My Latest Time Waster

CTMike

So a few years back we lost power for 7 days following Hurricane Irene, and then 5 days the following year for Sandy. Hooked up a 5500w gas powered screamer which would give us the well pump, hot water, the fridge, freezer, and lighting. It wasn't enough to run the Central A/C, an absolute must due to SWMBO's asthma being exacerbated by heat and humidity. 

I stumbled across the GovLiquidation website and started doing a bunch of reading on steelsoldiers.com. I eventually picked up a military surplus MEP-803A 10 KW diesel driven generator. It had just been rebuilt by the depot and had only 16 hours on the clock following factory reset. It has a Lister-Petter LPW4 engine running at a low 1,800 rpm driving an Onan generator head. This generator is in the Tactical Queit Generator series, and as such it is much quieter than the little 3,600 rpm gas screamer it replaced. 

It did have a leaking fuel tank drain valve that required disassembling a good portion of the machine to repair it. Thankfully the part was only $12. 

Anyhow, here are a couple of video's of this very stout machine that will power everything I need with proper load management:

http://youtu.be/D7dAFxnkOA4

This second video is a load test with the MEP connected to a redneck load bank. It didn't even shrug when I threw 10KW worth of heaters on it simultaneously. 

http://youtu.be/tEl45PpaIMo

I received my approved electrical permit on Friday so tomorrow I will get it tied in to the house, and then call for my inspection. Then I need to write up a procedure for SWMBO so she can get things transferred in case we lose power while I am working nights. 

Eggcelsior

Very nice!

CTMike

Thanks. One regret is that I wish I wasn't so hasty to remove the oil tank from the basement when we converted to propane. This has an aux oil pump that can lift 20' to refill the skid mounted tank, controlled by an automatic level switch. So now I am looking for a tank to put back in the basement to have some extended capacity. 

blind99

wow, that is a monster!  what's going on in that load test video?  looks like a generator running power to some circuit breakers running power to a barrel of water!  looks dangerous!

caliking

Whoa! I would be very afraid if I was your neighbor... looks you're bulding a bomb or something  

You won't be hurting for juice the next time the power cuts off.

YEMTrey

That is some serious power.  Nice setup.

CTMike

blind99 said:

wow, that is a monster!  what's going on in that load test video?  looks like a generator running power to some circuit breakers running power to a barrel of water!  looks dangerous!

It is a barrel full of water with 10KW worth of electric water heater elements in it. The hose is on to provide a feed and bleed to remove the heat from the elements so they don't burn out. 

Not really dangerous at all as long as you keep the water away from the load terminals. 

I wanted to make sure the generator would carry a load (verify the generator works) prior to connecting to the house. 

DMW

That is way more awesome than a clock. You should put it on twitter, maybe you will be invited to visit the White House. Right @henapple @cazzy @JohnInCarolina ?

CTMike

Nah, being a grumpy old white guy I'd get labeled a domestic terrorist and thrown in a dark cell somewhere. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Color me impressed!

4Runner

That is awesome.  Good luck. 

nolaegghead

Nice.  You can get some super start capacitors for your central ac..any big dynamic loads.  I have a 12 kvh standby that runs off natural gas.   We ran it for 7 days after Issac.   It had problems starting the 5 ton ac....solved after installation of a $35 capacitor.  

Actually started fine before....but the voltage drop caused issues with the other things like the ups systems. ...some would shut down momentarily.

tarheelmatt

Nice setup. 

However, since you've gone through this much work and trouble,  why not install an auto transfer switch so she don't have to do anything?

bud812

CTMike said:

Nah, being a grumpy old white guy I'd get labeled a domestic terrorist and thrown in a dark cell somewhere. 

Don't mention grumpy around @SGH.

henapple

You really don't have to do all of that... Obama will take care of you.

CTMike

henapple said:

You really don't have to do all of that... Obama will take care of you.

Call me crazy or old-fashioned, but I'd rather look after me and mine. 

CTMike

tarheelmatt said:

Nice setup. 

However, since you've gone through this much work and trouble,  why not install an auto transfer switch so she don't have to do anything?

This generator has to be manually started and warmed up for 5 minutes prior to loading to minimize wear on the machine. It also doesn't have the capacity to run the entire house so load management is required. 

So because of those factors, it will be connected to a sub-panel via an interlocked manual transfer switch. 

nolaegghead

henapple said:

You really don't have to do all of that... Obama will take care of you.

Troll!  I like that!

tarheelmatt

CTMike said:

tarheelmatt said:

Nice setup. 

However, since you've gone through this much work and trouble,  why not install an auto transfer switch so she don't have to do anything?

This generator has to be manually started and warmed up for 5 minutes prior to loading to minimize wear on the machine. It also doesn't have the capacity to run the entire house so load management is required. 

So because of those factors, it will be connected to a sub-panel via an interlocked manual transfer switch. 

Ahh, okay... 

Most load centers will have a sub panel to feed the circuits you want on your main panel.  

Now, I say this, but don't have that either.  I punched a hole just below my panel and installed my NEMA 14-30 plug and will have to manually open and close everything too.  

When we build our next house, I'll hopefully have an auto throw-over scheme and hopefully enough funds to get a larger genset.  

Jeepster47

Yep, put me into the "I'm impressed" category.  Love the military stuff ... built to be run by 18 year old kids in adverse situations and last forever.  I can see a spider web of unauthorized drop cords to the neighbor's houses during power out situations.

BTW ... the Onan generator sets are what we used to power our instrument vans.  Eight hours a day for five plus days a week for 50 weeks a year.  Great product.

DaveRichardson

Jealous!!!!!!

CTMike

Jeepster47 said:

Yep, put me into the "I'm impressed" category.  Love the military stuff ... built to be run by 18 year old kids in adverse situations and last forever.  I can see a spider web of unauthorized drop cords to the neighbor's houses during power out situations.

BTW ... the Onan generator sets are what we used to power our instrument vans.  Eight hours a day for five plus days a week for 50 weeks a year.  Great product.

The nearest neighbor is over 500' away so that won't be happening. 

I'm glad to hear about your experience with the Onan gen heads, reaffirms that this was a worthwhile purchase. 

nolaegghead

Jeepster47 said:

Yep, put me into the "I'm impressed" category.  Love the military stuff ... built to be run by 18 year old kids in adverse situations and last forever.  I can see a spider web of unauthorized drop cords to the neighbor's houses during power out situations.

BTW ... the Onan generator sets are what we used to power our instrument vans.  Eight hours a day for five plus days a week for 50 weeks a year.  Great product.

@Jeepster47 hahaha....  Last extended outage (7 days after Issac) we had extension cords running from our generator to the neighbors next door and one two houses down over the back of my other neighbor's MIL apartment.  We have plenty of power to spare for small appliances - lights, fans and refrigerators.  I have a couple of extra inverter generators that get loaned out too....nice and quiet 2100 and 3300 watt...very fuel efficient.

Jeremiah

This is awesome. Does it have a 240 outlet?

CTMike

This model generator will put out single phase 120V, single phase 240V, and three phase 208V. It will be wired up single phase 240V to power the well pump, AC condensers, and remaining loads. 

Jeremiah

@CTMike thanks. And your thread has been sunk by the way. Effing nazis. 

CTMike

Oh well.