorb sound just that the filler material no longer works.

 

[3dAngus]

Mine sound baffles are like new. It is like it was stored in a warehouse for years.

I wondered what those stainless steel flex tubes were for. I would have never guessed they were exhaust extensions. Thanks.

 

[panic_button]

At my AO, the city has imposed an ordnance on decibel level for fixed-mounted gensets. Good thing is, mobile genset units are not part of the law. I keep mine on a trailer to avoid the noise level limitation. You may want to check your local laws before mounting it.

Not up here. County's only reg is if there is a ATS and unit must be 5' away from window and exhaust 3' from combustable wall. When I asked what defined "combustible wall" as I have brick exterior, inspector said brick is not combustible...