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My new generator (Read 57 times)
Dave
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My new generator
09/17/24 at 15:53:53
 
I just came home with my "emergency" generator in preparation for the upcoming "apocalypse" (or green energy power grid meltdown).

It is a 5 kilowatt, diesel - weatherproof, EMP proof....and battle ready!

I sold my gas generator and bought this as I have a large tank of diesel fuel for my tractor and lawn mower - it just made more sense to have a diesel generator.

It can also be used for short power outages caused by storms if the need arises.  The grey box on the side is a 50 amp/220v receptacle so I can plug it into garage  - I installed a generator/main fuse lock out device so the generator cannot back feed to the power grid.

These generators are 20 years old and need a bit of love to become reliable....this one has a fuel leak in a return hose from the injectors that will take an hour or two to fix.  The rubber fittings at the fuel tank are also known to deteriorate and leak fuel.  It only has 25 hours of use on the 2 cylinder diesel engine - so there should be several thousand hours of life left!  The dang thing weighs 800 pounds!      
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JOG
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Re: My new generator
Reply #1 - 09/17/24 at 17:04:14
 
I'd go ahead and get some copper crush washers for the injectors. They don't cost much at all and if you're using it there is a decent chance you won't be able to buy them. They are One Time use goodies.
How did you get your hands on That!??
Diesel has more BTUs per gallon than gas, so, under the same load, it had Otta run longer . EMP proof is great. Is the refrigerator, heater and AC gonna be operable if someone pops one? The tractor should be okay.
I Wonder about bitcoin.. Hmmm..
Congratulations, Dave, that is a great thing.
I probably would have just pickled the gas unit and put it under a metal window screen cover and covered it up.
YaKnow, if a coupla injectors can head for a reasonable price, mehh, spare parts for The power supply is maybe a good idea.
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Dave
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Re: My new generator
Reply #2 - 09/17/24 at 18:19:28
 
You can buy these surplus from several sources - GovPlanet is one.  However there is a bit of a gamble as to what you are getting. Sometimes you can get stuff that is in incredible shape - other times there may be something that missing or non-working and you may need to do some repairs.  I bought this from a fellow on the Facebook Marketplace who bought it from GovPlanet and there were two generators mounted on the trailer and he only wanted one.  He got it running and proved it was functional.  The 5KW model is called the MEP802 A.  They also have a 3kw version called the MEP801 A, and the 10kw model is the MEP803 A.  They also have really big ones in 30kw.
https://www.govplanet.com/

All of the electronics are sealed by heavy steel covers and/or doors.  There is no direct path for anything to get inside (water, EMP, etc.), and even the gauges have a thick metal cover to protect them.  That is one reason this thing is so darn heavy.

There is a website forum like our called SteelSoldiers that is all about surplus military equipment care and feeding.  I will be a NOOB and become a member!  Maybe I will learn from them what kind of spares to stock up on.
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Re: My new generator
Reply #3 - 09/17/24 at 19:27:47
 
Thanks,I'll have to look at that.
I should shield the one I have. The house is a fair Faraday cage. A cell phone is useless in here. Sitting on a window sill it will ring.
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Re: My new generator
Reply #4 - 09/17/24 at 22:08:09
 
Hay ,  Smiley

Nice Trailer Dave !   Aluminum too and set-up to haul my fovorite things to boot !!   Grin

.............

I'm thinking along the same lines , about how to keep a few appliances running after Putin has his little fit !   Roll Eyes

There might be too much dust in the air for Solar to work ?   Huh    Huh Huh

Stocking up on Lamp-Oil might be a good idea ?
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Re: My new generator
Reply #5 - 09/18/24 at 03:30:59
 
MMRanch wrote on 09/17/24 at 22:08:09:
Hay ,  Smiley

Nice Trailer Dave !   Aluminum too and set-up to haul my fovorite things to boot !!   Grin


I'm thinking along the same lines , about how to keep a few appliances running after Putin has his little fit !   Roll Eyes


Stocking up on Lamp-Oil might be a good idea ?


The trailer belongs to a neighbor friend.  It was sitting in his driveway with broken wiring, weathered and cracked tires, a foot of leaves piled up on the bed.   I was in the need to use a trailer like that about 6 months ago - so I made a deal with him that I would clean it up and get it working if I could borrow it.....he said he would pay for the parts.  I washed it, put on new tires, put on new wiring and lights, replaced one wheel bearing set and cleaned/greased the other side.  It worked out well for both of us and he is using his trailer again - and so am I!  I spent a couple of days working on it and now I can borrow it whenever I want to!

