LSVW CP

[PuckChaser]

I had Base EGS make 2 distribution systems for my unit for 10kW. 2 spider boxes, 2 box to vehicle cables, 10 115VAC cables, and a 50ft cable to run to the first spider box in the chain. Came to just under $10k per system, just needed some green paint to make the spider boxes tactical.

He had worked at Svc Bn before so knew what I was trying to describe. It's a COTS version of a CPDS.

 

[sidemount]

The spider box would be beneficial for running additional lighting in the cp penthouse or some nearby mod. Usually nice than trying to run an extension cord from the cp.

But yes there absolutly should be a gen to truck cable... if not the gen is kind of useless as it wont power the radios


Agree 100% with fuel heating...electric heaters are power pigs!

 

[chrisf]

Just for clarity...

"Military" spider box.

http://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Wiring-Systems-6-Receptacles-Camouflage/dp/B00G7VVYEC

"Civilian spider box"

http://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Wiring-Systems-6-Receptacles-Camouflage/dp/B00IS2XFYU

If it's something you need to lpo, id recommend get the yellow version and a can of green spray paint as the "mil spec" power connector on the green version is different then the usual connectors found on the ac cables to connect to vehicles, and may be difficult to get, while the pin and sleeve connector may look odd, but should be fairly easy to buy.

If you've got access to professionals to assemble it for you, could put together a smaller home made version in the same style for maybe $600.

 

[sidemount]

These also exist with an NSN now......it was either hq and sigs or the engineers in Pet that had them.

But yes those are them and they are great. They can also interconnect with existing cpds with a slight mod


The connector on the civ style is a 20A twist lock with a 60A 3phase blue pin and sleve connector.

 

[PuckChaser]

They can be custom ordered with different colours (amps) for the connectors. Really handy pieces of kit, and a drop in the bucket at year end time when most people are buying red swingline staplers.

 

[chrisf]

Bare in mind, you're still limited by the size of the generator.

The spider boxes are also designed to be used with three phase, so you'll need to ensure your generator is wired/set up appropriately, not difficult with the tqg generators, may not be possible with civilian pattern generators.

 

[chrisf]

The connector on the civ style is a 20A twist lock with a 60A 3phase blue pin and sleve connector.

There's a couple of twist locks but most of the receptacles are the 20a straight blade t-slots.

There may be different versions, that's what I've seen, we (former unit) had one, and ive also used them in my civilian occupation.

It wouldn't hard to swap them out, it's just regular nema receptacles with a fancy flap over them.

 

[sidemount]

Yup you are right.

We actually pull a bunch of the innards out of them, change the pin and sleve input connector and put a nice carrying handle on them.

They will work on single phase....but 2 out the 6 outlets wont be powered....we played around with this a bit.

 

[chrisf]

They will work on single phase....but 2 out the 6 outlets wont be powered....we played around with this a bit.

2 outlets per phase, if you're running 120, you'll get two outlets, 120/240 you'll get 4, 120/208 you'll get six.

I only mention because the tqg's are selectable, and most users won't be aware of the difference, so they may well be set to 120 or 120/240.

If you've got a civilian pattern generator, it's not likely to be able to generate 3 phase.

 

[sidemount]

Yes that is true...i dont think ive ever seen a tqg set to just  120....seems pointless to me so i left that part out but yes it would only run 2 outlets.

120/240 is the norm for being connected to a cp.

We usually run 3 phase for camp power distribution.
Actually our generators are civilian catapilliar and they are 3 phase.  They do exist but are much rarer.

We've gone on a bit of a tangent here but just for shits and giggles can you think of any kit that actually needs 3 phase power....I can only think of one and it gave me ton of problems overseas when the egs guy upgraded the power grid and swapped the lines that phase 1 and phase 2 were on and didnt say anything lol.

 

[chrisf]

Yes that is true...i dont think ive ever seen a tqg set to just  120....seems pointless to me so i left that part out but yes it would only run 2 outlets.

I've seen it, but only because the operator didn't know the difference, and only discovered it because four of the six outlets on the spider box didn't work.

We usually run 3 phase for camp power distribution.
Actually our generators are civilian catapilliar and they are 3 phase.  They do exist but are much rarer.

I only say "typically" in reference to a portable you'd find running a lsvw sized cp, if you've got something larger I'm assuming you've got an egs tech along for the ride.

I have a severe hate for cat engines.

They're reliable and parts are easy to get, but I hope they give you guys a better manual then they give the rest of the world where they try to cover 30 different models in the one book, and nothing in the book looks like what you actually have.

We've gone on a bit of a tangent here but just for shits and giggles can you think of any kit that actually needs 3 phase power....I can only think of one and it gave me ton of problems overseas when the egs guy upgraded the power grid and swapped the lines that phase 1 and phase 2 were on and didnt say anything lol.

Honestly the only piece of army kit I've ever seen that uses or makes use of 3 phase power is the spider box, which brings us back nicely from the tangent to the point where I said it isn't really beneficial unless you're running a generator larger than 5kw.

 

[sidemount]

I didnt even say the name of the piece of kit lol. It was the PSS, the aerial vehicle had a 3 phase input and alarms scream when it was wrong.

I can see what you mean for a 3 phase civy gen for a cp that would be much harder to find. The cats we were using are all 30kw. We try and run an entire camp off that, including the cp, and have the 5kw as a backup. Generators run best at an 80ish% load, less than 50 and they tend to wet stack.

And what is this manual thing you speak of. In all honesty we resorted to online forums and google to get part numbers for those things....i guess may e cat was not keen on giving us maint manuals for their civy stuff, I don't know

Just so ya know, the general rule we run by is EO/Veh tech look after 30kw and below and egs take care of the big jobbies.
Obviously lots of overlap there depending on where you are at

 

[chrisf]

And what is this manual thing you speak of. In all honesty we resorted to online forums and google to get part numbers for those things....i guess may e cat was not keen on giving us maint manuals for their civy stuff, I don't know

If you know what's broken, they're not terrible, call a dealership and give them the serial number off the engine they can usually help you out.

I always found figuring out what was broken was the hard part... They give you a terribly generic manual.

They're surprisingly accommodating though, if you've got the model of the engine, shouldn't be hard to get a copy of the terribly generic manual, just as,  they should email it to you, don't expect much useful information in it though

 

[sidemount]

If you know what's broken, they're not terrible, call a dealership and give them the serial number off the engine they can usually help you out.

I always found figuring out what was broken was the hard part... They give you a terribly generic manual.

They're surprisingly accommodating though, if you've got the model of the engine, shouldn't be hard to get a copy of the terribly generic manual, just as,  they should email it to you, don't expect much useful information in it though

So what you are saying is they are very Army like... ;D