You might consider a tractor PTO driven generator if you want to run your whole house - or a small generator that would burn less fuel.  Running the fridge, a couple of freezers and some lights and a TV takes only about 3,000 watts, a 5,000 watt can run our wood burner and get us heat.....if you want to run your house as normal you need 10,000 watts or more (electric water heater and an electric furnace require a lot of power).

If you have a friend that works at an airport "Jet A" fuel is a good lamp oil and it burns cleaner than kerosene.  
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Re: My new generator
Reply #6 - 09/18/24 at 20:27:30
 
That is a Biggo Win-Win. Everyone has a usable trailer now. Neighborly co-operation builds relationships. Sweat equity, paying off for everyone involved.
Good story, Dave.
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Re: My new generator
Reply #7 - 09/18/24 at 20:50:24
 
your right JOG !

I wonder if that what it will take to "Make America Great Again"   Smiley

If we had to go back to living like we did in 1925 , some of us would be OK after a few years of it , but I think there would be a lot of wild stuff in the middle years !   Huh

Do small airports sell to folks with yellow 5 gallon cans ?    I do have an old neighbor who hangs out at the local airport.

I've got a 6000 watt modified sine wave inverter , and a 1000 pure wave inverter .
Do ya'll think a regular truck battery would work with a solar 200-300 watt panel ?
I do have the "jump-start" box to get the truck started again if it get's too low.
My truck does a lot of sitting on the car port going no where most of the time  ...  unless it's Really Cold or Raining .
............

Hay Dave , my 25HP tractor can work hard all day long on 5 gallons of diesel so a PTO generator that can operate on 540RPM (or less) would be a good thing . Smiley


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Re: My new generator
Reply #8 - 09/18/24 at 21:16:54
 
do have the "jump-start" box to get the truck started again if it get's too low

If you're going to risk driving a battery that hard, you might want a Deep Cycle.
Ohh, the InUendo..
Those little jump boxes are just a very slight step away from black magic.
Such a small, light package,, that boggles my mind well enough, but the scrawny wires they feed the dead battery through just blow me away. I have some jumper cables that are probably twelve feet long and I have no idea what they weigh, but they are substantial. I got them so if the backhoe was cutting through stuff and wound up with a dead battery I could bring the truck up behind it and still get to the battery. I bought them before that scenario was a reality... But it happened eventually.
I'm gonna get one of those jump boxes. I see them used on YouTube videos. Like Matt's Off-road and others.
The battery that starts the car weighs quite a bit. A jump box weighs what?
HownaHell duzzat work?
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Dave
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Re: My new generator
Reply #9 - Today at 02:28:41
 
I have been working on the generator - just like an old bike that hasn't been used and maintained regularly this thing needs a bit of work.

The generator was built in 2005 and it only had 15 hours on it when the previous owner bought it from GovPlanet.  They got it running and put another 8 hours on it - but other than putting batteries in it I don't believe they did much.

The fuel tank fill neck was rusty, and the diesel fuel in it was a strange orange color with a lot of orange sediment in the tank.  The fuel return line from the injectors was leaking and weeping oil down the engine, an the bottom of the cabinet had a diesel fuel coating from the weeping rubber plug that was supposed to seal the fuel line exit in the plastic tank (expanding rubber well plug that was aged and split).

This is the view into the fuel tank.
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Dave
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Re: My new generator
Reply #10 - Today at 02:37:56
 
Working on this generator is not all that complicated - but there are lots of small screws/nuts that hold the cabinet together and it takes a lot of time to get things apart.  The fuel tank required the radiator portion of the cabinet to be lifted a couple of inches to make enough clearance - there was likely 50 screws/bolts that needed to be removed.

The rubber well plugs in the fuel tank supply and return have been replaced with brass fittings with O-rings, and these will not deteriorate like the rubber well plugs did.

The process of cleaning the fuel tank, replacing the fuel return lines, installing new fuel tank fittings, installing new fuel and oil filters, installing a new fuel level sender to replace the original rusty one and getting this generator back into shape for reliable running will cost about $200 and take me about 20 hours of work.  (I am telling you this so you can understand that old equipment can be time consuming to get back into service).

This is what came out of the fuel tank.  Thankfully the tank is plastic and could be cleaned up easily.  I don't believe any of this crap got into the fuel injectors as it was laying on the bottom of the tank, and there is an inlet screen to the low pressure electric fuel pump, and 2 fuel filters after the pump prior to the fuel reaching the injector pumps.
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Re: My new generator
Reply #11 - Today at 11:22:25
 
Man, that's nasty lookin stuff.
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